Real ale tasters

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joescrivens

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Have you ever been in a pub that refused to let you have a taster of a guest ale before you bought it?

I never had until I went to cornwall and one pub there said they didn't do tasters. I was infuriated! I love my ale.

Wrote them an email complaining and got the following response:

"We are a lease not a tenancy and as such do not have any way of re-couping any stock given away as tasters."

We're talking about a mouthful. Never heard anything so stupid in my life - whilst this guy is worried about losing stock on what amounts to less than a spillage he'll be losing custom by not offering what every other pub in the UK does

/rant over!
 
joescrivens said:
Have you ever been in a pub that refused to let you have a taster of a guest ale before you bought it?

I never had until I went to cornwall and one pub there said they didn't do tasters. I was infuriated! I love my ale.

Wrote them an email complaining and got the following response:

"We are a lease not a tenancy and as such do not have any way of re-couping any stock given away as tasters."

We're talking about a mouthful. Never heard anything so stupid in my life - whilst this guy is worried about losing stock on what amounts to less than a spillage he'll be losing custom by not offering what every other pub in the UK does

/rant over!
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Ask him for a drink out of the slop tray.:shrug:
 
My tasters come in pint glasses.
I've always finished the glass even when it has been a decidedly oddball experience.
If It's not doing it for me, then my next pint will be something different.
 
cpuwizz said:
Very good.

Never had a problem before.

Presume you asked for water then?
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i should have, you're right. A glass of tap water. Damn, your mind never comes up with stuff like this when you are in the moment.
 
Our local will give you a 'taster' in a small glass if you ask for one.

If it's one I've not tried before I'll just have a pint as sometimes you get accustomed to it after the few few mouthfulls anyway.

If it doesn't do anything for me - I'll just move onto the next pump for my next pint.

To be fair our pub has 6 real ale pumps and at least two change each day so they keep a large chalkboard on the wall giving you tasting notes so you have a fair idea what you're ordering.
 
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DuncanDisorderly said:
My tasters come in pint glasses.
I've always finished the glass even when it has been a decidedly oddball experience.
If It's not doing it for me, then my next pint will be something different.
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unfortunatley was driving so any had the opportunity for 1 pint. When driving and you only get 1 pint I like to make sure it's going to be a good one!
 
dinners said:
Our local will give you a 'taster' in a small glass if you ask for one.

If it's one I've not tried before I'll just have a pint as sometimes you get accustomed to it after the few few mouthfulls anyway.

If it doesn't do anything for me - I'll just move onto the next pump for my next pint.

To be fair our pub has 6 real ale pumps and at least two change each day so they keep a large chalkboard on the wall giving you tasting notes so you have a fair idea what you're ordering.
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same with my local -but we have 10 ales on.

As long as you arent asking to try every ale, it's never an issue
 
If you're driving then order a half of two kinds then you have twice the opportunity to get a good one :)
 
DuncanDisorderly said:
My tasters come in pint glasses.
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Completely agree. In my local, the landlord knows what my favourite types of beer are and will pour me one without asking. If, on the very rare occasion, he picks a wrong 'un, he swaps it for another.

joescrivens said:
same with my local -but we have 10 ales on.
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And if I say I'm going to Tenerife on holiday this year, you can bet Joe will be going to Elevenerife........
 
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Cannot say I have ever been refused a taster, but rule#1 always order your other drinks first while you are deliberating over the ale. If you are refused a taster then it is a simple case of letting him know what you think, leave any unpaid for drinks on bar and walk out. :thumbs:
 
wisemen said:
And if I say I'm going to Tenerife on holiday this year, you can bet Joe will be going to Elevenerife........
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:suspect:

what an odd thing to say. It's a brewery pub, what do you expect?

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u8myufo said:
Cannot say I have ever been refused a taster, but rule#1 always order your other drinks first while you are deliberating over the ale. If you are refused a taster then it is a simple case of letting him know what you think, leave any unpaid for drinks on bar and walk out. :thumbs:
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now that is a good idea
 
How many of those Titanic ales have you sunk Joe?
 
tiler65 said:
How many of those Titanic ales have you sunk Joe?
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all of them many times.

The only ones that are always on though are:

Steerage - not good, very weak
Anchor - average, bit of a tinny aftertaste
white star - lovely
iceberg - lovely
captain smiths - lovely

The other 5 change all the time, usually 3 of them are guests from different breweries and the other two pumps are seasonal titanic ales.

Looking forward to autumn again though as "Engine room" you see in that photo was by far my favourite.
 
Jesus, they are expensive.............:eek:
 
fracster said:
Jesus, they are expensive.............:eek:
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expensive?

£2.50 to £2.80 is a good price round here. The non brewery ales are deliberately priced higher to sell the local stuff

The local "town pub" does ale for £1.90 but its poorly kept and poorly chosen, so I rarely drink there.

What are you paying?
 
£2 to £2.20 for good cask ale.
 
We're £3.10 at the moment for real ale regardless of what it is.
 
joescrivens said:
scottish cask ale or english?
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English,mainly northern stuff, Jennings,Copper Dragon, Tetley plus a myriad of smaller breweries like Moorhouses. The stronger stuff is usually about £2.20, 5% type stuff. but I like the lighter bitters, Lancaster blond and the like, usually £2 a pint.
 
Thought I'd just walked into Wetherspoons ... :exit:
 
fracster said:
English,mainly northern stuff, Jennings,Copper Dragon, Tetley plus a myriad of smaller breweries like Moorhouses. The stronger stuff is usually about £2.20, 5% type stuff. but I like the lighter bitters, Lancaster blond and the like, usually £2 a pint.
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Sounds good. Snack lifter is one of my favs.

I can get a £2 ale if I travel into wetherspoons in stoke. But in the country here £2.70 is about average.
 
joescrivens said:
Sounds good. Snack lifter is one of my favs.

I can get a £2 ale if I travel into wetherspoons in stoke. But in the country here £2.70 is about average.
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Weatherspoons up here is a big no for me,full of tramps and all day boozers.
 
fracster said:
Weatherspoons up here is a big no for me,full of tramps and all day boozers.
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it can be like that here too. Depends which city you are in, others are really nice. Apparantly wetherspoons are opening in the swan in leek, which will be nice.
 
You need a weekend in Bath Joe, some great Ale pubs in and around the city.
 
I have been to bath but not on an ale trail. Is there a local brewery I could do a trip to? My brother in law and I try and organise 1 a year.

Wait of course there is. Bath ales make that barnsey. They had it in the Roebuck as a guest a few moths back. It was excellent
 
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There's the Rose & Crown in Biddulph Moor. They have Joule's ale which is brewed in Market Drayton. Think I've been there but years ago. Same brewery have a place in Leek called the Cock Inn...
 
Off to the Black Sheep Brewery tomorow!! :thumbs::beer::woot:
After a little walk with my camera, and I'm not driving.
Like going to heaven!
 
wontolla said:
Off to the Black Sheep Brewery tomorow!! :thumbs::beer::woot:
After a little walk with my camera, and I'm not driving.
Like going to heaven!
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Whilst your there, nip round the corner and visit Theakstons as well.
 
srichards said:
There's the Rose & Crown in Biddulph Moor. They have Joule's ale which is brewed in Market Drayton. Think I've been there but years ago. Same brewery have a place in Leek called the Cock Inn...
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Yup. But joules ale is crap and Alan the landlord is a knobjockey
 
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