Harveys at the Stadium

[Bozza]

I firmly believe they won't. We're a different breed, we drink for the flavour, not just to get pissed.

Just who is buying the world's most popular bitter then? And why?

 

[Munkfish]

I firmly believe they won't. We're a different breed, we drink for the flavour, not just to get pissed.

Surely you will have to get out of your own arse before you can start tasting what you are drinking.

 

[Brovion]

Yep, they would have no choice, John Smiths it would have to be, unless they wanted to leave the ground of course, and not be allowed back in.

That would only apply to half-time drinkers. If this happens and it's not replaced with an acceptable substitute (and keg beer is not a substitute) a lot of us, me included, will just get there later and leave earlier. Some (like Bozza who has further to travel) may prefer a crap pint to no pint at all but fortunately as I live in Brighton I can make other arrangements.

I'll probably save a bit of cash as well, so in a perverse way this could be good news!

 

[Peter Grummit]

I am playing cricket against Harveys brewery tomorrow night so will try and sound out whether this has any truth.

PG

 

[Hungry Joe]

Surely you will have to get out of your own arse before you can start tasting what you are drinking.

Haha, touche'!

 

[Hotchilidog]

Given the commercial success of Harveys at the AMEX it would be ridiculous to axe it. There is no way way I would consider drinking John Smiths, it is f**King sh*te!!

The one benefit would be local pubs getting my business once again. I would certainly boycott any attempt to foist a crappy cream flow beer on us. They would certainly lose my pre-match custom, and I would leave the stadium earlier after games too.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Surely you will have to get out of your own arse before you can start tasting what you are drinking.

Ha. You put it so much better than I did.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Over reaction of the year!
Brilliant. Let's hope they replace it with something that tastes of something ala a darkstar brew.

I'd be happy with a replacement ale, London Pride, Doombar or local ales like Darkstar, but to lose the ale to John Smiths or Boddingtons, I'll be forced into drinking red wine again and looking like a right dandy at the football...(to be fair, the red wine is probably better for me anyway...)

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

Exactly my point and my position.

I'm guessing that John Smiths sells in ridiculous volumes - so people are buying it no-matter what the snobs would have you believe.

I firmly believe that most bitter drinkers would buy JS if it were the only choice in the same way I buy horrible Strongbow.

So you buy a drink you deem horrible? I would never buy a drink I deem horrible or just drink it for the sake of it. I love my real ales but am no snob when it comes to drinking other quality products, of which John Smiths is not one; it's mass produced rubbish!

I think you'll find that if John Smiths was the alternative to Harveys then a lot of people would not drink at the stadium, if however it was another good quality real ale then the real ale drinkers would continue to drink at the stadium. People drink real ale because they generally don't like the mass produced, bland lagers and ciders like Fosters and Strongbow, they also generally don't like mass produced bitter like John Smiths. If you take away Harveys and all you have left is the bland choices I mentioned then why would the people who drank the Harveys bother to drink at the stadium any longer?

 

[Hillian1]

Have we ascertained that there is even a modicum of truth to this yet?

 

[dougdeep]

Just who is buying the world's most popular bitter then? And why?

Best selling perhaps, I doubt many drink it through choice

 

[Lawro's Lip]

If true, the club clearly do not understand their customers.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

This would be horrible news.

Anyone who thinks different is a complete idiot.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

John Smith's is the biggest selling bitter in the world. This can mean one of two things, although probably a combination of the two...

- A lot of people buy it through choice.

- A lot of people who like bitter will buy JS if it's the only option available to them.

I suspect it is more of the latter. I am not saying I will never drink it - but it won't be part of my plans.

We have been in the concourses when the Harveys runs out and most of the people I drink with will just head to the train.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Just who is buying the world's most popular bitter then? And why?

People who are not REALLY proper ale drinkers. One's who are far less sophisticated and discerning than doug.

 

[Titanic]

Just who is buying the world's most popular bitter then? And why?

The same people that buy Pukka pies?

Both something I would do once, in an 'emergency'... but not as part of my regular match day routine.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

i choose to drink beer at the football if there's something decent to drink. I went to Hillsborough and there wasn't anything i wanted to drink so i had a cup of tea (mostly becasue i was cold). I certainly wouldn't be drinikng John Smiths if that was the alternative. As otehrs have said if the alternative is decent then no problem. Are they going to doing away with the guest ales for away fans too?

 

[Silverhatch]

I absolutely understand your point, but if Barber was NOT trying to screw down suppliers to improve margins*, he wouldn't be doing his job properly.


*This assumes that the CLUB actually buys the product at all - that deal is more probably between the caterer and the supplier?

Didn't Azure walk away from the Amex because they HAD been screwed into the floor?

Even at Harveys trade prices the club will have made a very decent wedge out of real ale sales. There's no doubt the caterer could buy beer cheaper but I know loads of blokes (me included) who would drink less if Harveys wasn't sold.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Result. .

What an odd comment.

I don't drink the red wine at match days....but it certainly wouldn't be a "result" to me if they got rid of it.

How can something you don't drink make you have an opinion on it?

 

[Pantani]

I think people need to take a look at which breweries own which products. At present all the alcohol, bar the ale, is supplied by Heineken UK. Where I work we are also supplied by Heineken UK. I can assure you that as a company Heineken are spending a lot more time pushing real ales than John Smiths (which is one of their products) at present. It really would not be in their interest to stop stocking ale at the Amex, the South East area rep is not an idiot and is more than aware that ale is a huge seller at the Amex. If Harvey's was to go it is likely that it would be replaced by one of Heineken's other ales. At present the ale breweries available through Heineken are (off the top of my head):

Brains
Greene King (sorry, Lewes residents)
Deuchars
Wells and Young
Butcombe
Thwaites

So a decent enough range, hardly Harvey's or local but still some acceptable alternatives.