Decent Ale

Friendly chat, questions, reviews, find old friends or relatives. Not limited to Sydenham only issues but keep it civil!
catscratch
Posts: 83
Joined: 13 Jul 2008 12:44
Location: se20

Post by catscratch »

Of course I exist daahling!!!!!!
who else writes this stuff?
Eaterie is THE in word amongst we lunch crowd sophisticates.

I think that your beer dulled brain has missed the joke somewhat?

now wheres the teapot?
lizzie
Posts: 74
Joined: 12 Sep 2006 12:15
Location: sydenham

Post by lizzie »

I wholeheartedly support the recommendation for the Marble Arch in Manchester. The Ginger Marble is my favourite (I have a bottle sitting in my kitchen at this very moment!) although all the Marble beers are lovely - all organic and vegetarian. A good tip is to get in there before the posties from the sorting office over the road finish their shift.

Oh for somewhere that sold beer like that in Sydenham!!!

Lizzie
catscratch
Posts: 83
Joined: 13 Jul 2008 12:44
Location: se20

Post by catscratch »

Manchester for a pint?

The best kept beer I ever drunk was at the pub at Cowden Pound, south of Westerham called Annies, can't remember its real name.
An old lady 80 ish and a dog ran it, had the license from her Mum.
Every pint drawn from the cask by hand from the cellar.
A sign by the door said no Lager sold here
On the coldest day in winter or the hottest in summer it was in variably the same temparature.

It was Whitbread Fremlims from Faversham. Brewery Now closed.
30 years since I drank it.
Rather have a cuppa tea or wine now.
Now if Bensonby knows his stuff, he should be able to tell what the position is now, the old girl must be long dead.
Eagle
Posts: 10658
Joined: 7 Oct 2004 06:36
Location: F Hill

Post by Eagle »

,ay I put in a good word for the Harveys and Broadside at The Golden Lion.
I believe under new managment and I wish them every success.
Beer excellent
bensonby
Posts: 1656
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

Eagle wrote:,ay I put in a good word for the Harveys and Broadside at The Golden Lion.
I believe under new managment and I wish them every success.
Beer excellent
really? since when?
Eagle
Posts: 10658
Joined: 7 Oct 2004 06:36
Location: F Hill

Post by Eagle »

I believe they have been under new management for short time. I have been twice and beer very well kept
bensonby
Posts: 1656
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

Eagle wrote:I believe they have been under new management for short time. I have been twice and beer very well kept
The beer quality is indeed good. Its just the staff are all the same....I suppose the recent changes (the new door, more beer and jazz) are all symptoms of the change.....good symptoms I might add.
fishcox
Posts: 628
Joined: 4 Mar 2005 13:55
Location: lawrie park road

Post by fishcox »

Harking back to the original posting - does anyone have any recommendations for decent 'carry out' ale.

I'm quite partial to the bottled Badger stuff, from the Champion Ale, Golden Glory (both of which have a, quite sweet, elderflower flavour) through to Tanglefoot.

Tinned ale never seems to do it - although the Boddies with the 'widget' in the can always seems consistently good.

A mate of mine has just come back from the Czech Republic, and brought me a crate of pilsener (24 bottles) for the princely sum of £6-00. Amazing stuff.

It shows how much of our own beer is tax - I would struggle to get 4 (smaller) bottles of UK brewed stuff for £6-00, although Somerfield appears to be the best value locally.
bensonby
Posts: 1656
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

fishcox wrote:Harking back to the original posting - does anyone have any recommendations for decent 'carry out' ale.

I'm quite partial to the bottled Badger stuff, from the Champion Ale, Golden Glory (both of which have a, quite sweet, elderflower flavour) through to Tanglefoot.

Tinned ale never seems to do it - although the Boddies with the 'widget' in the can always seems consistently good.

A mate of mine has just come back from the Czech Republic, and brought me a crate of pilsener (24 bottles) for the princely sum of £6-00. Amazing stuff.

It shows how much of our own beer is tax - I would struggle to get 4 (smaller) bottles of UK brewed stuff for £6-00, although Somerfield appears to be the best value locally.
re. bottled beer - I always found teh CAMRA definition of "real alein a bottle" far too narrow.

I too like the badger beers, I'd also recommend St Peters (they come in the quirky oval-shaped bottles)

As for places to buy the stuff, I think the options are a little thin on the ground locally. Morrisons always used to do an interesting range of (proper) american beers.

I occassionally order a crate online if I find a good deal. I just had a crate of Cains delivered yesterday. Unfortunately they have stopped taking orers it seems as tehyare in administration....I was one of the last to get an order in.

Further afield - Booth's of Lancashire is fantastic...but its a bit of a trip.
pip
Posts: 462
Joined: 17 Jan 2006 16:35
Location: adamsrill

Post by pip »

No change of management in the Golden Lion. Joe Obrien has now been running the place for over 27 years. Nice pint of Harveys I must say.
fishcox
Posts: 628
Joined: 4 Mar 2005 13:55
Location: lawrie park road

Post by fishcox »

I think Badgers do a decent ordering on line service; I pick a mixed crate up from either Makro or Costco.

I do like the St Peter, which I know Waitrose stock, along with some of those decent American brews.

Macro brewing in the States has become big business, and there are some really interesting beers about. We have spent the last couple of summers in California, and the selection of ales there is unbeatable. For a nice cold beer, even some of their mass produced stuff isnt bad - Michelob is a great lager.

Anyone tried any of that Duchy stuff? I'm loathe to put money in Jug Ears pockets, but would be keen to know what his beer is like.
Eagle
Posts: 10658
Joined: 7 Oct 2004 06:36
Location: F Hill

Post by Eagle »

Please do not buy beer from retail establishments. Our Pubs need you , there is not enough punters at present.
We must supprt our Local or lose it.
I think Mr Darling should double the tax on all alcohol except purchased in pubs, we need help , pubs are the backbone of a local area , a meeting place for the community.
Big Ben
Posts: 202
Joined: 2 Oct 2004 18:19
Location: sydenham

Post by Big Ben »

Somerfields have got an interesting range from small breweries - at the moment 4 bottles for £3! I recently bought Hoblgoblin from the Wychwood Brewery near Witney and Black Sheep from the Black Sheep Brewery at Masham in the Yorkshire Dales. Both my guests pronounced these excellent! Meanwhile I was drinking the excellent white burgundy that Somerfields currently have at half price. So what with Somerfields providing excellent ale and wine plus the Golden Lion, Dolphin, Windmill and Woodman Sydenham-ites needn't go thirsty... remember, the village name derives from 'Sippenham' - the drunkard's settlement!
bensonby
Posts: 1656
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

Eagle wrote:Please do not buy beer from retail establishments. Our Pubs need you , there is not enough punters at present.
We must supprt our Local or lose it.
I think Mr Darling should double the tax on all alcohol except purchased in pubs, we need help , pubs are the backbone of a local area , a meeting place for the community.
I agree that our pubs need our support, and fully support a "pubsidy". (Whereby off-sales should be heavily taxed and used to subsidise on-sales.) This would be an incredible boost for the local community and be an important weapon against "binge drinking." After all, it's illegal to get drunk in a pub and its illegal to serve drunk people - so if we have drunken problems the pubs have broken the law. It will be easier to spot where trouble spots exist.

However, whilst I like going to the pubs and make it a regular habit, the simple economics of it are such that many simply can't afford to drink in the pub regularly. I limit myself to about twice a week. I would go for a pint every day, but when my faily pint costs £1.50 compared to £2.80 I'm still going to be more inclined to have my tipple with my dinner at home. (and yes, beer with food is just as sophisticated as wine :roll: - if not more so)

The other issue is - it seems - that pubs are overcharging. The wholesale price of a pint can't be much more than £1.50. cf. my comments about Sam Smith's et al.
Eagle
Posts: 10658
Joined: 7 Oct 2004 06:36
Location: F Hill

Post by Eagle »

Re Pub Overcharging
Probably is the property companies that own the chains that scim of big profits rather than the local manager/landlord who is overcharging.
In Golden Lion Wed from about 6.45 to about 9.15, great beer but very few other punters, This is a large pub with , I would imagine large overheads.
We need to support out Locals
natbeuk
Posts: 457
Joined: 26 Nov 2007 10:19
Location: Sydenham

Post by natbeuk »

Thing is, it's kind of like saying don't buy food from the supermarket, support your local restaurant instead! Totally agree that we all need to support our locals but you can't do it every night of the week. The key point is to not only drink booze at home but to make sure that we all get out into the locals whenever it's practical & affordable.
Thomas
Posts: 632
Joined: 22 Feb 2007 13:08
Location: Upper Sydenham

Post by Thomas »

So I hope to see you all on the ALIB pub crawl on 11th October (Ali will be buying the first round apparently) - what better opportunity to meet local Sydenhamites AND support your local hostelries?
bensonby
Posts: 1656
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

natbeuk wrote:Thing is, it's kind of like saying don't buy food from the supermarket, support your local restaurant instead! Totally agree that we all need to support our locals but you can't do it every night of the week. The key point is to not only drink booze at home but to make sure that we all get out into the locals whenever it's practical & affordable.
absolutely. Although one can normally afford to drink out more often than one could eat out.

Pubs are a central and essential community facility - cf.the Sustainable Communities Act 2007.
Last edited by bensonby on 5 Sep 2008 13:16, edited 1 time in total.
natbeuk
Posts: 457
Joined: 26 Nov 2007 10:19
Location: Sydenham

Post by natbeuk »

Thomas wrote:So I hope to see you all on the ALIB pub crawl on 11th October (Ali will be buying the first round apparently) - what better opportunity to meet local Sydenhamites AND support your local hostelries?
Would love to but I'll be holidaying in Sicily!
natbeuk
Posts: 457
Joined: 26 Nov 2007 10:19
Location: Sydenham

Post by natbeuk »

bensonby wrote:
natbeuk wrote:Thing is, it's kind of like saying don't buy food from the supermarket, support your local restaurant instead! Totally agree that we all need to support our locals but you can't do it every night of the week. The key point is to not only drink booze at home but to make sure that we all get out into the locals whenever it's practical & affordable.
absolutely. Although one can normally afford to drink out more often than one could eat out.

Pubs are a central and essential community facility - cf.the Sustainable Communities Act 2007.
What's the subsection and paragraph reference please Bensonby? :lol: :wink:

Not so sure about that being able to drink out more often than eating out... depends if you have to buy many rounds and if you stop by the curry house on your way home!
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