Is Harveys just a tad over-rated??

[vegster]

This thread sure is a runner.

 

[looney]

I always found King and Barnes way superior to Harveys, the latter on a par with London Pride, Toby, Yorkshire best bitter and all the other fairly homogenous brands of knats piss.

Still a cut above any brand of Larrrrrgaaaat though.

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

Haven't lost a coat since then

Looking back I was silly to leave it on the back of the chair

As I remember it we didn't win the game that night and I went over to the telly to listen to Gus's excuses

I might add, I hope the fella that did nick it has been cremated or is slowly mouldering in his grave

 

[attila]

When we did the original push for real ale it was supposed to be Harveys and Dark Star Hophead, a lighter and obviously very hoppy brew which IMO would be far more to the taste of the 'lager drinkers who might try an pint of real ale' among our support. Sadly, Dark Star really weren't up for it: already brewing to capacity - a capacity far below that of Harveys, solid local brewery who desperately needed a new outlet and went for it big time. Brilliant to have it, and great to win the argument ('football fans don't drink real ale...erm, I think they do!) but I only ever drink Harveys at the Amex, don't go near it elsewhere unless there is no alternative. Given the performances at the moment I think Dark Star Revelation would be a good idea. We'd all be so pissed we wouldn't notice

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

This thread sure is a runner.

To me, you always come across as a teetotaller

 

[Official Old Man]

Harveys is lovely but..... if in a pub selling other ales that I've not tried before I'd give them a go first.
Line up London Pride, Green King IPA, Doombar & Harveys and it's Harveys every time.

 

[Worthingite]

I think for an "arena" ale Harvey's do a good job. It is a million miles better than the usual alternatives. It's a very acceptable pint sold in less than ideal conditions and it is because of the latter I would rather not have one of my personal favourites on sale at the Amex. That aside I love London Pride, Deuchars or any number of Greene King products but no good beer travels well does it?

Now Deuchars is a lovely drop, but you ruined it with the GK thing!!!!!

 

[Hugh'sDad]

You can't beat a nice Weissbier.
Anyone make Britisher equivalent?

 

[Dandyman]

Harveys is a great brewery which brews excellent beer. Everyone is entitled to their own preferences but some of the digs at Harveys have become more than a tad predictable manufactured gripes.

 

[Blackadder]

I like Harveys and I like London Pride as well.. (Bring on TV Burp?).

I don't think it's over-rated but it is over-priced at the Amex.

I like a lot of beers but not Directors. Gives me a dreadful headache.

 

[Dandyman]

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).

Real ale is a beer brewed from traditional ingredients (malted barley, hops water and yeast), matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide.

Keg beer undergoes the same primary fermentation as real ale but after that stage it is filtered and/or pasteurised. No further conditioning can therefore take place. The beer lacks any natural carbonation which would have been produced by the secondary fermentation and so carbon dioxide has to be added artificially. This leads to in my and most real ale fans opinion to an over gassy product. That is without getting into the issue of added chemicals, etc.

 

[Screaming J]

Tetleys from the Leeds brewery is nice, the Warrington brewery is not good, but it does not seem to travel well.

?? The Warrington Brewery is not only not good, it was demolished several years ago, replaced by the Warrington Wolves Rugby League stadium. Similarly the The Leeds Brewery was closed in 2011, and demolished in 2012.

I love Harvey's, was brought up on it and when in Sussex drink it to the exclusion of most other beers, as I know I won't get any until I'm back a few months later. I appreciate its not to everyone's taste; but there yer go; each to his own!

I also think - and Timothy Taylor's Landlord is even more of a good example in this respect - it needs to be kept right by landlords/licensees. When I lived in and around Lewes we chose which pubs to go to and not, usually on the basis of whether the Harvey's was in good nick.

 

[Hugh'sDad]

Q: Is Harveys just a tad over-rated??
A: Nope......it's wildly overated pish.
Fullers do some lovely beers, and my favorite place for local brews has been Derbyshire, so far.

 

[BensGrandad]

I prefer to drink beer because of the taste rather than the ABV for many the important aspect is the strength of the beer.

 

[essbee]

Harveys tastes like water - disgusting stuff.

 

[beorhthelm]

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.

but why would you want to compare something being traditional with something going out of its way to be "modern", using hops from thousand of miles away? not for everyones taste. and using kegs is to enable forced carbonation of the beer, so the end product is more similar to lager in texture. as far as im concerned the Amex Harveys is always the same, which it would be being bright. bright is the same as kegged, except without the added CO2.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Keg beer undergoes the same primary fermentation as real ale but after that stage it is filtered and/or pasteurised. No further conditioning can therefore take place. The beer lacks any natural carbonation which would have been produced by the secondary fermentation and so carbon dioxide has to be added artificially. This leads to in my and most real ale fans opinion to an over gassy product. That is without getting into the issue of added chemicals, etc.

Did you get this off the CAMRA website? True of mass produced cooking larger but not most kegged Ale. This is 2014 not the 70's. Read this if you'd like to know about modern brewing techniques:

http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/craft-beer-v-real-ale

 

[Hugo Rune]

but why would you want to compare something being traditional with something going out of its way to be "modern", using hops from thousand of miles away? not for everyones taste. and using kegs is to enable forced carbonation of the beer, so the end product is more similar to lager in texture. as far as im concerned the Amex Harveys is always the same, which it would be being bright. bright is the same as kegged, except without the added CO2.

Again, modern Ale Brewers such as Brewdog & Meantime DON'T ADD CO2!

 

[dwayne]

Overrated yes. The standard bitter figures nowhere in the world rankings. Give me a good american or Belgian ale any day of the week.

 

[Dandyman]

Did you get this off the CAMRA website? True of mass produced cooking larger but not most kegged Ale. This is 2014 not the 70's. Read this if you'd like to know about modern brewing techniques:

http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/craft-beer-v-real-ale

To be honest it reads like self serving nonsense to me. People are free to drink what they want but to compare "craft beer" to real ale is like pretending that a suit mass manufactured in Shanghai is the same or even better than one made by a proper British tailor on the basis that the Chinese are using laser technology while the British are using "outdated" sewing and cutting.