kritichris wrote: ↑

Mon May 25, 2020 9:06 am

Watneys made a fair attempt too with Red Barrel, you could start a thread with this.

My personal nadir with regard to beer came when I was living down in Surry/Hampshire with Friary Meux, which, as I recall was brewed in Guildford.

Loved a bottle of Double Maxim by Vaux. Camerons from Hartlepool was the NEs foulest pint.
Did a lot of drinking in Richmond in my youth. A Newcy house you’d get a fight, a Vaux house you’d get a laugh, the Cameron pubs were frequented by the village idiots all 9p shilling.

See, he was right.

The thing is, Brew Ten was eagerly anticipated when it replaced the
locally brewed Massey's. It took the majority of people one pint to wish
that it hadn't happened. !!!

The north east was a drinker's disaster area - S and N's Scotch and Exhibition, Vaux, Fed Special etc. Little competition to stir up complacency but thankfully now much improved with many excellent, exciting real ales on Tyneside. From desert to oasis in 20 years!

John Smiths - generally acknowledged as the worst beer ever - the only natural ingredient it has was water

Who remembers Whitbread's two offerings, Tankard and Trophy?

Remarkably little real ale around in the 70s, so much better now.

Funkydrummer wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 9:50 am

See, he was right.

The thing is, Brew Ten was eagerly anticipated when it replaced the
locally brewed Massey's. It took the majority of people one pint to wish
that it hadn't happened. !!!

Didnt they then bring out Brew 11 which was worse?

Steve1956 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:26 am

Didnt they then bring out Brew 11 which was worse?

Brew 11 was brewed in Yorkshire and was just as bad, if not worse as you say.

EDIT :- That statement is wrong, it was in fact brewed in the Midlands by M&B. For some
unknown reason I was confusing it with that other weasel pi$$, Stones.

lakedistrictclaret wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:20 am

Who remembers Whitbread's two offerings, Tankard and Trophy?

Remarkably little real ale around in the 70s, so much better now.

What about Younger's Tartan - gnat's pi$$

SalisburyClaret wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:17 am

John Smiths - generally acknowledged as the worst beer ever - the only natural ingredient it has was water

Just don’t agree with that at all. Plenty of terrible beers about. Bank’s Bitter off the top of my head would fall into this category.

Steve1956 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:26 am

Didnt they then bring out Brew 11 which was worse?

My first pints were Massey's which seemed pretty decent (although I wasnt an experienced drinker). The Brew X replacement was noticeably less good. When I ventured into the midlands, there was Brew XI which was pretty similar to X (possibly exactly the same).

When the big breweries were taking over all the local breweries in that late 60s/early 70s period, beer really declined in quality. At my uni bar 68-72 we had Whitbread Tankard, Tartan bitter or Double Diamond to chose from. Bottles of Newcastle Broon was my choice.

LeadBelly wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:45 am

My first pints were Massey's which seemed pretty decent (although I wasnt an experienced drinker). The Brew X replacement was noticeably less good. When I ventured into the midlands, there was Brew XI which was pretty similar to X (possibly exactly the same).

When the big breweries were taking over all the local breweries in that late 60s/early 70s period, beer really declined in quality. At my uni bar 68-72 we had Whitbread Tankard, Tartan bitter or Double Diamond to chose from. Bottles of Newcastle Broon was my choice.

I think my first venture into beer drinking would be Massey's as well at 14, "a pint of mixed landlord and make it snappy"

Steve1956 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:48 am

I think my first venture into beer drinking would be Massey's as well at 14, "a pint of mixed landlord and make it snappy"

Around 1 shilling & 10 pence for that?
When those "big brands" came in, the pints moved upto c half a crown (2/6) per pint. Only 8 pints for a quid then instead of 10+; terrible.

Newcastle Brown is utterly disgusting.

LeadBelly wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:59 am

Around 1 shilling & 10 pence for that?
When those "big brands" came in, the pints moved upto c half a crown (2/6) per pint. Only 8 pints for a quid then instead of 10+; terrible.

Had we not gone into decimals by then? Im sure i have 14p a pint locked away in my memory,my paper round financed my drinking

Steve1956 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 11:05 am

Had we not gone into decimals by then? Im sure i have 14p a pint locked away in my memory,my paper round financed my drinking

Decimalisation was February 1971 ... Steve you were 15 ... so you probably did drink in old money ....

Bosscat wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 11:09 am

Decimalisation was February 1971 ... Steve you were 15 ... so you probably did drink in old money ....

Thanks Dad

Spew 10 was bad but comes second to jw lees of manchester

Funkydrummer wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:32 am

What about Younger's Tartan - gnats pi$$

Boy have to agree with you there , i recall you could get it in the Broadswords as they would serve you as under age at the time .

How about tins of beer ? Anyone remember Jackpot beer in a something like 4 pint tin

Funkydrummer wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:29 am

Brew 11 was brewed in Yorkshire and was just as bad, if not worse as you say.

Mitchell's and Butler made Brew XI, when they merged with Bass. Think it was mainly sold in the Midlands.
(In fact, it was sold with the slogan "for the men of the Midlands."
Though it may have been brewed in Yorkshire.
M&B (now under the wing of Coors) still make cask Brew XI, and its actually brewed under licence by Brains of Cardiff.

Brew Ten was vile.

Stones best bitter. I think it may have been brewed in Sheffield but still sold in pubs around Burnley . Almost instant cure for constipation.

Lord Rothbury wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 11:37 am

Stones best bitter. I think it may have been brewed in Sheffield but still sold in pubs around Burnley . Almost instant cure for constipation.

It (Stones best bitter) was bloody terrible stuff ....although on saying that my Brother was at Art College in Sheffield in late 60's and says the original Stones beer wasn't too bad ... it was just that "Bright beer pap" they started making in the mid 70's dispensed by electric beer pumps.

Thwaites Bitter in the Golden Lion in Settle was bloody awful around that period too (although that was probably down to the cellarman rather than the beer)

Stones was a hell of a sight better than Brew Ten.
(Though, admittedly, that's not a very high bar)

I recall they used to sell JW Lees in the Angels years ago.
Some nights it was undrinkable.

Any pint in a pub would go down well at present!

Rossendale in the 60's:
Most of the pubs were 'Beverley's' , mild or bitter, brewed in Yorkshire , I think.
Can still see 'Beverley's the Beverage' sign ,in my mind's eye, at Bacup Borough football ground.
Some Massey's pubs too, only bitter available. The urban myth was that Massey's pubs in Rochdale only sold mild. Were there even any Massey's houses there?
Thwaites bitter was prized, but not widely available

When 'Watneys red barrel ' arrived at 2s/6d (12p) a pint , what a change
.
None of the above seemed that bad ,so to get back on theme, 'Bent's bitter' in Liverpool, so foul the locals had to drink it half and half with a bottle of brown ale , 'brown split' or something.

"None of the above seemed that bad ,so to get back on theme, 'Bent's bitter' in Liverpool, so foul the locals had to drink it half and half with a bottle of brown ale , 'brown split' or something."

Higson's was another beer from Merseyside, equally as rancid.

Tribesmen wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 11:25 am

Boy have to agree with you there , i recall you could get it in the Broadswords as they would serve you as under age at the time .

How about tins of beer ? Anyone remember Jackpot beer in a something like 4 pint tin

Yeah, those large cans you used to take to parties !!

Party 4's and party 7's I believe they were called.

huw.Y.WattfromWare wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 9:47 am

Loved a bottle of Double Maxim by Vaux. Camerons from Hartlepool was the NEs foulest pint.
Did a lot of drinking in Richmond in my youth. A Newcy house you’d get a fight, a Vaux house you’d get a laugh, the Cameron pubs were frequented by the village idiots all 9p shilling.

I used to frequent Richmond when I was a soldier at Catterick Camp. Vaux was my beer of choice also. There were some good pubs in and around the square. Locals used to drink a lot of Cameron’s Strongarm. Had some good times up there in North Yorkshire. There was also the “real” Theakstons at Masham before they sold out to S and N breweries. You could also get Federation beer from Newcastle in a few social clubs which was a decent beer at a few pence a pint cheaper.

More importantly, how much did anyone pay for their first pint. Not my first but at Uni in 1962 I paid 1/6d or 7.5p in today's money and shock horror paid 50p for a pint around 1974 in Piccafilly in Manchester. Cannot remember what I paid in Burnley for my first pint.
On my 21st I walked into a pub and ordered a pint and was asked if I was 18. I felt insulted-today I would buy the barman a pint for that comment

Watneys Party Sevens were a rite of passage for kids of a certain age, the off licence having got wise to us, we got older blokes to go in and buy us a couple.

I was brought up on Massey's bitter and when I went down to Birmingham Uni in 1966 the draught bitter in the Union bar was M&B's Brew XI, which was ferkin awful, fizzy and tasteless. So Brew XI was a Midlands beer. I remember when brew X was introduced into Burnley and the surrounding areas, that too was undrinkable so I started drinking Macky Black and Tans to improve the taste.

Vino blanco wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 12:45 pm

I was brought up on Massey's bitter and when I went down to Birmingham Uni in 1966 the draught bitter in the Union bar was M&B's Brew XI, which was ferkin awful, fizzy and tasteless. So Brew XI was a Midlands beer. I remember when brew X was introduced into Burnley and the surrounding areas, that too was undrinkable so I started drinking Macky Black and Tans to improve the taste.

I went to Birmingham University too, 1970-73.

Didn't spend much time in the Union bar though. I lived at the Manor House hall of residence for all three years ( as did bodge many years later ). The draught bitter in the hall bar was Tartan, but I used to drink bottles of Newcastle Brown.

If I went to a pub in Birmingham, I was an "Ansells Bitterman".

Jamesy wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 12:27 pm

I used to frequent Richmond when I was a soldier at Catterick Camp. Vaux was my beer of choice also. There were some good pubs in and around the square. Locals used to drink a lot of Cameron’s Strongarm. Had some good times up there in North Yorkshire. There was also the “real” Theakstons at Masham before they sold out to S and N breweries. You could also get Federation beer from Newcastle in a few social clubs which was a decent beer at a few pence a pint cheaper.

You could get a pint of Old Peculiar at the Holly Hill Inn at Richmond. Too strong for my young drinking legs.

mdd2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 12:28 pm

.
On my 21st I walked into a pub and ordered a pint and was asked if I was 18. I felt insulted-today I would buy the barman a pint for that comment

I had a 5’5” baby faced teammate he was under age I was legal but I was the one getting asked my age, regularly.

Noticed several references to beer in Sheffield which reminded me of Wards beer: You often hear of beers 'not travelling well', but Wards had to be the worst culprit, at the brewery itself and at a couple of pubs I tried within half a mile of the brewery it was a nice pint, but in pubs just a couple of miles away it got iffy and in Chesterfield where I was living (about 10-12 miles from the brewery) it was undrinkable!

Pleased to say that the Theakston family, well only Paul nowadays, own Theakstons once again.

Having not seen Youngers Tartan - which was what I started on as a twelve year old in the early 70's - for 30-40 years, I came across it again a couple of years ago, on draught in the House of Trousers pub on the Isle of Seil; it was the same gassy gnats-**** that I recalled

mdd2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 12:28 pm

...On my 21st I walked into a pub and ordered a pint and was asked if I was 18. I felt insulted-today I would buy the barman a pint for that comment

I have a niece who's in her mid thirties and still cannot get served in pubs or off licences without showing photo ID; nowadays she too loves the refusals!

There was. It was called Mitchells of Lancaster. It was absolute sh1te.

I'm going for willy lees as well .The bitter was absolutely disgusting , and their lager was even worse .

LS7 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 11:03 am

Newcastle Brown is utterly disgusting.

That’s unfair

It is very popular because it tastes exactly the same on the way down as it does on the way back. Convenient practice

ElectroClaret wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 11:50 am

Stones was a hell of a sight better than Brew Ten.
(Though, admittedly, that's not a very high bar)

I recall they used to sell JW Lees in the Angels years ago.
Some nights it was undrinkable.

Agreed but so were most nightclub beers.
Ironically John Willie's present day cask is good - especially at Tod Cricket Club.

John Willie Lees absolute pish.
Stones Bitter gave me the worst hangover in the world whether it was one pint or ten.
Sam Smiths is another one I never took too.
Joseph Holts is another one, it’s an acquired taste people tell me. It’s not it’s total pish.

Be interesting to see what people’s best beers are.

Surprised that Tetleys (Warrington) & Greenalls haven,t made the pish list yet !!. Tetleys brewed in Leeds however was different gravy - reaching now for PPE !!.

JW Lees was utter trench water, an outrage of a pint.

When i was at Birmingham Uni lakedistrict/Vino, Davenports was very popular alongside the ubiquitous M&B. It wasn't bad in a decent boozer like the Lazy Fox.

I can’t stand Carling. Tastes of...nothing, it’s like dirty water.

I can’t understand that out of all the beers available someone would choose that?

I can’t describe it. It’s like someone has a bucket of water and poured a pint into it, then served it back to you through a soda stream. It’s just really bland. You can tell a lot from people who prefer Carling... I just steer clear of them.

The consensus seems to be that 70's beer was crap but we all drank it. We are spoiled today, or will be when the pubs re-open. Support your local, the more you drink the more you help them.

middleton claret wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 8:50 pm

Surprised that Tetleys (Warrington) & Greenalls haven,t made the pish list yet !!. Tetleys brewed in Leeds however was different gravy - reaching now for PPE !!.

Have to agree, Tetley from Leeds was like cream - Warrington's version absolutely vile. Sam Smith's doesn't travel, but, as a local lad, there are only three local pubs where it's superb - mind you, the finings do make it an extremely strong laxative.

Got to agree hand pulled Tetley's from Leeds in late 70s early 80s was a great pint whether mild or bitter. We were lucky in Skipton that we had at least 5 pubs serving it, unfortunately most of the rest were either Whitbread Trophy or Stones, we attempted to make these palatable by mixing a half with a bottle of brown ale to create a pint of 'brown split' !

Tetleys was a very decent choice at that time, used to be able to get that at The Borough Hotel (near Manchester Road train station) in late 60s/early 70s (maybe even later as I'm not sure when that pub closed).
That "huntsman" logo was very distinctive.

Sam Smiths Old Brewery Bitter - guaranteed to make you sh*te
Newcastle Exhibition. - guaranteed to give you a splitting headache
John Smiths - guaranteed to make you vomit

Another shout for JW Lees.Absolutely disgusting, have had it over Manchester way too, just as bad. Interestingly, when brewing, the sludgy sediment at the bottom of tank/vat is called lees. Very apt.