A narrowboat micropub?

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

35 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

Doom Bar- Yuk!

Ruddles- just about.

6x - (in my opinion) is good ale.

 

Opinions and taste buds do differ of course.  The local where we are at present always has a selection of guest beers. Out of four of us having a little session one afternoon we all were supping different ales.

The classic beer argument 😃

I think it were Ruddles that Woodenspoons were selling off at 99p a pint when I last went in.

The one at Merry Hill.

Can ‘t say I liked it even at that price and went on the Stella instead.

6x is alright, I’ll happily drink that.

 

The Weighbridge Inn has been a treat this weekend.

 

 

Cant be doing with the fashion for citric beers 🤮 

 

[IanD]

18 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

I agree that there is now a much better choice of high quality beers now than in the 70's. Back in those dark days there were few good beers in a sea of mediocrity. What I am saying is that those high quality beers whose names have survived are no longer the beers that they once were.

 

I like well hopped traditional British beers (The Hogsback Brewerys draught TEA (Traditional English Ale) is a good example. I am not a fan of the current trend for IPA's hopped with citrus flavoured hops, which to me taste like grapefruit juice.

 

Mrs Hound once brought me a bottle of "Peaky Blinders IPA" from a shopping trip, which was dark like a stout or porter, but tasteless. Clearly the marketing men promoting it didn't realise what the P stands for in IPA...

 

I'm honestly not convinced that what were good beers than are very different now, at least in many cases, but that our taste standards have gone up. When I first moved to London Youngs and Fullers were the beers of choice, now there are many that I find much better -- and my memory tells me it's not that they have changed much, Young's Bitter (Ordinary!) and Fuller's London Pride (always preferred Chiswick but it's almost vanished now...) still taste pretty much how I remember them, it's that they've been outstripped by newer better beers from smaller breweries.

 

But Timmy Taylor's Landlord -- when it's properly kept and served -- was one of my favourite beers back then, and still is now.

 

You probably don't like some modern hops, especially Citra -- which I love, but some friends don't because to them it tastes -- as you say -- like grapefruit. All fine, it would be a sad and boring world if everybody liked exactly the same thing -- just like boats... 😉

 

Greene King IPA. Tasteless p*ss. Need I say more? ... 😞

 

And don't get me started on trendy "Black IPAs"... 😉

Edited May 2, 2023 by IanD

[cuthound]

53 minutes ago, IanD said:

I'm honestly not convinced that what were good beers than are very different now, at least in many cases, but that our taste standards have gone up. When I first moved to London Youngs and Fullers were the beers of choice, now there are many that I find much better -- and my memory tells me it's not that they have changed much, Young's Bitter (Ordinary!) and Fuller's London Pride (always preferred Chiswick but it's almost vanished now...) still taste pretty much how I remember them, it's that they've been outstripped by newer better beers from smaller breweries.

 

But Timmy Taylor's Landlord -- when it's properly kept and served -- was one of my favourite beers back then, and still is now.

 

You probably don't like some modern hops, especially Citra -- which I love, but some friends don't because to them it tastes -- as you say -- like grapefruit. All fine, it would be a sad and boring world if everybody liked exactly the same thing -- just like boats... 😉

 

Greene King IPA. Tasteless p*ss. Need I say more? ... 😞

 

And don't get me started on trendy "Black IPAs"... 😉

 

Well.at least we agree on one thing. A well kept pint of Landlord is one of my favourite beers too. 😄

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

When Ruddles was an independent brewery, back in the 70's County was excellent,

Ruddles also brewed Sainsburys' own label bitter, which I recall was very pleasant and noticeably cheaper.

1 hour ago, Nightwatch said:

6x - (in my opinion) is good ale.

Sometimes. 

I have had a good pint in the brewery tap in Devizes, and a bloody awful one in the Anchor at High Offley.

[IanD]

44 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Ruddles also brewed Sainsburys' own label bitter, which I recall was very pleasant and noticeably cheaper.

Sometimes. 

I have had a good pint in the brewery tap in Devizes, and a bloody awful one in the Anchor at High Offley.

Same for us at the Anchor. Lovely unspoiled pub, spoiled by the beer... 😞

[Captain Pegg]

I'm with @cuthound on the subject of beers that aren't what they once were. Simply because there are a number of beers that literally aren't the same despite the fact they carry the same basic branding. Principal among these are Ruddles County and Bass. Both these days brewed in a different brewery to the original to a different recipe, and both much the worse for it. Some of the best beer I ever tasted was when we could knock on the door to the get the landlord of the Station Inn in Derby to open up whenever we had finished work and he'd bring a jug of Bass up from the cellar, accompanied by complementary bowls of heavily salted peanuts.

 

Doubtless being a resident of the Midlands @cuthound also suffers the annoyance that every pub in some villages is a Marston's house which will offer you the same choice of no less than four average-at-best-on-a-good-day brews, at least two of which will have once been a regional favourite - albeit possibly good, bad or indifferent - that is now homogenised and blandised* for national consumption. At least in my part of the Midlands the Marston's houses tend to sell Banks's products amongst their offerings.

 

Young's beers are different from how they were, but I think also branded slightly differently although they still carry the Young's name. Realistically they are now Charles Wells beers brewed in Bedford rather than Wandsworth and I'd say that back in the day the stuff that came out of the Ram brewery was nicer than what came out of the Eagle brewery.

 

But overall yes there are lots of good beers available today - just not in some Midlands villages - and no one should bemoan the loss of some long established brewers. I think Sheffield had five breweries when I lived there over 30 years ago and they're all gone. Replaced by a much better smaller enterprise or two. 

 

* - I'm aware that I've almost certainly made this word up but correcting posters that write things that while erroneous make perfect sense is really bad form.

 

 

     

Edited May 2, 2023 by Captain Pegg

[ditchcrawler]

[Ken X]

On the subject of Beer, I see Auntie Beeb is reporting that the Black Sheep Brewery has gone into administration which is disappointing.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Ken X
spillchucker

[Guest]

57 minutes ago, Ken X said:

On the subject of Beer, I see Auntie Beeb is reporting that the Black Sheep Brewery has gone into administration which is disappointing.

 

That is indeed a shame.

 

They make some very palatable beers which no doubt will be 'molested' if taken over by a new buyer.

Edited May 2, 2023 by M_JG

[TheBiscuits]

1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

every pub in some villages is a Marston's house which will offer you the same choice of no less than four average-at-best-on-a-good-day brews, at least two of which will have once been a regional favourite - albeit possibly good, bad or indifferent - that is now homogenised and blandised* for national consumption. At least in my part of the Midlands the Marston's houses tend to sell Banks's products amongst their offerings.

 

You may be pleased to hear that Marston's have just joined the SIBA beerflex scheme, so they will have access to a much wider range of guest beers from independent breweries in the future.

[Nightwatch]

1 hour ago, Ken X said:

On the subject of Beer, I see Auntie Beeb is reporting that the Black Sheep Brewery has gone into administration which is disappointing.

That’s sad news.

[Captain Pegg]

1 hour ago, Ken X said:

On the subject of Beer, I see Auntie Beeb is reporting that the Black Sheep Brewery has gone into administration which is disappointing.

 

Merge with the other family business?

 

I nearly said "re-merge" but I don't think that's necessarily correct.

[Hudds Lad]

I’m so glad it’s not just me, can’t abide citra hopped beers and their ilk, if i want fruit i’ll eat it. BiL is very much a fan of this style and is always getting me to try various IPA’s he’s “discovered” and they’re just not for me. Think the last one was some sort of Brewdog mango rubbish or something. My unrefined palette would rather have a lager, cider or something that tastes like an old fashioned bitter (i blame my grandad slipping me cans of Red Death when i was a young ‘un after a hard day rotovating his allotment)

 

A prime example of a drink ruined by being bought out is Newcastle Brown, tastes nothing like it did 35yrs ago.

[Captain Pegg]

17 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

I’m so glad it’s not just me, can’t abide citra hopped beers and their ilk, if i want fruit i’ll eat it. BiL is very much a fan of this style and is always getting me to try various IPA’s he’s “discovered” and they’re just not for me. Think the last one was some sort of Brewdog mango rubbish or something. My unrefined palette would rather have a lager, cider or something that tastes like an old fashioned bitter (i blame my grandad slipping me cans of Red Death when i was a young ‘un after a hard day rotovating his allotment)

 

A prime example of a drink ruined by being bought out is Newcastle Brown, tastes nothing like it did 35yrs ago.

 

And a move between five different breweries. I've just checked it out and it's now brewed in the Netherlands, and to avoid confusion also in Holland. There is a lot of really poor beer brewed in the Netherlands.

 

I did drink it regularly once when it was sold very cheaply at my local off licence which just happened to be at the top of the hill that it was brewed at the bottom of. Got a decent return on the bottle too.

 

I last drank the stuff when I tried a bottle that was produced in Tadcaster and it was awful.

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Captain Pegg

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

A prime example of a drink ruined by being bought out is Newcastle Brown, tastes nothing like it did 35yrs ago.

 

I was going to say the very same earlier.

 

Quite how they managed to ruin the taste is beyond belief. 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

9 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

I’m so glad it’s not just me, can’t abide citra hopped beers and their ilk, if i want fruit i’ll eat it. BiL is very much a fan of this style and is always getting me to try various IPA’s he’s “discovered” and they’re just not for me. Think the last one was some sort of Brewdog mango rubbish or something. My unrefined palette would rather have a lager, cider or something that tastes like an old fashioned bitter (i blame my grandad slipping me cans of Red Death when i was a young ‘un after a hard day rotovating his allotment)

Ive always thought they were kind of alco-pops to attract younger drinkers.

Beer presented in graffiti patterned cans the same size as fizzy drinks

Good marketing by beard trimmed and top knot wearing hipsters.

12 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

beers that aren't what they once were. Simply because there are a number of beers that literally aren't the same despite the fact they carry the same basic branding. Principal among these are Ruddles County and Bass. Both these days brewed in a different brewery to the original to a different recipe, and both much the worse for it.

Im a loyal Bass drinker

Always a good pint 👍