Yesteryear beers and were they as good as we remember

[Cheyne_brewer]

I'm from Sheffield originally, when I was young there was the Jubilee Milk Stout brewery a short walk away, Whitbread, Stones, Wards. Of them all I would like another pint of Wards, cruelly shut by Vaux.

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

Now I am not saying its not true but are some of us me included could be stuck in a timewarp of everything was better when we were young or have some beers generally been thrown to the wolves for the sake of commercialism or profit.

I used to absolutely love Wychwood Breweries, Hobgoblin. Now, maybe my tastes have changed. Some might say matured.. However, I definitely think that this beer has changed over the last few years. It’s no way as good as I remember it to be. The time scale is not even that vast. I am talking in the last 10 years maybe.
The bottle label is certainly more commercial. I used to love the folksy art work of the Wychwood beers.

 

[trummy]

A very interesting thread. I remember White Shield as being somewhat of an iconic beer. I bought four bottles a year and a bit ago and was totally underwhelmed with it. I am sure the larger breweries have dumbed down practically all the big named brews. Anyone remember Guinness Extra Stout? Bottled conditioned it packed a punch, now long gone but one I would like to sample again to see if its as good as I remember it .
When the beer revival took hold I remember having a pint (ok may have been more than one) of Summer Lightening. I thought it wonderful it was the start to a wonderful hobby which I have pursued with enthusiasm ever since. Now I tend toward the lighter Golden Ales as a refreshing thirst quencher, so yes I think ones taste does change over the years. It was Pedi or Bass round here back in the day, will only drink either now if its a Hobson's choice.

 

[The Furnace Green Brewer]

I was brought up near Marlow we had Weterheads brewing in the high street and a good few of their pups dotted about and even the non tied pubs kept some of their Ales, I could smell the wort and the hops from our infants school play ground in St Peters Street. Their range of Ales were a delight shame Whitbread bought them and closed it down.

 

[TonyT]

I was brought up near Marlow we had Weterheads brewing in the high street and a good few of their pups dotted about and even the non tied pubs kept some of their Ales, I could smell the wort and the hops from our infants school play ground in St Peters Street. Their range of Ales were a delight shame Whitbread bought them and closed it down.

I remember Wethereds, that was nice beer too. They used to brew a winter warmer that was a really nice strong ale. At least Whitbread kept it open for a good few years before closing it.

 

[Graz]

Personally I think there's an element of both. My early drinking years were at University and here the rose tinted specs would definitely play a part. The beer of choice in the Union bar was Courage Directors which seemed pretty good back then, I had a pint of it in Stratford-on-Avon a few years back for nostalgia and thought meh. It might not have been the best kept barrel of it or whatever but I'm guessing that one was all about the moment. In Guildford when we did venture off campus the local pubs often did a good pint of draught Bass, Tetley's was another favourite. Not sure how well those beers would stand up to scrutiny now or if they even exist but I think my tastes might have moved on. On occasion they used to get a few barrels of Old Peculiar in the Union and that was always a pint to behold. That one I'm sure has become somewhat "diluted" over the years but still not a bad pint.

I even remember having the dreaded Boddingtons, on a hand pump, not the gassy cr*p they serve up these days, and really enjoying that.

Funny someone mentioned Hobgoblin early because that one really has changed. I remember not long after moving up to Tewkesbury and going out for an evening pint with my colleagues. The pub had Hobgoblin straight from a cask behind the bar, it was a superb pint, dark, malty and strong (was 6.5% back then). This really has suffered as a result of commercialisation and Marston's takeover of Wychwood. It's not a terrible pint but nothing close to the original.

So yeah some it's nostalgia and some beers really have changed and not necessarily for the better.

 

[Alcoholiday]

Hardy Hansons Kimberley AlesI don't have any particular fond memories.
Mansfield Bitter was another I drank when it couldn't be avoided.

Kimberley bitter was horrible, preferred ships tones or home bitter

 

[trueblue]

A very interesting thread. I remember White Shield as being somewhat of an iconic beer. I bought four bottles a year and a bit ago and was totally underwhelmed with it. I am sure the larger breweries have dumbed down practically all the big named brews. Anyone remember Guinness Extra Stout? Bottled conditioned it packed a punch, now long gone but one I would like to sample again to see if its as good as I remember it .
When the beer revival took hold I remember having a pint (ok may have been more than one) of Summer Lightening. I thought it wonderful it was the start to a wonderful hobby which I have pursued with enthusiasm ever since. Now I tend toward the lighter Golden Ales as a refreshing thirst quencher, so yes I think ones taste does change over the years. It was Pedi or Bass round here back in the day, will only drink either now if its a Hobson's choice.

After my first few brews in 1977 I started harvesting white shield for my all my beers so would buy 2 bottles every fortnight and loved the beer as well as the yeast. Sometime in the 1990s it became unavailable in my local supermarkets and when it resurfaced a few years later the yeast in the bottles was different so I assumed they were using a priming yeast. I did read somewhere years later they changed the yeast completely.

 

[Crappyfish]

Can answer that one with 2 words Ansells Bitter

 

[BrewMeHappy]

I'm sure when I started going out that there was always a run on different lagers, or beers, that seemed to be in every place for a year or two then would vanish, never to be seen again.
Some better than others, but those I can think of:

Tennant's Extra (Decent, especially when you are 17)
Carling Premier
Harp
Lowenbrau ( I loved that stuff, especially when dodging an occasional afternoon lesson at college and staying in the pub playing pool)
Staropramen (I think this is still doing the rounds but not the proper imported stuff).
Foster's Ice (A nightclub exclusive from memory)

 

[TonyT]

Just thought of another, Courage Bulldog. As far as I’m aware it was only available in half pint bottles but it was a strong ale. It wasn’t the focus of a big advertising budget so they stop production. I think it was a case of not being pushed on the telly-box so only discerning drinkers drank it, and their patronage wasn’t enough to keep it going.

 

[The Furnace Green Brewer]

I remember Wethereds, that was nice beer too. They used to brew a winter warmer that was a really nice strong ale. At least Whitbread kept it open for a good few years before closing it.

The winter warmer was a treat but I started drinking at about 18 and remember getting pretty plastered after a couple

 

[johncrobinson]

My Grandfather a Victorian gentleman used to tell me over 50yrs ago beer was not the same or as good as when he was a lad.
I put this down at the time to the "Good old days" syndrome as he also complained that meat roasted in the electric oven was inferior to that roasted on the coal range.

Having done some research on 19th century brewing methods and actualy tasted spit roasted beef I now realise that in both cases the two products would taste very different when made by modern methods for fully explainable and scientific reasons.

 

[LesTom]

McEwans Export in 330ml bottles from the original Fountainhall brewery in Edinburgh, truly wonderful stuff. The modern version in cans brewed (I think) by Marstons is a pale imitation of it.

 

[micklupulo]

Banks's bitter used to be dry hopped and had a creamy head which remained until the last drop. I will never forget going into my local in March 1986 and wondering what was wrong with the beer which was bland and seemed very slightly darker in colour. It soon became apparent that it was not anything to do with the pub and the beer was in fact different. I knew the house manager for the area who initially denied any change but six months later admitted that dry hopping had ceased and they had appointed a new head brewer who had worked at (wait for it) Watney's! I can quite believe then that beer would have been very different in Victoria's day.

 

[Andrew Booth]

I am from Halifax when I started drinking Websters Brewery was still open and there was still loads of Websters pubs around town so I started off Drinking Websters Green Label as I moved jobs and earned more I graduated to Websters County which back then was a fantastic drink. Roll forwards a few years and Websters was replaced by Tetleys cask in most pubs not bad when it was brewed just down the road in Leeds. By the time Tetleys had gone quite a few pubs had jumped onto real ale at one point there was 30ish microbreweries in Calderdale and a lot of the beer was brewed locally a few years after that lots of micropubs popped up selling West Yorkshire ales mainly which was great I don’t think I ever saw Timothy Taylor’s Landlord anywhere which I thought was weird bearing in mind keighley is only 11 miles down the road. Anyway about 14 years ago I got a Woodfordes Wherry youngs kit which lead me down the road of kit brewing now this last year I have started all grain and haven’t looked back I enjoy smash brewing occasionally I’ve just racked off wheat malt and fuggles hops which if the taste I had when bottling was great.

 

[An Ankoù]

A few years ago our local Camra beer festival decided to commemorate 40 years of Camra by just having beers that were in the first Good Beer Guide. I have to say it was a pretty underwhelming selection compared to the usual list.

Do you think that was because the quality of the beers has deteriorated of the 40 years because of takeovers, penny-pinching etc, or are the newer brands better than the old ones ever were?

 

[Andrew Booth]

I think there are a lot of factors a lot of takeovers certainly penny pinching and a lot of peoples tastes have changed. I did a all grain Websters County Bitter a few weeks back (I added 15mg of magnesium sulphate as that’s what was in the water they used) quite a few people who tried it remarked it was the very same as they remembered but on the other side of the coin a lot of loacal breweries are doing great things these days.

 

[micklupulo]

This whole debate is complicated by people's rosy tinted memories of a time when they were less exposed to multiple tastes and they had less money to spare compared to the present when some of the old favourites have been bastardised by a succession of takeovers and comprises in production yet in the meantime there has been a proliferation of small breweries plus modern new world hoppy beers and in all probability the people concerned have more disposable cash. In other words it is too easy to compare apples with oranges!

 

[micklupulo]

This whole debate is complicated by people's rosy tinted memories of a time when they were less exposed to multiple tastes and they had less money to spare compared to the present when some of the old favourites have been bastardised by a succession of takeovers and comprises in production yet in the meantime there has been a proliferation of small breweries plus modern new world hoppy beers and in all probability the people concerned have more disposable cash. In other words it is too easy to compare apples with oranges!

Err "compromises in production "!!