To the brewers of "Old Speckled Hen"......

I haven't tried it since they reduced the gravity but didn't reduce the price.

To make more dosh for teh GK coffers?

I can't say I drink it that often, but the pint I had the other day from the pump labelled as a 'new version' was quite acceptable. It has now replaced Abbot in the GK pub I occasionally visit.

John B

Don't care - stopped drinking OSH years ago and Ruddles County for that matter. I simply don't like Green King beers for some reason.

-- Grumps

Because they don't have a best bitter, and OSH at its original strength took sales away from Abbot. (And because they make more money by reducing the ABV but not the price?)

BTW Calling their IPA an IPA must surely be in contravention of the trade descriptions act.

while GK launching an export strength version of said beer just adds to the confusion. (i can't remember whether it's an oxymoron, a tautology, or just an abomination)

I'll let you know if I come across said "export version"

Cheers

Wayne

A tautology is a logical argument that always evaluates true. The opposite is called a contradiction.

From the OED

tautology: noun (pl. tautologies) the saying of the same thing over again in different words, considered as a fault of style (e.g. they arrived one after the other in succession).

— DERIVATIVES tautological adjective tautologous adjective. — ORIGIN from Greek tauto- ‘same’ + logos ‘word, telling’.

Contradiction: • noun 1 a combination of statements, ideas, or features which are opposed to one another. 2 the statement of a position opposite to one already made.

— PHRASES contradiction in terms a statement or group of words associating incompatible objects or ideas.

If GK needed to have a best bitter to plug the perceived gap between IPA and Abbot, why didn't they just brew it and give it a different name? What's the point of taking an established beer and changing its recipe? The only reasons I can think of are:

1. They are worried that there would be an outcry if they simply stopped making OSH and brought out a new Best Bitter - presumably they committed to keep on making it when they closed Morland's down, and it would be seen as going back on their word. So they decide to re-use the name for their new beer and stop making the old one.

1. They are hoping that people won't notice the difference between the 'pukka' (not!) stuff and the new weaker version - that could be why they kept the price the same instead of reducing it.

They did the same with Ruddle's County. Why not just stop brewing these beers instead of keeping the names alive with travesties of the original beers? Because they can sell them as 'guests' in their own pubs, that's why.

I haven't tried the new weak OSH and I don't intend to (shouldn't it be renamed New Speckled Hen, anyway?)

SD Continuing my one-man GK boycott

My belief is that it's

4) They can pretend to have guest beers in a GK pub.

It's all about Brands. The marketing people who decide these things think the main reason anybody buys anything is because it's a Brand. GK have the OSH brand, need a 4.5% bitter, and don't need a 5%er other than Abbot, so they've brewed a new 4.5% beer, discontinued the old OSH, and called the new beer OSH.

It's important to remember that GK are basically a pubco with a figleaf of brewing respectability. My local GK tenant has thrown in the towel after about a year because he's been so badly shafted by inflated wholesale prices and unrealistic trading expectations. All the local GK tenants hate GK and are well aware that the beers are nondescript.

Paul

Talking to a rep from a wholesaler last night he told me that sales of Old Speckled Hen, at least by his company are "dramitcly down" on what they were before.

It bring to mind Courage scrapping the excellent Websters Choice because they "already had Directors". That was the only decent beer ever brewed by Websters.>

I knew my boycott of OSH in The White hart would have an effect :-).

I suspect GK aren't all that bothered about free trade sales. Most of their stuff gets flogged through their tied estate - let's face it, would

*you* opt for a pint of GK IPA if it suddenly appeared at your favourite free house? More likely you'd complain. OSH must be their biggest free trade beer though.

They like to get their stuff into the big pubco managed houses because they think it's good PR and 'builds the brand', but I doubt it makes much difference to the bottom line given the discounts involved.

Paul

Tha tragedy is that when they bought out Hardy's and Hanson's they acquired a superb premium bitter in Olde Trip Ale , 4.3% ABV It could slot straight into their main portfolio ; they acquired The Olde Trip to Jerusalem pub in Nottingham , reputedly the oldest inn in England (difficult to prove of course).....which gives them an excellent advertising opportunityat the same time.But no doubt the Olde Trip from GK will taste of Greene King anyway.

What, dramatically down on sales before they reduced the strength and kept the price the same? What a surprise - people are not, after all, all stupid as GK marketing people seem to think they are.

SD

What, dramatically down on sales before they reduced the strength and kept the price the same? What a surprise - people are not, after all, all stupid as GK marketing people seem to think they are.

SD