Good Beer Guide 2014

[CheeseRolls]

Incidentally, those looking for some craft beer recommendations to try could do worse than getting hold of the new Pocket Beer Book, launched just yesterday:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pocket-Beer...d=1378193561&sr=1-1&keywords=pocket+beer+book

Is this the successor to the Michael Jackson Pocket guides ? I will have to look at acquiring a copy. I usually get the pocket wine guide as well, which is another excellent old school resource.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hugh-Johnsons-Pocket-Wine-Book/dp/1845336844

 

[Uncle Buck]

Suggest you go write your own pub guide. Looking forward to reading that one.

Not really a good put down, but anyhow.

Any of these pub guides are subjective. There are places in the GBG that amaze me they get in there. The Mitre on London Road? I know it is meant to be about the beer, but really the place is a dump.

 

[Pevenseagull]

The official CAMRA bible has now been issued and the following may be of interest to the fine folk of NSC:

Brighton & Hove - Basketmakers, Battle of Trafalgar, Constant Service, Craft Beer Co., Evening Star, Lord Nelson Inn, Mitre Tavern, Prestonville Arms, Prince George, Pump House, Reservoir.

Falmer - Swan Inn.

Lewes - Brewers Arms, Elephant & Castle, Gardner's Arms, John Harvey Tavern, Lewes Arms, Lewes Constitutional Club, Snowdrop Inn.


One or two that I think people might question in Brighton but always nice to see Lewes confirmed as a beer drinkers Mecca.

The most consistently glorious pint of Harveys in Hove is in The Coopers Cask


Obviously I am biased, but I am also correct.


Lord Nelson wins for Brighton.


and that, my beery friends, is a fact.

 

[Trufflehound]

Is this the successor to the Michael Jackson Pocket guides ? I will have to look at acquiring a copy. I usually get the pocket wine guide as well, which is another excellent old school resource.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hugh-Johnsons-Pocket-Wine-Book/dp/1845336844

Yes, it is the spiritual offspring of MJ's old book.

Mitchell Beasley have revived it as a sister to Hugh Johnson's wine guide. Given the latter has sold around 8 million copies over its life, the Pocket Beer Book could well eventually become the biggest-selling beer book ever.

I say this with some pleasure since I wrote the Dutch chapter...

...and for what it's worth, the Luxembourg "chapter" (about half a page, but then that is all it deserves...)

 

[CheeseRolls]

Not really a good put down, but anyhow.

Any of these pub guides are subjective. There are places in the GBG that amaze me they get in there. The Mitre on London Road? I know it is meant to be about the beer, but really the place is a dump.

It wasn't truly meant as a put down. Where do you enjoy drinking in Brighton and why ?

I haven't been in the Mitre for years, but it is not difficult to understand why it is included. There are very few pubs in Brighton now that showcase a complete range of beers from one brewery. The landlady is in her eighties and is possibly the longest serving licensee in Brighton and CAMRA does have a secondary agenda, which is about preserving pub heritage. The Mitre is like stepping back in time and it is an odd experience to drink in there, but those are all valid reasons for people to go discover the place and give it a try. Down town Brighton has some good pubs, but very few that have not been stripped out and reinvented multiple times over the last couple of decades.

 

[Pevenseagull]

although that looks more like Guinness

 

[Pevenseagull]

It wasn't truly meant as a put down. Where do you enjoy drinking in Brighton and why ?

I haven't been in the Mitre for years, but it is not difficult to understand why it is included. There are very few pubs in Brighton now that showcase a complete range of beers from one brewery. The landlady is in her eighties and is possibly the longest serving licensee in Brighton and CAMRA does have a secondary agenda, which is about preserving pub heritage. The Mitre is like stepping back in time and it is an odd experience to drink in there, but those are all valid reasons for people to go discover the place and give it a try. Down town Brighton has some good pubs, but very few that have not been stripped out and reinvented multiple times over the last couple of decades.

The Mitre does serve a very good pint and is always included in my trips to the cinema or Bardsleys

 

[CheeseRolls]

Yes, it is the spiritual offspring of MJ's old book.

Mitchell Beasley have revived it as a sister to Hugh Johnson's wine guide. Given the latter has sold around 8 million copies over its life, the Pocket Beer Book could well eventually become the biggest-selling beer book ever.

I say this with some pleasure since I wrote the Dutch chapter...

...and for what it's worth, the Luxembourg "chapter" (about half a page, but then that is all it deserves...)

Excellent thanks, I will even defy CAMRA and not tear out the pages for the Netherlands and Luxembourg in your honour.

 

[Pevenseagull]

Jackson's writing put me onto 'Schneider Weisse' 20(ish) years ago when I was an undergraduate. If it wasn't for him I would have got a 1st rather than a 2.1

 

[Scampi]

CAMRA seems to me to be an organisation whose usefulness has passed and who now are an active hindrance to the further development of a sophisticated beer market in the UK

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

CAMRA seems to me to be an organisation whose usefulness has passed and who now are an active hindrance to the further development of a sophisticated beer market in the UK

I do not think they are a hinderence but I'd like to know how many new ale drinkers claim CAMRA as their gateway as opposed to say craft beer. I feel they are a great organisation for their members but have lost their way when it comes to spreading the message about good beer, especially with the younger generation. In fact there is very little to attract the younger generation or females to CAMRA.

 

[Questions]

CAMRA seems to me to be an organisation whose usefulness has passed and who now are an active hindrance to the further development of a sophisticated beer market in the UK

I don't think they hinder anyone to be honest but there is a whole new thriving market emerging now and you won't see a Morris dancer in sight..........thank god.

 

[Pevenseagull]

I do not think they are a hinderence but I'd like to know how many new ale drinkers claim CAMRA as their gateway as opposed to say craft beer. I feel they are a great organisation for their members but have lost their way when it comes to spreading the message about good beer, especially with the younger generation. In fact there is very little to attract the younger generation or females to CAMRA.

by 'younger' I assume you mean unable to grow a beard



likewise with the ladies




some of the younger generation are female

 

[Trufflehound]

Having passed through the 1,000 breweries mark a year ago, British brewing seems to be in rude health, despite CAMRA.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

by 'younger' I assume you mean unable to grow a beard



likewise with the ladies




some of the younger generation are female

I think what I wrote is fine. But just for clarification this is for you In fact there is very little to attract the younger generation or non-younger generation females to CAMRA.

 

[The Large One]

Having passed through the 1,000 breweries mark a year ago, British brewing seems to be in rude health, despite CAMRA.

'Despite' or 'because' of CAMRA...?

Would we have been at 1,000 breweries if CAMRA hadn't been formed and we'd have been stuck for mass-produced yuk? Or is it the case that 'if CAMRA didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it'?

 

[Trufflehound]

'Despite' or 'because' of CAMRA...?

Would we have been at 1,000 breweries if CAMRA hadn't been formed and we'd have been stuck for mass-produced yuk? Or is it the case that 'if CAMRA didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it'?

CAMRA undoubtedly played a very major role in reviving the near-lifeless corpse that was the British brewing industry in the 1970s, and we have a lot to thank it for.

But some of its members seem unable or unwilling to accept what is happening today in global brewing. Many of the newer British brewers are inspired by external trends and more extreme influences (mainly from the US - Brew Dog being the most prominent example), and they are giving the industry a big boost, despite the insistence from some (not all) areas of CAMRA that what they are making is not beer.

 

[The Large One]

CAMRA undoubtedly played a very major role in reviving the near-lifeless corpse that was the British brewing industry in the 1970s, and we have a lot to thank it for.

But some of its members seem unable or unwilling to accept what is happening today in global brewing. Many of the newer British brewers are inspired by external trends and more extreme influences (mainly from the US - Brew Dog being the most prominent example), and they are giving the industry a big boost, despite the insistence from some (not all) areas of CAMRA that what they are making is not beer.

Got you. In short, it sounds like CAMRA needs a splinter faction.

 

[CheeseRolls]

For anyone not up on the CAMRA versus Brewdog thing.

http://sabotagetimes.com/life/camra-brewdog-and-the-craft-beer-conspiracy/ - Both sides with there sleeves rolled up, fighting dirty.

Personally I look forward to the day that the Brewdog and Firkin opens in Brighton, as it will be something new we have not seen before.

 

[Scampi]

I do not think they are a hinderence but I'd like to know how many new ale drinkers claim CAMRA as their gateway as opposed to say craft beer. I feel they are a great organisation for their members but have lost their way when it comes to spreading the message about good beer, especially with the younger generation. In fact there is very little to attract the younger generation or females to CAMRA.

thatt's one of the main reasons I think they're a problem. They perpetuate an image that is elitist, sneering, humourless, nerdy and middle aged and therefore put off younger people and women from taking an interest in beer.