Cask Marque "Best of British Beer Awards"

Indeed. I always have to point out, though, that Yorkshire's finest brewery is run by solidly Lancashire folk.

Dragon, a brewery

I can think of a number of Yorkshire brewers who would object strongly to that statement. There are over 80 breweries in Yorkshire; the closest to me is less than half a mile from where I'm typing this.

Dragon, a brewery

Better than Timothy Taylors?

There are lots brewing better beer than TT.

Steven Pampling wrote: > There are lots brewing better beer than TT.

Lot's of "personal" preferences seem to have more to do with perceived method than with actual taste. TT RamTam gets a hard knock because it's only Landlord with some Dark Malt Extract (or some sort) added. No matter. I really like Ram Tam. It TASTES like a traditional Yorkshire dark ale. Yorkshire has little need for a LictBrau blonde summer cooling-off ale. Yorkshire really needs ales that taste like Yorkshire ales. Most do not, mores the pity. While I DO like the Copper Dragon ales I've found, most are way lighter than I want. They'd do better in Dorset.

Over the last 20 years, Yorkshire beers have both mellowed out and sold out to a more southern taste. I miss the good stuff.

nick

I like Ram Tam so much I named my cat after it!

So what, in your opinion, would be a definition of a "Yorkshire ale" - bearing in mind, of course, that we are talking about a county the size of Belgium...

Christine wrote: > So what, in your opinion, would be a definition of a "Yorkshire ale" -

Brown, not blonde. Darker rather than lighter. Very malty, so you know the malt's in there, but hoppy as well (as in bitter). Landlord of about 10 years ago was far hoppier than now. It's been dumbed down for the lager louts. Old Peculier before it got sold to Scottish-Newcastle. Riggwelter. John Smith's of decades ago. Every year the ales seem to get lighter, with less pronounced taste. Kinda like they are afraid to offend anyone. Yorkshire ales had great individual character. Now they are all UniBrau - sorta like the american's Butt Light.

nick

I was a bit tongue in cheek about TT. I agree that Landlord isn't the beer it once was - when described as "delicious, creamy". I'm not sure how the current OP differs from the one I got pissed on in Middleham many moons ago, so I can't comment on that. OP aside, I'm no fan of Theakston's. I find their beers bland and characterless. Sadly that's a requirement if you want to sell shed loads of the stuff in dining pubs these days - which is where you'll often find Theakston's "best" bitter (apparently now brewed by John Smiths, which I guess would explain it). I'm no great fan of Black Sheep either.

I think you're talking about John Smith's Magnet, or the S&N Younger's Number 3 here. Both dark, malty and very, very tasty.

And you're totally ignoring the other end of the spectrum: apparently (I say this because it was well before my time up there) Stones's Bitter was so pale it was almost clear, and bitter-sweet.

There are still plenty of the beers you like - for example, Barnsley Bitter (if you can find it!) - and also those you don't like. FWIW, I love both types of beer: it has to have taste for me to enjoy it. I can drink the pale, May type beers (Townes's Sunshine comes to mind) and also the darker beers as I mentioned above. Oh and I loved Old Peculier, but it had to be in bottles...

Spot on Nick! Beers that do not offend anybody seems to be the way things are going. Unfortunately.

Just got home fron the Bhurtpore festival and the beer of today must be Bowland Cromwell Stout.

Bit strong for lunchtime session drinking (6%) but you dont have todrink it all day!

There might well be, but it sets the standard for that type of beer to judge other brews.

Timothy Taylors and Coniston Bluebird set the standards for dark and light coloured beers in the North of England. (For drinkers that do not have the benefit of both beers being on the bar at the same time, I feel sorry for you. Some will be better and others not so good.

My local 9 hand pump bar is one of the few that has Coniston and TT beers on 365 days a year.

Some posters on this ng think that they know what is the best beer. Those that can taste the beer know that even brushing your teeth in the morning, what you had eaten for breakfast, what you had to eat last night all come into the equation. I have tasted the same beer two days on the trot and got a different taste from it.

Learn to live with it.

Dave

And you please learn that people's tastes are different.

I like lots of Yorkshire beers, and I'm old enough to remember a lot of the older ones (including the original, very bitter indeed, Barnsley Bitter, on which I cut my teeth, so to say).

I like lots of current Yorkshire beers, of all styles and colours, but if I have to name a favourite it's going to be Linfit Bitter from the brewery at the Sair Inn in Linthwaite.

Many of the longer established beers have either disappeared or have been dumbed down. The only one from a regional brewery which probably hasn't changed over the years is Sam Smith's OBB, and I'm quite fond of that too, when I can find a decent pint of it.

I haven't had a pint of Landlord the way it used to be for about 5 years. I am given to understand that that coincides with a change of head brewer. Make of that what you will.

Dad used to rhapsodise about the old brew, "Pale, pale, straw colour with a slight almost bluish tinge when the light fell on it"[1] "bitter and hoppy so your nose still knew about it when you were on your way home" JS Magnet was also well regarded, until it became mass produced tat.

[1] There was a tale about him being in the brewery[2] with the workers and emptying the malt down from the top. With the added bits - hence the colour. [2] Walking down from Mount Road is no longer possible - I think it is part of the car park for the ski slope or something. Satellite photos still seem to show the footbridge I recall crossing to go up that way.

Just where did I imply differently. You could use your own local brews to set the standard for light or malty beers. That was my set of standards.

Dave