Why should I drink real ale?

[DippyDore]

A think of the past normally means that it's either in terminal decline or has stopped being popular all together.

So, no, it's not a thing of the past, it's very much a thing of the present with a good history behind it.

 

Very good Sir, I might agree with you.

 

(But I won't, just out of spite).

[randolf]

So much so that even such heathens as Whitbreads have embraced the trend. You can usually find one of the following handpumps in most pubs thesedays:

 

Black Sheep

London Pride

Marstons Pedigree

Timothy Taylors Landlord

 

and the Caledonian Deuchars is also guesting fairly regularly.

 

If you like, all the above are "beginners real ales". They are not the best examples of the art of beer making, but for folks who enjoy 2 for 1 meals and eat in chain restaurants it's a gentle start.

 

The best real ale comes from small microbreweries, not the big breweries. You could do worse than to seek out beers from the Thornbridge brewery. A local Derbyshire microbrewer with one of the best ranges of beer in the country.

 

Well said, apart from the bit about Thornbridge Brewery being one of the best in the country. I have tried most of their regular beers and they all have a similar taste, which I can't quite put my finger on. I've come to the conclusion that it's something unique about the water they use.

In fact, of all the local breweries, Thornbridge is my least liked. I find Jaipur unpalatable as do many real ale fans i know, despite it being critically acclaimed and having won many awards.

I'm sure this will elicit a charge of being a 'beginner' who can't handle the more powerfully hoppy ales, but that simply isn't true. I love a pale ale that packs a punch, but Jaipur and the rest of the Thornbridge lot just don't do it for me.

Much closer to home and much better is the Sheffield Brewery in Neepsend. I was down there to collect beer for a party two weekends ago and it was so good I was back last weekend. If I wasn't going away this weekend, I'd be back down there again. They have a fantastic range of absolutely delicious, fresh-tasting ales that knock the socks of Thornbridge!

However, I'm not trying to start an argument; the more the merrier and each to their own.

[Bago]

Maybe there should be different strengths of ales. I really loved drinking guinness without the fizz. It's really refreshing, and I can taste the cool lovely water. It literally reminds of me water.

 

Thinking about it, how come beers in Yorkshire don't make full use of the lovely Yorkshire Water that is already here? Or do they do so already?

 

If there's a low alcohol ales which allows you taste the true hop and barley flavours would be lovely. Yum. Barley is actually very smooth tasting.

[DippyDore]

Well said, apart from the bit about Thornbridge Brewery being one of the best in the country. I have tried most of their regular beers and they all have a similar taste, which I can't quite put my finger on. I've come to the conclusion that it's something unique about the water they use.

In fact, of all the local breweries, Thornbridge is my least liked. I find Jaipur unpalatable as do many real ale fans i know, despite it being critically acclaimed and having won many awards.

I'm sure this will elicit a charge of being a 'beginner' who can't handle the more powerfully hoppy ales, but that simply isn't true. I love a pale ale that packs a punch, but Jaipur and the rest of the Thornbridge lot just don't do it for me.

Much closer to home and much better is the Sheffield Brewery in Neepsend. I was down there to collect beer for a party two weekends ago and it was so good I was back last weekend. If I wasn't going away this weekend, I'd be back down there again. They have a fantastic range of absolutely delicious, fresh-tasting ales that knock the socks of Thornbridge!

However, I'm not trying to start an argument; the more the merrier and each to their own.

 

 

Well, well said to you Sir. You are entitled to your opinion, and when it comes to personal taste who is to say who is right and who is wrong? I haven't tried this Sheffield Brewery beer that you refer to, but I'm tempted to as a result of your post.

 

I do like Thornbridge ales, very much actually. I tend to go for strong, hoppy flavoured beers, that's my like. And the Jaipur and Kipling brews are especial favourites. I definitely wouldn't regard the Sheffield brewery that you mention as "beginners real ales". I use this term to describe the mass marketed brews, as described, which have suddenly found their way into the common mans vocabulary as being "real ale", when in fact they are poor imitations of the same.

 

I recall trying something called "Pride of Sheffield" a few months ago, at the wonderful Derby Tup pub on Whittington Moor, near Chesterfield. Not sure if this is the Sheffield brewery that you refer to, but, I remember it well, not so much because of its taste, but because the locals had re-named it, "Pride of De-Da land" and it was chalked up on the board as such!

 

You have to smile eh? Even Cestrefeldians laugh at the Sheffielders inability to speak properly.

[happyhippy]

Maybe there should be different strengths of ales. I really loved drinking guinness without the fizz. It's really refreshing, and I can taste the cool lovely water. It literally reminds of me water.

 

Guinness??? With fizz???? It should never have fizz! The non-draught versions are a bit livelier, but should never be fizzy!

 

Thinking about it, how come beers in Yorkshire don't make full use of the lovely Yorkshire Water that is already here? Or do they do so already?

 

Yes they do. it would be impossible to brew the amounts which are lovingly given to us without using local 'watter'! It's also one of the reasons why Ward's Sheffield Best Bitter has never been (faithfully) recreated since the fateful day the brewery died.

 

If there's a low alcohol ales which allows you taste the true hop and barley flavours would be lovely. Yum. Barley is actually very smooth tasting.

 

You can get light ales in the south which are quite low in alcohol, but the lower strength 'real ales' in the North tend to be darker, maltier brews.

[Ghostrider]

Fizzy guiness....who connected a Co2 canister to that then

[npatchett]

I recall trying something called "Pride of Sheffield" a few months ago, at the wonderful Derby Tup pub on Whittington Moor, near Chesterfield. Not sure if this is the Sheffield brewery that you refer to, but, I remember it well, not so much because of its taste, but because the locals had re-named it, "Pride of De-Da land" and it was chalked up on the board as such!

 

You have to smile eh? Even Cestrefeldians laugh at the Sheffielders inability to speak properly.

 

That'd be Kelham Island Brewery Pride of Sheffield. Fantastic tasting beer, on hand pull and out of bottles!

[Blacksheep]

From my experience, and although the major brewers will have you believe the market is in terminal decline (so they can mass market their generic lager and smooth flow brands) the real ale market is actually increasing. Hence why i am opening a cask ale brewery!

Check us out at http://www.thebrewcompany.co.uk and for more beery views at http://thebrewco.wordpress.com/

 

Back on topic...

 

A recent report entitled “The Intelligent Choice – The True State of the Market of Cask Ale in 2007” was commissioned by the regional brewers pressure group ‘Why Handpull’ in conjunction with SIBA, CAMRA and The Cask Marque Trust, using market data obtained from AC Nielsen.

 

The report makes encouraging reading and concludes the following as key headlines:

 

Cask ale is thriving. It is, however, in decline but only within the big four multinational brewers which dominate the market. The regional and local brewers are seeing strong growth.

 

Choice of drinks is driven by consumer trends. Right now, every significant consumer trend in food and drink – demand for premium products, more interesting flavours, desire for natural products, rejection of big multinationals – favour cask ale.

 

Cask ale is an ABC1 product with 78% of drinkers falling into this category.

 

Cask ale is a green product relatively speaking. It has far fewer ‘food miles’ than other drinks.

 

The cask ale market is now worth around £1.4 billion a year and accounts for only 11% of on-trade beer volume.

 

Against the backdrop of a 5% decline in the total beer market regional/independent brewers are growing by an average of 7.5% year on year.

 

In pubs where cask ale is stocked and kept well, it accounts for as much as 40% of total beer sales.

 

Research commissioned by CAMRA and carried out by independent market researchers TNS show that there are 5.4 million people who claim to be cask ale drinkers, or just over one in ten adults.

 

You would have to say then that cask conditioned beer is here to stay and the more independent brewers there are the better the choice. Recent high prices for malt and hops (which have more then tebbled in cost) will mean the price of a pint starts to rise. Already it appears to be averaging £2.40 a pint in Sheffield (unless you like the Wetherspoons style of venue) I guess time will only tell if the tradition of 'live' beer will survive but one thing's for sure, if you drink real ale you are a more discerning individual and will experience more beer epiphany's and taste revelations than your smooth flow drinking counterparts!

 

Dont forget to come and see us on a brewery tour (i may even arrange one from the forum) in July / August.

[goldenfleece]

Cask ale has been around for many hundreds of years and will live on...the victim will be keg beer, its had only a short life (born about 1960) and I believe will die out eventually as public tastes continue to change back towards 'real' beers, and increasingly now, 'real' (cask) lagers...

[Bago]

Guinness??? With fizz???? It should never have fizz! The non-draught versions are a bit livelier, but should never be fizzy!

Sorry, my wrong choice of words. I don't mean it literally "fizz" like in a soda, but the gas that is used to create the Guinness's foamy head and the gas that actually mixes the ales to produce that heavy taste does play a difference to a clear taste to a creamy taste.

 

What I'm trying to say is, I prefer Guinness without gas, than with gas. I was surprised at how clear-tasting and refreshing it was without the gas. After its been treated with gas to create the foam, it does make you feel bloated after you've drank it.

 

Yes they do. it would be impossible to brew the amounts which are lovingly given to us without using local 'watter'! It's also one of the reasons why Ward's Sheffield Best Bitter has never been (faithfully) recreated since the fateful day the brewery died.

Now I wish I tried Ward's bitter before the brewery closed! I went to the Guinness factory and saw how the beer went from strength to strength. It's a shame that Ward's bitter were not marketted better to be one of the more reputable bitter on the market place. Guinness spent thousands to make their brand global, and in order to keep their market place. At times like this I felt it's a shame that another trade is lost in the fight to become globalised.

 

You can get light ales in the south which are quite low in alcohol, but the lower strength 'real ales' in the North tend to be darker, maltier brews.

Do you know any of these names? I wouldn't mind trying it out to be honest.