Ice-cold in Wetherspoons

I wonder if this is just one inept manager. I can't believe this is national JDW policy. Presumably it invalidates the Cask Marque accreditation which all JDW pubs are supposed to have?

Paul

Cask Marque is a joke these days and not to be trusted - there's probably a loophole somewhere that allows you to get it while selling only Fosters. All the good pubs have it, but so do all the incredibly average pubs. What we need is a new system where the requirements are much tougher, but I can't imagine there's enough money to be made if not everyone can get in.

Wetherspoons has never been good for ale, and the clientèle is evidence of that. Sometimes when I'm forced to go there, I'll find a pint of something I haven't seen in a while, but it invariably ends up tasting like line cleaner. Avoid.

Andrew Cameron

I doubt that "just one inept manager" would go to the expense of having beer mats and, I forgot to mention - glasses, printed to proclaim this as being Wetherspoons and Lloyds(No1)Bar policy.

I am off to WHoPGSW6 tonight, for some decent beer at a sensible temperature.

The following quote is taken from an article by Roger Protz on the Cask Marque web site:

"Cask beer, by its very nature and method of production, is cellared and served at a higher temperature than lager. But 12 degrees C/57 F in your glass is cool, not warm, and it is this temperature that best expresses the skill of the brewer in developing rich, ripe and tempting aromas and flavours in his brews. Warm beer has unpleasant tastes, while ale served too cold loses those rich malt and hop aromas the brewer has created." (c)

I wonder how Wetherspoons and Cask Marque equate a serving temperature of 1-3 C with a professional recommendation of 12 C?

CAMRA seem to disagree. Look at the GBG 2007 - I bet the Wetherspoons entries go well into the 100s. As a lifelong CAMRA member, if I'm not sure of pubs in an area, I'll 'default' to a Wetherspoons and 99 times out of 100 I get a good pint at a low price. They have probably done more for the real ale cause than any other organisation, CAMRA included.

Yes it does sound as if some goon is running the show that thinks that all beers have the same affinity to ice as bottles of Bulmers. :-)

OTOH do they really issue beer mats with that crap on them? Maybe the OP is right after all. Although I suspect that they don't just do it when they're a water shortage. ;-)

So how come CAMRA endorse so many Wetherspoons pubs?

In article , MPlatting@?.?.invalid writes

Probably because the endorsement predates the introduction of frozen to death beer; they were not killing it last Wednesday.

An initial glance at their website has the misleading statement "Temperature of all our beers a cool 1-3 degrees C guaranteed" but read on and you find the following:-

"You see, it's a whole new bar system, with every draught beer and cider achieving a temperature in the glass of 1-3°C.

(Don't worry, though, real ale is retained at 12°C, for that perfect serve.) This coldness adds a crispness and sharpness to the taste - they are brewed that way and deserve the perfect serve."

So, if you find otherwise, complain.

ask them instead of griping.

They will tell you the 1-3°C is only for the keg beers.

our JDW is fine = cask beers are fine, we love our JDW!!!!!!

On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 18:38:01 +0000, M Platting wrote (in article ):

Yes they've done even more than CAMRA to drive real ale downmarket and ghettoise it.

On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 18:47:14 +0000, M Platting wrote (in article ):

Because there are a lot of easily pleased people in CAMRA.

Wetherspoons outlets are incredibly variable from wonderful to abysmal with everything in between. They seem to allow their managers a lot of leeway in the way they run the pubs, and some managers are really, really hopeless - hence my reference to 'one inept manager'.

Sounds as if the cask beer lines are being run through a flash chiller behind the bar.

Paul

I agree Chris

I can quite understand how Wetherspoons doesn't really fit in to everyone's idea of a real ale pub, but it's horses for courses. Most contributors here are probably well over 40 and, almost by definition, resist change, and want things to stay as they remember when they started drinking.

Wetherspoons has its faults, but it is actually introducing real ale (and yes, it can be cold) to a new generation. I visit Wetherpoons pubs regularly, and on innumerable occasions, I have seen young people 'chance' a pint of real ale rather than their usual WKD or Budweiser. Perhaps it's the £1.49 price tag in many Wetherspoons, perhaps not, but a lot seem impressed with the pint they receive.

We oldies can always gripe and grouse about Wetherspoons, to the point where we are so obsessed that we end up disappearing up our own bums, but surely it's important to encourage subsequent generations to try real ale. Yes, it may be too cold to our old and progressively insensitive palates, but it may be a way to save something that we all value and cherish. Yes, Wetherspoons outlets are usallly large and fairly characterless - no 'old Ned' sitting in the corner, no friendly and personal banter with the bar staff - but if that's your sole criterion, then don't go to a Wetherspoons - there's enough choice elsewhere.

The bottom line is quite simply, are they doing anything for the real ale cause, are they promoting real ale, would we prefer it if they discontinued real ale and started exclusively selling keg? As an old git (50 +) I say no. If you don't like them, don't go to them. It really is as simple as that. I'm convinced they are a friend, and not a foe, of real ale.

I remember a couple of years ago in Cleckheaton JDW, when a festival was on, a young couple came in and ordered a pint of Orkney Dark Island for him, bought because he liked the look of what was being pulled for me, and a half of Stella for her. They sat at a table not far from us and he was enjoying his pint. She tried a taste and decided to switch to it herself. Over an hour later, we left and they had drunk a couple more of the same, meanwhile the Stella remained untouched. I have seen several similar instances in JDW over the years, so they are helping introduce good beer to some people.

Not that I'm entirely positive about them; in another branch I had some great beers in there one day then returned three days later to find a complete contrast; the beer I ordered was close to vinegar and cloudy. As I was returning it, another drinker was doing the same. I said to him, oh you're on the XXX as well, are you? No, he said, I've got a different one! I asked the bar staff, who was in charge of the beer? The reply was a shrug of the shoulders!

In my experience, some are very good, some are very poor and some vary between the extremes.

Paul

Following on from Andrew Cameron's message. . .

NO! "all the good pubs have it" is bollocks. Just one example from many - The Swan at Little Totham[1], CAMRA pub of the year /twice/ including this year, has it's CM logo affixed to the wall upside down as a two fingers to CM.

There are hordes of blooming excellent pubs that won't have anything to do with CM. It tends to be chains that pay for and encourage this worthless certification.

If it leaves the cellar at 1 C then it needs a flash heater behind the bar to bring it up to drinking temperature.

Whilst this may be one reason, it is not the only reason.

In our town we have 7 real ale pubs and the wetherspoons is simply the best.

In three of the pubs there is only one boring, common beer which is often badly kept. These three pubs are smokey, noisy; you hear lots of offensive language, and I hate going in them.

In one there are four beers from a brewery that most of us find uninteresting - all beers taste the same: bland!

In another there is more choice - from the biggest regional brewer, but it's very expensive, and they expect you to eat!!!

In one other, there are sometimes 2 guest beers but more often than not the beer is undrinkable.

But in the JDW we have 15 handpulls, usually 12-13 different real ales, 5 from the same regional brewer and 5 rapidly changing guests.

Lots of choice and quality always top rate.

On the rare occasion you get served one from the end of a barrel and the staff don't notice, they are happy to change it when you take it back.

And yes there is Cask Marque, but this summer we were there when the local inspector was sampling and he actually failed them on that visit because of temperature, and revisited after changes were made. We talked to him at the time and he explained and demonstrated.his decision. Since he is a brewer himself, we have great faith in him.

That's it in a nutshell. I'd (pedantically) qualify it somewhat and say some can be good one visit and less good the next, and vice versa, but yes, some have a reputation for usually being a bit dodgy, and others are nearly always excellent. I presume it's down to the enthusiasm of each individual manager and his ability to inspire his staff. And the odd compliment from customers can be a big boost.

Not done Cleckheaton JDW, or Batley for that matter. Can never find Cleckheaton. Or do I mean Heckmondwike or Liversedge?

Oh the old chestnut - or do you mean Birstall or Birstall Smithies... I think it's somewhere around the crossroads with the A62!