tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post5082948463270488301..comments2024-03-28T17:11:52.333+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: Pub eat pubCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-51583857454511202102016-02-21T19:49:24.841+00:002016-02-21T19:49:24.841+00:00A lot of Greenalls beer back then was tank, and so...A lot of Greenalls beer back then was tank, and so not real. But, especially south of the Ship Canal, many of their pubs had cask. Not the greatest beer in the world, but as I said pretty decent when well kept. From that era I particularly remember it being good in the Ring O'Bells at Daresbury and the Hatton Arms at Hatton, both just south of Warrington.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-56631213860154933962016-02-21T15:06:03.272+00:002016-02-21T15:06:03.272+00:00I was a student at Padgate College on the edge of ...I was a student at Padgate College on the edge of Warrington in the 1970s. Greenalls rightly called the area Greenall Whitley land, and you could even get GWL car stickers. In all that time, we found only one pub in the surrounding countryside, not in Warrington itself, where we considered the beer to be good. The very few Tetley pubs were a welcome respite, and we found one that still sold the old Walkers Bitter. I cannot agree that Greenalls "beer could be much better than often given credit for", and I'm sure you wouldn't if you'd lived in the area for five years in the 70s. <br /><br />Boddingtons was the revered beer at the time among us students, and - being from Liverpool - I also was very fond of Higsons. If we wanted either, however, we had to travel. Greenalls is a fine example of how mediocre a brewer with a captive audience can become.Neville Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10923209266005338452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-86977996775745208362016-02-21T12:55:49.792+00:002016-02-21T12:55:49.792+00:00Yes I agree, and I think they have rightly won ...Yes I agree, and I think they have rightly won 'best pub company' or some such for their efforts. Shame, like you say, that these days their brewing is not up to scratch. Some of the seasonal brews can be ok (especially Regimental IPA in Nov for poppy day). Some are awful, like Tighthead, currently on for the 6 nations.Kieran Lyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10309306469722070363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-25944760192656557152016-02-21T08:35:33.957+00:002016-02-21T08:35:33.957+00:00Burtonwood, while they had three pubs in their hom...Burtonwood, while they had three pubs in their home village, had virtually none in the large nearby towns of Warrington, Widnes and St Helens, which were dominated by Greenalls. Their largest concentration seemed to be in and around Wigan. And Marston's pubs were thin on the ground in Burton.<br /><br />Holts did (and still do) have the <a href="http://whatpub.com/pubs/MAN/9692/derby-brewery-arms-strangeways" rel="nofollow">Derby Brewery Arms</a> which was fairly close to the brewery, although a half-mile slog out from the city centre. It's described on WhatPub? as the brewery tap.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-58316203766465061532016-02-21T08:05:43.220+00:002016-02-21T08:05:43.220+00:00Some of the old family breweries with tied houses ...Some of the old family breweries with tied houses had a surprisingly low profile in the town centres that they brewed in. Harveys in Lewis only had one tied house before the 1980's, the Southover Arms, and the other pubs selling their beer in Lewes belonged to Beards who gave up brewing after a yeast infection. Holts in Manchester had no pubs near the brewery -not even a brewery tap (neither did Harveys have one). Most of the tied house estates belonging to smaller breweries were accumulated ad-hoc at the end of the 19th century and those that didn't get any went bankrupt (even big ones like Allsops). So, geographic distribution of tied pubs could be odd.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01510568244896190792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-2697666154971277562016-02-20T14:51:52.038+00:002016-02-20T14:51:52.038+00:00Kieran - those Project William pubs are some of th...Kieran - those Project William pubs are some of the most impressive developments I've seen. It's a shame that Tiger so often disappoints as a beer, with the Original being good but a bit too strong for a session.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-56839910291599668902016-02-20T13:42:53.645+00:002016-02-20T13:42:53.645+00:00A funny thing is happening with Everards in Leices...A funny thing is happening with Everards in Leicester. They have a lot of pubs in the city and county, and it is still the case that you can buy a pint of Tiger cheaper in a freehold than you can one of their tied houses (which must be a bit baffling and seem counter intuitive to customers). <br /><br />However, I have noticed that they are now doing a lot more free of tie deals and letting tennants brand their pubs as non-Everards. Also, where refurbs are done they seem to be moving away from conspicous Everards signage. Maybe they are ahead of the curve.Kieran Lyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10309306469722070363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-26501041523750603322016-02-20T10:23:50.343+00:002016-02-20T10:23:50.343+00:00oh come on, whilst retail the price of a pint matt...oh come on, whilst retail the price of a pint matters less in a restaurant than a pub it is a shyster pub co that sell at differing prices to his tenants.<br /><br />The big pubcos seem to get most stick for dodgy practice but even the smaller ones are dodgy. I've seen Hydes & Robbies beer in Spoons near either tied house £1 a pint cheaper. I would suspect its a wake up call to the tied landlord that he's in bed with someone he needs to dump.<br /><br />You'd be a mug to run a pub as anything other than freehold.Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-49623110576471223142016-02-19T20:14:00.821+00:002016-02-19T20:14:00.821+00:00Brakspear's in Henley used to be another good ...Brakspear's in Henley used to be another good example - about 25 pubs of which only 3 belonged to any other brewer. And Cockermouth and Keswick are still dominated by Jennings pubs, likewise Tadcaster by Sam's. There aren't from memory that many Harvey's pubs in Lewes itself.<br /><br />In my formative drinking days, Warrington and most of north Cheshire were heavily dominated by Greenalls, which wasn't something to be cherished, although when well-kept their beer could be much better than often given credit for.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-42333758649991388532016-02-19T19:41:16.255+00:002016-02-19T19:41:16.255+00:00You make a good point about cherishing towns with ...You make a good point about cherishing towns with a number of pubs from a family brewer. I guess Lewes and Harveys, and Faversham and Sheps are other examples (there won't be that many others); the pubs there all seem to have their supporters despite a lot of similarity. Faversham does offer a lot of variety.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com