Has the 'Campaign' for Real Ale been won?

[Biscuit]

Eh? I've been drinking it for 22 years. Real men drink real ale, thems the rules. Enjoy the fanny lager!

And what if your opinion is a 'real man'?

I could think of a whole list of things, but choice of beveridge wouldn't be on it.

 

[BensGrandad]

Translation: "I was always anti-CAMRA as they weren't mug punters that I could fob off with any old crap"

Totally the opposite.

If I had a beer that was getting near to its sell by date I talked them into drinking it because I knew I could tell them any old story and they would believe it, even to the extent of taking the clip off of the pump and telling them it was a special brew I had done for me. My friend was going broke and asked me to look after his pub while he went away for a short holiday and he was out of beer and his beer had to be prepaid for, so I borrowed a couple of kegs of Toby Bitter off of a friend, as I knew he could buy that from the wholesalers. I took the keg fittings off, not reccomended, and dangled the pipe from his Courage Best into one and the Directors into the other and dispensed them through his pumps. They had a CAMRA meeting in his pub, it was The Magpie in Epsom, now renamed, and was told it was the best Directors available in Surrey and he was put in the guide as selling the best Courage Directors.

 

[Notters]

That might be true in the pub, but it's not in the supermarket. There's got to be more to it.

You can't buy real ale in a supermarket.

Have to say always thought I hated ale but when on holiday in Cornwall recently I drank mostly Tribute and Doom Bar which I really liked.

These are the "Greene Kings of the west", St Austell are gradually buying up all the pubs in Devon and Cornwall and turning them to crap, and Doom Bar seems to be in nearly every pub in Brighton now.

Well I can only talk from my own experiences, I'm 20 and a lot of people i know prefer drinking ale cos its not "standard" and everywhere you go, you will always find a new flavoured one. Everyone loves larger, but just like any fashion there is a resurgance in another. Also as a student, its cheaper, seen as low as £2.10 for a Ringwood Best, cant argue with that.

Also I'm not a train watcher.

No they don't.

 

[sten_super]

You can't buy real ale in a supermarket.

Let me guess - some technicality about it not being served from a cask? Things which in pubs would constitute a real ale - I was in Tescos the other day and saw that they had crates of bottled Ubu (result!) - are available in the supermarket, and are included in any statistics on ale vs lager consumption that you care to study.

edit to add: in fact you are simply wrong, as many of the ales continue to ferment in the bottle. As long as the yeast hasn't been killed off before bottling it's a real ale.

 

[Arthur]

You can't buy real ale in a supermarket.

 

[BensGrandad]

I like Tribute when down in the west country but am going to Verwood next week so will be drinking Ringwoods quite a lot. Got to find a pub that has Sky for the Leeds game but coming home for Palace.

 

[sully]

These are the "Greene Kings of the west", St Austell are gradually buying up all the pubs in Devon and Cornwall and turning them to crap, and Doom Bar seems to be in nearly every pub in Brighton now.

Doom Bar is from Sharp's brewery in Rock, which was recently bought by Molson Coors. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-12982521

Tribute and Proper Job are the St Austell brewery ales.

 

[The Large One]

he's right though.....you see a lot more young people drinking ale at the moment than you have in the past (even like, a year or so ago)

it may be because it's more readily available in pubs with young clientelle than in the past.......but it's certainly becoming more 'trendy'

'Trendy'. Doesn't that mean 'popular' but without the image-crisis?

And according to some, it appears it demise will only be brought about by excessively raising the prices. So sod the quality, it's about cost.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

'Trendy'. Doesn't that mean 'popular' but without the image-crisis?

And according to some, it appears it demise will only be brought about by excessively raising the prices. So sod the quality, it's about cost.

with a lot of young people cost is very important..........we're all skint

 

[Danny-Boy]

Does real ale drinking, and train spotting go hand in hand?

Just wondering like.

Yes.

 

[The Large One]

with a lot of young people cost is very important..........we're all skint

But that's always been the case.

 

[Old Greg]

'Trendy'. Doesn't that mean 'popular' but without the image-crisis?

And according to some, it appears it demise will only be brought about by excessively raising the prices. So sod the quality, it's about cost.

Do you shop at Waitrose?

 

[The Large One]

Do you shop at Waitrose?

Occasionally. Why?

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

yes, and we're influenced by cost

if something's cheaper than something else we're generally inclined to buy the cheaper........i think this is how a lot of young people have got 'into' ale and cider....because in a lot of pubs it's cheaper, and often stronger, than lager

the fact that they like the taste means that they'll buy it more often........which is why it's become popular/trendy/cool/whateverwordyouapproveofasyouseemtobeonyourhighhorseaboutit with a lot of young people

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Why are smaller breweries able to charge a lot less for their product than the larger corporations? Ale is generally much cheaper than the mass produced lagers. Why don't economies of scale play a part? Are lager buyers simply being stitched up?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

if something's cheaper than something else we're generally inclined to buy the cheaper.

This is the British trait I hate the most. I prefer quality. I'd rather buy less, or nothing at all, than a cheaper product.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

This is the British trait I hate the most. I prefer quality. I'd rather buy less, or nothing at all, than a cheaper product.

ideally we all would

but if you're on benefits, or in a low paid job, or like me living off freelance work (so some weeks i'm skint and some weeks i'm not) with the added anti-bonus of a high cost of living....and you fancy some fun with your mates to take the edge of your dire existence....what wins? several cheap pints of a couple of expensive ones?

 

[Notters]

Let me guess - some technicality about it not being served from a cask? Things which in pubs would constitute a real ale - I was in Tescos the other day and saw that they had crates of bottled Ubu (result!) - are available in the supermarket, and are included in any statistics on ale vs lager consumption that you care to study.

edit to add: in fact you are simply wrong, as many of the ales continue to ferment in the bottle. As long as the yeast hasn't been killed off before bottling it's a real ale.

Well sortof, it's not really just a technicality as all real ales are live. Bottled ales never taste the same as real ales.

 

[muvs]

Never....we will continue to fight forever for this cause.

 

[sten_super]

Well sortof, it's not really just a technicality as all real ales are live. Bottled ales never taste the same as real ales.

But as I said - many ales continue to ferment in bottles - so they are still real ales.