Fuller’s

HighVoltageMan! said:
London Pride is so good. I had it a while ago at Brit's Pub in Minneapolis off a fresh tap. I know it might be sacrilege to say, but it was better than most German beers I've had.
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I was always partial to Bushy's from the Isle of Man.
 
We use to have the Pride and the Porter here regularly, the ESB was tough to find at the best of times.
Man I miss the Porter, it was nice to blend the Pride and the Porter and share with a Mate as well
 
When my daughter lived in London I really enjoyed the bitters and best bitters in some great London pubs
After that what was available in bottles here in the US was sub par IMO
Maybe the atmosphere had something to do with it
English ale needs to be fresh out of the keg
It's another good reason to home brew
 
I don't remember much but like most of Europe I believe the pubs are owned by the brewery so you would get there beer wasn't much choices
It may be different now
I was there in the 90s
 
Brew Cat said:
When my daughter lived in London I really enjoyed the bitters and best bitters in some great London pubs
After that what was available in bottles here in the US was sub par IMO
Maybe the atmosphere had something to do with it
English ale needs to be fresh out of the keg
It's another good reason to home brew
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There's a pretty big difference between draught and bottles, as you experienced in London. You were probably drinking cask, which is not pasteurised or force carbonated like the bottles. Atmosphere helps but the beer is noticeably different, I rarely buy bottled English beers.
 
London Pride, ESB & Porter used to be easy to find. I wonder what happened? Glad to see someone is going to make an effort for them now.

Bummer to see the ESB draft only, but I get it. And if they ship any Nitro kegs - GO FIND ONE!

If you have never had an ESB style on Nitro, you've never had a beer. (yes, I'm sure cask is better, but I'm also a realist!)
 
I've never had an ESB on nitro, probably because I live in the UK. Here nitro is mostly restricted to stouts, and a few bitters that are generally scribed here for nitro pours, like John Smith's and Boddingtons, both of which were previously much more highly regarded. I'm not a fan of nitro in beer, personally, but different strokes for different folks, and I get to drink cask regularly. So I'm lucky.
 
Clibit said:
I've never had an ESB on nitro, probably because I live in the UK. Here nitro is mostly restricted to stouts, and a few bitters that are generally scribed here for nitro pours, like John Smith's and Boddingtons, both of which were previously much more highly regarded. I'm not a fan of nitro in beer, personally, but different strokes for different folks, and I get to drink cask regularly. So I'm lucky.
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For clarification, I've never had Fullers on Nitro, but an old brew pub nearby made the style. It was superb. Based on that our club bought a tank and regulator and we've used it for Irish Red, Special Bitter, and of course various Stouts & Porters.

Cask is very rare here but our club president just scored a beer engine from the UK, so we'll have our own in-house soon!
 
Mont Y. Märzen said:
For clarification, I've never had Fullers on Nitro, but an old brew pub nearby made the style. It was superb. Based on that our club bought a tank and regulator and we've used it for Irish Red, Special Bitter, and of course various Stouts & Porters.

Cask is very rare here but our club president just scored a beer engine from the UK, so we'll have our own in-house soon!
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Nitrogen kills a beer, for me. Destroys the flavour. Just my take. Were all different.
 
Clibit said:
I've never had an ESB on nitro, probably because I live in the UK. Here nitro is mostly restricted to stouts, and a few bitters that are generally scribed here for nitro pours, like John Smith's and Boddingtons, both of which were previously much more highly regarded. I'm not a fan of nitro in beer, personally, but different strokes for different folks, and I get to drink cask regularly. So I'm lucky.
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That's interesting, here in the states we have Boddingtons in cans with the widget so it's interesting to hear that it's actually served on Nitro in the UK (I was thinking it was done by a beer engine). Same thing with Old Speckled Hen in the cans over here, they achieve the 'cask pour' with the widget. I agree with you that Nitro doesn't achieve the same effect as a cask ale served on a beer engine, and you are certainly losing something in the process (canning, shipping/travel time, nitro-widget) but it's far closer than traditional CO2 canning so I'll take it. I've been racking my brain out on how to approximate cask ales at home and it's either looking like I'd be shelling 200$ out for a beer engine addition or 200$ for a Nitro draught addition to my kegerator. Nitro's more versatile but the family's English so...


On topic, any British bitter that gets it's way into the states is a welcome sight. The liquor store I work at ('beverage depot', o-la-la) is in dire need of more bitters, especially with the domestic craft beer scene sliding and focus shifting from flavored malt beverages to ready-to-drinks. Lets get back to the basics!
 
drizal said:
That's interesting, here in the states we have Boddingtons in cans with the widget so it's interesting to hear that it's actually served on Nitro in the UK (I was thinking it was done by a beer engine). Same thing with Old Speckled Hen in the cans over here, they achieve the 'cask pour' with the widget. I agree with you that Nitro doesn't achieve the same effect as a cask ale served on a beer engine, and you are certainly losing something in the process (canning, shipping/travel time, nitro-widget) but it's far closer than traditional CO2 canning so I'll take it. I've been racking my brain out on how to approximate cask ales at home and it's either looking like I'd be shelling 200$ out for a beer engine addition or 200$ for a Nitro draught addition to my kegerator. Nitro's more versatile but the family's English so...


On topic, any British bitter that gets it's way into the states is a welcome sight. The liquor store I work at ('beverage depot', o-la-la) is in dire need of more bitters, especially with the domestic craft beer scene sliding and focus shifting from flavored malt beverages to ready-to-drinks. Lets get back to the basics!
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Boddingtons Bitter was the beer I fell in love with in the 70s as a teenager, it was always a cask ale. Until 2012 when cask production stopped under the ABinbev ownership, and since then the only available Boddingtons was nitro keg and cans, until about 6 months ago when Manchester brewery JW Lees started brewing Boddingtons for cask distribution, under license. I never touch the nitro stuff, I think it's dreadful. The new cask version is ok but they've put Jester hops in it, so that's one change, and the yeast is quite different. There are better cask bitters available here.

My biased advice would be to spend your money on a beer engine, without hesitation. No contest. These chaps agree ...

 
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And in the video below he brews a version of Guinness and serves it both with nitro and on cask, and the cask was apparently preferred. Which doesn't surprise me at all. Guinness went nitro in the 60s as a way of escaping the issues of maintaining cask quality standards across a wide distribution network whilst retaining the creamy pour and thick head that was previously achieved by a two part pour from two different casks - one with low carbonation and another with high carbonation. I really wish they still did that. Using the two part pour now is the continuation of a tradition, and a marketing ploy, to disguise the dumbing down of the beer, is it not? But obviously many people enjoy Guinness as it is now, with nitro, and that's all that ultimately matters. It's a shame that they can't experience it from a cask though. Cask stouts are available here in the UK, I rarely drink Guinness myself. Cheers!

 
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