Best Bitter

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

On ‎08‎/‎06‎/‎2019 at 16:16, Dave T said:

I'm just enjoying a William's Bros ale - Fraoch heather ale. Very nice, please tell me it ain't a Stones Bitter repackaged!

What I can, admittedly a bit pedantically, tell you, Dave, is that this is tautology.  My Gaelic vocabulary is not extensive, but I am pretty sure that 'fraoch' means 'heather'!

[SSoutherner]

At my bike even t i have just been working on we had 7 real ales (6 from Rebellion in Marlow) ranging from 3.5 to 5.7% and 3 real ciders (inc one at 7.4%) plus a real Perry, bizarrely we also had Newcastle Brown in ORANGE cans - when did that happen ?

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Thanks, everyone, for an excellent thread, encouraging many memories and anecdotes.

I seem to recall once reading that, many, many moons ago, the head of the Taylor brewing family in Keighley was, at one time, also a magistrate and got himself on the licensing panel - so no conflict of interest there then!  I don't know if this is true, I should add.

I enjoyed the reference to Hartley's of Ulverston.  The Morcambe Bay area really lost out with the demise of that brewery and the two, traditional Lancaster ones - Yates & Jackson and Mitchell's.  When my wife and I got married, in a village near Settle where I was then living, we had a DIY reception in the village hall.  I went across to Lancaster, by arrangement, to pick up a wooden pin of Hartley's XB Bitter from the pub they had down on the riverside (was it called The Waggon & Horses, perhaps?), and a second wooden pin of Y&J.  The latter I picked up from the brewery, who happily let me take it away on the assumption I would be honest enough to drive round to their offices, which were elsewhere in the city centre, and pay, which I was and did!

I am glad Black Sheep beers have developed a following.  My wife and I (celebrating our Ruby wedding anniversary!) had a holiday in the Dales last month and called in to the visitor centre there is nowadays at the Black Sheep brewery in Masham.  This was quite nostalgic for me, as the last time that I was there was as an official guest on the day that the brewery was opened, 25 years ago, by Nicholas Soames, MP, who was a junior minister at DEFRA, or whatever it was called in those days.  He had a reputation as a lover of good food and drink (I think Private Eye used to call him 'Fatty' Soames) and his eyes must have lit up when he saw his official duties for that week!

Tetley's used to do a good, well flavoured, dark mild draught beer, and as somebody else has mentioned, Taylor's do one.  I also think of dark milds as being a Midlands drink.  I was sorry to hear of bad Everard's experiences; I have always found their beers to be OK, if not truly memorable.  Two other Midlands brewers were Shipstone's and Hardy's & Hanson's (t/a Kimberley Ales).  A friend once told me that he had heard that a local saying about the former was Shipstone's Shippos makes you sh*t like hippos!"  No idea if this was a fair comment!  I think they closed about 30 years ago.  The latter, who ceased brewing in about 2005, had a very simple, but catchy slogan - "Stop with the hop!"  Amen to that!

[Dave T]

33 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

What I can, admittedly a bit pedantically, tell you, Dave, is that this is tautology.  My Gaelic vocabulary is not extensive, but I am pretty sure that 'fraoch' means 'heather'!

Sort of, it is a heather ale, that has creatively used the Gaelic word for heather as its brand name.

[Bearman]

My Grandmothers name was Ricard. My Dad reckoned that our family was part of the "Beerage"

( see my signature below"

[shaun mc]

2 hours ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Thanks, everyone, for an excellent thread, encouraging many memories and anecdotes.

I seem to recall once reading that, many, many moons ago, the head of the Taylor brewing family in Keighley was, at one time, also a magistrate and got himself on the licensing panel - so no conflict of interest there then!  I don't know if this is true, I should add.

I enjoyed the reference to Hartley's of Ulverston.  The Morcambe Bay area really lost out with the demise of that brewery and the two, traditional Lancaster ones - Yates & Jackson and Mitchell's.  When my wife and I got married, in a village near Settle where I was then living, we had a DIY reception in the village hall.  I went across to Lancaster, by arrangement, to pick up a wooden pin of Hartley's XB Bitter from the pub they had down on the riverside (was it called The Waggon & Horses, perhaps?), and a second wooden pin of Y&J.  The latter I picked up from the brewery, who happily let me take it away on the assumption I would be honest enough to drive round to their offices, which were elsewhere in the city centre, and pay, which I was and did!

I am glad Black Sheep beers have developed a following.  My wife and I (celebrating our Ruby wedding anniversary!) had a holiday in the Dales last month and called in to the visitor centre there is nowadays at the Black Sheep brewery in Masham.  This was quite nostalgic for me, as the last time that I was there was as an official guest on the day that the brewery was opened, 25 years ago, by Nicholas Soames, MP, who was a junior minister at DEFRA, or whatever it was called in those days.  He had a reputation as a lover of good food and drink (I think Private Eye used to call him 'Fatty' Soames) and his eyes must have lit up when he saw his official duties for that week!

Tetley's used to do a good, well flavoured, dark mild draught beer, and as somebody else has mentioned, Taylor's do one.  I also think of dark milds as being a Midlands drink.  I was sorry to hear of bad Everard's experiences; I have always found their beers to be OK, if not truly memorable.  Two other Midlands brewers were Shipstone's and Hardy's & Hanson's (t/a Kimberley Ales).  A friend once told me that he had heard that a local saying about the former was Shipstone's Shippos makes you sh*t like hippos!"  No idea if this was a fair comment!  I think they closed about 30 years ago.  The latter, who ceased brewing in about 2005, had a very simple, but catchy slogan - "Stop with the hop!"  Amen to that!

You're right - the pub at Lancaster by the river Lune is the Waggon and Horses. Lots of the riverside sheds and warehouses have been knocked down recently in that area for housing

[Steve May]

On 08/06/2019 at 18:20, Futtocks said:

Scottish & Newcastle's PR department have all just committed seppuku.

BITD a bottle of Newky Brown was £1.25 in the college bar. 

And the label had an extra bit at the top that said “The One and Only” which meant it had a concave corner.  It was a great challenge to peel the label off without tearing that corner.  

With, er, practice I got the hang of it and soon amassed a collection of hundreds, which I pinned to the wall in my student digs.  

Happy days. 

[bobbruce]

On 08/06/2019 at 15:28, Dave T said:

I'm a bit of a sucker for a funky brand tbh. But it certainly doesn't always equal a better beer.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FR9Gc-7IsKo&feature=youtu.be#menu

[SSoutherner]

1 hour ago, Steve May said:

BITD a bottle of Newky Brown was £1.25 in the college bar. 

And the label had an extra bit at the top that said “The One and Only” which meant it had a concave corner.  It was a great challenge to peel the label off without tearing that corner.  

With, er, practice I got the hang of it and soon amassed a collection of hundreds, which I pinned to the wall in my student digs.  

Happy days. 

in 1989 one hall bar was student run (rather than a paid bar manager) and were still selling it at £1 in Reading - my Geordie mate made me spend ages in that hall

[Futtocks]

On 08/06/2019 at 15:28, Dave T said:

I'm a bit of a sucker for a funky brand tbh. But it certainly doesn't always equal a better beer.

And certainly doesn't mean it is automatically bad, either. But sometimes the hipster arsiness of the branding can put you off trying what turns out to be an excellent product.

[Clogiron]

6 hours ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Thanks, everyone, for an excellent thread, encouraging many memories and anecdotes.

I seem to recall once reading that, many, many moons ago, the head of the Taylor brewing family in Keighley was, at one time, also a magistrate and got himself on the licensing panel - so no conflict of interest there then!  I don't know if this is true, I should add.

I enjoyed the reference to Hartley's of Ulverston.  The Morcambe Bay area really lost out with the demise of that brewery and the two, traditional Lancaster ones - Yates & Jackson and Mitchell's.  When my wife and I got married, in a village near Settle where I was then living, we had a DIY reception in the village hall.  I went across to Lancaster, by arrangement, to pick up a wooden pin of Hartley's XB Bitter from the pub they had down on the riverside (was it called The Waggon & Horses, perhaps?), and a second wooden pin of Y&J.  The latter I picked up from the brewery, who happily let me take it away on the assumption I would be honest enough to drive round to their offices, which were elsewhere in the city centre, and pay, which I was and did!

I am glad Black Sheep beers have developed a following.  My wife and I (celebrating our Ruby wedding anniversary!) had a holiday in the Dales last month and called in to the visitor centre there is nowadays at the Black Sheep brewery in Masham.  This was quite nostalgic for me, as the last time that I was there was as an official guest on the day that the brewery was opened, 25 years ago, by Nicholas Soames, MP, who was a junior minister at DEFRA, or whatever it was called in those days.  He had a reputation as a lover of good food and drink (I think Private Eye used to call him 'Fatty' Soames) and his eyes must have lit up when he saw his official duties for that week!

Tetley's used to do a good, well flavoured, dark mild draught beer, and as somebody else has mentioned, Taylor's do one.  I also think of dark milds as being a Midlands drink.  I was sorry to hear of bad Everard's experiences; I have always found their beers to be OK, if not truly memorable.  Two other Midlands brewers were Shipstone's and Hardy's & Hanson's (t/a Kimberley Ales).  A friend once told me that he had heard that a local saying about the former was Shipstone's Shippos makes you sh*t like hippos!"  No idea if this was a fair comment!  I think they closed about 30 years ago.  The latter, who ceased brewing in about 2005, had a very simple, but catchy slogan - "Stop with the hop!"  Amen to that!

Believe your right about the Magistrate/Licensing panel, I also recall that one was the Lord Leftenant of Yorkshire a while back, needless to say rabid tories to a man, always a fly in the ointment somewhere, still brew excellent beer for all that, though upto 40+ years ago they had some pretty sparse/rough pubs around the district but thankfully have improved that side of the business massively

 

 

 

[gazza77]

Just been to the local for tea. Stood at the bar in front of 7 pumps, each with a different Taylor's brew on, when someone walked and commented "they have really good beer on in here. Amstel."

[Gerrumonside ref]

14 minutes ago, gazza77 said:

Just been to the local for tea. Stood at the bar in front of 7 pumps, each with a different Taylor's brew on, when someone walked and commented "they have really good beer on in here. Amstel."

Fox and Goose?

[gazza77]

11 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Fox and Goose?

Hare and Hounds. 

[Gerrumonside ref]

2 minutes ago, gazza77 said:

Hare and Hounds. 

If it’s the one I’m thinking of it does great food (mind you when I used to live in Hebden there were a lot of great pubs on the outskirts!)

Wonderful place to live and I regret leaving really.

[gazza77]

18 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

If it’s the one I’m thinking of it does great food (mind you when I used to live in Hebden there were a lot of great pubs on the outskirts!)

Wonderful place to live and I regret leaving really.

It's this one. Food is excellent, especially the pies. Couldn't want somewhere better to spend two minutes walking to. 

[Clogiron]

1 hour ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

If it’s the one I’m thinking of it does great food (mind you when I used to live in Hebden there were a lot of great pubs on the outskirts!)

Wonderful place to live and I regret leaving really.

By ' eck there's some rum 'uns to be found in Hebden Bridge or Planet Zog as a mate used to call it

[Oxford]

On 13/06/2019 at 22:44, Clogiron said:

Hebden Bridge

Always used to visit the market there.

When I lived in Leicester i used to plan lunches around the Camera guide to pubs, does that still exist?

[bazzzz65]

On Saturday, June 08, 2019 at 21:12, Gerrumonside ref said:

Will always buy a pint of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord whenever I can find it at a free house.

Not sure if that’s relevant to this thread or not, but I consider it liquid gold.

I don’t mind the beer-in-a-can phenomenon that’s swept the country as long as it gets people into the general habit of having the odd pint.

It was my favourite beer 30 odd years ago but it is a shadow of it s former self. There are so many new beers from small breweries these days. In West aLone In where I live there is such a great choice of beers.

But unfortunately I m in SE Asia for 8 weeks and it s all lager unless you want to pay £8 for an Aussie or NZ microbrew or banana beer in Vietnam which is brewed freshly and delivered to street cafes and really cheap and very good.

[Gerrumonside ref]

4 hours ago, bazzzz65 said:

It was my favourite beer 30 odd years ago but it is a shadow of it s former self. There are so many new beers from small breweries these days. In West aLone In where I live there is such a great choice of beers.

But unfortunately I m in SE Asia for 8 weeks and it s all lager unless you want to pay £8 for an Aussie or NZ microbrew or banana beer in Vietnam which is brewed freshly and delivered to street cafes and really cheap and very good.

Sad to hear about Landlord.

[Futtocks]

4 hours ago, TheConductor said:

Pint of Elton did he have ?

Are you Yoda?

[Oxford]

 

https://www.camra.org.uk/

[Clogiron]

13 hours ago, Oxford said:

 

https://www.camra.org.uk/

I have a sign saying "Beer, not just a breakfast drink"

[Oxford]

9 minutes ago, Clogiron said:

I have a sign saying "Beer, not just a breakfast drink"

I'd like to be able to say this came as a surprise but I've read your posts!

[Futtocks]

13 hours ago, Oxford said:

 

https://www.camra.org.uk/

I've had a couple of pints of that beer, and it was very nice. In a Central London pub, so not cheap, but even so...