Did anyone see Roger Protz's bit in the bloody Gruniaud today? He does the cause of good beer no favours by enthusing about crap like Bass and Worthington 1744.
What a load of bollocks he wrote. Surely I can't be the only one who thinks this?
Read it for yourself at:
Happy Christmas SP
In message , Steve Pickthall wrote
He seems to be writing about fizzy bottled beers.
While I don't personally like either beer the sales in their draft form indicate that there are millions of drinkers who don't believe they are crap.
I think he must have been drinking something else when he wrote those descriptions.
The start of the article seems to indicate cask:
It's possible the review was of the cask versions, and then a subeditor added the bottled 'on sale in Waitrose' bit.
...although that explanation does sound plausible :-(.
he mentions Bass's ingredients (& the very similar one in 1744) that it has Challenger & Northdown hops, but I spoke to a hop-merchant a year or so ago who used to sell to Bass & then stopped when they (their accountants, I suspect) stopped buying specific varieties of hops & started simply buying the cheapest high-alpha hops they could (maybe they've reversed this now?)
about the article being about cask or bottled, it seems that so few readers bother going to the pub that they always have to relate it to something they can get in bottle from the supermarket.
about mass-brew beers in general - I did have quite a decent pint of OldPec a couple of weeks ago (after some lovely Beartown stuff). cheers MikeMcG
On this newsgroup the argument of common practice is usually used as evidence that something *is* crap!
The argument that millions of people drink 'keg fizz' is normally used to dismiss their tastes. You can't have it both ways.
Hmm probably.
Millions of people drink Stella etc. - does that mean they're not crap?
In article , Peter Johnston wrote: (of Bass and Worthington 1744):
I suppose the phrase that " 50 million flies can't be wrong" could possibly be appropriate.
Sadly it's frequently the case that they don't sell anything better. It's one of the biggest problems with the BASS/M&B estate in the midlands - the best they ever had on sale was Draught BASS and when it went down the pan so did the pubs.
In message , Jeff Pickthall wrote
When sold for £2.50+ it is a quality premium product.
However as the majority of sales are at the 60/70p per pint mark from supermarkets I bet the brewers don't consider it to be a quality product
I had some 1744 supplied by Coors very early on, and it was quite impressive. Subsequent purchases through commercial outlets have been disappointing, however ...
Amusing(ish) note: when 1744 started, Coors didn't have a bottling line to take 500ml bottles, so they had to truck it down to Fullers in Chiswick. Thus Fullers was bottling both 1744 and 1845 ...
Does that explain why draught 1744 was a guest in my local Fullers pubs a couple of months ago?
Robin
The best beer at the Great British Beer Festival this year was IMHO the Old Pec served on the staff bar... I now have two bottles of the stuff that I'm too nervous to try, and suspect they might go into some cakes instead of a glass.
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