View Full Version : The Albert and real ale
Mrs Magpie
19-08-2005, 22:58
Oh yes!....they sold out of real ale on the first night (144 pints!). The good news is that this means there will definitely be be a guest ale...the bad news is, no real ale this weekend because it's all gone.
dogmatique
19-08-2005, 23:23
Excellent ammunition towards the brewery though! Well done all ale drinking chaps and chapesses.
Great to hear that the real ale was a hit - if only we can get Harvey's Sussex Ale in as a guest ale the Albert would be perfect!
I've just spent the evening quaffing Doom Bar and watching a Spanish punk rock band.
Great fun!
dogmatique
20-08-2005, 01:56
And Greek Blues at the Ritzy...
Some days I love Brixton.
DJWrongspeed
20-08-2005, 07:41
hopefully down there tonight to inspect the renovations, i'm intrigued.....
William of Walworth
22-08-2005, 22:24
I'm back now!! :eek:
Albert, buy in more supplies! :p :D
IntoStella
23-08-2005, 12:07
Oh yes!....they sold out of real ale on the first night.
I was so pleased about this -- all those who have nagged for so long have been thoroughly vindicated. :cool:
Just popped in - the IPA will be back on tap tonight (I'll be there to sample it later) and they're bringing in another real ale on the weekend, with a guest ale changing every two weeks.
Woohoo!
Alrhough the sign/logo's going to take some time to adjust to, the inside looks fantastic. Pat's done a grand job!
KeyboardJockey
23-08-2005, 12:40
I'm back now!! :eek:
Albert, buy in more supplies! :p :D
I'm longing to find a pub that sells Thomas Hardy Ale. Not seen it since I bought a crate of it in the 80's in the George opposite the Central Criminal Court to celebrate my leaving a job.
William of Walworth
23-08-2005, 14:46
I'm longing to find a pub that sells Thomas Hardy Ale. Not seen it since I bought a crate of it in the 80's in the George opposite the Central Criminal Court to celebrate my leaving a job.
This ceased to be brewed by Eldridge Pope (Dorchester) in 1999.
But it would appear that it's been revived (http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-001842.php) by O'Hanlons Brewery, Whimple, near Exeter (http://www.ohanlons.co.uk/)
I was staying barely 4 miles from Whimple last week, but never saw any of the old classic Thomas Hardy on sale ... it's all Otter Brewery (Honiton) (http://www.otterbrewery.com/) where I was (:cool: though)
KeyboardJockey
23-08-2005, 14:55
This ceased to be brewed by Eldridge Pope (Dorchester) in 1999.
But it would appear that it's been revived (http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-001842.php) by O'Hanlons Brewery, Whimple, near Exeter (http://www.ohanlons.co.uk/)
I was staying barely 4 miles from Whimple last week, but never saw any of the old classic Thomas Hardy on sale ... it's all Otter Brewery (Honiton) (http://www.otterbrewery.com/) where I was (:cool: though)
Thanks for that. But when is it going to be available in the UK? Bloody yanks overpaid over sexed and got our beer <joke> :D
William of Walworth
23-08-2005, 14:56
Just popped in - the IPA will be back on tap tonight (I'll be there to sample it later) and they're bringing in another real ale on the weekend, with a guest ale changing every two weeks.
This is excellent news, will try and get there soon .... not sure about pre-Offline this Thursday, but it'll be on a priority list of 'too visit' once I;'m a but less busy.
Want to go when there's guest as well as IPA mind. It's OK, and I'll certainly drink it :) but it's not THAT exciting ...
Oh yes!....they sold out of real ale on the first night.
I was so pleased about this -- all those who have nagged for so long have been thoroughly vindicated.
Absolutely. Some of the PubCos, and most of the more big and corporate parts of the licenced trade, and some landlords, operate on the principle of supressing demand by making proper ale unavailable, or making it from a very limited range of standard, ubiquitous options, or just boring, or badly maintained, or badges permanently turned round on the pumps, or (worse) NOT turned round but never ever in fact available.
I have a potential thread (for elsewhere on this site) about the conflict between Real Ale and unrestrained big-scale Capitalism, and how in fact seeking out and drinking proper beer is anti-capitalist action at its best!
Glad to see Albert regulars getting active!
Thread to be started when I'm not too drunk, or hungover, or lazy ...
:p
William of Walworth
23-08-2005, 14:59
Thanks for that. But when is it going to be available in the UK? :D
Does it say it's for US xport only? Never noticed that on the website ...
I'd email them if I was you.
KeyboardJockey
23-08-2005, 15:02
Does it say it's for US xport only? Never noticed that on the website ...
I'd email them if I was you.
I will do thanks. :)
Dave Mullen
02-09-2005, 08:57
For those who think that drinking proper beer is anti capitalist activitiy check out the cut n paste from the camra website:-
Greene King closed Rayments at Furneux Pelham in 1987, Biggleswade brewery in 1997 and Morlands in 2000
1 Greene King and W&DB have over 2000 pubs each and would have been defined as national brewers under the Beer Orders’ legislation which was revoked in 2002.
2 Ridleys acquired and closed the Tolly Cobbold Brewery in Ipswich in 2002
3 Pale Island is a contract brewed version of the award winning Pale Rider
It seems like Gk are the 21st Century equivalent of whitbread who closed a number of breweries in the 60s and 70s before being taken over by Interbrew(now called InBev) Who knows when GK may be taken over by someone like Anheuser Busch, Carlsberg or one of the other predatory multinationals currently asset stripping traditional brewing worldwide in favour of mass produced insipid piss poor lagers.
If you think that the Albert will serve a genuine guest beer I would caution against holding breath. GK do not have a good track record when it comes to smaller brewers so I hardly think they will let their landlords stock a guest ale unless it is from an approved list usually a GK masquerading as an independent.
Mrs Magpie
02-09-2005, 09:14
I'm just grateful they have real ale at all. I don't drink ale as a political statement, I drink it because I like a pint in my local and socialising with my friends and neighbours.
If you think that the Albert will serve a genuine guest beer I would caution against holding breath. Why not go down to the pub and ask the landlord yourself, Mr Cheery Fucker?
Mrs Magpie
02-09-2005, 09:20
Oh, and when Laurel owned the Albert it was 'no chance' to both real ale and disabled access, so I'm pleased that Greene King have taken it over because now we have both. :p
I'm just grateful they have real ale at all. I don't drink ale as a political statement, I drink it because I like a pint in my local and socialising with my friends and neighbours.Me too. And a £2.30 pint of IPA goes down very well in the delightfully friendly environs of the Albert.
Mrs Magpie
02-09-2005, 09:21
Why not go down to the pub and ask the landlord yourself, Mr Cheery Fucker?NO! Do not encourage him. Let him spread his peculiar brand of joy elsewhere please.
William of Walworth
02-09-2005, 09:22
For those who think that drinking proper beer is anti capitalist activitiy check out the cut n paste from the camra website:-
Greene King closed Rayments at Furneux Pelham in 1987, Biggleswade brewery in 1997 and Morlands in 2000
1 Greene King and W&DB have over 2000 pubs each and would have been defined as national brewers under the Beer Orders’ legislation which was revoked in 2002.
2 Ridleys acquired and closed the Tolly Cobbold Brewery in Ipswich in 2002
3 Pale Island is a contract brewed version of the award winning Pale Rider
It seems like Gk are the 21st Century equivalent of whitbread who closed a number of breweries in the 60s and 70s before being taken over by Interbrew(now called InBev) Who knows when GK may be taken over by someone like Anheuser Busch, Carlsberg or one of the other predatory multinationals currently asset stripping traditional brewing worldwide in favour of mass produced insipid piss poor lagers.
If you think that the Albert will serve a genuine guest beer I would caution against holding breath. GK do not have a good track record when it comes to smaller brewers so I hardly think they will let their landlords stock a guest ale unless it is from an approved list usually a GK masquerading as an independent.
All this is widely known in real ale circles, for many of whom Greene King are NOT heroes for precisely the reasons you state. Bit of a straw man that one, I know of no ale freaks who treat GK as heroes. When IPA inexplicably won the top beer of Britain prize at the GBBF 2004, most ale people were up in arms about the decision.
Doesn't invalidate my main point -- in general, favouring the drinking of ale from small/independent breweries is more disxcerning, and more left wing!!! :p than mindlessly drinking uniform corporate fizz from the megamultinationals. I appreciate GK ain't the best you could favour for taking over the Albert and adding real ale to it, but it's a fact that it's better to have the ale option at all, as Mrs M says, than none which was the case before.
It seems the Albert sometimes have guests from other breweries anyway, which I hope to sample soon.
tarannau
02-09-2005, 10:14
Always a bit of a dilemma this drinking lark isn't it. I can't say I've much time for Greene King or their sharp practices, but at the least they're a reasonable sized brewer with a seemingly long term commitment to real ale, which isn't a particularly bad thing. And, if you don't want to put too much of your money in the likes of Wetherspoons' Tory coffers - with all that unhealthy supermarket style buying power they exert over small brewers and MacDonalds-style employee care - then breweries of Greene King's scale are one of the few enterprises that can even partially provide a competitive alternative.
Or, it's down to the microbreweries, local pubs and almost certainly higher costs for your beer . One of the sad recentish shifts in publand is that it's rare to get a good range of cask conditioned ales at low prices anywhere other than Wetherspoons in most of London and elsewhere - others simply can't compete with their buying power. The choice for real ale often becomes a stark one - between Wetherspoons/Goose and their low price offers propped up by dodgy industrial gunk food, or gastropubs serving traditional ales at inflated prices targeted at a more poncey clientele. I'm personally just glad to see another alternative for real ale in Brixton, priced reasonably and without the Clapham style positioning.
Hendo very much enjoyed his pint and a half of Abbots yesterday lunchtime...
kidtripod
02-09-2005, 12:35
Have to say I've grown quite partial to the four (or is it five?) bells in streatham, and the HSB therein. Very nice stuff indeed.
Get that in the Albert and I'll have no excuses.
lang rabbie
02-09-2005, 12:47
Have to say I've grown quite partial to the four (or is it five?) bells in streatham, and the HSB therein. Very nice stuff indeed.
Get that in the Albert and I'll have no excuses.
The Five Bells was an established real ale pub in its previous guise as the Hogshead before the Greene King buy out. They still have five hand pumps and space for two barrels behind the bar, but the "guest ales" are definitely less imaginative - Young's ordinary was on for a month when there are several Young's hostelries withing staggering distance!!!
DrRingDing
02-09-2005, 12:50
So what ale have they got on tap now?
tarannau
02-09-2005, 12:50
Talking of Streatham, anyone know how's the Pied Bull these days? Used to be a fantastic pub and a deserved CAMRA favourite, but I've heard little of the place of late. I used to have a sneaking liking for the Greyhound too.
So what ale have they got on tap now?
Abbots and Greene King IPA.
DrRingDing
02-09-2005, 12:59
Abbots and Greene King IPA.
Ta, I think I may have to sample this evening :)
reallyoldhippy
02-09-2005, 13:09
I'm not sure if it's relevant, but I met the guy who deals with GK guest ales to the north of London. He organised the bar at the RockinBeer Fest in Huntingdon. He put on a stunning display of about 50 ales as well as all the usual keg stuff (inc Speckled Hen for when all the Real Ale had gone). He got the beer from small and micro breweries he deals with. And the range was fairly extensive. I can't speak for GK as an organisation*, but here was one man who was committed to providing as wide a choice of guest beers as possible.
*Well I can - they'll go with anything that makes a profit.
Dave Mullen
03-09-2005, 14:00
Why not go down to the pub and ask the landlord yourself, Mr Cheery Fucker?
Don't worry there wont be much danger of that.
Mrs Magpie
03-09-2005, 14:03
Huzzah!
William of Walworth
05-09-2005, 19:54
Don't worry there wont be much danger of that.
Grumpy sod!! :D
Get yourself down and introduce yourself to one oir two Urbanites!
DM is a nice bloke in real life ;) and lives not far off, and I'd have no probs buying him a pint to persuade him that the Albert is by no means bad at all! :)
IntoStella
06-09-2005, 12:18
DM is a nice bloke in real life ;)
You know him too? :eek:
Dave Mullen
06-09-2005, 13:07
You know him too? :eek:
Yes I met him & Stig at the GBBF at Olympia.
Dave Mullen
06-09-2005, 13:09
Grumpy sod!! :D
Get yourself down and introduce yourself to one oir two Urbanites!
DM is a nice bloke in real life ;) and lives not far off, and I'd have no probs buying him a pint to persuade him that the Albert is by no means bad at all! :)
I might surprise you all and do that one day. Just make sure my body armour still fits.
Are you still up for arranging a night out at the Dog & Bell?
Mrs Magpie
06-09-2005, 13:12
One of the biggest real ale fans I know (not William or Stig) says the Abbots at the Albert is the best kept he's tasted in a long long time. He wasn't prepared to be as impressed as he was, I don't think.
DM is a nice bloke in real life ;) and lives not far off, and I'd have no probs buying him a pint to persuade him that the Albert is by no means bad at all! :)Tell him to sort out his 'cantankerous old git' online persona then!
Dave Mullen
06-09-2005, 16:27
Tell him to sort out his 'cantankerous old git' online persona then!
How does not liking a certain pub or the brand of beer it sells make one cantankerous?
William of Walworth
06-09-2005, 19:26
Are you still up for arranging a night out at the Dog & Bell?
Yeah, that idea got lost with all the summer commitments, but we intend to revive it! Look out for thread soon, I'll post something on the London Forum before long, or possibly Community.
It'll probably be October, now, but hopefully not too late in the month.
guinnessdrinker
07-09-2005, 21:08
I have a potential thread (for elsewhere on this site) about the conflict between Real Ale and unrestrained big-scale Capitalism, and how in fact seeking out and drinking proper beer is anti-capitalist action at its best!
Glad to see Albert regulars getting active!
Thread to be started when I'm not too drunk, or hungover, or lazy ...
:p
yippee! the revolution is underway!
guinnessdrinker
07-09-2005, 21:12
Abbots and Greene King IPA.
beware of the effects of Abbotts, it's out of this world.....
William of Walworth
07-09-2005, 22:18
Folk rumour claims that an older recipe of Abbott contained mild hallucinogens ... :eek:
Or some old drunk from East Anglia told me ;) :D :p
Dave Mullen
08-09-2005, 09:09
Folk rumour claims that an older recipe of Abbott contained mild hallucinogens ... :eek:
Or some old drunk from East Anglia told me ;) :D :p
And the Current High Heid yins at GK probably took that out and reduced the alcohol content to pay less duty. They also had a beer called Triumph during the late 90's which was a lovely pint but it seems to have been discontinued.
guinnessdrinker
08-09-2005, 10:54
Folk rumour claims that an older recipe of Abbott contained mild hallucinogens ... :eek:
Or some old drunk from East Anglia told me ;) :D :p
well, it still does...
hallucinogenic ale (http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=108275&highlight=abbotts)
IntoStella
08-09-2005, 11:05
well, it still does...
hallucinogenic ale (http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=108275&highlight=abbotts) Hopback's Summer Lightning has much the same effect, as has been discussed here on several occasions.
They don't call it Summer Frightening down the Beehive for nothing.
:eek: :eek:
Mrs Magpie
08-09-2005, 11:08
I spoke to the landlord yesterday and he's going to give me a list of the the ales he can choose from for a guest ale so that there can be merry polling fun.....
guinnessdrinker
08-09-2005, 11:09
Hopback's Summer Lightning has much the same effect, as has been discussed here on several occasions.
They don't call it Summer Frightening down the Beehive for nothing.
:eek: :eek:
summer lightning, eh? I should pay this beehive a little visit, one of these days...
guinnessdrinker
08-09-2005, 11:10
I spoke to the landlord yesterday and he's going to give me a list of the the ales he can choose from for a guest ale so that there can be merry polling fun.....
with a bit of luck, Harveys ales?
IntoStella
08-09-2005, 12:09
summer lightning, eh? I should pay this beehive a little visit, one of these days... You would love it but get in there quick -- the locals usually drink it all in about five minutes.
Get William to introduce you -- you'd get on like a house on fire down there.
William of Walworth
08-09-2005, 15:14
I spoke to the landlord yesterday and he's going to give me a list of the the ales he can choose from for a guest ale so that there can be merry polling fun.....
:) :cool:
Wayhey!
Should be able to get to Brixton more often before long what with the summer Festival season coming to an end :(
Mmmm Summer Lightening ... but does the supply of that dry up in the Winter?? :confused:
IntoStella
08-09-2005, 15:49
:) :cool:
Mmmm Summer Lightening ... but does the supply of that dry up in the Winter?? :confused: Then they get in Winter Lightning, which is twice as lethal. :eek:
Dave Mullen
08-09-2005, 15:56
Then they get in Winter Lightning, which is twice as lethal. :eek:
I think Summer Lightning is available all year round the first time I tried it was November.
IntoStella
08-09-2005, 16:11
Summer Lightning (http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/Beer/Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=1242&FanOfID=3675)
Winter Lightning (http://ratebeer.com/Ratings/Beer/Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=11668)
William of Walworth
08-09-2005, 23:57
:D :p
And also :eek:
( :cool: )
blueAsbestos
17-09-2005, 01:12
When I used to work in the Albert we sold Poachers. A pint of this used to have Guiness, Stella and all sorts in it and would generally be a fairly consistent mid brown colour. Very popular with the poetry community.
reallyoldhippy
17-09-2005, 07:34
liquorice?
guinnessdrinker
19-09-2005, 14:38
When I used to work in the Albert we sold Poachers. A pint of this used to have Guiness, Stella and all sorts in it and would generally be a fairly consistent mid brown colour. Very popular with the poetry community.
were you recycling the dregs :eek: ?
nino_savatte
19-09-2005, 16:18
When I used to work in the Albert we sold Poachers. A pint of this used to have Guiness, Stella and all sorts in it and would generally be a fairly consistent mid brown colour. Very popular with the poetry community.
In other words it was a typical pint of Whitbreads keg fizz. In some parts of the country you can still get Tankard and even Trophy (Whitbread big head Trophy Bitter, the pint that thinks it's a quart...as the ad jingle used to say).
nino_savatte
19-09-2005, 16:23
So I take it The Albert has an actual cellar person to look after the ale. Stocking and selling the stuff is one thing, looking after it properly is an entirely different cask of beer.
linerider
19-09-2005, 16:35
So I take it The Albert has an actual cellar person to look after the ale. Stocking and selling the stuff is one thing, looking after it properly is an entirely different cask of beer.
pat has been in the business for along time and knows how to keep a drop of ale.i grew up drinking abbots and it tastes every bit as good now as it did then(the only problem they had that i know about was,the abbot arriving late and not having enough time to settle).if there were any problems with the way the beer was kept i'm sure you would have heard about it on here by now.
nino_savatte
19-09-2005, 19:10
pat has been in the business for along time and knows how to keep a drop of ale.i grew up drinking abbots and it tastes every bit as good now as it did then(the only problem they had that i know about was,the abbot arriving late and not having enough time to settle).if there were any problems with the way the beer was kept i'm sure you would have heard about it on here by now.
To tell the truth the last time I drank at The Albert was back in the early 90's when it was a Whitbread pub...I was also offered some crack by Smiley Culture.
blueAsbestos
21-09-2005, 15:44
smiley culture? cool. Yes we were recycling the dregs, or possibly the dredds. Pat, unfortunately is no longer with us.
vBulletin® v3.7.4, Copyright ©2000-2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.