Zerodgrees, Reading

Yep it is a small chain - Blackheath (London) & Bristol, plus a few more related S.E.London bars/restaurants that take the beer. When I worked for them they had a small & loyal team of managers, plus one overworked brewer :~) They've now hired some well-qualified/ experienced German brewers.

In terms of employing the bar/restaurant general staff, they do seem to follow the chain bar/restaurant way of paying low & staff turn-over high. That said, some staff at Blackheath were pretty knowledgeable & gave good service & made some great wood-fired pizzas!

The places do seem to lack a bit of atmosphere though - very cold industrial/ stainless steel design - grey paintwork, etc. (Bristol won CAMRA design awards). But when done well, the beer side might move some drinkers off the alcopops & ersatz lager onto the better stuff. & generally seems a more interesting package than the average chain bar. cheers MikeMcG.

I've tried some of the Zerodegrees beers in the past (possibly when Mike was still brewing them) and they were very good. I can't say the bars are to my taste though. The beers are always served under nitro pressure in the bars.

Paul

Snip

Just for info - the beers were (& still are, AFAIK) all naturally carbonated, unfiltered, with 2ndary fermentation in the serving vessel & dispensed from these vessels using air pressure only (the vessels are lined with 1000litre plastic bags! - not exactly traditional, but ingenious IMO). Some of the beers are probably more highly carbonated than any cask beer, but that should be appropriate to style - higher in wheat beers & lagers, lower in UK style ales, etc.

Hi Mike, that seems to be similar to the system Greenall-Whitley used to use years ago where large plastic bags were put in a stainless steel air tight vessel & filled by a delivery tanker. The vessel was then pressurised outside the bag with an air pump. The delivery fonts had a horizontal glass tube with a moving seal that delivered a set amount. Not very good but better than CO2. PS what were those pumps called? I just googled & couldn't find them! Snip cheers MikeMcG

delivered a set amount.

Diaphragm dispensers. Greenalls used them for all cask beers too at one time.

Tetley Walker used 'em as well.

Peter

A good line in possible confusion here as a number of breweries used bar mounted diaphragm dispense which was merely the visible front end of an electric dispense of normal cask beer.

Banks' used them extensively, and one of the two Pardoes pubs had such a pump for the home brew (The White Swan - an estate pub) M&B frequently used them, and Simpkiss brewery had a few outlets that used them.

All cask beer, no dodgy content. However, what Greenalls were doing with anything that looked vaguely similar was odds on dodgy. Nasty management of brewery mutated into nasty management company. Must be 15 years since I last pissed 'em off...

its part of a chain- another one in Blackheath

Also often seen in Hydes and Robinsons pubs around here.

Unlike handpumps, they provided a full pint.

My local real ale pub delivers a full pint and I can't see why your local doesn't. The landlord uses fully stamped glasses that have a half pint and full pint lines. The glass is tall enough to give a normal head above a true pint.

Dave

Yes, and I applaud that - but it is in a tiny minority.

Around here, large numbers of pubs replaced metered dispense with handpumps and replaced oversize with brim glasses at the same time.

And CAMRA applauded :-(

I have yet to be served with a full pint in zero degrees. Certainly the one in Bristol doesn't use metered dispense.

Well, the would. What do they know about real ale? My local pub has not had a review in the West Lancs real ale mag for years. The reason? The local rep can't get a free pint in there. You couldn't make it up.

8 pumps with real ale and it lives by its reputation.

Dave

In message , PeterE writes

No we didn't, policy is oversize glasses GOOD, short measure BAD. And oversize glasses are compulsory for CAMRA festivals - down here it's about the only time our punters ever see one.

We do drink a lot of beer ourselves and it's very seldom free.

unlike all handpumps? Even those pulled by competent staff holding oversized glasses?

& I'm guessing accurate metered dispense could be f'd up by fobby beer flowing over the top of the glass sometimes?

AFAIK no-one suggested they did - they use a dispense method similar to 1970's bulk beer tanks, lined with plastic bags & dispensed by air pressure - the difference (hopefully) is that it's got better (& 'real') beer in them at ZeroDegs. When I was at the initial Blackheath bar, IIRC we used lined oversized glasses - has that changed now?

If you don't get a full pint, ask for a top up, if you're still not happy ask for trading standards - CAMRA advice too IIRC.

It used to amuse me when (presumed) real ale fans would occasionally walk in, see the design of the place & in particular the space-age looking keg-type fonts, then they would huff & walk out, without even trying or asking about the beer.

(it amused me less when lazy writers/journalists incl from TimeOut mag & CAMRA HQ would complain/mention about the lack of real ale & then entirely ignore my polite request to set the record straight in TO/WB)

Martyn Dawe wrote -

keep up at the back ;~)

cheers, MikeMcG

outrageous

propose a new branch policy: that no one accept a free drink when in a pub on CAMRA business!!

I thought most people did that anyway!

Don't you mean replace the local rep? If the pub has deserved to get in the guide but hasn't because the rep couldn't get a freebie then how many pubs has he recommended to be included that have bribed him? It's time he got the boot!

Wayne

It's quite a widely held belief in some quarters that pubs only get GBG listings because they give CAMRA members free drinks. This hasn't been true in my personal experience, despite dropping lots of broad hints.

Some pubs do get brownie points because they know how to press the right buttons though, in particular by organising beer festivals and stocking obscure tickers' beers.

Paul

In general, around here, the local branches supported the replacement of electric meters with handpumps even when they knew it was accompanied by the replacement of oversize glasses with brim measures.

They are, of course, perfectly entitled to take that view, but it shows they regarded handpump dispense as more important than full measures.

I am, by the way, a Life Member of CAMRA so I am familiar with how the organisation works.

Sounds like a very good idea. I'll put it to the landlord, next time we speak.

Dave