UK Real Ale ?

fatboypee

Hey Chaps,

Anyone know where Web or shop I can get hold of some decent UK real ales ?
Tesco import black sheep and do the molings etc which is reasonably passable but I'd love to get a hold of a source for the real stuff ?

Thanks

Fatboy.

Civilian_Target

They have Boddingtons and the like in all decent offlicenses up here....

fatboypee

Thanks but I'm down here ...:( ...:(

anyone do order online to deliver down here ???


Thanks

Fatboy.

noby

Any decent off-licence should stock a few.
I've gotten Black sheep, bishop's finger. spitfire etc. from a local spar. There's a good offy in Waterford that would have a wider range (speckled hen, old perculiar, Youngs, Hopback and a few others). There's surely a few in Dublin too

fatboypee

Thanks !

The nearest big town to me is Limerick and there sure aint no decent off licences stocking that lot here !!!!!

Thanks Anyway

Fatboy.

noby

Try realbeers.ie so. They seem to have a pretty good selection.


http://www.realbeers.ie/shop/prod_origins.aspx?cid=222

fatboypee

noby wrote:

Try realbeers.ie so. They seem to have a pretty good selection.


http://www.realbeers.ie/shop/prod_origins.aspx?cid=222

noby = lifesaver

Thanks
!!!

noby

fatboypee wrote:

noby = lifesaver

Thanks
!!!

Ah shucks. You're embarrassing me.

If you want the "real stuff", get thee to blighty for some cask conditioned ale.

fatboypee

I do, quite often:
http://www.brakspear-beers.co.uk/brakspear_new_draught.htm

Can bring back cans but rarely go over in a car......


Fatboy.

Blub2k4

You see you went and used the nasty word there, CANS!! no serious beer drinker rates beer in a can, always bottles.

fatboypee

Blub2k4 wrote:

You see you went and used the nasty word there, CANS!! no serious beer drinker rates beer in a can, always bottles.

Really ??? Are you SURE ????

Tried Brakspears in cans have you

Invariably I would agree with you but trust me on this one, this can is as good as a bottle and cheaper !

Karl Hungus

Civilian_Target wrote:

They have Boddingtons and the like in all decent offlicenses up here....

Mmm... Boddingtons.

I miss that stuff.

Blub2k4

fatboypee wrote:

Really ??? Are you SURE ????

Tried Brakspears in cans have you

Invariably I would agree with you but trust me on this one, this can is as good as a bottle and cheaper !

I was going to add the caveat that Guiness in a can breaks the general rule, but I was told by others that the draft Guinness in a bottle beats the canned version of same, so even in that one case I would have made an exception for I turned out to be possibly wrong. I have not tried the bottle but from experience I can say that the bottle would be better.

My question to you would be, have you tried Brakspears in a bottle (I've never tried it at all) and is the bottle better?

Back to you

fatboypee

Back to you

Yep, tried it in the bottle, I'm not really sure its superior as the brew in the bottle is a different one... All I would say is that the brew in the cans is outstanding and for the price difference I wouldnt buy the bottles...

Do agree that usually the cans are not as nice tho..

Fatboy..

Blub2k4

fatboypee wrote:

Yep, tried it in the bottle, I'm not really sure its superior as the brew in the bottle is a different one... All I would say is that the brew in the cans is outstanding and for the price difference I wouldnt buy the bottles...

Do agree that usually the cans are not as nice tho..

Fatboy..

Is that different as in the company market is as a different beer, or as in the can taints the brew and changes it from what the brewer intended?

Glad you agree on the basic premise in any case, there is hope

fatboypee

Blub2k4 wrote:

Is that different as in the company market is as a different beer, or as in the can taints the brew and changes it from what the brewer intended?

Glad you agree on the basic premise in any case, there is hope

hehe, definitely hope. I get anyone visiting from the UK to bring in bottles over cans, mainly as the beers are special brews over average bitters..

Sadly, I take what I can get when it comes to ales and have evern been known to resort to Bass in CANS !!!!! :eek: :eek:

So if Bottles are better, what are your favourite bottled brews then ?



Fatboy..

Blub2k4

Too many to mention, but as a general rule nothing from Belgium, I find that their beers are not very drinkable. (and here's me lecturing on good beers )
I lived in Germany for a few years and tend more towards pilsener although I like the odd weissbier.

fatboypee

Not a fan of Ales then ?

Trappiste ?? Duvel ? Westmalle Dubbel ??

Leffe even ?

Don't like blonde beers myself. Lived in Amsterdam for a couple of years, Hoegaarden with lime and a stirrer ?? ooooooo nooooo.....

Civilian_Target

Rammstein Dunkelweisse. Yum.

Blub2k4

fatboypee wrote:

Not a fan of Ales then ?

Trappiste ?? Duvel ? Westmalle Dubbel ??

Leffe even ?

Don't like blonde beers myself. Lived in Amsterdam for a couple of years, Hoegaarden with lime and a stirrer ?? ooooooo nooooo.....

Uk real ale I love, but I wouldn't drink the Belgian stuff, I just dont like it.

WhiteWashMan

you can try http://www.beerbarons.co.uk/

whether they will deliver to ireland i do not know, but they have a fab range of UK beers.
i would heartily recommend Badger brewery, fFllers, Hogs-Back brewery(which is just around the corner form me), Youngs and perticularly Burtons....

podger72

Fullers London Pride seems to be available in Superquinn at €2.65 a bottle,picked up a couple of bottles last night

noby

Is it? Is this a recent addition? I must get hold of some.

podger72

yeah only seen it on the shelves there in the past few weeks

Civilian_Target

Had a delicious pint of Belfast Pale Ale in the Botanic down the road there tonight. Never tasted it before but its a true quality ale, almost fruity taste, but not too sweet.

Its not Porterhouse Red Ale, but its not far behind...

fatboypee

podger72 wrote:

Fullers London Pride seems to be available in Superquinn at €2.65 a bottle,picked up a couple of bottles last night

Now thats good news !!!

Steve_o

Smithwicks is the only Ale for me!!!!!

kenmc

Blub2k4 wrote:

Uk real ale I love, but I wouldn't drink the Belgian stuff, I just dont like it.

Ale of all sort is my fav, although I have to admit that I do prefer the belgian stuff - must be my expensive upbringing

Tonite, gentlemen, I will mostly be drinking here:
http://www.les-brasseurs.ch/e/lausanne/index.htm
I can't wait!
roll on after work!!!

fatboypee

Fullers London Pride seems to be available in Superquinn at €2.65 a bottle,picked up a couple of bottles last night

Hah !! No such luck in the Limerick store anyway !!!!

westtip

Now this is a thread which has wet my appetite. How many times do I sit at home thinking about going down the pub and sinking a few pints of bitter. Don't get me wrong, wine of the country and all that and I do love a pint of stout, but in the tneder mid 40s and having moved here five years ago do I miss a pint of bitter - only a lot.

Try as I may to influence the Tesco buyer - they always tell me there is no demand for English Bitters in this country - err surely some mistake there must be thousands of irish and english people living here now who were weaned on the stuff - Marstons Pedigree, The Plough, Burton on Trent circa 1976, the first time the nectar passed my lips. I know I am not going to get a creamy pint of hand pumped Tetleys (a la the Wrens and Roscoe in Leeds circa 1980) or any of the beautiful pints still available despite the multi-nationals attempts to destroy the brewing industry in the UK, but even a can of draught flow boddingtons. Please Mr Tesco - start listening - rows upon rows of mindless tasting lagers, there must be 50 to a 100,000 regular customers out there waiting for their six pack of bitter in the fridge int he week. Wake up and server us. Soemone said it is available in the North - Whats the position in the Supermarkets in Enniskillen? my nearest cross border town?

Adding to this post done a bit more research:

Telephone 1850 744 844 or email customer.services@tesco.ie. if you want to comment to Tescos about this subject - I rang them today and they just said there is no demand for English Ales in Ireland. I said that's funny why am I ringing you up? sounds like racism to me.

Different story with Sainsbury - the Derry Store has Boddingtons on offer at the moment - £14.99 (about €22) for 24 cans - yes less than a Euro a can - almost worth the drive up there. I think they have a store in Newry if you want to spin up the M1 But do have a go at the Tesco number and email them.


Westtip

westtip

Steve_o wrote:

Smithwicks is the only Ale for me!!!!!

Steve O you just haven't had a smooth creamy pint of hand pumped bitter - and don't believe all the urban myths you hear about warm beer - a complete piece of nonsense - a good well kept pint is chilled in the cellar and served so you can taste the hops, no it is not frozen and so super chilled it gives a pain in the belly (Guinness Extra Cold - how to destroy a pint of guinness), but yes it is a cool and refreshing. If you think Smithwicks is good - open your eyes and tastebuds to a good pint of bitter. You'll love it.

noby

My local spar offy has the usual wall-to-wall cans of generic lager. Everything from Dutch Gold to "I can't believe it's not Dutch Gold". But tucked away in a quiet corner of a fridge is always a few bottles of Bishop's Finger and Spitfire. Now I know I'm not the only person that buys it, buy I try to pick up a couple of bottles whenever I'm in there, to keep the turnover up, and perhaps encourage the owner to try some different ales.
Other than that I have to venture to Waterford city. Hopefully the Superquinn there has bottles of Pride.

westtip

But at €2.65 a bottle! its pretty steep, but isn't it a pity we all have to furtively look around to see who is stocking a few cans or bottles of bitter - when there are so many of us who want the stuff on the regular beer shelves at a regular price. Get writing and calling Tescos.:mad:

fatboypee

westtip wrote:

But at €2.65 a bottle! its pretty steep, but isn't it a pity we all have to furtively look around to see who is stocking a few cans or bottles of bitter - when there are so many of us who want the stuff on the regular beer shelves at a regular price. Get writing and calling Tescos.:mad:

Yep its steep....

Have you tried Molings Ale ? Tesco's also stock Black Sheep in bottles... Not good really, how the heck can people have choice if the big buyers won't even try ?? Lord knows there IS demand here. Not all Bitters are dark black ear splitting brews, there are some lighter ones..

Still debating whether ornot to buy from Realbeers.ie. The €33 per case of 12 I can live with, but what kicks the nuts is the €8 delivery charge ontop.

I've resorted now to buying Bass in cans at a Euro a can (yes, cans, I know) Not for the real beer connoisseur but still, better than 2.65 a bottle... Assuming you can even get PRIDE (which I can't in Limerick's SuperQuin)..

Disturbing how the UK online shops dont ship here either...
Guinness is nice Lager is nice. But not all the blessed time.....!!

Fatboy..

westtip

fatboypee wrote:

Yep its steep....

Have you tried Molings Ale ? Tesco's also stock Black Sheep in bottles... Not good really, how the heck can people have choice if the big buyers won't even try ?? Lord knows there IS demand here. Not all Bitters are dark black ear splitting brews, there are some lighter ones..



Fatboy..

It is a bloody disgrace a major retailer like Tesco won't stock mainstream English bitters like Boddingtons and Tetley's or John Smiths - there will even be TV advertising awareness for John Smiths from the Adverts seen on UK TV like you I do believe there is a market for them - in my local alone I know three or four who wouldn't mind a bitter - the landlord has said if we can get Boddingtons in he will sell it in cans for us, Tesco's just won't listen, they don't want it here because someone in the head office has made the decision - they are so out of touch. Out here in the West there are loads of people living here from England - God you only have to listen to the accents in the shops. Tescos have their heads shoved up their rear ends and the only way to change their minds is keep writing to them calling them emailing them just keep on and on at them.

The canned Bass available in Lidl is a pretty reasonable price, but its the rubbish Bass they used to produce in Belfast brewery - sorry no offence meant to the Belfast brewery - but not a patch on the draught Bass from Burton on Trent, although not even sure that is produced since Bass was split in two and sold off to the Belgians (Interbrew) and Americans (Coors), thanks to the mismanagement of Iain Prosser. The Export Bass Pale Ale (EBPA) shipped off to the USA was a slightly different version of Bass Ale - and in fact a lot superior to the rubbish they fobbed off on the irish market under the Bass name which was tailored to match the Smithwicks drinker. The original EBPA was a derivative of the finest bottled beer ever to be made in England - the legendary White Shield. Again sadly lost in the 1980s in the brand rationalisation done by Bass plc at the time. Pouring a white shield was an art form in its own right.

Ramblings of an old fart me fears. Time for a pint

Oh sorry, I have never tried Molings nor Black Sheep.

podger72

its €2.65 for a 50 cl bottle of london pride which is around the same price as Erdinger or Budvar,i have seen it in Superquinn in Naas and Tyrrelstown so i presume its in all their stores,i'm glad someone brought up the lack of variety on Irish supermarket shelves,i was in Luxembourg 6 months ago,went into your standard supermarket and was faced with over 60 beer brands from krieks to trappist beers,even in the uk the choice in Supermarkets eg Sainburys is 10 times better than over here.is a similar situation to the wine market here 10 years ago where you had a choice between Black Tower and Blue Nun?,I guess the only way to improve things is to ask the staff in these places enough of times for the product,eventually the message might get through to stock it

westtip

podger72 wrote:

I guess the only way to improve things is to ask the staff in these places enough of times for the product,eventually the message might get through to stock it

I wouldn't bet on it. I asked in the Tesco in Ballina (Co Mayo) today if they stocked any English bitters - the young fellah in the beer section said "if only" I am always getting asked for English Ales such as Boddingtons, Johns Smiths or Tetleys and I ask every week if we can have it - they keep saying to him at the head office there is no demand for it! Seems we have a communication problem with Teso's head office in Ireland. But keep asking lads and keep pestering them and eventually they may just get it through their thick skulls that there are drinkers who want something else rather than the endless rows of lager plus two brands of stout. Rather than emails some good old fashioned letters to the beer buyer at Tesco, the Irish head office is in Dun Laoighaire (never could spell that word) might have more effect to write to the CEO at the head office in the UK in Cheshunt - I will post up some names and addresses when further research is done, but we must keep at this one, I am sure Tesco can be won over.

fatboypee

Huh Food retaillers...Bland, Bland, Bland......

Tesco the low cost retailler, the quality of their goods is very low unless branded. They aim for the core-market to maximise the massive profit margin backed by Kerry Foods & other major manufacturers...

But we have Superquinn too I hear you cry... yes, may was well shop at Centra for the amount of choice, ever tried to buy and herbs or spices ?? one limp, crappy bit of parsley between the discerning shopper and good cooking..

Dunnes ? - A clothing store with a bit of occasional food shopping, getting a bit better but not drastically.

SuperValoooooo - Another Centra clone with high prices.

Musgraves, oops forgot them.... massively powerful yet, I've never shopped in one, they're in cork aren't they ??

Have I missed any ?
My point is simple, how can we hold out hope of choice in any shape or form, let alone an open-minded, customer focussed retailler yielding to public demand to stock some good bitter if all the supermarkets are interested in is the lowest common denominator ?

noby

westtip,

While I admire your campaign you're waging, why pick Tesco? I try to give my business to any good off-licence, who are willing to stock good beers. As I said above, my local spar (the smallest one in our town) stocks a few good beers, so I give them my custom. We (finally) got a Dunnes stores in Dungarvan last year. For the first month or so they had a pretty good beer range, but that seemed to stop in the new year, so I don't buy any beer there anymore. Whenever I get to Waterford, I try to make it to world wide wines, as they have an excellent beer selection. Instead of trying to force one company to stock good beers, I prefer to give my money to those who do, however limited their range may be.

westtip

noby wrote:

westtip,

While I admire your campaign you're waging, why pick Tesco? I try to give my business to any good off-licence, who are willing to stock good beers. As I said above, my local spar (the smallest one in our town) stocks a few good beers, so I give them my custom. We (finally) got a Dunnes stores in Dungarvan last year. For the first month or so they had a pretty good beer range, but that seemed to stop in the new year, so I don't buy any beer there anymore. Whenever I get to Waterford, I try to make it to world wide wines, as they have an excellent beer selection. Instead of trying to force one company to stock good beers, I prefer to give my money to those who do, however limited their range may be.

Noby, its a good point, I focus on Tesco simply because they are the biggest with the widest level of distribution. SuperQuinn is fine - in fact a wonderful store, but my nearest SuperQuinn is 150 miles away (ie they are not on the West Coast), I would add Dunnes to the campaign to target, but find their choice in both wines and beers even more limited. I can't see bitters being stocked by the smaller retailers on a wide basis unless the bigger ones are willing to take the "risk" to stock a few bitters - and remember I am not asking for Hogwarts snail ale from Dorchester, a la CAMRA, just mainstream draught bitters in a can, a technology which massively improved the bitter drinking experience at home, just as it did for Guinness - the big names Boddingtons, Tetley and the John Smiths of this world is what I am looking for - Brands with recognition which will sell. With regard to doing a Mary Harney and shopping elsewhere I am about one of the most permissive shoppers going for that, but there comes a time when you simply have to do a big shop and buy a load of groceries from your local Supermarket, which for me happens to be Tesco or Dunnes (after going to Lidl), hence my focus on the retailers - believe me I have asked for bitters in just about every off licence from Castlebar to Donegal - always the same message - we don't stock them because, well we don't.

Time for a pint of Pedigree, (in your dreams mate)

fatboypee

thats the thing tho, offy's in cities may stock it but unless you guarantee to by a few cans per week its not worth it for smaller outlets..

meanwhile for Christmas try molings and black sheep...good special (given the price) alternatives...

westtip

fatboypee wrote:

thats the thing tho, offy's in cities may stock it but unless you guarantee to by a few cans per week its not worth it for smaller outlets..

meanwhile for Christmas try molings and black sheep...good special (given the price) alternatives...

I will give them a try - but the good news a friend up in Letterkenny has secured a couple of cases of Boddingtons for me from the Derry Sainsburys, just hope he doesn't knock them all back before I meet up with him. Its only about two weeks supply anyway.

beer enigma

Biggest problem with Supermarkets stocking real ales is the cost and the relatively short shelf life.

Dont forget, a real ale is unpasteurised, so the ale is 'live' in the bottle. The abv of the beer does vary within a small degree within its lifespan. The likes of tetley, smithwicks etc are all longer life pasteurised bitters (not to be confused with ales).

The duty of Ales is so high that you pay a premium at the supermarket (real ales average 5.0 abv) , and, as they mostly come from smaller breweries in the uk, there is no return policy available for unsold beers, hence supermarkets are largely unwilling to take a risk in stocking them.

westtip

Andip wrote:

Biggest problem with Supermarkets stocking real ales is the cost and the relatively short shelf life.

Dont forget, a real ale is unpasteurised, so the ale is 'live' in the bottle. The abv of the beer does vary within a small degree within its lifespan. The likes of tetley, smithwicks etc are all longer life pasteurised bitters (not to be confused with ales).

The duty of Ales is so high that you pay a premium at the supermarket (real ales average 5.0 abv) , and, as they mostly come from smaller breweries in the uk, there is no return policy available for unsold beers, hence supermarkets are largely unwilling to take a risk in stocking them.

Andip, not sure I agree with you or perhaps there is a misunderstanding about what we want in Ireland. The mainstream brands such as boddies and Tetley in cans are pasteurised - and using the draught-flo system they are a reasonable drink for a reasonable price, Ok they are not a hand-pumped pint but you will only get that in an English pub, but they are at lease a bitter. We are never going to see cask conditioned ale hand pumped in Ireland - good cask conditioned ale is hard enough to find in England these days.

Real Ales with live yeast in bottle are becoming a real rarity, we will never see them on the supermarket shelves in Ireland . The finest ever (in my humble opinion) was the legendary White Shield - which Bass axed in the mid 80s - but since then resurected by the Bass Museum micro Brewery in Burton on Trent (now called the Coors Museum of Brewing - but that is a whole other story) take a look at http://www.bass-museum.com/cn_press_release.asp?section_id=37&news_id=40 apparently it is doing very well, must pick up a few cases next time I am there. Guinness stopped doing their bottle conditioned guinness a few years ago. All of the beers mentioned so far on this board would be pasteurised on the bottling line, believe me.

There is no difference in the duty on an ale and lager, as you say it is all based on abv not product type - the standard bitters are no more than 5% which is what most premium branded lagers (eg Stella) are these days in take home packs, so there is no difference in the duty on standard products, be they standard ales or lagers.

The problem is the intransigence of the multiples to recognise there is a market for mainstream ales and bitters in Ireland, at least to give them a chance. Give us those first then we can start of bottle conditioned ales.

Mines a pint of Pedigree.

beer enigma

OK I'm with you now......

Yep, I agree, if we're talking draught-flo, then there's no real excuse for non stocking, just a lack of education. I've been a CAMRA member for 20 years and much work has been done with the supermarkets in the UK that doesn't seem to have crossed over the water. Tesco are not big supporters of us in the UK, so little chance here.

Interestingly enough, there are a couple of outlets in dublin (cant remember them off the top of my head that do sell bottle conditioned (unpasteurised) beer with a higher abv....Fullers 1845 being one (abv 6.3%).

The only hope I can offer here is that there are rumours of ASDA coming into the Irish Market...possible bids for Dunnes or Superquinn. ASDA are one of the biggest supermarkets to support CAMRA in the UK & it is very possible they may seek to open the Bitter/Ale market over here...

Lol be glad to stand you a Pedigree if you can find one

westtip

Andip, yes it is a problem of education. I just cannot understand Tesco's position. Apparently the White shield I referred to is now available in the multiples in the UK in 500 ml bottles and by all accounts is selling very well. Must get some when I am back in the UK. I am not up in Dublin much these days - and TBH, hunting the specialist stockists of a few ales and bitters is something I just ain't got time for, but thanks for the referrals. The specialist web site referred to at the head of this thread to buy UK ales on line for home delivery is ok, is quite an expensive way of buying beer and requires far too much forward planning for me, and anyway why shouldn't few basic mainstream branded ales be available in the supermarkets

CAMRA has done great work with the brewers to maintain the fine tradition of choice of ales over in the UK. This market in the on premise at least has been controlled by one company for so long, which has made for little choice and little chance of anything else growing, although they are trying some new speciality brews - the Guinness brewhouse series at the moment, which I have not tired yet, which suggests they might be trying to get people to think about trying something different. Guiness though killed the Ale market here by reducing choice to one beer - Smithwicks. The nearest I have come to replicating a pint of bitter in the pub is a pint of special - a Smickwicks with a Guinness top - not to be mistaken for the half and half black n tan which is almost impossible to pour, but it is not a pint of bitter. Ah well the quest goes on.

Mine is still a pint of Pedigree.

westtip

Been away a couple of days had some yummy pints of bitter in UK, oh lovely, bag of pork scratchings, game of cribbage and several pints of Wadworths 6X.

If it could be delivered to your door how much would ye pay ofr a case of 24 cans of say Boddingtons, Tetleys or John Smiths draught - just a thought for a business idea?:)

beer enigma

Well some good news before Christmas !!!

My wife has just come back from visiting a client working in the "Carry Out" off licence chain.

Home with her came bottles of:

Morelands Hens Tooth - Bottle conditioned @6.5% abv
Greene King Abbot Ale - @5% abv
London Pride @ 4.7% abv

They are supplied through the Galvins chain countrywide and have targeted 2006 as a Real Ale year, aiming to bring a "wide" range of bottled beers onto the market. Most interesting one is the Morelands Hens Tooth...it's the first bottle conditioed ale I've seen here & comes from the same stable at "Old Speckled Hen"....Mmmmmmmmmmmm

westtip

Andip that is good news - do you know the locations of the shops (any in the north west??)


Mines a pint of pedigree please.

beer enigma

They seem to be spread out over most of the country - the Galvins website would have the locations, but its 'under construction' at the moment, so keep an eye on www.galvinswines.ie

direbadger

The first time I had English ale I was taken aback by how flat is was. It's strange at first but lovely when you get used to it!

I had some very nice drinks the last time I was over (despite my sister's attempts to get me to drink Castlemaine XXXX, sorry if anyone likes it but yuk! And what a hangover!)

The most interesting ale experience was having a bottle of Kew Brew at Kew Gardens, brewed from their own hops. Mmmmm.

I don't think there is any place to get UK ale in Limerick. They have cans of Newcastle Brown (a lovley drink in it's own right but not from the can) down in the offy in Mount Kenneth Place, if that's any good to you.