Is Harveys just a tad over-rated??

[TomandJerry]

Presumably you mean Greene King's Abbot Ale - which, in a thread that heaps praise upon both Fuller's and the Lewes Arms, is just sacrilegious.

Aye thats the one!

 

[Mackenzie]

Harveys do some lovely beer mats. Not a big fan of their beer though.

Sorry.

 

[Dolph Ins]

no that's all

 

[Diablo]

Making me thirsty....Smugglers at Alfriston.....Will be Drinking my favourite.."Mother in Law"......."Old and Bitter" Harveys of Course

 

[Hugo Rune]

Profoundly overrated. The brewery is decades behind modern ones in terms of equipment, knowledge, hunger, passion, progression, experimentation and most importantly of all - taste. Compare a pint of Harvey's with a pint of Burning Sky Arise if you want to know what I mean.

 

[Man of Harveys]

The brewery is decades behind modern ones

This is being said like it's a Good Thing? Get a grip.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Profoundly overrated. The brewery is decades behind modern ones in terms of equipment, knowledge, hunger, passion, progression, experimentation and most importantly of all - taste. Compare a pint of Harvey's with a pint of Burning Sky Arise if you want to know what I mean.

I have tried Burning Sky beers and they are very good. We are lucky to have yet another quality brewer on our doorstep. They are leagues above of a the lot of the local start-up breweries where consistency is a major issue.

But better taste than Harveys ? Not for me.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

This is being said like it's a Good Thing? Get a grip.

and there is that.

 

[Hugo Rune]

This is being said like it's a Good Thing? Get a grip.

No. It's very much a bad thing. If you want your Ale to taste good without all this 'looking after it' rubbish, you put it in a keg. If Harveys could supply their Ale in kegs to the Amex it would taste consistent (obviously they'd need 21st century techniques & know how to make it taste nice but they do it at Firle). This is why progressive Brewers such as Meantime & Brewdog use kegs (key kegs a lot of the time).

 

[perseus]

Amex Harvey's seems a bit naff, but I had a pint in a pub near Brighton station and it was excellent as well as expensive.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

I feel the OP is spot on. I desperately want to like our local ale but all too often it just tastes so very ho-hum ordinary - with no special signature flavour that marks it out. On the other hand, Dark Star APA and Revelation just taste to me like nectar, bursting with flavour and impossible to mistake for any ordinary, mainstream brewer's ale. And in the summer, Hophead is just sublime, all light and fresh and citrusy. A fantastic drink for those light summery Amex evenings.

The loss of Dark Star beers from Dick's and elsewhere is presumably another dreary marker of the Amex suits' intent to gradually homogenise everything. Remember those early days of Thai green curry, and soup and rolls? How long before our choice is optimised down, Millwall-style, to Pukka Pies, chips and Fosters?

 

[BN9 BHA]

The Harveys Best at Lewes FC and in all the Lewes pubs I have visited tastes very nice, can't say I enjoy the Harveys at the AMEX, it definitely tastes different.

I drink London Pride in Newhaven before I get the train to the stadium, it's good and better than the Harveys at the Amex, but not as good as a decent pint of best served at a Lewes pub.

 

[Questions]

Let's name the best breweries....... That's more fun. If you like Harveys fine but it's not a great beer nowadays IMO . Things have moved on but I suppose if you like that old traditional bitter style then that's fine and dandy.
Anyway Thornbridge, Burning Sky and maybe my favourite of them all Oakham of Peterborough.
Citra, Bishops Farewell and Inferno all from the same brewery.....stunning beers.
We've never had it so good.

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

I understand where the OP is coming from. Having lived in Horsham for my formative beer drinking years I was a loyal devotee of King & Barnes 'Festive' and 'Old Ale', until they sadly ceased business. At that time I could not tolerate Harveys for it's different flavour. However when I later moved to the Brighton/Lewes areas I gradually migrated across to Harveys 'Best' as my default pint.

Now I'm very happy with 'H' (including their fabulous 'Old Ale'), but still respect that these aren't to everyone's taste.

I'm delighted that The Albion made the effort to stock Harveys, Dark Star etc. Plus there is a decent range of alternatives for those with other tastes, so not as if there isn't a reasonable choice.

Now I'm exiled from Sussex and living perilously close to the epicentre of the Greene King empire, which I determinedly boycott. So it's Woodforde's, Elgoods or Adnams for me. But Harveys is still an outstanding drop.

A pint or two of 'H' is an essential part of the matchday experience at The Amex. However there were times when they didn't get the storage right and it looked and tasted like the contents of the ullage bucket. Would certainly put punters off and did Harveys reputation a disservice. Miles Jenner would have been horrified. However IMO it has been of a more consistent quality this season.

Like the OP I'm also a fan of 'London Pride' so at the Fulham game I tried the guest ale (Fullers 'Traitors Gate' Ruby ale), which was ok, but nothing special.

Try going to away games, it's rare to see anything other than John Smiths or Worthington Smooth, for example. I very rarely bother to have beer inside away grounds (except maybe a Guinness). So at Norwich it was good to see the local Woodforde's 'Wherry' on sale in the concourse - but sadly only from warm bottles stored on top of the hot pie ovens!

It is rare for football clubs to get it right, and IMO The Albion are doing ok with their choice of beers. Keep up the good work........but don't get complacent!

 

[vegster]

I feel the OP is spot on. I desperately want to like our local ale but all too often it just tastes so very ho-hum ordinary - with no special signature flavour that marks it out. On the other hand, Dark Star APA and Revelation just taste to me like nectar, bursting with flavour and impossible to mistake for any ordinary, mainstream brewer's ale. And in the summer, Hophead is just sublime, all light and fresh and citrusy. A fantastic drink for those light summery Amex evenings.

The loss of Dark Star beers from Dick's and elsewhere is presumably another dreary marker of the Amex suits' intent to gradually homogenise everything. Remember those early days of Thai green curry, and soup and rolls? How long before our choice is optimised down, Millwall-style, to Pukka Pies, chips and Fosters?

I think Dark Star had supply problems in as such that they did not like to give over too much of the brewery to one brew.

 

[jevs]

Presumably you mean Greene King's Abbot Ale - which, in a thread that heaps praise upon both Fuller's and the Lewes Arms, is just sacrilegious.

I went up the Black Horse on Saturday, Lord B. They've got about 8 ales on the go....didn't try them all but had a few nice ones

 

[Pecker]

Harveys is the best best. It does vary in the ground and buy where you can see it being drawn before your eyes.

No need for it to be so expensive though.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

To my taste buds Harvey's is the best, you can like what you want.

 

[BensGrandad]

The major problem at The Amex is that they cannot rack the Harveys due to time space quantity etc so it is brightened with finings at the brewery and then served through a syphon pump unlike most pubs that use a tap and the pipe connected to it. The Harveys at The Amex always tastes flat. I dont particularly like Harveys but if that is the only ale available I will drink it but not in The Amex at any price. When at a game I drink Guinness with my brother.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I think there was always a slight air of smug arrogance from Harveys as for a long time they had the field pretty much to themselves with very little competition apart from the likes of the much missed King & Barnes. Then when the new upstarts like Dark Star and all the other fine microbreweries came along they seemed slow to react and experiment. I used to enjoy doing the Ale Trail in the summer when I was in the UK and I know a lot of my friends would always insist on Harveys because of the tradition and heritage. I always liked Harveys but could never understand its cult like status - I would always prefer a pint of Hophead. The fact is people living in Sussex are spoilt for choice when it comes to good beers which can’t be a bad thing.