Entertainment For Lively Minds
Time Please....For A Bitter Thread
Posted by David Wright on 8 March 2010 - 8:19pm.
Last year I ran a thread on Britains's finest taverns and received some great tips on Britain's best pubs.
What is your favourite pint of bitter?
Personally, I love a pint of well kept Tetleys (not smooth flow) and my local pub The Nags Head in Scalby Village serves it just right and clear as a bell. In close second place would be a pint of Timothy Taylors followed by a pint of Old Wold; the latter is a pale and golden ale, best enjoyed slightly chilled after eating something very salty. Ruddles, Black Sheep and Yorkshire Terrior are other favourites.
Lager Lager Lager! No, lets hear it for bitter and happy memories of your favourite ales.
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This one is delicious.
http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/full_size/16280.jpg (wish I knew how to put a photo up :()
although I love any real ale, as long as it's not dark. I think I'm allergic to the darker ones. Could drink the light ones all day. And, er, all night.
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(The FAQ has the info - http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/faq/)
A pint of Crouch Vale, or two
at The Bell inn in Dedham in Essex, a walk up to Constable's Haywain, come back in need of further refreshment and start again. It's fantastic beer and wonderfully they have Neapolitan bar staff who can pour a pint better than most. Alternatively, if you fancy a more sedate pint, go to the Duke of Hamilton in Hampstead Village, the least pretentious of all pubs, an occasionally surly landlord when the mood takes him and beautiful beer, so good looking one would want to paint it. Don't ask them if they serve food, they don't - just crisps and the occasional hog roast during the Summer.
A Crouch Vale correspondent writes
First, ta very much! However I think you mean The Sun Inn in Dedham, and it's such a great place I'd hate for anyone to bypass it whilst hunting for The Bell (which isn't there).
Apologies,
I did indeed mean The Sun Inn.
There can only be one...
Good, Honest Ales is their slogan - never a truer word spoken.
Boy do I miss it (now being resident in the US)...
Beautiful Batemans
Beautiful stuff, had one last time I was in London, could just do with one now, but it's Monday evening......so a mint tea will have to suffice until snooker on Wedneday evening.
Batemans Brewery..
is about 10 miles from where I live, and if you ever get the chance to visit Wainfleet All Saints, the Visitor Centre is worth a try. Fantastic food, Outdoor and Indoor Pub Games and a shop where you can buy all the Batemans bottled beers and a myriad of merchandise.
You could always move...
... to Exeter, NH. There's a pub there that has/had Old Speckled Hen on tap. Mind you, that was 15 years ago.
Here in California they don't know what 'real ale' is. One has to make do with imported tins. However, there's a chain of old fashioned grocery stores called Trader Joe's that occasionally has some good beers on offer. They were selling St. Peters Ale from Suffolk a couple of summers ago. I'd never even seen or heard of it in the UK, but it was very good from what I remember.
I miss a pint of Castle Eden at my old local The Empress in Cambridge. Those were the days...
Sierra Nevada
Last time I was in California I was introduced to Sierra Nevada IPA which was not bad at all.
Blackfriars!
I was drinking Sierra Nevada in Blackfriars in Bell St a couple of weeks ago.
Very tasty
There's some great beer over here
(at least in Oregon), however one has to adjust the palette to stronger brews (most start around 5.6), more CO2(I miss the mouth feel of the tiny bubbles from natural carbonation), and *lots* more hops. My theory (formulated just now, after a couple) goes as follows. Americans drink more pop than anyone else, and from an early age, therefore they are accustomed to the bubble and tang of CO2, and because they like their drinks super-cold, the additional hops are required to impart a flavour that can cut through the low serving temperatures - with bitter, you can taste the malt, less so in the beers here.
I'm lucky to live in the microbrewery capital of the US (70+ in the metropolitan area alone) - a far cry from the ubiquitous Miller/Bud Lite of the mid west. That stuff is piss, and has to be served near frozen to keep the piss-flavour to a minimum.
Not real ale, though.
How many US beers come up on a handpump?
As you say, nick, the US brews always seem very over-hopped to me. Bit mouth-puckering in most cases.
classic example
of British camra influenced high handed view of beer, if it doesn't come on hand pump it's not "real" ale. If the beer taste good it doesn't matter how it's poured/kept this is the sort of nonsense that excludes excellent German lagers form beign "real" because the Germans have the temerity to serve them using co2. The influence of american micro brewers has been a huge shot in the arm for the world of beer long may it continue.
A pedant writes...
My understanding is, strictly speaking, ale is (almost?) extinct as it referred to an brew embittered with herbs rather than hops.
'Beer' was a brew made with hops.
I suspect the Campaign For Real Ale didn't really mean real ale
Sorry, Chris..
Arse.
Keg beer raised by CO2 is a dead liquid. It has been pasteurised to kill the yeasts allowing it to be kept for longer and without the need for the care and attention of a skilled cellarman. Large pressures of CO2 are used to raise the beer and add sparkle. CO2 dissolved in liquid dissociates to carbonic acid, radically altering the flavour. Compare Perrier to still water. Much more CO2 is present in keg beer than in the proper stuff.
How, exactly, have US microbrewers influenced things in the UK?
There probably are some US brewers making some perfectly acceptable beers. But Real Ales they most certainly aren't.
The problem with yours and camra
line about keg beers is that it assumes no one had ever had a bad pint of cask beer when in fact we've all had ropey ones. Cask conditioning can do great things it can also make grim yeasty slop.
I'm not saying the cask conditioned beer isn't good just that to lecture other countries on what is "real" and not is patronising. In fact a woman from a German beer company I spoke to recently (at GBBF) was getting hacked off by the implication that her 300 years old beer was some how inferior simply because of the way they choose to serve and not based on whether it tasted good. Cask conditioning started off as effective campaigning point for camra and sadly has become a dogma. It only now gives a partial guarantee of quality.
In the end how a beer tastes is the ultimate test, many of the beers here by the your narrow definition aren't real and by extension poor beers London Pride is pasteurised, meantime beer are too and so others I'm sure.
As for the American influence well this is growing Jaipur and Kelham use American style brewing techniques and have won many awards as have the Scottish brewers Brew dog and there are many more. The best breweries are marrying tradition with innovation. A lot of the interest in traditional English beer styles like IPA and imperial stout has been sparked ironically by them being taken up by American micro breweries and then brought back over here and enjoyed by beer fans in Britain. In an interesting inversion of the English pop invasion of American of the 60's.
Anyway I'm off for a bottle of Brooklyn Lager might be hoppy but well its a real satisfying complex drink after that might have a whiteshield or maybe ....
Spot on.
"Grim yeasty slop"
Hence my comment about a skilled cellarman. Keeping proper beer takes time and skill. Keg stuff gets round that.
Not that I want to knock the skills of US barmen; ask Mine Host for a Bloody Mary in the UK and you'll get a voddy & TJ. Maybe with a bit of Worcester chucked in it. Any US barman will produce a properly made cocktail. And will do the same with pretty much any drink you wish to mention.
I know the Czech lagering top-fermentation process is relatively recent but how was dark German beer traditionally served? From bottles or straight from the wood?
Except
there are lots of good US microbreweries that do brew real ale, even by CAMRA's definitions. And bloody good ones. Some have even been mentioned here.
Of course, the other part is that if a beer is brewed with care it will also use very quality ingredients; German and Czech brews are notoriously picky, aren't the? And a good thing too. The combination of good ingredients and a good brewer usually does the trick, even if in some cases things get pasteurised, like pretty much all bottled beers are. In the end they never quite taste the same as the draught but I don't object to Riggwelter from a bottle as a more than passable consolation prize.
Things change...
I guarantee that they haven't been serving it with C02 for 300 years, and yes, as Lenny says, it changes both the flavour and the mouth feel. However, I'm not a beer-Nazi (Godwin? Is that you??) - If it's tasty and has alcohol, I'm there! Inferior beer is the stuff that tastes bad, regardless of its production and delivery.
I can add a bit to cask-conditioning over here - it's fair to say that some of the breweries are experimenting with this, and more power too them. Bridgeport, for example, has some excellent c-c ale, drawn with beer engines in its own brew-pub - and, as Lenny points out, this is beer that is alive and fermenting when received by the cellar-man.
I'm going to make a prediction that c-c ale is going to be the next big thing over here. We've already got the horn rim glasses, beards and chunky jumpers.
Old Tom
Yes, I used to be a fan of the darker ales as a nipper, but tend to stay clear of them these days. Used to drink a very heavy dark pint called Old Tom at the Hole In The Wall pub in Scarborough. Two pints of the stuff and you'd be away for the evening. Potent stuff for sure.
Pretty much anything served in The Wellington
I'm a big fan of The Wellington in Birmingham. It's a cracking friendly pub with a rolling selection of great beer and reasonably-priced whisky. If I had to pick one, it would be The Black Country Ales Fireside.
When I'm back in the UK...
...It's a delicious pint of Butcombe, though I've recently heard that their brewery has moved, so I don't know what affect that may have. Smiles used to be the best beer in Bristol, but that's been gone a few years now.
I can get Speckled Hen, Otter, Timmy Taylor, Brains and a few others here in Portland, but probably miss Tanglefoot most, and the occasional Old Peculier
These days, a neighbour and I brew our own (all grain, 10 gallon batches) and our first stab at an English bitter was a triumph, so some clones of my favourites are on the agenda.
I like a Weetwood
at my local.
It's brewed down the road and tastes just great.
When I go walking in the Lakes I go to a great pub in Ings called The Watermill which has its own brewery. Its session beer is the Collie Wobbles which is a fantastic pint when you come down from the hills.
Used to be...
Hartley's XB "Beer from the Wood". No longer available, I would like to nominate Harvey's Old Ale* in winter and Harviestoun's Bitter & Twisted in summer.
* not, strictly speaking,a bitter.
Am growing more and more impressed with Everards' offerings
...served up to great effect at my local - The Cherry Tree in Market Harborough, Original is my favourite, but it is rather potent.
Other than that, I did rather enjoy the Riggwelter served in Thirsk while on holiday recently. And I must admit that one of the best places to sample real ale nowadays is at Wetherspoons - an ever changing and well kept range of ales on offer year round. Our branch often features some fine beers from the local Langton Brewery.
I remember a great Beef Wellington
served in a pub in Tur Langton. Can't remember the name of the place.
The Crown?
I think it's the only pub in the village now.
Harvey's Sussex Bitter
Which doesn't seem to travel as far as the East Midlands; London Pride, Charles Wells and around a million others. God, I love this country!
Bang on!
Harvey's Sussex Bitter is a wonderful brew... And their bottled 'Pale Ale' is damned fine too.
Deuchars
..IPA - great quaffing pint. Much loved by Inspector Rebus.
Ah yes...
An Edinburgh classic.
Scotland seems to be clawing its way back into the real ale world - in the last ten years or so there's been quite a few micro breweries getting in where there only used to be 80 shilling. Cairngorm Brewery's Trade Winds is a good un as well. I had some great beers from Islay Ales on a trip to, appropriately enough, Islay a couple of years ago. Haven't seen them on sale anywhere on the mainland though.
Moving south, the Lakes has some cracking beers as well. Jennings Cumberland Ale and their winter Redbreast, Barngates Tag Lag, Hawkshead Gold and the Coniston Bluebird from the cask at the Black Bull is magnificent... Actually, they're almost all good.
Super Deuchar
How could I have forgotten Deuchars, lovely ale, and another fine session ale not to far away in taste and appearance is a pint of Guzzler.
Orkney's own...
...Northern Light is another fantastic pale beer.
Easy
Most bitters! But especially Wadsworths 6X, Marston's Pedigree, Bass Draught and Fuller's London Pride. Sigh.
Good call on the Draught Bass
Can't get it round my neck of the woods these days, mores the pity. Quite like the Tetley's in my local, even though it's that creamflow stuff. Tend to stick with the Guinness in most of my haunts.
Why has Bass declined in popularity?
I know it gives some people the dreadful tom tits but it's always a lovely pint.
It's very popular across the pond
I was in Boston (Mass) a couple of years back and every other lorry seemed to be advertising Bass.
Isn't it now owned by Coors
That American brewer of 'low calorie' beer, or some such travesty?
Also
Black Sheep is a fine session bitter - very tasty, not too strong.
call me parochial
but Cains is an excellent pint, and even their lager is highly drinkable. http://www.cainsbeer.com/index/
Merseypride
Cains or Cains FA in the Brewery Tap, Dispensary in Renshaw Street, the peerless Volley in Waterloo or the Crows in Crosby - no better
I'm biased
http://www.danielthwaites.com/
The brewery recently celebrated their 200 years of brewing fine ales. I worked for them when they were a mere 175 years old.
Mmmm
I do like a good Wainwright as a post-fells refresher.
Timothy Taylor's Landlord
Yorkshire's finest ale. Available nationwide but mysteriously thin on the ground in Lancashire..
So come on over
to the right side of the Pennines.
The Brown Cow in Bingley is one of the finer places on Earth. Last time I was in there I believe they had six different Timothy Taylors ales (including Landlord) on draft.
You're making me homesick!
My all-time favourite was Top Hat, but I've only ever seen it in one pub (the Cambridge Hotel on the Liverpool University 'campus').
When served right (which can't be hard as several pubs in Reading manage it) London Pride is ace.
And the West Berkshire Brewery do a very fine brew called Good Old Boy.
Top Hat
is brewed by the Burtonwood Brewery in Warrington. The Cambridge is the only place I can think of seeing it too, although I've drunk in Burtonwood pubs in Manchester so it must have been available there too.
(Good excuse for me to check out the Cambridge again, haven't been there for a while)
Edit: Burtonwood seems to have been acquired by Marstons, who don't list any Burtonwood ales among their "brand portfolio")
Avoid the Cambridge
I wouldn't go on the one mission for Top Hat in the Cambridge, the beer isn't kept the best there now and the last time I got a bitter it had to go back immediately.
Stick to lager there or walk 10 minutes around the corner to the great Isle of Man brewery Okkel's The Fly in the Loaf pub. (The old Kirklands).
Big Tree Bitter
Had a pint or two of this while out in Hale the other night. A very nice beer.
Never heard of the Dunham Massey brewery before. Worth checking out if you're in the NW.
Ind Coope Burton
One of my favourites until it got the bullet.Used to be available in "Alloa pubs" here in Scotland.I understand that Carlsberg killed it off.The publicans in The Greenmantle in Edinburgh and The Levehhall Arms in Musselburgh were among those who recieved a certificate from the brewery which officially recognised the quality ot their beer. Happy days.
Beers
I like Old Speckled Hen and the odd Bishop's Finger. (Stop it!)
But Fursty Ferret is fantastic.
One of those beers that make you smile when you spy a forgotten bottle in the back of the fridge!
Sorry, not with you...
... a 'forgotten bottle'?
More beer, please!
So many...
Quite a few from the South Yorkshire/Derbyshire area:
Thornbridge do some wonderful ales - Jaipur, Lord Marples, etc
Kelham Island brewery - Easy Rider, Pale Rider
Bradfield brewery - Farmers
Then from elsewhere there's Timothy Taylor's Landlord, Deuchars, Marston's Pedigree, Theakstons Best Bitter, Black Sheep...oh and so many more.
Yes, that's the beauty of this country
A decent pub and a good pint or two.
Preferably from a local brewery.
The days of knocking back pints of strong ales for me have long gone, a nice session beer does me now.
You can't go wrong with a decent IPA,
Deuchers, Butcombe and Greene King among my favourites.
Had a lovely couple of pints of Gem (£2.85 each) from the Bath Brewery on sunday along with an excellent lunch of roast lamb (£8.95)
Oooooh
Old Peculier
Ind Coope Burton Ale (much missed)
Pedigree
Speckled Hen
And, up here in North Yorkshire Cropton Brewery's Monkman's Slaughter (http://www.croptonbrewery.com/), though it's more like a porter really. Doesn't matter though, even as a 6% beer it's not overpowering. Lovely.
And then of course there's Masham, with the White Bear (the best pint of Old Peculier in the country bar none). If you get bored there, stagger the 30 yards to the Black Sheep Brewery.
What a privation that is...
Masham's Great
Had part of my stag weekend at the Theakstons brewery a couple of years ago, you can hire the place for the night, get a tour, and a couple of hours in the bar with no till. Trying your hand at a bit of barrel assembly after a few Old Peculiers is pretty funny.
Taking London Pride as our baseline
of loveliness and nodding to TT.
How about a bottle of Young's Special London Ale(which perhaps heretically got better when it moved north).
Or maybe one of Meantimes dark beers their double chocolate stout is great. Sam smiths oatmeal stout is a reliable tasty beer and I was surprised to try ruddles county the other day (after many years) and it was a really decent bottled bitter.
Lastly if you never had a pint of white shield (like me only a year or so ago) well you should rectify that soon as it's wonderful beer.
Local stuff.
There's a new brewery in Pompey called Irving's. Their Frigate is a smashing pint but it does give me a thick head the next day if I have more than a couple.
Hopback's from Salisbury are always good. Their Summer Lightning which surfaced back in about 1992 started, I believe, the Golden Ale revolution.
Gales HSB, now made by Fullers, is a worthy pint.
Fed Up
with people only associating Bitter with good beer. This thing about only pubs that sell "Real Ale" are the only good pubs drives me up the wall. Being from Czechoslovakia originally ,i can assure you that there are fantastic Pilsner Lagers you've never heard of that would blow your taste buds off. They too are made by small local breweries but the drinkers don't look down their noses at other types of drink. Ok rant over.
I worked in a pub in Brighton famous for it large selection of Real ales,Some of the punters...see above. The best one i tried was Marstons Pedigree.
I've never met a Czech lager I didn't like!
I have been largely restricted to those that are widely available in the UK, obviously - Budvar is my fave, although Staropramen is a good substitute.
Primator is very nice. I
Primator is very nice. I pick it up through Laithwaites wine club, usually when they have it on offer!
To be fair...
...This thread is about one's favourite bitter...
I like a good
Czech, German or Belgian brew as much as the next man, so I don't have a problem with 'em. I'm particualrly liking Leffe Brun right now, for example.
Taylor's Landlord is a fine
Taylor's Landlord is a fine beer. Also local to me are Saltaire Brewery (their Blonde is brilliant, as is their Chocolate Stout.) Copper Dragon's Golden Pippin is very tasty and York Brewery's Yorkshire Terrier was a very pleasant surprise the other night. I'm pleased to see my old local brewery Everards (Leicester) getting out and about a bit. I can even buy it bottled in Yorkshire now.
If you are ever in the Highlands do seek out beers by The Black Isle Brewery, their IPA (Yellowhammer) is something else.
In the past couple of years there has definitely been a shift toward decent beer in many of the local pubs where I live. Has this been the same elsewhere?
Old Speckled Hen
5.2 - the very nectar
I miss a good pint
Being overseas, one of the things that I do miss is a good pint. Favourites have always been Batemans, Timmy Taylors Landlord and Marston's Pedigree. I try and search out when I'm back in the UK.
These days I have to make do mainly with bottles of Specked Hen, Bishops Finger and Charlie's Organic stuff.
I also miss a good pint,
being in Australia.
However, my Australian beer of choice is James Squire Golden Ale, which suits the Australian climate rather well.
Youngs..
..bitter has a taste that immediately brings a smile to my face....
Suprised that the original post gives Tetleys the thumbs up as I always thought this was generally sniffed at by real ale lovers..
There was a saying 'round these parts
If Typhoo put the T in Britain...who put the P in Tetleys?
Hartington IPA
One of the finest beers available in the Peak District.
We are blessed with many fine small breweries in this part of the world. Special mention also to;
Peak Ales - Swift Nick
Spire Breweries - 80 shilling
Thornbridge - Jaipur
Bradfield - Farmers Blonde
Kelham Island - Pale Rider
Too early in the day for this
but never mind
Some current, local-to-me favourites -
Durham Evensong
not to mention Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted, plus the stuff they make at High House Farm just up the road from me ... I'm going to have to have a pint at lunchtime now...
Ahh... this takes me back...
I may have supped a pint or ten of...
Summer Lightning
Archers Golden
Hook Norton
Headcracker
Piston Bitter?
No really. What's that like then?
www.thebeerengine.co.uk/beers.html
I've just found the perfect place to drink them in!!
From this morning's Glasgow Herald
"A Glasgow pub has become the first in Scotland to be permanently shut under new liquor laws after police discovered an arsenal of 29 hidden weapons while investigating the violent death of a customer.
Among the haul of weapons found by officers after the January 3 incident were: a metal baseball bat behind the a bar, a cleaver in the gents’ toilet, a sword behind a wheelie bin in the lounge bar, several machetes, hammers, an axe and a knife beside the dishwasher, an extendable baton in the office, a craft knife in the safe, five knives in a store room, a knife under a water tank and one under a bin."
Oooh
sounds dodgy but I love the way the media can't even report this sort fo thing without over egging the pudding. "a knife beside the dishwasher" unlike any kitchen in the rest of the country presumably and "watch out he's got a craft knife he's going to carefully remove the wings of Airfix Hawker Hurricane from the sprue...."
'
'
Bad beer breath aside...
Burton Ale - sniff sniff
Bass - yup miss this one two
Wadworths 6x - if kept well one of the best mass produced ales
Exmoor Gold
Courage Directors
Tetleys/Ruddles/John Smiths - useful for copper leaching
King of Irish brews
Dublin Guinness is as legendary as stated, but this Louth-brewed masterpiece is the daddy of all Irish darks ales.
I miss it, I'm not able to find it anywhere in Merseyside or North West. The closest is one of Thwaites dark ales.
for what it's worth, Paddy...
it's tricky enough to get Macardles in feckin' Fairview in Dublin. You're quite right though, it's quite a marvellous brew. I'm not sure what a 'session beer' is exactly, but if it means one you can drink for bloody hours without having a mouth that feels as if it was home to a family of rather unhygenic badgers the morning after, then this is surely it.
This is one for the session
The good thing about the two wee bottle/ pint bottle session is you have to treat them with respect thanks to the gas - you can't hoof a whole load down your neck quickly.
Used to be quite prevalent in the North too Ivan, but alas on a recent trip home, nowhere to be seen.
Apparently Kehoe's in Dublin City Centre still does the pint bottles, might have to line up some 'work' in Dublin soon.
Macardles
is all but impossible to find in its home county of Louth, as well. Draught taps disappeared over the last five years in the Wee County and you can't even buy a pint of Harp (yes, I know it is pish but it is locally produced pish)in many pubs in Dundalk or Drogheda. Macardles is superior in every respect to Smithwicks, no doubt.
In relation to fine British beers, I'm obsessed with Greenalls Mild which was a revelation to a palate scorched by over two decades of stout drinking - only pub in the south I ever found it was in Great Missenden in Co. Buckingham - but I will drink anything in an English, Welsh or Scottish bar that isn't lager.
I would challenge anyone to find better bitter than
Moor Revival from the depths of Zummerzet. I think many of you previous posters really need to get out more and get away from the mass-produced pish that passes out of the big brewers - Greene King - its awful, Youngs is a shadow of its former self. London Pride - is that the best that our capital city has to be proud of? Try some micros - Dark Star, Stonehenge, Uley, Kelham Island, Harviestoun, Three Castles, Bath, West Berkshire - there are plenty out there. Best of all, it's good for you!!
Deuchers IPA
is good
I think I had Moor Revival
at the Devizes beerfest last year. Difficult to remember though! :-)
Is Stonehenge the brewery that brewed the green nettle beer I drank in Trellech last summer?
I'm a Landlord
man myself. Timothy Taylor should have been knighted.
If that's not available, I'll happily stick to my East Anglian roots with a pint of gorgeous Adnams Southwold Bitter or the equally majestic Woodforde's Wherry. Best drunk locally, in my opinion.
Anything from the Badger Brewery in Blandford
Especially Blandford Fly and Golden Glory.
Being a west London boy also tip a hat to Fullers ESB and Pride
Copper Dragon's Golden Pippin
has been on at my local in Northampton for some time, very light and drinkable, i'll miss it when it gone.
Too many to mention...
Golden Pippin is great, but perhaps a little bit *too* drinkable, I find!
I don't think I could nominate one favourite, I like so many different kinds. I've taken to attending some of the local CAMRA beer festivals of late, and have discovered a whole range of really great real ales - Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild was one that sticks in the memory, though, and also Leeds' Midnight Bell (the Patrick Hamilton link enticed me to try this).
I'd really recommend the beer festivals for anyone who appreciates a good pint - they're not the raucous, drunken sorts of events I'd imagined they might be, and are not just for serious beer geeks (which we're not). I haven't been persuaded to join CAMRA yet, though!
Pippins
Another of my favourites I forgot to mention!
Arkell Best Bitter
There is a terrific small brewery in Wellington County, Ontario that makes one of the finest ales in Canada. 'Arkell Best Bitter' is reminiscent of Tetley's but has in my opinion a richer taste. My local (Feathers Pub on Kingston Road, with perhaps Toronto's best selection of rare single malts) has Fuller's ESB on draught and that does me nicely.
A couple of locals
The Bull Lane brewery underneath the Clarendon pub in Sunderland makes some lovely ales, I'm quite partial to the SOL and the NowtsAMatta.
Also close to home is the Stables Brewery at Beamish Hall, same owner as Bull Lane I think, smashing pint of Old Miner Tommy, brewed on the premises too.
Brakspear
I'm a big fan of the Henley brew. I also recommend a pint of Youngs mixed (half ordinary, half special) as served in The Abercorn Arms in Teddington.
Bad news about your favourite Tetleys David -
from themanufacturer website...
Protests over Tetley's move
There is growing discontent over brewer Carlsberg’s plans to move production of Tetley’s Cask bitter away from Leeds – the city it was founded in and has been produced in for almost 200 years.
Danish brewer Carlsberg which owns the brand announced last week that it has agreed a deal to have Tetley’s Cask ale produced under license by fellow brewer Marston’s from 2011. This will see production move away from the Joshua Tetley Brewery in Leeds where the bitter has been brewed since its inception in 1822 to Wolverhampton. Production of Tetley’s over leading brand Smoothflow will move to Molson Coors’ Tadcaster brewery in North Yorkshire under a separate agreement. The two deals collectively entail the closure of the Joshua Brewery and the 170 employees there will lose their jobs.
The move has left a sour taste in Leeds. Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland has called for locals to boycott Carlsberg products and on Friday poured a can of the Danish company’s signature lager down the drain outside the doomed brewery in protest.
Mullholland of the Liberal Democrat party said: “This is an appalling decision by Carlsberg UK, which brings a sad end to over 180 years of brewing in Leeds.
"It’s a decision made purely in the interests of corporate greed with no regard for Tetley’s heritage as a famous Leeds beer.
"I am calling for the good people of Leeds to boycott Carlsberg lager to show how we feel about them moving Tetley’s away. I hope they will join me in not touching another drop of Carlsberg."
Andy Hume, Brewery Director at the Leeds Brewery, said the company tried unsuccessfully to find a new Yorkshire home with enough capacity to brew the cask ale.
“As such we needed to find the best option outside of Yorkshire in terms of quality and processes and Marston's provides this,” he said. “Marston's are passionate about brewing great quality cask ale, using traditional methods and are one of the biggest cask ale brewers in the country.”
Mullholland has been joined in his condemnation of the move by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) – an independent 100,000 member group that seeks to protect the interests of traditional bitters and pubs in the UK – and the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, led by Selby MP John Grogan.
“Carlsberg don't do geography lessons, but if they did they'd clearly realise the impact this move will have on the pub-going community in Yorkshire,” said CAMRA vice-chairman Bob Stukins.
“It's unbelievable to think that a long-standing global brewer would make this move at a time when the real ale industry is enjoying year on year growth, and CAMRA's annual research is showing a steep increase in the number of consumers trying real ale for the first time.”
Tetley’s has been part of the Carlsberg Group since 1998. Carlsberg is the world’s fourth largest brewer with over 500 brands. It employs 45,000 people worldwide.
Time for T.E.A.
Another lovely beer from the Hogs Back Brewery based in Tongham, Surrey. ‘TEA’ (Traditional English Ale is a cracking cask-conditioned ale.
Mine
Harvest Pale (Castle Rock, I like most of their beers), Farmers Bitter (Bradfield), Blacksheep, Screech Owl (castle rock), Timothy Taylor Landlord, Theakstons BB, Leffe & Pale Rider. I am a recent convert to the joys of good beer!
Mine
Harvest Pale (Castle Rock, I like most of their beers), Farmers Bitter (Bradfield), Blacksheep, Screech Owl (castle rock), Timothy Taylor Landlord, Theakstons BB, Leffe & Pale Rider. I am a recent convert to the joys of good beer!
Rebellion
my local brew is my favourite...
http://www.rebellionbeer.co.uk/
Served perfectly at my favourite real ale boozer The White Horse in Hedgerley.
http://www.greatbeer.co.uk/bucwhho.htm
I also like St. Peter's ales and you can get them in the Jerusalem Tavern in Farringdon if you're in London:
http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/
http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/london/default.htm
Islay Ales
Although Islay's distilleries are better known, the brewery is very good too.
Their Ardnave Ale is an excellent summer bitter.
http://www.islayales.com/ourales.html
Golden Ale
As a rule I favour a Golden/Ambre/Blonde ale when given a choice in the pub or offie. And this thread has just exposed me as a Johnny come lately Bitter drinker what with Golden beers only being 20 years old at the most.
Anyway, Wytchwood's Wytchcraft, Nottingham Extra Pale Ale, SA Gold, Tribute, Cornish Bucaneer, Williams Gold (found it bloody difficult to dislike any of this Alloa breweries beers) and Everard's Sunchaser are among my favourites.
I love beer me. And spend 5 hours in the gym every week to counter balance my love.
Straying abroad
...in France I love a bottle of Jenlain
I love the wired on cork top. Two of these bad boys will see you right. You sometimes see it in the UK.
My all-time favourite beer remains
Hook Norton best. Been drinking it for 30 years and it's still the best pint I've ever tasted.
In bottle, I recommend Wye Valley Brewery's 'Dorothy Goodbody'
Breton blonde
This blonde from Brittany is very lovely and very near the lighter, paler ales you get here, particularly in summer.
It has enlivened many a Breton family holiday.
Crouch Vale Brewers Gold
Sheer hoppy heaven in a glass. Mainly available in Essex/Suffolk, but if you like Deuchars and Landlord it's definitely worth a go.
http://www.crouchvale.co.uk
had some of this
recently in Salisbury. Top notch.
Not a 'Real' ale...
... but a gorgeous drop from ye olde electric pump all the same!
Samuel Smiths
Another favourite, I think Samuel Smith pub's are Britain's cheapest taverns for beer, but some people don't like them because they can't find their wel known beer brands there. Last time I was in London I went to one off Fleet Street I think? Can't remember the name, but a great pub. See also The Kings Arms in York and The Golden Ball in Scarborough.
Wychwood's March ale: Paddy's Tout
Twice this weeek on a school night...
In the Crow's Nest, Crosby, Merseyside tonight I had a great stout Paddy's Tout by Wychwood.
http://www.wychwood.co.uk/beers.html
Renamed Paddy's A Tout for the Northern Irish contingent.
When money's tight.......
When money's tight and hard to get
And your horse has also ran.
When all you have is a heap of debt
A pint of plain is your only man.
North East Brewed And Named Beers
http://www.hadrian-border-brewery.co.uk/ourbeers.htm
Give me any of these beers brewed locally by this micro brewery and I'll be happy.
Please stop this thread immediately!
This is unbearable! Whenever people here ask me, What do you miss most about England? I always reply, "Good beer". They then look at me as if I were nuts. August 19th seems an awful long way away right now - ash clouds permitting, that is.
Anyway, I hope I've made my pint. There seems little pint in my continuing this post.