Bye Bye Harvey's ?

[fataddick]

Another reason Harvey's can keep ticking over is the 48 pubs that they own (Dark Star, by comparison, have three). My mate runs one of their pubs, and they are pretty ruthless. Most other breweries and pubco's just tie you to having to get your draught stuff (and sometimes just the ales) from them, with Harvey's the publican has to get EVERYTHING from them. Bottles of spirits and wines, for example, Harvey's charges my mate 50% more than what they'd cost in an off-licence (let alone a wholesaler)!

 

[Questions]

You dont get the respect for Harveys from people this side of the county like you do with the more local drinkers of Brighton and Lewes. If some of Harveys other offerings actually got out here that might change a tad but all we have to go on is their 'Best'.

 

[shingle]

You cannot whack a pint ot two of Harveys in the garden of The Trevor in Glynde on a warm summers evening.

That's all i have to say

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Look out for Brewdog 77 Lager in bottles, have just been savouring one, very full hoppy flavour for a pilsner. Hard to get a regular supply other than ordering it off the Brewdog website http://www.brewdog.com/77_lager.php but does come up in larger Tescos. Brewdog also do Zeitgeist, a 4.9% black lager which I have yet to try.

Thank you for this. I've just been on their website but sadly it's out of stock at the moment.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

I did read about the demographic shifting a bit, and real ale sales increasing...albeit marginally. Most people know I do not like real ale but I have discovered The Meantime Brewery who do a nice lager. If any of you know any other indy breweries who make a lager type product please let me know.

Evening mate - Hepworths Organic Blonde Lager is a nice drop. Starting to be sold in a few places. Can also recommend Beer Matt - Delivering Beers and Ales, direct to your home as a place to buy a wide variety of local beers online.

 

[Spiros]

In your 20s and you drink real-ale?

Funny as it may sound my 15 year old daughter prefers it to lager or alcopops

 

[beorhthelm]

Copperwheat is a wheat beer. Available on draught in June and bottles year round. It's an ale-style wheat beer though, I assume you mean a chilled gassed lager-style wheat beer. ...

Beer breweries marketing lagers rarely works. ...

chilled and gassed or not, i think the marketing is the issue - they dont. even in Harveys pubs i failed to see any Copperwheat. im not sure many lager drinking pub goers care what brand they drink, theres certainly very little brand loyalty. just ask for whatevers there which you "like", most lager drinkers will just as soon drink Becks as Stella as Fosters as Peroni. they wont avoid the Dog and Duck because its such and such brewery and therefore doesnt do Grolsch or whatever. its wet, fizzy and gets them merry/pissed.

In central London there's quite a few pubs selling "man in a box" lager by Samual Smith, its acceptance seems to suggest people will take to non-big branded lagers if its put in front of them. if The Nelson offered Harveys Copperwheat or some lager i'd certainly try it rather than stay safe on guiness (i dont care much for the Best and reluctant to try new ales on a session after a rather nasty reaction once).

theres a snobishness against lagers and that means lot of smaller brewers dont want to get involved, meanwhile we are paying a premium for the likes of Staropramen, Paulaner, Hoegaarden and Erdinger (i know some of these are owned by the big boys but they are still a league above the Stella and Fosters). rather suggests to me the smaller UK breweries are missing on a market.

Given the slow decline of pub drinking

i think the decline is overplayed. certain pubs that offer nothing more than drinking draft lager have found competing againt supermarkets difficult, while the brewery and pubcos have made it difficult for many too. i know plenty of pubs that have closed, but mostly they were shit. go to a Wetherspoons, trading on the simple offering of sensible priced beer and some resonable food and they are pretty busy (and selling bottled Erdinger, Tucher and other exotic lagers, noticing the trend). other pubs offering a proper pub atmosphere or good range thrive.

...My mate runs one of their pubs, and they are pretty ruthless. Most other breweries and pubco's just tie you to having to get your draught stuff (and sometimes just the ales) from them, with Harvey's the publican has to get EVERYTHING from them.

isnt that the case with all breweries and especially the pubcos, which is where they make their money (since they have no product of their own to sell)?

 

[Notters]

Another reason Harvey's can keep ticking over is the 48 pubs that they own (Dark Star, by comparison, have three). My mate runs one of their pubs, and they are pretty ruthless. Most other breweries and pubco's just tie you to having to get your draught stuff (and sometimes just the ales) from them, with Harvey's the publican has to get EVERYTHING from them. Bottles of spirits and wines, for example, Harvey's charges my mate 50% more than what they'd cost in an off-licence (let alone a wholesaler)!

This is simply not true. A lot of the wine from the Harveys SHOP is stll cheaper than from wholesalers.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Evening mate - Hepworths Organic Blonde Lager is a nice drop. Starting to be sold in a few places. Can also recommend Beer Matt - Delivering Beers and Ales, direct to your home as a place to buy a wide variety of local beers online.

Hi there. Cheers for this. I'll check out the Beer Matt and report back. Challenge has supplied me with a few tips as well.

 

[Norman Potting]

This (except I'm in my 50s). Although Dark Star is OK, it doesn't have the bite that Harveys does.

I see no reason why it has to be one or the other - there's plenty of room for both.

Remember the old saying, "there is no such thing as bad beer". I love Harveys and would probably love Dark Star as well if I were 30 years younger with high disposable income and able to sample the country pubs of Sussex at leisure.

As the pub landlord says "all hail to the (real) ale" whoever brews it, long may they continue and success to all small local brewers such as Harveys, Dark Star and the others in Sussex.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

I see no reason why it has to be one or the other - there's plenty of room for both.

Quite.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Recent cricket tour to the west country where I suppose cider has always been the widely available third option (along with bitter and lager) and I noticed quite a lot of pubs selling local lagers. Tried one or two and they were very palatable - fresh beer can't be compared to the stale, cold gas stuff. Good to see breweries innovating like that.

The other impressive operation was Otter (in Ottery St Mary) . Stunning range and lots of one offs like "Regotter" made just for the Dartmouth Regatta. Great to see innovation like this - long may it continue.

(PS Harvery's Best is mother milk for me but up our way I drink Larkins Best from Larkins Brewery in Chiddingstone. Lovely.)

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[keaton]

They're both very good, we should be happy we have two brilliant and a few very good breweries in our area. The only one I can't stand is the Horsham stuff, i've had three pints in various places and they've all been poor.

 

[Albumen]

Nobody has mentioned the best local brew, in my opinion, WJ King of Horsham.

That is true. My favourite too (if you avoid red river). The old and best are possible the best out there.

 

[Albumen]

In your 20s and you drink real-ale?

I drank brown and bitter from the age of 17.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

I was having a nice Dark Star Old Chestnut in a popular,but nameless pub last week. I said to the landlord that I was surprised to see the absence of Harvey's on tap ?

He said he had got rid of it a few months ago as in his opinion it was an "old mans" beer and that the clientelle he was attracting were not interested in drinking boring plain old Harveys like their dads used to ! they stocked 2 Dark Stars and an offering from The Bexhill Brewery and another from the Arundel Brewery

Given the huge range of year long and seasonal brews by Dark Star, plus the rise of other local micro breweries I think its only a matter of time before we see the end for them unless they develop and market some new ales.

I for one won't be sad to see the end, its like an old woman sat in the corner of a nursing home waiting for the end .

Arse!

 

[desprateseagull]

'real ale' IS for oldies.. i wouldn't touch the stuff-

looks/smells like leftover washing up water..

 

[Scotty Mac]

my local has now stopped selling harveys - only a handful of people drank it, and they seem to find it more profitable now to rotate the ales on offer with a different one every month or so

whether harveys returns as part of this rotation remains to be seen

 

[Jim D]

I see no reason why it has to be one or the other - there's plenty of room for both.

Not at Falmer there isn't.

 

[The Large One]

Not at Falmer there isn't.

Why?