Real Ale... Is it Real or just wanting to be posh

[Mudball]

'Real Ales', 'Craft Beers' and their ilk is now fully entranced. More and more pubs/bars serve them and is a bit snooty to be seen drinking one of them. Some are good but others are just more-of-the-same. I was at Waterloo station and at the bar, I asked for London Ale but he said, they are out of it, but have some Camden Ale. I wanted to ask if they have from SW19, EC1 or Abbot Road breweries.

Whatever happened to mass produced stuff like Peroni, Carlsberg, Kronenberg 1669 et al (Sorry no American p*ss). Are people really into the whole CAMRA thing or just a way to fit in with those who wear short trousers and no socks.

 

[robinthehood]

Ha ha plenty of cheap lager out there still. I don't like all that warm stuff with twigs in.

 

[Kellfire]

CAMRA and craft beer are mostly not the same thing although there is overlap.

Camden is not craft. It’s mass produced crap.

 

[Kellfire]

And so you know, Kronenbourg is a Carlsberg company and Peroni is Japanese.

 

[Kellfire]

And not all “real” ale is craft. A lot of it isn’t. Real ale is a term usually synonymous with a beer that hasn’t been force carbonated and has undergone secondary fermentation in a bottle or cask.

 

[spongebob59]

And so you know, Kronenbourg is a Carlsberg company and Peroni is Japanese.

Thought Peroni was Italian ?

 

[Kellfire]

Thought Peroni was Italian ?

Nope, sold out to Asahi. Before that it was British I think.

 

[jim8flog]

The difference is that real ales are not pumped full of CO2 as is the like of beers like John Smiths Tetley. Any gassing is natural.

All of the other you mention are lagers which are top fermented (do not ask me to explain).

 

[Kellfire]

The difference is that real ales are not pumped full of CO2 as is the like of beers like John Smiths Tetley. Any gassing is natural.

All of the other you mention are lagers which are top fermented (do not ask me to explain).

Lagers are bottom fermented.

And the method of carbonation doesn’t define a beer. Real ale is a BS term. So many dinosaurs who think a beer isn’t good because it doesn’t undergo secondary fermentation.

Then there’s the fact so many craft beers aren’t even force carbed anyway.

 

[fundy]

If you like the taste drink it, if you dont like it, then dont. Anything else is just BS basically

 

[Kellfire]

If you like the taste drink it, if you dont like it, then dont. Anything else is just BS basically

That’s a fair way to sum it up for most.

 

[Foxholer]

Nope, sold out to Asahi. Before that it was British I think.

Made in Italy - so it's Italian for me! Country of ownership is pretty much irrelevant!

 

[Kellfire]

Made in Italy - so it's Italian for me! Country of ownership is pretty much irrelevant!

The owner is important to a lot of craft beer enthusiasts.

 

[Jamesbrown]

Worked in a spoons and free house part time when I was 18-20.
Hated the folks who used to ask for tasters. And spend 5 minutes swilling and smelling.
It all tastes like wazz, just pick a pale one or a dark one and jog on.

 

[Foxholer]

The owner is important to a lot of craft beer enthusiasts.

Peroni could not in any way be described as 'craft beer' though could it! And Peroni is definitely Italian - not Japanese - beer!

Peroni is rather enjoyable after a round at Bearwood Lakes though! Not an environment where I would expect 'craft beer' either!

Btw; Asahi is pretty nice in the right circumstances too!

 

[Kellfire]

Peroni could not in any way be described as 'craft beer' though could it!

Rather enjoyable after a round at Bearwood Lakes though! Not an environment where I would expect 'craft beer' either!

No that’s true. I don’t think I could drink Peroni without throwing up.

 

[Kellfire]

Worked in a spoons and free house part time when I was 18-20.
Hated the folks who used to ask for tasters. And spend 5 minutes swilling and smelling.
It all tastes like wazz, just pick a pale one or a dark one and jog on.

That’s just not true though.

That said, Wetherspoons are an awful force in the beer industry in the UK, driving price and quality lower and lower.

 

[Foxholer]

...
That said, Wetherspoons are an awful force in the beer industry in the UK, driving price and quality lower and lower.

As a fan of Abbot Ale....I rather like Wetherspoons.

And I believe they actually support the brewing industry too! Had lots of 'intereting' beers (at great prices) that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to taste!

So while I can't comment on the pricing strategy - though I know how it started - I disagree about your 'quality' comment! To me it's the huge companies - like Whitbread - that put cost before quality (accountants before craftsmen)! The destruction of the Firkin range/concept being an example!

 

[Kellfire]

As a fan of Abbot Ale....I rather like Wetherspoons.

And I believe they actually support the brewing industry too! Had lots of 'intereting' beers (at great prices) that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to taste!

They pretend they support it but really they use their size to force breweries into providing them beer at cut prices so the quality drops to allow the breweries to make a profit.

I’m not even affected by this because I hate that type of boring cask beer but it’s still disgusting how they use their power to disrupt the market.

 

[USER1999]

The owner is important to a lot of craft beer enthusiasts.

Which is insane. If Inbev bought the Mona Lisa, it would still be a great painting. It wouldn't be diminished overnight because of the new owners.