Canals and Real ale

[Athy]

2 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

I have started early, champagne for breakfast.

How very civilised. Will you still be awake at lunchtime, though?

[Captain Pegg]

4 minutes ago, Athy said:

How very civilised. Will you still be awake at lunchtime, though?

No one will be getting lunch if am not!

[Athy]

1 minute ago, Captain Pegg said:

No one will be getting lunch if am not!

I hope you've got a phone number for 'Just Eat'!

[Movin' on]

On ‎23‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 11:28, Dartagnan said:

Well doneI have just placed a deposit on our first ever NB.  It’s not what I set out to purchase but to me it’s truly class.  By the time the weather turns for the better I should be fit enough health wise to go cruising.

having been practically teetotal for the 4 years since my stroke and subsequent cancer issues this year I have decided to get off the wagon and try some real ale in the canal side pubs.  I have even purchased the 2018 camra good beer guide!

The boat is currently moored in the south but we intend to do some extended cruising and I am seeking info from those in the know as to which canals have the best drinking pubs?

The boat won’t fit the L&L canal and I don’t fancy doing the Rochdale at this time.  Hopefully we will wonder far and wide but was hoping for some heads up so I can prioritise the most fruitful canals.

many thanks - Martin 

Well done and welcome to the best hobby ever - and very good for recovering from most things including a hangover!!

Are we allowed to know what and where yet??

When do you expect to own??

BTW - Happy Christmas

[thebfg]

3 hours ago, Athy said:

But were they? I remember the landlord of a Harvey's pub in Sussex, as I sampled a pint of their quite robust Porter, telling me "That was Grandfather's mild". Though I do not have stats to back up this assertion (and certainly not at this early hour of Christmas morning) I'd say that reduction in strength of beers is a modern trend, suggesting that they used to be stronger than they are now. I think Old Speckled Hen and Ruddles County are both less strong than they were, say, ten years ago.

Edit: I had a look around the internet. Information is not easy to come by (for me, at least). But it appears that County has gone down from 4.7% to 4.3%, Hen from about 5.2% to 4.5%, and I also found a mention of Stella Artois' strength being reduced from 5% to 4.8%. To confuse maatters further, some beers are different strengths depending on whether you but them on draught, in cans or in bottles. Hobgoblin is 5.2% in bottle and 4.5% in a can and in a cask. I assume that the higher figure is the original strength.

I remember  there was some strength reductions to reduce tax bills. Not sure if this is a blanket cover though.

 

Carling reduced theirs to 3.7% but kept 4% on the can. 

 

Thisbgabe them something like a 50 million tax savings. They dident change the can as they felt their customers would like to see a price saving.

 

[Machpoint005]

11 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Proper beer is brewed to be drawn straight out of a wooden barrel by opening a tap and into a jug, it doesn't need CO2, cooler or fancy nozzles 

Oh yes it does -- it's a product of natural fermentation. There is CO2 in solution even in a "flat" southern pint. I agree it doesn't need added gas though.

As for the wooden barrel, CAMRA's origins can be found in the SPBW but wooden casks are far too expensive, far too unreliable, far too heavy, and far too difficult to clean to a hygienic standard -- the battle was lost and forgotten decades ago. I'd rather the beer was alive with the things it is supposed to have (little yeasties) than any number of dangerous bacteria. Real beer is a healthy drink (in moderation)!

 

4 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

Stainless steel rather than aluminium I think.

Sorry, but casks are usually aluminium (fizz kegs are often stainless though). I wouldn't want to lift a kilderkin (18 gallon) steel cask, even an empty one.

Edited December 25, 2017 by Machpoint005

[Captain Pegg]

16 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

Sorry, but casks are usually aluminium (fizz kegs are often stainless though). I wouldn't want to lift a kilderkin (18 gallon) steel cask, even an empty one.

Am sure you know more than me. Must admit I wasn't totally sure but figured stainless steel was a more suitable material from a human consumption point of view.

Anyway I am a philistine and often prefer something out of a bottle - or a can - that is brewed for flavour rather than getting worked up about the precise methods of primary and secondary fermentation and storage.

JP

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Anyway I am a philistine and often prefer something out of a bottle - or a can - that is brewed for flavour rather than getting worked up about the precise methods of primary and secondary fermentation and storage.

 

And a merry Christmas to you too!

As a philistine you may be surprised to hear cask beer is brewed for taste too. 

 

[Captain Pegg]

21 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

And a merry Christmas to you too!

As a philistine you may be surprised to hear cask beer is brewed for taste too. 

 

Merry Christmas to you too Mike.

i am well aware of that but being able to describe something as a real ale is not a guarantee of it being a particularly good beer. There are also some 'craft' brewers who may have been best advised to stick with whatever they did before being a hipster became a thing.

JP

[MtB]

1 minute ago, Captain Pegg said:

Merry Christmas to you too Mike.

i am well aware of that but being able to describe something as a real ale is not a guarantee of it being a particularly good beer. There are also some 'craft' brewers who may have been best advised to stick with whatever they did before being a hipster became a thing.

JP

 

100% agree with all of that! 

Good cask beer well cellared is actually a rare and precious thing, which perversely makes it all the better when unexpectedly encountered. Most pubs employ children or managers who couldn’t give a toss about the beer which is the main reason the term ‘Real Ale’ means nothing actually. Publicans who actually own their pubs tend to do it far better.  Besides, if it beer isn’t ‘real ale’, what is it? Imaginary ale??

[Athy]

1 hour ago, Machpoint005 said:

. I'd rather the beer was alive with the things it is supposed to have (little yeasties) than any number of dangerous bacteria. 

 

 

Yeasties, not beasties, as you might say.

[Dartagnan]

Thank you all very much for taking the time to reply offering your suggestions and advice, I am very great full.  I would have replied individually but currently I have a broken wrist so find typing awkward at the minute.  Plenty of advice to mull over.

Mac of Cygnet, thank you for providing links to your previous threads.  I have previously read some of them whilst I wasn’t drinking and they left me longing for a pint and a bag of crisps!  The time is now right for me to get in the act lol

Halsey I would love to divulge details of the boat but I have had awfully bad luck this year so I don’t wish to jinx the purchase lol.  I am due to complete in a couple of weeks.  It is, with my limited knowledge, superb.

As I await our goose lunch I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone on this forum a very happy Xmas and a healthy, prosperous New Year.  Over the past few years I have gleefully hoovered up lots of advice and information from this forum which hopefully will stand us in good stead for when we venture onto the canals.

Kind regards - Martin

[Victor Vectis]

3 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

I have started early, champagne for breakfast.

I'm in the Bell at Trysull.

Bathams for lunch!

Since leaving Lapworth we've seen only four other boats on the move.

Two of those were CaRT workboats heading south on the North Stratford and the othe two were the pair 'Harrier' and 'Lyra"  who we met going up Smethwick.

 

ETA There is a lot of bollox talked about beer. This is a boom time for beer lovers. North v South is no longer an issue. Just seek out a local producer, preferably a micro brewery. Some of their products will be foul, ie not to your taste, but there is so much variety out there you are bound to find something to your worth another pint.

OK. Time for another pint then a yomp back to t'boat.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS to you all.

 

Edited December 25, 2017 by Victor Vectis

[Captain Pegg]

2 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

I'm in the Bell at Trysull.

Bathams for lunch!

Since leaving Lapworth we've seen only four other boats on the move.

Two of those were CaRT workboats heading south on the North Stratford and the othe two were the pair 'Harrier' and 'Lyra"  who we met going up Smethwick.

 

ETA There is a lot of bollox talked about beer. This is a boom time for beer lovers. North v South is no longer an issue. Just seek out a local producer, preferably a micro brewery. Some of their products will be foul, ie not to your taste, but there is so much variety out there you are bound to find something to your worth another pint.

OK. Time for another pint then a yomp back to t'boat.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS to you all.

 

Merry Christmas to you and er... Mrs Vectis.

No beer for me yet, champagne and red wine so far. Soon to be followed by a post Christmas dinner brandy. Beer and port for later.

Agree with sentiments about local beer. Always like to try a local brew. Also a good point about some drinks simply not being to your taste; that's a very different thing from them not being of the quality they aspire to.

My mother-in-law bought me a pack of craft beers for Xmas. A couple of interesting ones in there plus one that probably won't be to my taste. It may still be a quality beer all the same and shall enjoy trying it nonetheless.

JP

 

[Athy]

34 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

My mother-in-law bought me a pack of craft beers for Xmas. A couple of interesting ones in there plus one that probably won't be to my taste. It may still be a quality beer all the same and shall enjoy trying it nonetheless.

JP

 

Likewise Mrs. Athy has bought me a pack of beers from the Grainstore Brewery, whose address is Station Approach, Oakham, so it is close to a canal, though not one which has recently been navigable.

[Sapphal]

Pity you can't do the L & L.  This site reviews most of the pubs along its length http://www.towpathtreks.co.uk/llc/canal_pub_guide.html

[Captain Pegg]

I've just drunk a bottle of lager. 

Really warm room, lots of salty and spicy food.

Perfect combination.

JP

Edited December 25, 2017 by Captain Pegg

[MtB]

4 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

I've just drunk a bottle of lager. 

Really warm room, lots of salty and spicy food.

Perfect combination.

JP

 

Actually I agree, l*ger is the perfect drink to go with a good hot curry. 

Can't think of any other winter occasion when it is preferable to a good porter though.

[IanD]

I prefer a good hoppy pale ale (served colder than usual) than bland sweet lager with a curry any day -- try a cold bottle of Dead Pony Club if you don't believe me...

(only possible at home or a BYO restaurant, very few curry houses serve decent suitable beer)

[Victor Vectis]

On 25/12/2017 at 11:11, Machpoint005 said:

Sorry, but casks are usually aluminium (fizz kegs are often stainless though). I wouldn't want to lift a kilderkin (18 gallon) steel cask, even an empty one.

According to form Bathams still use 54 gallon barrels, ie hogsheads.

[D. W. Walker]

Recommend http://www.canalandriversidepubs.co.uk/

Good pub guide sorted by canal, never go boating without it.

[Mac of Cygnet]

7 hours ago, D. W. Walker said:

Recommend http://www.canalandriversidepubs.co.uk/

Good pub guide sorted by canal, never go boating without it.

Unfortunately not regularly updated and therefore full of misleading info.

Latterly I've used https://whatpub.com/ which although not canal based, is usually up to date and reliable.

[Victor Vectis]

Agreed about whatpub. It lists what beers are usually available in a pub which is a great help in sorting the wheat from the chaff.

It's about the only decent thing CAMRA have done in recent years, IMHO.

[ditchcrawler]

On 26/12/2017 at 18:00, D. W. Walker said:

Recommend http://www.canalandriversidepubs.co.uk/

Good pub guide sorted by canal, never go boating without it.

 

20 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

Unfortunately not regularly updated and therefore full of misleading info.

Latterly I've used https://whatpub.com/ which although not canal based, is usually up to date and reliable.

Its a bit like the diesel prices site,its only as good as the feed back it gets from us the users

[WotEver]

A quick look at both of those sites for our local area shows whatpub to be way more accurate. Canalandriversidepubs lists a whole raft of pubs that haven’t been open for years.