http://www.readingcamra.org.uk/pub_guide/what_is_real.htm
Each time my workmates get excited at the beer festival coming to Derby I shudder at the thought. I come along to be sociable, but to be honest I hate the stuff. It’s warm, sticky and probably named after the brewer’s genitals for good reason. <yikes>
What the F is Pigswill, Fursty Ferret, Locky's Liquor Locker Liquor

Good question. I noticed our local Tescos have started selling Old Speckled Hen, Fursty Ferret and Bishops Finger.

Whitestar had a very unfortunate experience with the Bishop's Finger the year before we got married. He head been on a works "do" just before Christmas and was supposed to be coming over to mine afterwards in order to get a quick getaway the next morning to my mother's. Unfortunately, he had several too many and was unable to speak without slurring, let alone drive from Lichfield to Nottingham. I was not best pleased but the diamond ring on Christmas Day made up for it. Suffice to say he has not touched the stuff since.

I'm not a beer drinker generally speaking but I do enjoy the occasional Theakston's Old Peculier or (from over the road to that) Black Sheep Ale (a most appropriate name considering the history behind it!)

Can't get enough of the stuff! When I was down in Cornwall recently I discovered a wonderful brew named Doom Bar; I always make a point of sampling the local ale whenever I visit somewhere new. Of the (relatively) widely-marketed stuff, I do like Black Sheep (brewed at Masham, is it not?) and Ruddles County.

Real ale is great! I can't get enough of the stuff. I'm always at the Cambridge Beer Festival!

It certainly is! In the brewery over the road from Theakston's. The guy who started Black Sheep Brewery is in fact one of the Theakston family, but fell out with them - hence the name Black Sheep Brewery.

That story certainly rings a bell - can't remember where I heard it before, though.

One thing that amuses me about Black Sheep is that many pubs in the Yorkshire Dales (even as a Lancastrian, the Dales is one of my favourite places for a holiday) have the Black Sheep logo on their signs, but hardly any of them actually serve Black Sheep ale! I think it's because the Black Sheep brewery also manufacturers cheap pub signs.

Old Speckled Hen - don't particularly enjoy it, but Mrs Norbert does. Fursty Ferret - nice pint, said other likes it too. Bishops Finger = fab. Guess who likes that as well....? Black Sheep? Yup, in Yorkshire it's wonderful, had millions when I went to the NYMR. DON'T buy it out a bottle, it's craaaaaaaap, fizzy gunk!

Anyway Steel, if you think Pigswill is and odd name, I can clain to have drunk the following:

Sheepshagger, Old Tosser, Pressed Rat (or was it Ferret?) and Warthog, Exmoor Beast (astonishingly strong, and sickly 6.6%), Hog's Back A over T (9.5%!!!!) and many, many other stupidly named and astonishingly tasty real ales. The trouble is, real ales (and any bitters) are an acquired taste, a bit like Marmite and Guinness (I also have some Marmite Guinness :) ) and for every great beer you'll find a shocker. Of course, one man's (sorry, person's) shocker is another's gold.

Over all, I'll quote the Wychwood Brewery - one of my faves - t-shirt for Hobgoblin, which is an astonishingly tasty beverage:

"What's the matter lagerboy? Afraid of the dark side??"

Black Sheep brewery is so-called because the owner left the family business to set it up, hence being the 'black sheep' of the family.....

Trust me, it's true! I used to work for a very large firm of lawyers in Leeds and we did all the legal work on the takeover of the Black Sheep Brewery! During the transaction I used to speak to Mr Theakston on a regular basis, but he never sent me any free samples :(

Are you sure it's the Black Sheep logo and not the Old Peculier one, which most of the pubs I know of seem to display.

One of the pubs down the road (we have many in Droitwich) serves something called "Piddle in the Wind." That's the oddest local one I've found.

Pretty sure it's Black Sheep. Old Peculier do have a few signs around, but most of those pubs (in my experience, anyway) tend to serve it as well....

Slightly off topic but.......

One of the Sisters at our Medical Assessment Unit at the Hospital is responsible for organising the CAMRA Beer Festival locally.

She gets to see her customers later on when they are paraletic, and in need of medical treatment.


<topic>

Real Ale, can't be doing with it!
(I'm the one also who toured the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, and when they give you a free pint at the end of the tour, ask "Do You Have Anything Else?" <blush>

And you've still got both legs??

<unsure>

Come on, Shadowman, there's nothing better than a pint of Guinness in Ireland!

Don't be silly, of course there is...

Two pints of Guinness.....

Or a pint of Guinness followed by a shot of Jameson....

Or two pints of Guinness followed by two shots....

Or...

Point(s) taken.

The best pint of Guinness I had was when I visited Dublin in April - we were sat at the bar having a pint of the black stuff, watching Ireland play England in the cricket! That's something that doesn't happen very often, I'm sure....

A pint of Guinness outside of Ireland.....



























<peek>

Love it <thumbsup>

HATE it. Real Cider on the other hand is a different matter....

Rob, did it really take you three months to come up with that?

<peek>

Currently Wetherspoon's Real Ale Festival!

<thumbsup>

Why am I only learning this now? <beer>

The story of Black sheep (at least according to the guy on the brewery tour) is that Paul Theakston was the only one of the Theakston family that wanted to continue brewing so he ran the Theakston brewery. When that was taken over by Scotish and Newcastle, he resigned and set up the Blacksheep brewery in competition with the aim to brew traditional ale with modern techniques.

Personally I can't stand bitter of any description and Stout is poison to me. I'm a lager man I'm afraid.

HERETIC!!! BLASPHEMER!!!! <roflmao>

Or just plain numpty.... lol

Still, a pint of wifebeater tastes so lovely with all it's chemically enhanced flavours!!

<sick>

Nah, bitter just tastes rank (that malty taste is weird) and it sits badly in my stomach. I just prefer lager, much more refreshing. Any way, I stay away from Captain stella because that stuff is horrible too. A good draft premium lager (not stella) will do me. Also, becks on tap is pretty nice these days.

I remember when i went to Silverstone in 1994 the Beer in the local village was AMAZING.

Love the stuff esp BASS beer <beer>

Since the smoking ban, not only have i noticed that pubs are getting emptier but a few are now beginning to close down local to me.

A landlady i know who ran an established pub/bed and breakfast went to Ireland many months before the smoking ban took hold in the UK to find out how their trade was affected as their ban came in before the UK's.
She and her husband were shocked to see a medium area of towns had no fewer than 19 pubs closed down since the ban.
On her return she quickly sold the business to one of the chains for what at that time was a cut price. Its just as well she did as the business is in free fall.
I am sure many of us find it very easy to get served in a pub these days as there are less people in their and the main money seems to come from the meals.

So you may ask what's that got to do with real ale?............lots in fact..........As you know i am no fan of real ale so had to be was dragged yet again kicking and screaming to a beer festival, and to my surprise they are as busy as ever.

Maybe there is a message there the pubs that are struggling should look at? <think>

Being a Northerner I do like a pint with a head on it , whenever I have a pint in the South or London it normally costs twice the price & resembles cold tea...

Although when I lived in Hereford, the beer & the cider in particular were fantastic..!


<cool>

Start breaking the law? <roflmao>

Seriously, this is exactly what all thinking people predicted would happen once we started pandering to the health nannyfascists. I'm not a smoker, but I'd much rather have the pubs staying in business rather than forcing more than half their clientele outside every half an hour, and more than likely causing many of them to stay at home instead of bothering with the hassle.

You watch, come the summer the nannies will be complaining again that the beer gardens are full of smoke .... they're going to kill the industry at this rate.

Its all very strange...the pub I go to has a heated outdoor smoking area, more often than not there are more people outside smoking than people sitting inside the pub......


I also think supermarkets selling beer as a loss leader has also had an impact on the number of pub goers....

<beer>

<rolleyes> yes.... and 4 to respond.

Well, all the lagerboys will be avoiding Wetherspoons unti mid-April, seeing as it's the Real Ale Festival....

<beer>

one thing that really annoys me about real ale is that you can only gfet certain types in certain areas of the country, when im at home i really enjoy a pint of adnams - broadside, or a pint of bombadier. however in manchester its impossible to get these and you have to drink joseph holt pints - not that thats a problem but i would love to be able to drink adnams all yer round!

http://www.adnams.co.uk/CellarAndKitchen/P...Y&group4=*EMPTY

I may just have made your day..............you can order on line using the link above <thumbsup>



Adnams

Adnams Broadside, 500ml, pack of 12 bottles Price: £24.50

Well I cannot get any of that stuff over here ever. <hitwall> Although American Ale is pretty good, still wish I could get some Trappist. <sad>

Sorry Rob, i tried but the best i got was

Magnum of Chimay bleue grande réserve, millésime 1999 Vintage, trappist beer (Belgium).

Nice one, my student loan came in yesterday so these should be arriving pretty soon. pity i cant drink too many of them atm as exams restrict my leasure time!

Still dont like it <sick>