Any pubs that sell bitter?

ThunderCat · 06-10-2011 5:06pm #1

Was in the UK last week for a few days and I had a few pints of bitter while I was there - John Smiths, Worthington and Tetley. Just wondering if any pubs or off-licences here in Dublin sell the stuff because it was pretty good I must admit. Dont recall ever seeing it here though.

Technocentral · 06-10-2011 5:35pm

Redmond's of Ranelagh beside the Luas stop have some, they've a fridge with 4 bottles of ale for a tenner, great choice, seen a few bottles of bitter in there now and again (am sure there were a few types during week, wasn't looking out for bitter though).

Drinkstore in Stoneybatter have 5 or 6 too, just stick bitter in search:

http://www.drinkstore.ie/store/

BeerNut · 06-10-2011 6:13pm

ThunderCat wrote: »

I had a few pints of bitter while I was there - John Smiths, Worthington and Tetley. Just wondering if any pubs or off-licences here in Dublin sell the stuff

Assuming you mean smooth bitter (all but Worthington's exist in cask form too) the nearest you'll find in pubs here is Kilkenny.

For cask bitter, beers like Dungarvan Copper Coast and Headless Dog show up from time to time in Dublin's cask beer pubs: L. Mulligan Grocer, the Bull & Castle etc. The Porterhouse brew a bitter as well: TSB, on sale in the Nassau Street and Temple Bar branches.

emmet the rover · 07-10-2011 8:30am

what the beernut just siad. creamflow or smooth ale is produced by adding nitrogen to the gas mix like they do with guinness. they have them in cans with widgets again like guinness but i have never seen the cans for sale in the republic but have up north in sainsburys and NI tescos.
(i have kept a eye out for these for a while as a friend of mine loves them)

kilkenny draught in pubs and cans as siad is the closest thing to it down here where you can find it.

most people agree that the addition of nitrogen gas reduces the flavour of the beer.

there are many great irish craft beers out there in btls that are your normall co2 gased ales that are full of diffrent flavours and worth exploring as well as a growth in cask conditioned ales in certin pubs that are much less carbonated.

good hunting

BeerNut · 07-10-2011 8:54am

emmet the rover wrote: »

i have never seen the cans for sale in the republic

John Smith's Smooth used to be a regular in Tesco down here but they seem to have dropped it.

ciaran76 · 07-10-2011 10:12am

I believe Fullers Londons Pride and ESB will be on cask in the Bull and Castle from today.

ThunderCat · 07-10-2011 10:18am

Thanks for all the replys lads, you all certainly know your stuff. Its a pity the drink isnt more common here. All in all I think it's a good pint whichever brand you go with. I rekon a trip up to Newry could be on the cards soon to stock up for xmas, as will a trip to the bull and castle. tip of the hat to you ciaran76 for the suggestion.

emmet the rover · 07-10-2011 10:21am

lots of good pubs starting to serve good beer now. beoir.org has a list of them. handy site

BaZmO* · 07-10-2011 12:54pm

ciaran76 wrote: »

I believe Fullers Londons Pride and ESB will be on cask in the Bull and Castle from today.

Just noticed that on their blog. Gotta try me some London Pride!

ThunderCat · 07-10-2011 12:57pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

Just noticed that on their blog. Gotta try me some London Pride!

Me too. And as luck would have it I'm going to be in the city centre tonight meeting 2 mates so no prizes for guessing which pub I insist we visit!

BaZmO* · 07-10-2011 12:59pm

ThunderCat wrote: »

so no prizes for guessing which pub I insist we visit!

The Porterhouse??

Did I win?

emmet the rover · 07-10-2011 1:21pm

ill be in against the grain on camden st tonight

BeerNut · 07-10-2011 1:35pm

ciaran76 wrote: »

I believe Fullers Londons Pride and ESB will be on cask in the Bull and Castle from today.

BaZmO* wrote: »

Just noticed that on their blog. Gotta try me some London Pride!

I think it's still Curim at the moment, but that's really good on cask.

BaZmO* · 07-10-2011 1:42pm

BeerNut wrote: »

I think it's still Curim at the moment, but that's really good on cask.

I'll wait for B&C to say when LP is on cask so, and then I'll "try" to pop in for one. It's a favourite of mine from the bottle so I'd love to taste the cask version.

ThunderCat · 07-10-2011 1:50pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

The Porterhouse??

Did I win?

It's good but it's not right.:D

emmet the rover · 07-10-2011 2:41pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

I'll wait for B&C to say when LP is on cask so, and then I'll "try" to pop in for one. It's a favourite of mine from the bottle so I'd love to taste the cask version.

I find its best to leave a cask for a hour or two after it goes on sale to settle further. I'm sure the barren leave it a. while but a bit of extra time heps

BaZmO* · 07-10-2011 2:50pm

emmet the rover wrote: »

I find its best to leave a cask for a hour or two after it goes on sale to settle further. I'm sure the barren leave it a. while but a bit of extra time heps

I don't live next door to the Bull & Castle!

ciaran76 · 08-10-2011 7:34am

I dropped in last night and had the Honey Dew beer. It's not to my liking but seemed to be selling well.

Looking forward to having an ESB as it's my favourite of theirs but funnily enough I don't like the bottled version.

BaZmO* · 08-10-2011 6:23pm

BeerNut wrote: »

For cask bitter, beers like Dungarvan Copper Coast and Headless Dog

Would Headless Dog not be classed as a Pale Ale rather than a Bitter? And not sure about calling Copper Coast a bitter either.

BeerNut wrote: »

I think it's still Curim at the moment, but that's really good on cask.

Managed to have a quick pint of this yesterday while I was waiting for the OH. Mightily impressed.

slayerking · 08-10-2011 6:44pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

Would Headless Dog not be classed as a Pale Ale rather than a Bitter? And not sure about calling Copper Coast a bitter either.

Managed to have a quick pint of this yesterday while I was waiting for the OH. Mightily impressed.

I think the term bitter is used to differentiate ale served from bottle and from cask.
For instance, London pride from a bottle could be called pale ale, but served on cask is bitter.

So, technically, they could probably be called both!

BaZmO* · 08-10-2011 7:21pm

Hmmm...really?

Hinteresting

BeerNut · 09-10-2011 9:53am

BaZmO* wrote: »

Hmmm...really?

Yeah. Up until very recently, breweries called them all "Pale Ale". That would be written on the label of the bottled version. But before pumpclips started being used in pubs there was no label on the draught version. Customers took to ordering their beer as "bitter". So the same beer would be referred to as "Pale Ale" bottled and "Bitter" draught. Something similar happened with the terms "Brown Ale" and "Mild".

Recently, breweries have started doing bottled versions of bitters that only existed on draught before and they've kept the "bitter" name because that's how people know it. Also the rise of American pale ales has meant customers have started thinking of the paler, hoppier pale ales as pale ale, as distinct from bitter. It has a bit more of a modern cachet and none of the whippets and flat caps association that bitter has.

Samuel Smith's are one of the few breweries that preserves the distinction. Their Old Brewery is always Bitter on draught and Pale Ale bottled.

BeerNut · 10-10-2011 8:26am

BaZmO* wrote: »

I'll wait for B&C to say when LP is on cask

It just happened.

fatboypee · 10-10-2011 10:04am

Apologies if this is in any way 'hijacking' a thread but gotta ask, if the B&C have managed to get Pride & ESB on tap, what hoops had to be jumped thru ? I'm sorry if it's naive but, say I could persuade a publican down-my-way to do likewise, what would be the obstacles???

BeerNut · 10-10-2011 10:21am

fatboypee wrote: »

say I could persuade a publican down-my-way to do likewise, what would be the obstacles?

None at all, depending on stock. I'm told the casks are coming though the main Fuller's supplier, the exact same route as the bottles.

The thing to bear in mind is that a cask isn't a keg: it's not plug-and-play. Unless the publican is willing to skill up on cellarmanship, and preferably hook up a beer engine, you're not going to enjoy what comes out.

I think it would be far better to start with cask ale from an Irish brewery: they'll be able to set up the beer engine monitor quality and teach the owner how to look after live draught beer. Buying in casks without the after-sales service is the next step beyond that.

Edit: that said, there are also keg versions of Fuller's beers, including Pride.

fatboypee · 10-10-2011 10:38am

Cool. Place I have in mind has requested suggestions RE Ale etc and only just got a license so expect not in such a position. Dammit :mad:...

Bet that ESB is some brew on Draft...

emmet the rover · 10-10-2011 10:41am

there are plenty of great ales on keg draught. oharas for instance

ciaran76 · 13-10-2011 11:08am

Another beer to consider would be Dungarvans Challenger which I had last night in LMulligans.

Its very similar to other English bitters and perfect temp. too as not freezing cold.

n97 mini · 14-10-2011 1:38pm

slayerking wrote: »

For instance, London pride from a bottle could be called pale ale, but served on cask is bitter.

The London Pride pump clips can say Premium Ale or Pale Ale (Pale Ale was recently seen in the Bull and Castle).

BeerNut · 21-10-2011 11:02am

fatboypee wrote: »

Bet that ESB is some brew on Draft

Went on last night.

ciaran76 · 21-10-2011 12:08pm

BeerNut wrote: »

Went on last night.

Might make a run in on tomorrow or Sunday for 1 or 2.

Its weird I dont like this in the bottle format but from cask I really like this.

Most bottled beer I like when its on tap or vice versa but the ESB really stands out to me for some reason.

Any pubs that sell bitter?

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