Embedded below is a video discussing 5 discontinued British beer brands. I wonder if any of the British (or non-British) BAs tasted any of these beers. If so, what did you think of the beer(s)? Do you miss that they are gone or is it more of a “good riddance” feeling? Cheers!
The first time I was in London was on a surprise, spur of the moment business trip back in the late 90’s. The program manager and executive secretary booked it for a week, had no idea how much work or for how long. I wasn’t even working on the project, they just needed to send someone to appease the customer. Long story short, I arrived at Heathrow at dawn with little sleep and went straight to work after dropping bags off with the hotel concierge. Arrived on-site at the customer’s facility, worked all day that Thursday and finished the job to their satisfaction. Since the weekend was just starting and everything was paid for I decided to stay. Being single, and loving to travel, needless to say I visited a lot of pubs in London that week. I adopted a one-pint and go rule while exploring and touring around. I believe the only one of the beers mentioned that I had was the Stone’s Bitter. I have heard of a few of the others, probably from tin signs decorating some of the pub walls. I do remember talking with a few bartenders and patrons about the variety of beer available. And there was much contention about the disappearance of pub brewed beer, small local brands and the mass consolidation by the large distributors and international brewers. Many were sad to see it happening and frustrated not to be able to do much other than boycott. I can imagine the same sort of thing happening here at some point. Something like Covid comes along, small brewers get in trouble and bigger breweries start buying them up. I’ve seen it happen to more than a few already, just turned into contract brewers.
Michael Jackson spinning in his grave? I must have tried Red Barrel in the US, but the beer couldn't have been memorable. When I was in London in 1978, I saw a truck that looked like a small oil tanker parked next to a pub. A hefty hose snaked across the sidewalk into the basement, delivering beer. It was my first observation of "bright beer" technology. I didn't determine the brand being delivered.
This article was written 25 years after I first visited London. This was the Pub takeover the patrons were fighting. Distributors that would buy up the independently owned/operated Pubs, and basically change out all the Taps. Any Pub brewed beer, or the variety of small locally brewed beer were gone. All replaced by the large mainstream conglomerate beers, and ciders that they distributed. This is the other side of the vanished beers mentioned in the video original posted. Sadly, this what has happened to the beer experience in the UK, I hope it never gets like this here! Article: https://oxforddrinker.camra.org.uk/2022/02/the-nine-pubcos-who-control-over-half-of-all-pubs/
Didn't ever try Stone bitter, and I don't think I ever had any of the King and Barnes line-up (though some of the labels look familiar). Watney and DD were decent ales I thought, but I really enjoyed Whitbread. I would buy it periodically today if it were still around. In the early 90s I was still living in Sacto, and you could reliably find all 3 of those beers on tap at the Fox and Goose pub. John Courage too. Back then I was quite taken with English ale, and so would tend to visit the F&G rather frequently.
I was traveling frequently to Great Britain in the 1990's (mostly London) but earlier than you. I fell in love with cask ales during those visits and it was those beers which motivated me to homebrew. My first batch of beer was a kit Muntons Traditional Bitter Ale. I annually homebrew a Bitter Ale with my most recent batch bottled a month ago. That was an interesting strategy! In contrast I suppose I was lazier? I did visit a number pubs but I tended to go to favorite pubs and have a proper evening of session drinking. For example the pub Crown & Sceptre was down the block from the hotel I frequently stayed and they always has cask Bass on tap and always in good drinking condition. The pub's cellarperson is as important to the quality of the cask beer as the brewery itself. Cheers!
Well, don’t get me wrong. That was the rule I tried to keep just to fit in all the things I wanted to see, and places I wanted to go. The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham, Tower of London, Tower of Bridge, Greenwich Observatory, Cutty Sark, St Paul’s, Harrods, various museums… If I was in conversation or having a meal, the beer count limit was off, same for the Pub Visits near the Hotel at night.
Yep, saw all of those places during my business trips to the UK. I just never thought of going pub crawling on my visits. Just didn't occur to me then. You may already know about the Real Ales Real Pubs YouTube channel. I enjoy watching this gentleman's videos but they tend to make me feel jealous and very thirsty. One example below. Cheers!
Watney's Red Barrel the first mass marketed keg beer and given a one word review by my dad - crap. Never drank Double Diamond either, but the Cask version Ind Coope Burton ale was the first replacement of Boddington's in the private members I worked at, it was rather tasty but the extra 0.7% seemed to challenge some of our bitter drinkers. The newly reborn Allsopp's version is like the citra tap water you get at brewery taps for free to help moderate your sessions there. No memory at all of King & Barnes. Stones bitter was a classic Yorkshire bitter on cask, malty and satisfying. Whitbread turned into a monstrous brewery eating machine, but I never faulted their beer. Courage RIS, I bought dozens of nip bottles of it's last run 12 years ago but drank the lot. Toby, dad hated it. Youngers, yeah fond memories.
