Is Harveys just a tad over-rated??

beorhthelm said:

theres a difference here between adding CO2 when kegging, and adding CO2 when dispensing. you cant get the beer out of the keg without pressurisation of the keg. you can tell when they are using sparklers and not a beer engine that the product is pressured, not to mention the diffences in the look, mouth feel and bloat after a couple of pints. the modern methods you are talking about are nothing of the sort, they are those used by the lager industry to clear their product and make it easier to ship and handle. and there's nothing wrong with that, there's many fine lagers. but theres another way, allowing the beer to drop bright then transfering to new clean casks, same effect of being easy to ship and handle. there's no way you could serve up normal cask ale in the Amex immediatly after rolling it 50yds from the store room.

my biggest, only in fact, issue with craft beer is how its got all sniffy in the same way as Camra. craft ale's enemy is desperatly trying so hard to be new and standing out from all the other craft ales, ending in over hopped, high ABV, steering towards a flavour spectrum dictated by the heavily citrus hops like Amirillo and Nelson Sauvin. end of day, theres space for Harveys best, Wild hop, Old, alongside Darkstar's Hophead, Partridge and so on. let unite against the common foe, the cooking lager.

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Buckeejit said:

Anyway, reckon there's one thing that there will be widespread agreement on here - Shepherd Neame beer is pretty vile stuff... if I ever see their name on a pub, I give it a VERY wide berth... their bottled version of Whitstable Bay is drinkable enough but can't come anywhere near redeeming them as a brewery...

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SheffieldSeagulls said:

You should all think yourselves lucky that it is available on your doorstep. Yes we have loads of good beer up north and especially around Sheffield, but we do miss a pint of Harvey's and we only get it on rare occasions when we travel south. Why does it not travel, not event to Beer Fests?

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Questions said:

That's fair comment but there are a lot of people out there who think it's just a fight between Harvey's best and Dark Stars Hophead. Shame really theres so much more.

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BensGrandad said:

Watneys used to do a bitter that was in a keg but had to stand as per real ale WEBSTERS but I think hey stopped it when Watneys brewery ceased to exist in the late 80s

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Screaming J said:

It was from Websters brewery in - I think - Halifax ( certainly Yorkshire) which was part of Watneys empire. Not sure when it shut but as per usual the beer was then brewed elsewhere.

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Dick Knights Mumm said:

Yes. But of course, by definition we are a tribal lot .................

I love the standard of breweries we have around us.

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Questions said:

Harvey's to me is like JFC... but what do I know Mumm.

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Questions said:

That is not so. A traditional beer is fine but why worry if we are making a beer with an an American hop. It's a good job that we do import hops because our share of the world market is now down to about 2% - mainly collected from Herefordshire.

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fataddick said:

lest they get in the hands of a wider public with actual taste buds who will point out just how vile the Lewes Dishwater and Honeybrandy Swill actually are.

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beorhthelm said:

im thinking more about hops originating in those distant lands, than hops same or similar to our tradition ones that are grown abroad. i find some are too much or over used, but im not knocking them, just dont understand why some have put down the local flavours. as most beers worldwide are lagers using a German hop palette, our much reduced harvest is probably a moot point anyway.

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fataddick said:

Harvey's have a policy of not supplying their beers to anywhere more than 50 miles from the brewery (apart, bizarrely, from a couple of pubs in Copenhagen).

Some might suggest it's for a similar reason as the UK importers of Tuaca rarely (a few tryhard cocktail bars apart) supplying places outside of Sussex.

Keep Harvey's Best and Tuaca as niche localised semi-mythical (for holiday visitors from elsewhere) Brighton area products lest they get in the hands of a wider public with actual taste buds who will point out just how vile the Lewes Dishwater and Honeybrandy Swill actually are.

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Questions said:

Let's name the best breweries....... That's more fun. If you like Harveys fine but it's not a great beer nowadays IMO . Things have moved on but I suppose if you like that old traditional bitter style then that's fine and dandy.
Anyway Thornbridge, Burning Sky and maybe my favourite of them all Oakham of Peterborough.
Citra, Bishops Farewell and Inferno all from the same brewery.....stunning beers.
We've never had it so good.

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SIMMO SAYS said:

To me, you always come across as a teetotaller

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Barrel of Fun said:

I'm proud of Sussex, but I won't make a bee line for Harveys for the sake of it. It's alright? Nothing groundbreaking. If i think there is a better beer or one which i have not tried, then I'll go for that.

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Diablo said:

If you think the Harveys at the Amex is how it should be take it from me as an almost proffesional Harveys drinker it is not. I have NEVER had a good pint of Harveys at Amex(its either mediocre or awfull).

It is not the easiest of beers to keep well......I`ve found The most consistent place for a pint of Harveys is the Lewes Arms...in Lewes. Try it....

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