taxman Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 I'm looking forward to it. I'm not sure i agree with the student having more disposable income then ever comment. Just take a look on west st during the week. A ghost town compared to when i was a student. Very few of them seem to come out early these days. The indie kids will probably love the place if/when it opens. I expect a fair bit of price moaning though. How late the license is will make or break it i think. And just look at the problems some traditional student pubs have had. The Nottingham House was closed for while last year and The Hadfield is shut and soon to be a Sainsburys. When I was a student everywhere was rammed every night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoatwobbler Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 I agree with all this. I see it as a chance to sample some of the monster beers from Oregon & California. I don't mind paying 4 quid for a third of a pint of something rare (to these shores) and really good. I think their other bars even do the occasional Alesmith? I think the Sheffield Tap has some Alesmith bottles at the moment! Big bottles, so they will be very pricey, but then again they'll be pricey at Brewdog or Craft Beer Co as well. When it comes to bottled beers at the moment, my current preference is for the Harlequin's range of Kernel Brewery bottled beers. I would expect Brewdog to have a few Kernel bottles as well as maybe a few other decent UK bottled beers from people like Beavertown or Brodies. That might be of more interest to me then Brewdog's own beers on keg! ---------- Post added 14-06-2013 at 12:41 ---------- someone mentioned the staff - in the two I've been to (Camden and Shoreditch) the staff are not so much trained as indoctrinated... they spout the company line about all the beers being really innovative (some are, some aren't) but couldn't actually describe them. As for the customers, both bars were populated by utter w****rs (I believe they prefer to be called hipsters, but it ain't gonna happen!) I would certainly agree about the indoctrination part. I came away from brewdog Camden thinking that it was almost as if the pub was being run by some sort of bizarre cult! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alas_alas Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 And just look at the problems some traditional student pubs have had. The Nottingham House was closed for while last year and The Hadfield is shut and soon to be a Sainsburys. When I was a student everywhere was rammed every night. Not exactly scientific, that. I'm fairly sure that 'when you were a student' they didn't have bars like the Old House, Bungalows and Bears, The Great Gatsby, even the Bath, the Riverside etc, etc. Bars which are full every night. The Nottingham and Hadfield are/were quite run down, no wonder they shut. Half student oriented, half sports pubs. An outdated model. The new generation have moved on to new places. I'm sure they will embrace the new Brewdog offering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 They are no more expensive than the tap and with the selection of the tap getting increasingly poor in terms of choice and quality I for one will welcome it. It all depends what you like I only used to drink cask ale where as now tend to mainly drink keg and bottled ale when I do revert back to cask ales I find most do not match up in terms of flavour. This has nothing to do with it being on cask but that most breweries who are producing more exciting beers favour cask and bottle. I can't remeber the last time I saw a Magic Rock or Summet Wine beer on cask. There are exceptions to this the Angel of Death and Accomplice I had at the 3 valleys were superb and both on cask. I hope that Brew Dog will introduce some competition and make the tap up their game anf give us more choice. On another note the old Starbucks isnt that big so expect big queues at the bar! I'm no beer expert. Can someone please explain the difference between cask ale and keg? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jemson Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 Fizz. Cask doesn`t last long as it`s natural. Keg is from those little sparkly lager-type taps and it makes me burp. But it can taste nice. And it costs more but lives long. So Bubbles (keg) or flat (cask). TBH I take kirk`s point, some of the best brewers seem all tied up with keg but I still struggle with the fizz. One or two halves suffice. That said, I enjoyed Magic Rock on cask in Huddersfield recently. And Summer Wine seem to be keg only in Sheffield this year - ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirkyb Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Fizz. Cask doesn`t last long as it`s natural. Keg is from those little sparkly lager-type taps and it makes me burp. But it can taste nice. And it costs more but lives long. So Bubbles (keg) or flat (cask). TBH I take kirk`s point, some of the best brewers seem all tied up with keg but I still struggle with the fizz. One or two halves suffice. That said, I enjoyed Magic Rock on cask in Huddersfield recently. And Summer Wine seem to be keg only in Sheffield this year - ? Summer Wine are now 70% according to a tweet recently, the Broadfield had 2 SWB beers on cask and they were both good. Went in Friday and they had Wild Beer Co Fresh on cask that was amazing so you can still get some really good beers on cask but it's getting harder. As for Brew Kitchen it doesn't surprise me, they have ruined the Cellar Door (Jacks Bar) which was my local and favourite place to drink. It has gone from a mix of Thornbridge and guests on keg, cask and bottle to exclusively Thornbridge and not even the more adventurous Thornbridge stuff and its not even kept well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longcol Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 I'm looking forward to it. I'm not sure i agree with the student having more disposable income then ever comment. Just take a look on west st during the week. A ghost town compared to when i was a student. Very few of them seem to come out early these days. The indie kids will probably love the place if/when it opens. I expect a fair bit of price moaning though. How late the license is will make or break it i think. Round our way - Commonside / Barber Road - I'd say there has been a big decline in the number of students using local pubs and a huge increase in the number drinking cans at home before going down to bar one etc. Might give Brewdog a try - although currently more than happy with the selection at the Blake for £2.20 to £2.70 a pint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted June 16, 2013 Author Share Posted June 16, 2013 I'm no beer expert. Can someone please explain the difference between cask ale and keg? Right, here goes... all beer is brewed the same way up to a point, although of course some use better quality ingredients than others. Once the beer is fermented and conditioned and ready to be put into either a cask or keg is where the difference starts happening. Cask beer has yeast sediment in the cask with the beer and the beer goes through a secondary fermentation in the cask. The beer is served exactly as it is in the cask and if it has been cared for in the pub cellar should have a natural sparkle to it from the secondary fermentation and be served cool but not cold. Cask beer does however have a short shelf life like any other fresh produce. Keg beer is often filtered so the yeast sediment isn't in the keg and doesn't have to settle before serving. It should be noted however that some of the smaller craft breweries don't filter their keg beer. Either way, there is no secondary fermentation in the keg and gas is added to the beer on dispense to make it fizzy. The beer is also flash chilled on dispense. Keg beer generally has a longer shelf life and doesn't require 'settling time' either. My view is that well kept cask beer will always be the best in terms of quality, freshness and naturalness. Standards of keg beer vary hugely - the likes of John Smiths Smooth or Fosters being at the bottom of the range being cheaply mass produced with no real care for quality or taste, at the other end of the spectrum is keg beers from the likes of Magic Rock Brewery which are brewed with plenty of good ingredients and a passion for good beer. The adding of fizz and chill does cause some of the more subtle balancing flavours to be lost though - drinkers who love incredibly bitter hop bomb beers tend to prefer keg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longcol Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Why are "craft" keg beers so expensive compared to cask? Thornbridge usually charge at least 40p more for the same beer on keg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Round our way - Commonside / Barber Road - I'd say there has been a big decline in the number of students using local pubs and a huge increase in the number drinking cans at home before going down to bar one etc. Might give Brewdog a try - although currently more than happy with the selection at the Blake for £2.20 to £2.70 a pint. Agreed, top pub with nice, well kept beer at reasonable prices. Why are "craft" keg beers so expensive compared to cask? Thornbridge usually charge at least 40p more for the same beer on keg. If people are willing to pay more for something marketed as a "craft" beer then the brewery and pubs would be mad not to take advantage of them. Some may be worth it, those with high ABV or that have traveled across the Atlantic but when the same two beers can be on sale but with such a difference in price between the keg and the cask eyebrows are bound to be raised. Here is one attempt to justify the price differential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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