Perhaps Occam's razor applies here? The top selling beer in the UK is Carling Lager. And recently they came out with a second 'version' by resurrecting the "Black Label". Now there are two choices for Carling AAL beers in the UK. Cheers! P.S. Since you enjoy videos:
The wife and I are currently in London and there's definitely some truth to this. On the other hand... One of the pubs I visited the other day (the Swan) had 8 different beers on cask. They blew thru a couple of kegs of Landlord and Old Peculier just in the short time I was there. Whenever I asked the staff about the cask selection (young men), they were quite knowledgeable and had no problem telling me about the different offerings and which was their favorite. The other couple of pubs I went to all had at least 3 or 4 cask offerings. With that kind of experience, I have to think there are more than just crusty old farts like myself drinking these beers. On the other hand... All these pubs also had a considerable selection of light lagers, and they seemed to be selling very well. I also saw a lot of cider ordered. The people ordering light lagers and cider seemed to be invariably young people and women. Interestingly, these pubs all had a great booze selection and a decent selection of wine by the glass. I did see some women drinking wine, but almost no one was ordering hard liquor. People love to go to pubs here, and it just seems like there's a diverse enough patron population to keep cask beer going for the foreseeable future. There's certainly no problem finding cask ale, which is a bit surprising for something that's becoming increasingly unpopular. Assuming that's really the case.
The Swan above Kennsinton Gardens? Dang it, I walked by that one a couple times but didn't go in! Note to self...
The Swan at Holborn, so a different area of town. I think there are 4 or 5 different Swan pubs in London. I don't think they're related.
I did a double take when I saw them both on cask. We were in Oxford last fall and I looked all over town for Old Peculier. No luck. Then I walk into the Swan and saw the Landlord on cask... and then I saw the Old Peculier. I couldn't believe my eyes! The last few times I was in London I had a devil of a time finding Landlord. This time though, it seemed to be on cask nearly everywhere. Probably just a coincidence, but it surprised me.
When I talked to young British guys vacationing in Munich for "loight lahgah" back in the early 90s they all told me cask ale was for "the old men." Since those guys are now the old men, I have to wonder just how the cycle works. Or... is the whole idea just a perpetuation of urban legend.
John, the Tweedy Pubs guy commented that at London Pubs that British Bitter Ales are now facing ‘competition’ on the beer engines from what he terms “American style craft beer”. Have you observed this aspect during your current visits to London pubs? Cheers! P.S. The Tweedy Pub video below with the discussion of “American style craft beer” mentioned at around the 4:50 mark. @Providence
Saw something similar at NERAX a couple of weeks back. Mind you, I’ve only ever been to Nerax one other time (in 2025), so I really don’t know what the norm is. But it seemed like there were way more American craft beer styles this year than last. I steered clear of them all and stuck to the imported bitters. I wasn’t disappointed.
American style craft beer? I honestly don't know how to answer that. One place did have blue moon on tap, but I'm assuming that's not what you're referring to. You do see an increasing number of pale ales and ipa's on tap, but none of them struck me as very "American crafty." The apa's and ipa's I sampled were generally English style versions. For the most part they were low alcohol, fairly malt forward, with a subtle hop profile. I thought they were pretty good, but they didn't remind me of the craft versions we can get back home. Most places I went to would have however many beers on cask (from 3 to 8), and then another 8 or more beers on tap (two tap handles a piece). On tap would include things like Peroni, amstel light, Carlsberg, etc., along with several pale ales and bitters. Usually Guinness as well, and then possibly a non alcohol beer or two. You could also expect a handful of bottled and/or canned stuff. Maybe I just didn't go to the right pubs, or try the right beers, but I didn't get that impression.
John, my understanding from the Tweedy Pubs guy is: American style craft beer = beers brewed with non-English hops (e.g., American or New World aroma hops). He uses the word "grapefruit" but there could be other non-English hops flavors as well. Cheers!
Understood. I only tried a couple of locally made ipa's and I didn't pick up any of that. Frankly, the ipa's didn't taste all that much different from the pale ales; just an additional slight, leafy green tobacco flavor. Nothing I tried put me in mind of two hearted for example. Again, maybe I just didn't order the right beer.
Cool to know. I didn't walk around that area. Looks like my next trip has a new neighborhood to explore.
From someone who grew up in the shadow of the Coors brewery in Golden, Co. and could smell the malt every morning - I would have to agree. In high school, when we would try to sneak onto the tours and we were limited to 3.2% until we were 21, Coors was a fine place to start, but I haven’t had any in a very long time. I did used to like Kian’s Red
I remember being there as a kid on vacation. It was a really impressive site up in the mountains. I didn't get to go on the tour that my dad enjoyed.
I lived there for a few years in my homebrewing days and liked to say that I had the second largest brewery in Golden. There was a nice old-fashioned bar in town, last stop before the brewery. But I didn't know anybody who actually preferred Coors, even then.
Were you brewing all-grain beers in those days? I always stuck with extract, and finally gave it up in about '84. Did you try any of the early Herman Joseph's? I was in Phoenix in about '83 for a meeting and bought a six pack. I was impressed. It might have been a test beer that was toned down for wide release. On that trip to Phoenix I walked over to the A1 brewery (https://arizonabrewingco.com/a1-history/) but only got inside as far as the lobby. But the A1 floor tiling was still impressive. A few of us also took a Rent-a-Wreck (really) to see a fun blues bar show with local Big Pete Pearson and band.
