tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post835223502062612797..comments2024-03-28T17:11:52.333+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: Bitten by the DogCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-85848184308783136672017-10-13T17:59:25.059+01:002017-10-13T17:59:25.059+01:00A scotch egg in the Old Joint Stock is £5.95! I&#... A scotch egg in the Old Joint Stock is £5.95! I'll stick with nipping into the Post Office Vaults with a Greggs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-61656101779964169932017-10-12T20:14:27.906+01:002017-10-12T20:14:27.906+01:00And, yes, most drivers do exist in a car bubble. P...And, yes, most drivers do exist in a car bubble. People who only go on package holidays to Spain exist in a travel bubble. Nothing intrinsically wrong with either, just as there is nothing wrong with drinking mainstream lager. But a Fiesta-driving, Ibiza-holidaying, Stella-drinking, Man Utd-supporting, McDonalds-eating sort of person typically doesn't have the experience to profess expertise on any of these topics, nor would they usually claim to do so.<br /><br />95% or more of the beer I drink is competitively priced cask. I'm sat in Wetherspoons right now. If I drank exclusively here, it would be a bubble, just as much as if I exclusively drank £9 pints of craft keg in hipster bars. Wrestling with our own bubbles and comfort zones affects us all. Nobody is truly cosmopolitan, and those who purport to be are the most inwardly scared that they are not. <br />Ben Viveurhttp://www.benviveur.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-30792745970188313982017-10-12T20:01:30.109+01:002017-10-12T20:01:30.109+01:00Mudgie, I'd hazard that a substantial proporti...Mudgie, I'd hazard that a substantial proportion would've paid ~£5.95 for a 330ml bottle of Peroni etc. in a restaurant, effectively paying the premium price without getting either a premium or rare product. To me that is far more of a rip off than £9 for a pint of an 11% barrel aged baltic porter from a one-off cask - and, yes, in my case I'm far, far more likely to buy the uber expensive beer if it's cask, not keg.Ben Viveurhttp://www.benviveur.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-22694995604052011702017-10-12T13:29:49.009+01:002017-10-12T13:29:49.009+01:00You would have to go into central Manchester to th...You would have to go into central Manchester to their BrewDog or somewhere like the Port Street Beer House or Café Beermoth. There might be an occasional mega-strong craft keg offering in the Magnet in Stockport.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-3403693955760017232017-10-12T13:27:31.309+01:002017-10-12T13:27:31.309+01:00I paid over a tenner for a round of five Fullers&#...I paid over a tenner for a round of five Fullers' halves in the Old Joint Stock, none of which was much over 4%, so £4.95 for a 5.6% beer is entirely reasonable. BrewDog of course is a very successful example of premium pricing in action.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-29829261394658924412017-10-12T13:15:25.658+01:002017-10-12T13:15:25.658+01:00Punk IPA at less than a fiver is a bargain. It tak...Punk IPA at less than a fiver is a bargain. It takes twice as long to drink as a pint of Pride or Wherry in our local. And it goes well with scratchings.retiredmartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15429804437739227082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-80393695939390108872017-10-12T12:10:34.952+01:002017-10-12T12:10:34.952+01:00I don't think that I could find a draught beer...I don't think that I could find a draught beer costing that much in my normal travels!dcbwhaleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02585310584555592882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-73116213994412808452017-10-12T08:19:54.132+01:002017-10-12T08:19:54.132+01:00What is, Stockport? If you've never been drink...What is, Stockport? If you've never been drinking in Stockport you've missed out on one of Britain's great beery delights :-)Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-65446957962173459202017-10-12T08:18:51.378+01:002017-10-12T08:18:51.378+01:00If petrol pumps can do it, then so could beer pump...If petrol pumps can do it, then so could beer pumps. The obstacle is legislation, not technology.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-21596638627434647172017-10-12T08:11:01.502+01:002017-10-12T08:11:01.502+01:00That's like saying if you've never driven ...That's like saying if you've never driven a car costing more than £40k you live in a "car bubble". What proportion of beer drinkers in the UK have ever drunk a draught beer costing more than £7.50 a pint? Half of one percent, or less, I'd say. <br /><br />It's a common misconception of bubble-dwellers that their rarefied experience is in any way normal or representative. <br />Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-36954132680985980702017-10-12T00:22:29.670+01:002017-10-12T00:22:29.670+01:00Mudgie, if you've really never had a beer cost...Mudgie, if you've really never had a beer costing more than £7.50/pint, then you have almost certainly missed out on some truly wonderful, mind-blowing, awesome beers. In a sense you are, to borrow one of your preferred phrases, in your own 'beer bubble'.Ben Viveurhttp://www.benviveur.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-4100904333929464202017-10-11T19:52:32.539+01:002017-10-11T19:52:32.539+01:00They were made legal in the UK in, I think, 2011, ...They were made legal in the UK in, I think, 2011, and have become popular in the craft sector, but have never taken off in mainstream pubs such as Wetherspoon's.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-60850655472892766162017-10-11T18:33:09.605+01:002017-10-11T18:33:09.605+01:00A few years ago I visited a bar in Seville which h...A few years ago I visited a bar in Seville which had beer taps at the tables. You poured your own and paid for the volume you'd poured. I've no idea how it worked and the beer was mediocre anyway. And if you have concerns about the hygiene of Autovac, this would send you catatonic.Nigel Mortonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-45948436712427949302017-10-11T17:12:19.263+01:002017-10-11T17:12:19.263+01:00It's on my to do list!It's on my to do list!Britain Beermathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06096636784719969464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-56495831789129236952017-10-11T16:44:34.611+01:002017-10-11T16:44:34.611+01:002/3rd pint measures are actually an Australian thi...2/3rd pint measures are actually an Australian thing - surprising to see it pop up in the UK but it's certainly on its way over! Tabithahttp://artigiano.uk.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-64674192850696311712017-10-11T07:55:56.763+01:002017-10-11T07:55:56.763+01:00Chalk and cheese, really, as Stockport is a much s...Chalk and cheese, really, as Stockport is a much smaller place. A problem with Brum is that most of the good pubs are out on one side or other of the city centre, in Digbeth or the Jewellery Quarter, so hard to fit within a feasible pub crawl. There's not really a lot we didn't do actually within the IRR, and certainly nothing to compare with the cluster of excellent pubs on or near to Stockport Market Place.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-48127981170268554342017-10-11T07:50:44.710+01:002017-10-11T07:50:44.710+01:00The Inner Ring Road in Birmingham is drawn a lot m...The Inner Ring Road in Birmingham is drawn a lot more tightly than in many other cities, so a pub in the equivalent location in Manchester would be inside it. The Craven Arms is only maybe seven (admittedly mostly uphill) minutes' walk from New Street station, so not really out on a limb.<br /><br />The Gunmakers Arms, which we also visited, on the north side of the city centre, is considerably more isolated.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-48034666494796596212017-10-10T23:17:00.611+01:002017-10-10T23:17:00.611+01:00Brum is getting better and better...long overdue b...Brum is getting better and better...long overdue but got some excellent places now for a drink...how does it compare to Stockport??!!Britain Beermathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06096636784719969464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-73552310063823978642017-10-10T22:58:25.475+01:002017-10-10T22:58:25.475+01:00My recollection (I was there,the bloke from Somers...My recollection (I was there,the bloke from Somerset) is that the beer was very good, and significantly nicer than the Elvis Juice which is knocked out in my local Asda for £1.50 a can. I wonder if it's the same product and I'm imagining the difference? The clientele was more studenty than hipstery, although I did wonder about the couple with the designer puppy on the next table... Good day out anyway, thanks for setting it up PC. Jon Bengerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04345376703967703643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-72479685024614322262017-10-10T22:35:22.493+01:002017-10-10T22:35:22.493+01:00my impression from when I visited Brum last year, ...my impression from when I visited Brum last year, is its just a very good pub, and has a good reputation for quality beer so yeah it survives by doing the right things, and its not quite as off the beaten track as it might seem,they were building plenty more flats around it at the time I went,much of the city seems to be a construction site, but its not far from a couple of key main roads, and the canal which links in with alot of the music venues and areas of nightlife, hotels, so its not necessarily a walk pass pub, but not as obscure to find as some can be.<br /><br />strangely I didnt visit the Brewdog, in that Ive nothing much against Brewdogs been in a few, but strange in that I must have walked right past it to/from the station as well, but didnt consider it. Ive tended to find the premise is the staff are supposed to fill in the details of the beer if you look perplexed enough, so thats why you get less details on the beer board,but it seems to be hit & miss whether they actually do strike up that conversationStonohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02656315721111561414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-5859988979377535972017-10-10T20:26:48.698+01:002017-10-10T20:26:48.698+01:00It was lovely.It was lovely.Citranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-73597803601423101872017-10-10T20:24:29.058+01:002017-10-10T20:24:29.058+01:00It was my first visit there, it was reasonably wel...It was my first visit there, it was reasonably well attended, I assume it survives by reputation,which on my visit was upheld.Citranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-35973839729377563642017-10-10T20:01:04.361+01:002017-10-10T20:01:04.361+01:00I would happily had another two thirds on the even...I would happily had another two thirds on the evening, it was my favorite beer of the day, however time did not permit. With regards to the different measures, they are a really good Idea in bars like this where you may encounter something stronger than you may find in a regular pub, the option of trying a third helps greatly.Citranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-278682250778671422017-10-10T17:37:29.756+01:002017-10-10T17:37:29.756+01:00Not sure that this is serious – how would a pub me...Not sure that this is serious – how would a pub measure out £2 worth of a £3.45 pint, about 5/8ths?<br />What really prompted me to post was the photo, which I assume is the Craven Arms. It looks to be a pub in a light industrial area: so no local residents and little passing trade even if it is near a shopping complex. How does it survive? This is the sort of pub you would have expected to go under.<br />KJPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-83884250681154311872017-10-10T16:42:45.242+01:002017-10-10T16:42:45.242+01:00Oh dear not another ghastly grapefruity beer, vast...Oh dear not another ghastly grapefruity beer, vastly overpriced in a hipster paradise !Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com