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Stones, Wards, Whitbread - all good bitters now gone


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I started visiting pubs in the early 1980s.  I liked Ward's, could "take or leave" Stones, wasn't keen on Tetley's & really didn't like Whitbread Trophy at all.  That was about the extent of the choice, aside from visits to the Fat Cat.  Also I recall that hand pumps (cask conditioned ale) seemed to be the exception rather than the rule.

 

I was sad to see the demise of Ward's, but I think it's great that there's so much more cask ale choice now.

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Just remembering back to when my drinking career began in the 1990s and back when I still enjoyed brown, malty bitters..

 

Whitbread Trophy - vile bog water

Tetley Bitter - cask version was OK when on form

Wards - stank of rotten eggs but tasted decent if you held your nose

Boddingtons Bitter - nice enough exponent of the genre on cask

Stones Bitter - golden bitter rather than brown, not too strong, refreshing but a little bland. Ultimately was designed to slake the thirst of steel workers after they came out of a very hot working environment!

 

Obviously the Stones, Wards and Tetleys breweries in Yorkshire are all long gone now. The Stones brand is owned by Molson Coors with the can and keg beer brewed in one of their Midlands beer factories but the cask is being produced for local drinkers by True North in Sheffield. Tetleys brand is owned by Carlsberg and is still being brewed by them somewhere and to be fair they aren't doing a terrible job of it.

 

The traditional malty brown bitter isn't so popular these days and a lot of places are unfortunately catering for that audience with Doom Bar, a cheaply produced bitter that to me tastes like caramel flavoured brown water. There are still locally produced examples - Abbeydale Daily Bread and Acorn Barnsley Bitter for example. There are also of course brewers like Theakstons, Timothy Taylors and Batemans that are long established, old fashioned regional family owned breweries that are still knocking out traditional beer styles to a reasonable standard!

 

Personally my tastes have moved on, we now have an absolutely epic choice of beers to go at, my normal go to style would be a hoppy pale ale although now and again will go for a ginger beer, stout or something else that looks a bit interesting. Of course one of the most commonly available local beers is Abbeydale Moonshine which isn't exactly over the top in hop flavour absolutely hits the spot if its in a pub that cellars it perfectly.

 

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I enjoy a pint of Moonshine at The Union in Nether Edge occasionally.  Well kept by the landlord there. Also good at The Rising Sun at Nether Green.

 

Some of my favourite breweries are Pollys,  Wilde Child, Northern Monk, Brass Castle, Tiny Rebel and Vault City, but I'll try anything once if the style is appealing. 

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On 14/07/2024 at 20:14, cuttsie said:

Magnet that was rocket fuel. The lads in Dodgers near where the Leadmill now stands swore by it . Suptit in half pint glasses . 

 

'Orrible chemical beer like trophy was . If it was rocket fuel the rocket would have hardly reached Manor Top.

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On 08/07/2024 at 10:51, Padders said:

You know where to get the best beer in Sheffield Mr. Bassett.

Plenty of choice, all at competitive prices..

Our friendly barmaid is always available for your nibbles...

 

Well, the last time my male friend was in there, the barmaid was very fruity with him.
He'd ordered his pint, and she cheekily asked if he'd like it hand-pulled.
He replied that he didn't realise that she could reach from there....

(Yes, gutter-level already.....)

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1 minute ago, FoxLady said:

 

Well, the last time my male friend was in there, the barmaid was very fruity with him.
He'd ordered his pint, and she cheekily asked if he'd like it hand-pulled.
He replied that he didn't realise that she could reach from there....

(Yes, gutter-level already.....)

WOW!

Nice to see you back, I've really missed you (But not your jokes)

Weez tha bin. 

Denmark?

Or spotting the shoplifters in your local supermarket..

 

Funny you should post about your friends experience, our barmaid is called Eileen, Eileen Dover.

 

 

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11 hours ago, Padders said:

WOW!

Nice to see you back, I've really missed you (But not your jokes)

Weez tha bin. 

Denmark?

Or spotting the shoplifters in your local supermarket..

 

Funny you should post about your friends experience, our barmaid is called Eileen, Eileen Dover.

 

 

Seen her brother Ben 😆

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Sheffield Tap has some good beers , expensive though . They do have a good choice , mind have to laugh young ones who have no idea how strong some of the beer is , coming reeling through , knocking stuff over in their midst . Really hilarious 

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