Now, I appreciate that I'm probably preaching to the converted here but I 
was given a 4-pack of JS Smoothflow last week and have just drunk the first 
can.  How do people drink this stuff?  I wasn't expecting very much, but it 
was completely without any taste of malt or hops, was cloying and slimy in 
the mouth and generally a foul can of overpriced piss.  Not cheap either 
(though it was to me).  Seems to me that any canned lager would be 
preferable.

And while I'm on a rant, I heard someone say in a Cardiff pub yesterday that 
"they do a lovely pint of Caffrey's here".  Isn't that like saying that 
"they do a particularly nice Big Mac at this Mc Donald's"?

Nobody knows anything except me.

-- 
With best wishes from WolfWilf
Cardiff, Wales, UK

"WolfWilf"  wrote in message
news:4360ecd4$1_2@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...

> Now, I appreciate that I'm probably preaching to the converted here but I
> was given a 4-pack of JS Smoothflow last week and have just drunk the
first
> can.  How do people drink this stuff?  I wasn't expecting very much, but
it
> was completely without any taste of malt or hops, was cloying and slimy in
> the mouth and generally a foul can of overpriced piss.  Not cheap either
> (though it was to me).  Seems to me that any canned lager would be
> preferable.
>
> And while I'm on a rant, I heard someone say in a Cardiff pub yesterday
that
> "they do a lovely pint of Caffrey's here".  Isn't that like saying that
> "they do a particularly nice Big Mac at this Mc Donald's"?
>


I was given a bottle of American Bud a couple of weeks ago. I would normally
never touch this stuff with a barge pole knowing how dreadful it is - ice
cold, fizzy, insipid, sweet are a few adjectives that come to mind. However,
on a whim I decided to try it at room temperature. Take my word for it -
don't try that at home, folks!! It was totally disgusting - I was almost
sick. Last night I had two bottles of Leyden's Raglan's Sleeve at the same
temperature and it was rather nice - better a wee bit cooler but palatable
nevertheless. So no surprises here either!



Gavin

KeithS typed ...

"Never mind WolfWilf, just so long as you know the Great Welsh Beer
Festival's on at Cardiff Town Hall from Dec1 to Dec 3, that's all you
need to know"  :)
KeithS


Here's a link to the 'Great Welsh 'B&CF website ... at City Hall.

http://www.neilwarnock.f2s.com/gwbcf/

Cheers ...

Dave
The Sec-RAT-ary
Real Ale Tasting Society - R.A.T.S. ®
www.the-rats.org

Apologies ... here's the 'official' 'Great Welsh' website address.

http://www.gwbcf.org.uk

Cheers ...

Dave (R.A.T.S.)

WolfWilf wrote:

> And while I'm on a rant, I heard someone say in a Cardiff pub yesterday that 
> "they do a lovely pint of Caffrey's here".  Isn't that like saying that 
> "they do a particularly nice Big Mac at this Mc Donald's"?


I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that because the 
Guinness is better in this one...

Talking of Guinness, I sometimes drink with a friend in a local pub that 
has excellent real ales, including a regular mild (Black Dog). But he 
always drinks Guinness in there. Then recently we were in a different 
pub where they had a bog-standard keg mild - Whitbread, I think - and he 
was really excited. So I asked him, if he's so excited about a crap 
mild, why he doesn't drink the superb mild they have in the Ship? Turns 
out he didn't realise it was a mild... anyway, next time we were in 
there, I reminded him to try it. He's not a big drinker and normally 
sticks to just a couple of pints, but he loved the Black Dog so much he 
was knocking it back like there was no tomorrow.

One more convert to the cause. :-)

d.

"davek"  wrote in message
news:3sf3skFo59ffU1@individual.net

> WolfWilf wrote:
>> And while I'm on a rant, I heard someone say in a Cardiff pub yesterday
>> that "they do a lovely pint of Caffrey's here".  Isn't that like saying
>> that "they do a particularly nice Big Mac at this Mc Donald's"?
>
> I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that because the
> Guinness is better in this one...


Surely up to a point it is possible for one pub to serve better (or less 
bad) keg beer than another if they clean their lines properly etc.

-- 
http://www.stockportpubs.org.uk
"If a river bridge were not guarded by a parapet, the slackness of the
defaulting authority deserves the blame, not the people who fall in" -
Lieut. Col. Mervyn O'Gorman.

"davek"  wrote in message 
news:3sf3skFo59ffU1@individual.net...

> I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that because the 
> Guinness is better in this one...
>

I see now that Guinness is advertised as "imported from Ireland".  Is there 
any difference?

WW

In article <4362612e$1_2@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com>,
   WolfWilf  wrote:


> "davek"  wrote in message 
> news:3sf3skFo59ffU1@individual.net...
> > I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that
> > because the Guinness is better in this one...
> >
> I see now that Guinness is advertised as "imported from
> Ireland".  Is there any difference?

> WW 


The advertising around here says "Now brewed in Ireland"

So what?  Wasn't it always?

I suppose they mean "No longer brewed in the UK" but it's rather
a daft way of saying it, IMHO.

JD

-- 
John Devine,  Bolton,  Lancashire
john[dot]devine970[AT]ntlworld[dot]com

"davek"  wrote in message 
news:3sf3skFo59ffU1@individual.net...

> WolfWilf wrote:
>> And while I'm on a rant, I heard someone say in a Cardiff pub yesterday 
>> that "they do a lovely pint of Caffrey's here".  Isn't that like saying 
>> that "they do a particularly nice Big Mac at this Mc Donald's"?
>
> I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that because the 
> Guinness is better in this one...
>
> Talking of Guinness,


What is it with Guiness - why is it so popular when there are so many other 
beers that are so much better ?

"Manky Badger" <spam@puritanDOTfreeserve.FULLSTOPcoSPOTuk> wrote in message

>
> What is it with Guiness - why is it so popular when there are so many
> other beers that are so much better ?


Even in keg pubs?

-- 
http://www.stockportpubs.org.uk
"If a river bridge were not guarded by a parapet, the slackness of the
defaulting authority deserves the blame, not the people who fall in" -
Lieut. Col. Mervyn O'Gorman.

In article <4362612e$1_2@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com>, WolfWilf
 wrote:


> "davek"  wrote in message
> news:3sf3skFo59ffU1@individual.net...
> > I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that because
> > the Guinness is better in this one...
> >
> I see now that Guinness is advertised as "imported from Ireland".  Is
> there any difference?


Visibly.

I can recall sitting and watching a work colleague drink the *black* stuff
over the past few years and I've tasted it myself.

Just last week he picked up a pint and we noted the fact that it was
possible to see through the lower section at least partly. I bought another
half as a taster to check my theory - less flavour than Gravediggers Mild
(but then that is rather tasty stuff anyway) and in fact I'd now rate
Guinness flavour wise as a fairly average big brewers mild.

Most notably, it ain't black.

I refuse to believe the Irish have been happily drinking tater water like
that for so long so it must be a recent change in the assembly.

-- 
Steve Pampling

In message <djtnah$1ci$1@news8.svr.pol.co.uk>, PeterE 
 writes


>>> that "they do a lovely pint of Caffrey's here".  Isn't that like saying
>>> that "they do a particularly nice Big Mac at this Mc Donald's"?
>>
>> I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that because the
>> Guinness is better in this one...
>
>Surely up to a point it is possible for one pub to serve better (or less
>bad) keg beer than another if they clean their lines properly etc.
>


I don't think they'd get away with dirty keg lines for long, keg beer is 
fermentable and once it starts to ferment in the pipes it foams up as 
you try to pour it into the glass.  Non-alcoholic keg is particularly 
prone to this!

I suspect the main factor is how long it sits in the keg before it gets 
used.  It can be months for slow-selling lines, and although air can't 
get to it CO2 can and the flavour components aren't that stable 
chemically.   Keg beer needn't be stored very carefully either.

My dad once had a legal case about Newcastle Brown, for which he had a 
couple of dozen tins of it sitting about in his office for over a year. 
The temperature varied quite a lot with the seasons and time of day. 
When the case was settled he brought it home and we compared the taste 
with some "fresh" cans.  We actually preferred it rancid - er, matured - 
but it still wasn't like drinking actual beer.

Pity it wasn't White Shield.

-- 
Sue  ]:(:)

"Any computer built after 1985 has the storage capacity to house an evil spirit."
Reverend Jim Peasboro

In article , MadCow
<Sue@blackhole.invalid> wrote:

> >> I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that because
> >> the Guinness is better in this one...
> >
> >Surely up to a point it is possible for one pub to serve better (or
> >less bad) keg beer than another if they clean their lines properly etc.
> >

> I don't think they'd get away with dirty keg lines for long, keg beer is
> fermentable and once it starts to ferment in the pipes it foams up as
> you try to pour it into the glass.  


A mate took over a pub and the first thing he did was clean all the lines
*including* the keg lines. The previous incumbent had done that in three
years and the difference in the Guinness was such as to raise some
complaints from the regulars.
"It tastes strange like the other pubs round here"

:-O

-- 
Steve Pampling

PeterE wrote:

> "davek"  wrote in message
> news:3sf3skFo59ffU1@individual.net
>> WolfWilf wrote:
>>> And while I'm on a rant, I heard someone say in a Cardiff pub
>>> yesterday that "they do a lovely pint of Caffrey's here".  Isn't
>>> that like saying that "they do a particularly nice Big Mac at this
>>> Mc Donald's"?
>>
>> I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that because
>> the Guinness is better in this one...
>
> Surely up to a point it is possible for one pub to serve better (or
> less bad) keg beer than another if they clean their lines properly
> etc.


I spent two weeks in the republic of Ireland this summer.
I visited some great pubs in towns/cities (Dublin, Cork, Galway etc) and in 
the country (Kerry, Mayo etc).
In particular I wanted to try the places where Guniness is known (and 
advertised by independent publications) as being superb.
My conclusion, as others here will no doubt expect - it is exactly the same 
(apart from temperature differences) wherever you puchase it.

The real difference was when trying beers from Biddy Early, Porter House and 
Mssrs Maguires of course.


-- 

Brett

On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 10:09:09 +0100, Brett... wrote
(in message <43633c47$0$15067$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net>):


> In particular I wanted to try the places where Guniness is known (and 
> advertised by independent publications) as being superb.
> My conclusion, as others here will no doubt expect - it is exactly the same 
> (apart from temperature differences) wherever you puchase it.


I've always had my doubts when people say it tastes better in different 
places. Surely Guiness spend millions making sure there is no variation. 
Isn't that the point of it - it's the same everywhereapart from Nigeria 
maybe?

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 20:17:41 +0100, Manky Badger wrote
(in message <djttgd$n2v$1@news7.svr.pol.co.uk>):


> What is it with Guiness - why is it so popular when there are so many other 
> beers that are so much better ? 


It's reliable, real ale isn't, that's a huge reason alot of people who should 
know better don't touch it.

"Brett..."  wrote in message 
news:43633c47$0$15067$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...

> PeterE wrote:
>> "davek"  wrote in message
>> news:3sf3skFo59ffU1@individual.net
>>> WolfWilf wrote:
>>>> And while I'm on a rant, I heard someone say in a Cardiff pub
>>>> yesterday that "they do a lovely pint of Caffrey's here".  Isn't
>>>> that like saying that "they do a particularly nice Big Mac at this
>>>> Mc Donald's"?
>>>
>>> I've had friends say they'd rather go in this pub than that because
>>> the Guinness is better in this one...
>>
>> Surely up to a point it is possible for one pub to serve better (or
>> less bad) keg beer than another if they clean their lines properly
>> etc.
>
> I spent two weeks in the republic of Ireland this summer.
> I visited some great pubs in towns/cities (Dublin, Cork, Galway etc) and 
> in the country (Kerry, Mayo etc).
> In particular I wanted to try the places where Guniness is known (and 
> advertised by independent publications) as being superb.
> My conclusion, as others here will no doubt expect - it is exactly the 
> same (apart from temperature differences) wherever you puchase it.


I've tried it in the factory where they make it in Dublin.
Still rank !!!

PeterE wrote:

> "Manky Badger" <spam@puritanDOTfreeserve.FULLSTOPcoSPOTuk> wrote in
> message
>>
>> What is it with Guiness - why is it so popular when there are so many
>> other beers that are so much better ?
>
> Even in keg pubs?


I was in a small pub one lunchtime, and some Diego reps came in, asking
about sales, and awarding a free pint of Guinness to those who helped. I
told them Gunness was a distress purchase - I only bought it if there was no
decent beer on. I refused their kind offer and had a tasty Station Porter
instead. (Richard Brooks will know which pub!)

Steve Pickthall wrote:

> Isn't that the point of it - it's the same everywhere apart from Nigeria 
> maybe?


There are different versions of Guinness brewed around the world for 
different markets - or at least there always used to be. There was one 
version brewed in Ireland specially for sale in Belgium IIRC.

d.

Manky Badger wrote:


>
> I've tried it in the factory where they make it in Dublin.
> Still rank !!!


Actually I didn't mind drinking it when I had no choice, it certainly didn't 
have the off-flavours that I find present in Caffreys.
Mind you after a couple, I'd had enough. A pity, great pubs all free from 
tie, and what do they serve....


-- 

Brett

In message , Steve 
Pickthall  writes

>On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 20:17:41 +0100, Manky Badger wrote
>(in message <djttgd$n2v$1@news7.svr.pol.co.uk>):
>
>> What is it with Guiness - why is it so popular when there are so many other
>> beers that are so much better ?
>
>It's reliable, real ale isn't, that's a huge reason alot of people who should
>know better don't touch it.
>


If "reliable" means "always tastes the same" then that isn't what I 
want.  I used to like Brakspears Ordinary, which had several different 
flavours depending on all sorts of things.

Blackjack Porter - not very porterish, but it is very nice.

-- 
Sue  ];(:)

"MadCow" <Sue@blackhole.invalid> wrote in message
news:pf6tISKgz+YDFwz5@mashtub.demon.co.uk

> In message , Steve
> Pickthall  writes
>>
>> It's reliable, real ale isn't, that's a huge reason alot of people who
>> should know better don't touch it.
>
> If "reliable" means "always tastes the same" then that isn't what I
> want.  I used to like Brakspears Ordinary, which had several different
> flavours depending on all sorts of things.
>
> Blackjack Porter - not very porterish, but it is very nice.


No, "unreliable" in terms of real ale means far too often warm, flat, sour, 
rancid, past its sell-by-date etc.

I love the stuff when it's good, but if you just buy real ale at random, the 
results make it all too understandable why many people prefer kegs.

-- 
http://www.stockportpubs.org.uk
"If a river bridge were not guarded by a parapet, the slackness of the
defaulting authority deserves the blame, not the people who fall in" -
Lieut. Col. Mervyn O'Gorman.

On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 22:58:50 +0100, PeterE wrote
(in message <dk0raq$7nc$1@news6.svr.pol.co.uk>):


> No, "unreliable" in terms of real ale means far too often warm, flat, sour, 
> rancid, past its sell-by-date etc.


It's not just that though. They're problems at the retail end, too often it's 
inconsistent straight from the brewer. Not necessarily off-form but often 
tweaked, I'm sure this tweaking puts many people off who crave consistency.

"Steve Pickthall"  wrote in
message news:0001HW.BF89B6040012A174F0305550@aioe.cjb.net

> On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 22:58:50 +0100, PeterE wrote
> (in message <dk0raq$7nc$1@news6.svr.pol.co.uk>):
>
>> No, "unreliable" in terms of real ale means far too often warm, flat,
>> sour, rancid, past its sell-by-date etc.
>
> It's not just that though. They're problems at the retail end, too often
> it's inconsistent straight from the brewer. Not necessarily off-form but
> often tweaked, I'm sure this tweaking puts many people off who crave
> consistency.


Do you think this tweaking is confined to small micros or also done by 
larger brewers?

-- 
http://www.stockportpubs.org.uk
"If a river bridge were not guarded by a parapet, the slackness of the
defaulting authority deserves the blame, not the people who fall in" -
Lieut. Col. Mervyn O'Gorman.

On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 23:36:36 +0100, PeterE wrote
(in message <dk0thk$2h4$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk>):


> Do you think this tweaking is confined to small micros or also done by 
> larger brewers?


Dunno.I don't drink big brewery produce often enough to be familiar enough 
with it.

I'm sure big brewers are lesssusceptible to seasonal variation of 
ingredients due to their buying power but IMO some small brewers don't seem 
to appreciate how importantconsistency is to many people.

I bet if you asked most people to list their criteria for choosing beer they 
wouldn't list consistency but I'm dead sure it'd be high up a subconscious 
list!

Steve Pickthall wrote:

> I bet if you asked most people to list their criteria for choosing beer they 
> wouldn't list consistency but I'm dead sure it'd be high up a subconscious 
> list!


Oh, I don't know if it's all that subconscious - after all, how often do 
you, a discerning drinker, choose to drink in a pub where the beer 
quality is unreliable over the one where you can [nearly?] always be 
sure of a decent pint?

And if I'm planning on drinking in an area where I don't know the local 
hostelries, I always check up the GBG before travelling.

d.