Is Harveys just a tad over-rated??

[crasher]

Had three very pleasant pints of best with my office Christmas lunch today - damn fine.

This thread is a disgrace.

 

[supaseagull]

Harvey's is horrible...sour tasting slop which tastes like dishwater and no where near as good as some of the craft ales about at the moment.

 

[zefarelly]

Harveys is average at best. London Pride is better .

Dark Star Hop Head is superior in every respect. Top Quality stuff.

 

[vegster]

Harveys is average at best. London Pride is better .

Dark Star Hop Head is superior in every respect. Top Quality stuff.

11 pages and we are back to our starting point !

 

[southdownswolf]

Exactly the same thing happened to my favourite pint, Doom Bar, when Coors took over Sharp's Brewery. It is now much too widely available, and hence standards have slipped. Far too inconsistent.

I cycled John O'Groats to Lands End last year and had 2 pints of Doombar every night. So it was sold in pubs all the way from Wick down to Cornwall. Although it was nice to have a decent beer, it did feel wrong drinking it in the very north of Scotland.

 

[Buckeejit]

Oh dear, sorry for unleashing this... still, as a straw poll, seems that roughly three quarters of discerning NSC ale-heads seem to agree with the original point... can't wait to get to Basketmakers later for a fine assortment of Fullers/Gales ales and deffo no Harveys!

 

[JJ McClure]

Ok I work in the trade and I need to say you couldn't be further from the truth. The consistency has improved massively and it is more widely available but surely that's a good thing! Wake up....

I think you're correct on the consistency point but whether it is a good thing is a bit of a double edged sword. Sure you know what you're going to get, but I don't think the product is as good anymore. London Pride (and others) in my opinion has suffered from the effects of whatever Fullers have done to extend it's shelf live.

 

[oneillco]

Oh dear, sorry for unleashing this... still, as a straw poll, seems that roughly three quarters of discerning NSC ale-heads seem to agree with the original point... can't wait to get to Basketmakers later for a fine assortment of Fullers/Gales ales and deffo no Harveys!

Well so you should be sorry; people's taste buds differ and for many Harvey's Best hits the mark; there is no right or wrong. But the poster who made the point that people who like proper beer are the winners these days, whether it be real or craft, is correct.

 

[vegster]

Oh dear, sorry for unleashing this... still, as a straw poll, seems that roughly three quarters of discerning NSC ale-heads seem to agree with the original point... can't wait to get to Basketmakers later for a fine assortment of Fullers/Gales ales and deffo no Harveys!

Indeed the Basketmakers is a veritable oasis of wonderful beers.

 

[vegster]

I cycled John O'Groats to Lands End last year and had 2 pints of Doombar every night. So it was sold in pubs all the way from Wick down to Cornwall. Although it was nice to have a decent beer, it did feel wrong drinking it in the very north of Scotland.

I have noticed this happening too. there is nothing worse than going in to a pub you don't usually frequent and find there are just two ales and it's a choice of a combination of Doom Bar/ Tribute/ Harvey's/ London Pride. I just love seeing beers from brewers I have little knowledge of and giving them a try.

As an add on, I was just looking at this web site with I suppose, experts in their field listing their top 5 beers list. Can't see Harvey's mentioned once in this lot but, plenty of other beauties to salivate over !

http://cask-marque.co.uk/beer-drinkers/top-5-beers-list/

 

[daveinprague]

Obviously a different set up here...but theres lots of independent breweries making beer rather than lager, and when i tried harveys, found it a bit disappointing after the hype.

 

[Surf's Up]

A good, well looked after pint of Harvey's (i.e. not as sold at the Amex) is, in my opinion, vastly superior to anything produced by Fullers.

 

[Buckeejit]

A good, well looked after pint of Harvey's (i.e. not as sold at the Amex) is, in my opinion, vastly superior to anything produced by Fullers.

Have had one of those in the last year (at the Dorset in Brighton of all places) and it did indeed live up to the 'Sussex nectar' myth - prob is, the vast majority of other times I've had it (ie. when its the only ale on offer) its been ordinary at best and quite rank at worst

 

[BensGrandad]

Have heard no mentuion of Tongham Ales like TEA. They were verypopuilar in my Guildford pub, probably because they were a local brewer.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Ok I work in the trade and I need to say you couldn't be further from the truth. The consistency has improved massively and it is more widely available but surely that's a good thing! Wake up....

If massively expanding the production is done at the expense of quality and taste it isn't a good thing!, and wake up to what exactly?, you have one opinion and l have another. That's just the way of things.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Have heard no mentuion of Tongham Ales like TEA. They were verypopuilar in my Guildford pub, probably because they were a local brewer.

Yes l remember Tongham. Does anyone recall the Simonds Brewery of Reading?, They owned various pubs in my home town of Staines when l was a boy. They were bought out by Courage l believe, back in the early 1960's.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

I have noticed this happening too. there is nothing worse than going in to a pub you don't usually frequent and find there are just two ales and it's a choice of a combination of Doom Bar/ Tribute/ Harvey's/ London Pride. I just love seeing beers from brewers I have little knowledge of and giving them a try.

As an add on, I was just looking at this web site with I suppose, experts in their field listing their top 5 beers list. Can't see Harvey's mentioned once in this lot but, plenty of other beauties to salivate over.

http://cask-marque.co.uk/beer-drinkers/top-5-beers-list/

Stephen Mann liked Harveys.
Whats Jaipur like it crops up a lot in that list

 

[BrightonCottager]

I hated Harveys when I first moved here in the mid 80s, grew to love the stuff, but now prefer Hophead and similar highly hopped beers. A lot depends on where you drink it. I had several pints of Best last night in the Crown and Anchor in Shoreham and it was a bit meh. Followed by a glorious pint of Landlord in the Buckingham. Going back tonight and will have a swift one in the Wellie. A good pint of Harveys Best is till better than 90% of real ales.

 

[jakarta]

Oh dear, sorry for unleashing this... still, as a straw poll, seems that roughly three quarters of discerning NSC ale-heads seem to agree with the original point... can't wait to get to Basketmakers later for a fine assortment of Fullers/Gales ales and deffo no Harveys!

You DO realise that 'Gales' don't actually exist since they were taken over (and had their Horndean Brewery shut down) by Fullers?

It is all brewed up in Chiswick these days.

I don't think you are the least bit 'sorry for unleashing this' - it's just an everyday NSC 'look at me' thread.

 

[spence]

I have noticed this happening too. there is nothing worse than going in to a pub you don't usually frequent and find there are just two ales and it's a choice of a combination of Doom Bar/ Tribute/ Harvey's/ London Pride. I just love seeing beers from brewers I have little knowledge of and giving them a try.

As an add on, I was just looking at this web site with I suppose, experts in their field listing their top 5 beers list. Can't see Harvey's mentioned once in this lot but, plenty of other beauties to salivate over !

http://cask-marque.co.uk/beer-drinkers/top-5-beers-list/

I'm the opposite. I seek out pubs i know who sell London Pride.I'm pretty much stuck in my ways. I don't mind a couple of others if i can't get Pride.