andsome Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Old peculiar is still going strong ...easy to get hold of in the bottle (ASDA Sainsburys ,tesco's .....etc) ...... even on tap at the (occasional guest ) 3 barrels on Charing cross road .....my fav watering hole if I'm of to the cinemas down Leicester square .....Quite a few real ale pubs around where I live .... I can even get Brains SA on tap sometimes ...... Directors (tap) is almost common .......It appears that the south is slowly getting rid of the fizzy pop, and converting to real ale at last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 I'm not a connoisseur of beer (or any other alcoholic drink) but I do know that the South is not as barren in the real ale stakes as people living further North seem to like to think.The fizzy pop style of "beer" is very restricted to trendy wine bars and such like. Real pubs sell real beer and there are lots and lots of small/medium sized breweries operating to keep up with the ever increasing demand - all started and run by enthusiasts anxious to keep the taste of natural beers alive and kicking. Names like Gale's, Ballard's, Sharps, Hogsback come to mind without even a second thought - all of them producing REAL beers made in the REAL way from NATURAL ingredients.My local pub (who I design and print menus and notices for) has a collection of beer pump badges saved from the guest beers that they have had on tap for the past five years. They amount to over six hundred - all different and almost all from Southern breweries. Some of the are a bit esoteric like Pudding Ale (tasting of Christmas pudding) and Devil's Kiss (with chilli) but most are genuine real ales and beers.I've lived in the South for nearly 30 years (with sojourns abroad) and have never known fizzy pop style beers have any real popularity amongst human beings. Things are different in London, of course, where residents will drink anything to get rid of the awful taste of the tapwater there. Never confuse "the South" with London. London is a different country as far as Southerners are concerned. A place to go to work and then get away from as quickly as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 I'm glad that you sorted that out pops. I apologise to anyone who I have offended by lumping the rest of the south, with that awful metropolis. Here is a link to our local small brewery. I buy their beers at every chance when they are guests in local watering holes.LICHFIELD BREWERY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Good idea, that, andsome. Here's the breweries I mentionedHogs BackGalesSharpsBallards :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Good idea, that, andsome. Here's the breweries I mentionedHogs BackGalesSharpsBallards :)I have heard of them all. I am sure that I have sampled Hogs Back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Here is a small brewery whose fortunes I have followed with interest since they started up a few years ago. It's a pity about the name. :D :D :D Wyre Piddle Brewery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4\/!d Posted August 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Good idea, that, andsome. Here's the breweries I mentionedHogs BackGalesSharpsBallards :)What a wonderful selection pops. You certainly know good real ale. I have visited many breweries. All of the above except Sharps. The other three all do the most excellent brewery trips. The best for me being Gales, eventhough I am not a fan of their beers - too sweet for my palette.Some other breweries with award winning beers to look out for are:Triple fffSurrey Hills only been open a few months and won two awards already!Crouch Vale (gold winner of this week's Champion Beer of Britain)Dark StarPlus the three breweries in Horsham who set up after the closure of King and Barnes - Weltons, Hepworth & Co, and WJ King. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 What a wonderful selection pops. You certainly know good real ale. :D I never drink any alcohol so my expertise is very secondhand - all from information from my sons (who make up my share) and from the pub I do the printing for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadyassa Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Old peculiar is still going strong ...easy to get hold of in the bottle (ASDA Sainsburys ,tesco's .....etc) ...... even on tap at the (occasional guest ) 3 barrels on Charing cross road .....my fav watering hole if I'm of to the cinemas down Leicester square .....Quite a few real ale pubs around where I live .... I can even get Brains SA on tap sometimes ...... Directors (tap) is almost common .......It appears that the south is slowly getting rid of the fizzy pop, and converting to real ale at last.I can remember Directors bitter in London 40 years ago :blink: :blink: :P perhaps it then went north ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadyassa Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Trying to research on Courage`s, I think they are or were the makers of Directors bitter ??.I traced it through Courage - Fosters - Stottish and Newcastle - Carling Okeefe and then gave up, no wonder the taste changes ;) It looks like it was a Scotsman living in London who started the brewery ;) Courage : owner 1955 - 1986John Courage was a shipping agent at Aberdeen. He moved to London and founded a business in 1787 when he purchased a brewery in Southwark. Before the First World War (1914-18), the company - known as Courage & Donaldson between 1797 and 1851 - was a London brewery. In the inter-war years it extended its operations to the England's Home Counties, however, its customer base rested on the thirst of London's dockers. In the 1950s the docks began to decline. Courage responded with mergers and acquisitions most of them in southern England. In 1955 the company merged with its great Southwark rival Barclay & Perkins.After the 1955 merger the brewery was known as Courage, Barclay & Company Limited. From 1960 it was known as Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Company Limited. After the merger Barclay's site was used to build a huge bottling factory, appropriately called the Globe Bottling Store. The company was renamed Courage Ltd in October 1970.The Anchor Brewery finally closed in 1981 and the buildings were demolished. The land was sold for redevelopment as housing. All brewing being transferred to a new brewery at Worton Grange, Reading, Berkshire.The remains of the ancient Globe Theatre were discovered during redevelopment on the old brewery site in 1989, and after seven years of campaigning led by Sam Wanamaker, a reconstructed Globe Theatre was opened to the public in August 1996 with a performance of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, the first production held on the site for more than 350 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4\/!d Posted August 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Beer and Brewing: Alton's clear springs, which also mark the start of the River Wey and the surrounding hop fields made it an ideal centre for brewing beer from early times. Although much reduced, hop fields are still to be found in the local countryside. Alton became the home for both Courage and Watney's brewerieshttp://www.altonchamber.co.uk/LifeStyle.htmAlton was renowned for its beer. Thackeray in Vanity Fair tells of Joseph Sedley’s journey from Southampton to London. ‘At Alton he stepped out of the carriage at his servant’s request, and imbibed some of the ale for which the place is famous.’ The water at Alton is similar in quality to that of Burton upon Trent, and this enabled the local brewers to brew the pale ales of the Burton type which were most popular in the nineteenth century. Courage, the London brewer, bought the Alton Brewery Company in 1903 to secure their pale ale supplies after an agreement with Fremlins expired.http://www.hampshirefare.co.uk/Food%20Heritage.htmlMy understanding is that at one time Courage brewed a beer at Alton called Alton Directors Pride, which eventually became known as Courage Directors.And another thing, if any of you have ever visited a Davy's traditional ale and port house such as The Tappit Hen or The Mug House or Charlie's and sampled the ale called Davy's Old Wallop. Served in quart pewter jugs and drunk from pewter tankards. Then you have been drinking Courage Directors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2 Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Too many years ago to remember, my father worked in the Whitbreads brewery in cheltenham, he had a daily allowance of 2 pints, which he brought home in a stoppered bottle my beer of choice then was the IPA, I remember drinking it and watching the moon landings :D :D .A few years later my ale of choice came from Wadworth Breweries 6X or Old timerNow I very rarely touch a drop ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Aren't the traditional beer festivals in Europe held in October?We have a take-off of the German Octoberfest here in the States during that same month.Second question....who do you think makes a better beer....England or Germany? :uhm: (We all know the answer would be the US if it were included in the question. :rolleyes: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 You are so wrong... there is no better beer in the world than a good British one!! :cheers2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 You may very well be correct (and I was only teasing).. I have to admit that I have not had any real English beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Ah well, you must try it some time. :) Just out of interest, have you ever visited the UK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 I was scheduled to back in the 1980's but the trip (business) fell through at the last minute.I had a strong working relationship with several work associates from the UK and mentored 2 of them when they traveled to the US for a week.They seemed to like the US beer. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Aren't the traditional beer festivals in Europe held in October?We have a take-off of the German Octoberfest here in the States during that same month.Second question....who do you think makes a better beer....England or Germany? :uhm: (We all know the answer would be the US if it were included in the question. :rolleyes: )I have drunk some excellent German, Belgian and Dutch beers. Each have their own merits. I prefer a good British traditional beer drawn through a beer engine via a hand pump, but a good continental beer brewed in the localitry is excellent. Local German beers brewed in the Spring do not travel well, and are drunk locally whilst still young, I seem to recall that the term used is Maybock or simlilar, meaning made in May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadyassa Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Your right deuces there is a festival in Norwich England in October ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4\/!d Posted August 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 There are many Beer Festivals in October I expect to be pulling pints on the beer bar at the following festivals:CroydonRedhilland Twickenham :cheers2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Pulling or sinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4\/!d Posted August 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Hehe, if you want to sink some beers then try something from this brewery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 More good stuff from the Midlands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 currently caining a Fullers 1835 (a sarf london brew )..6.3% bottle conditioned (goldings hops) ...very malty ...nice ...If your near a Sainsburys ..they are clearing out a Fullers mix 4 bottle pack for £3.85Golden pride, IPA,ESB, and 1845 .....excellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 DWSecond question....who do you think makes a better beer....England or Germany?The Germans do make better lagers than the British ......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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