Watered down beer in Sheffield

[Fudbeer]

It definitely happens I used to know someone who worked in a cellar and he was told to do it.

 

However the biggest rip off these days is the size of head served on beer/lager its quite obviously done to rip you off I got so sick of complaining about it that it was ruining my night out so now I only complain when its blatant ie The liquid,a large head and then a gap ontop which is still not unusual particularly in spoons.

 

Think about it the amount of pints sold short saves them a fortune.

[kidley]

Courage John Smiths is normally an 11 gallon keg and pressurised, quite easy to release the pressure and take out the central spear if you know what you are doing and have the right tool, very dangerous if you don't. Generally it's not worth the trouble to make a gallon, heavy fines by trading standards and loss of business and job if you are caught. Watered down beers go flat quickly, so that's always an indication, but not always as plastic glasses make beers go flat; similar to inverted optic spirit bottles have condensation in the top of the bottle if they have been 'hammered', so if you're going to do that don't put them on the optic! Vermouth goes oily and port and sherry go hazy.

It is a myth that trading standards only work during the weekdays.

Not that I've ever indulged in these practice's but having worked in the holiday pub business, I know plenty who have.

I'd be more worried about food issues, I know practices that would make your toes curl.

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2015 at 13:04 ----------

 

Crikey, you're going back a bit ... tank beer? The tanks were polythene lined so could not be contaminated and very unlikely to have been watered down as you'd have to take the whole tank to bits.

Thankfully tank beer is no longer with us, good riddance.

 

agree 100% sedith, i knew a manager who had a costumer make him a bent 90% spanner to do the job.

[sedith]

It definitely happens I used to know someone who worked in a cellar and he was told to do it.

 

However the biggest rip off these days is the size of head served on beer/lager its quite obviously done to rip you off I got so sick of complaining about it that it was ruining my night out so now I only complain when its blatant ie The liquid,a large head and then a gap ontop which is still not unusual particularly in spoons.

 

Think about it the amount of pints sold short saves them a fortune.

Traditionally the northerner liked a large head on his beer, oversize glasses being used to compensate for this. It was not unusual to have a 1 inch head on a pint of bitter... but things have changed.... Sheffield was a bit of cultural desert as far as beer was concerned, but the days of Micro Brewery's, Abbeydale and Farmers ... they have some of the best ales in the country.

Now glasses are a regulatory stamped pint but many places in the north still adopt the 1 inch head. I ran a pub in Cornwall and had northern customers on holiday, with the use of a sparkler I used to put them a large head on their beer and informed them that it was not a full pint of which they gladly accepted. Metered measures were not the norm those days and all keg beers were freeflow.

I'm in Somerset these days where a pint is a pint, a 1 inch head is simply not acceptable thank goodness.

[kidley]

The point of having oversized glasses is to accommodate a head on a pint of beer, no matter how big the head on a over sized glass there should be one pint of beer in that glass, that was the all point of an over sized glass.

All so these day's in London they are insisting their pint have a head on it, no matter what if you ask for a pint of beer that is what you should get at the required strength by law head or no head.

[Fudbeer]

The point of having oversized glasses is to accommodate a head on a pint of beer, no matter how big the head on a over sized glass there should be one pint of beer in that glass, that was the all point of an over sized glass.

All so these day's in London they are insisting their pint have a head on it, no matter what if you ask for a pint of beer that is what you should get at the required strength by law head or no head.

 

Exactly.

 

The problem is by allowing a pint not to be a pint you introduce a variable and an opportunity to claw back losses if for instance their stock is down.

 

I drink lager and really only want a very small head I mean does anyone really want a one inch or more head on lager?

 

You can bet if the law changed and they had to give you a pint of liquid the amount of head would reduce pretty quickly!

[tzijlstra]

I drink lager and really only want a very small head I mean does anyone really want a one inch or more head on lager?

 

I insist on it, lager is basically a pilsner and NEEDS a head. Being served a Dutch or German beer (Warsteiner, Heineken, Amstel, Oranjeboom whatever) without a head is ridiculous, the head is there to protect the quality of the beer (by blocking direct contact with oxygen). Without the head the beer goes flat and stale really quick.

 

Having said all that: the Brits know real ales incredibly well but knowledge of pilsners (lager) is minimal, hence the rubbish being sold en masse (Carling, Carlsberg bweuh!)

[DnAuK]

I insist on it, lager is basically a pilsner and NEEDS a head. Being served a Dutch or German beer (Warsteiner, Heineken, Amstel, Oranjeboom whatever) without a head is ridiculous, the head is there to protect the quality of the beer (by blocking direct contact with oxygen). Without the head the beer goes flat and stale really quick.

 

Having said all that: the Brits know real ales incredibly well but knowledge of pilsners (lager) is minimal, hence the rubbish being sold en masse (Carling, Carlsberg bweuh!)

 

True dat. German beer experts quote the 'three finger' rule. Where the top three fingers should be foam, the middle three the beer you drink, and the bottom three you throw away as by that time it is too warm to drink. But of course this comes from a country who believes there are only 4 types of beer: Helles lager, Pilsner, Dunkle and Wheat.

 

Personally I think all the beers the OP mentioned taste like they have been watered down. John Smiths tastes like weak cold tea to me. And Carlsberg somehow has LESS taste than water. I honestly believe it has NO taste, or tastes of saliva! But that's what happens when you brew beers so bland as not to offend anyone.

 

Maybe the OP has just started to develop a taste for something decent?

[jemson]

I do know a pub that I used to frequent nearby that poured about 16 pints of a beer to take away for a party. The bar staff had poured the wrong one and rather than chuck them away / give them away, the landlord said they should be put back into the cask. Wouldn`t have been noticed but it was a beer with coriander in it (think it was) and it was put into wrong cask.

[sedith]

The point of having oversized glasses is to accommodate a head on a pint of beer, no matter how big the head on a over sized glass there should be one pint of beer in that glass, that was the all point of an over sized glass.

All so these day's in London they are insisting their pint have a head on it, no matter what if you ask for a pint of beer that is what you should get at the required strength by law head or no head.

When I was in the trade it was not done to pour freeflow into an oversize glass even with the line on it. Up until recently Sheffield beer in general in my opinion was horrendous and had been for 30 years, but these days has taken on a new excellent quality with brands such as Abbeydale and Farmers.

Sheffield must be the only place in the country where I have been served a pint of cider with a head on it????

[Fudbeer]

Agree Carlsberg is quite possibly the worst lager anywhere,worse than Carling which basically has no taste.

 

I notice its often the cheapest I often wonder if they make it deliberately bad so people pay more next time!

 

Interestingly the one they serve on the continent is different and quite nice its also stronger at 5%