Comments on: Sparklers – what's the fuss about then?

By: Draft House (Charlie)

Draft House (Charlie) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:07:20 +0000

My contribution to this learned debate following an event at Draft House to explore this very issue: http://charliemcveigh.blogspot.com/2010/06/north-vs-south-pouring-battle-sparkler.html

By: Tony Valentine

Tony Valentine — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:39:01 +0000

I’d rather have an unsparkled pint because I like real ale, i.e. ale that’s been traditionally brewed, using traditional ingredients and which comes straight out of a barrel via a simple tap or a simple beer engine. The fact that sparklers turn the top of the beer into a whipped-creme emulsion might remind Northerners of their much loved ‘smooth’ keg beer like John Smiths but it irritates the hell out of me. I don’t want a foam mustache and I don’t like the fact that the average ‘sparkled’ head gives the pub a tenth of a pint to sell on to another customer.

By: Barm

Barm — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:46:43 +0000

25 years experience and still clueless? No sparkler doesn’t mean a flat pint unless the beer is flat to begin with. If your beer won’t form a head without forcing it through a sparkler then it’s in crap condition in the first place.

By: Simo

Simo — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:53:15 +0000

I just happened across this discussion and wanted to add my tuppance, just to qualify my comments I am an experienced manager in the industry with over 25 years actual operational management including Manchester, Liverpool, Derby, Leicestershire, Surrey, Warwickshire and my home county of Northumberland. All beers and lagers are left with a risidual amount of gases after the brewing process, trad ale is unique as when delivered to the pub it needs to undergo a secondary process called working out, this process is started by tapping and venting which lets this happen and conditions the beer ready for sale. During this process of secondary fermentation the beer will let off an amount of gases usually expelled through a soft peg in the spile, mainly co2 but also vaying other elements such as nitrogen depending on the actual brew. The sparkler is used to aid in the release of the gases that are absorbed in the beer and to produce a head, the best being a tight creamy head that lasts to the bottom of the pint and leaves a lace on the glass. There is to my knowledge no beer that is brewed either for or not for a sparkler as all beer has absorbed gases, the only difference is either a flat pint or one which has been livened through a sparkler. Also as a drinker of over 30 years most bar staff are poor in both their service and product knowledge, the head on a pint is constucted in the first pull and trying to put a head on at the end will result in a poor head which generally doesn’t last, my standard is to not only train my staff how to serve all the products but also to ensure they are knowledgable about them, they are taught to construct a pint with the minimum of waste and to the correct level of no more than 5% head, I also include glass handling amongst other issues as it annoys me when I see bar staff handle a glass in the area which a drinker drinks from. The arguement will continue but the reality is that no sparkler means a flat pint, the reality is that southerners would rather have a flat full pint cause they are tight wads.

By: Boak

Boak — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:48:34 +0000

Welcome Guy. I think if you were in a pub where they took the beer seriously, they may have a sparkler knocking around, or may allow it. However, I reckon your average London bartender would look quite confused.

By: Guy

Guy — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:20:02 +0000

Do you think it would be ok to take your own sparkler to a pub and ask them to use it when pouring your pint — or do do you think I’m likely to be kicked out !?. I live in London and just prefer how a beer drinks after its gone through a sparkler, and they don’t use them here.

By: Active drinking, from Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog

Active drinking, from Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:15:41 +0000

[...] with a sparkled pint in a pub in Cheshire recently, I thought I’d try the same trick. So, I actively supped, [...]

By: Boak and Bailey’s Beer Blog » A real ale pub that doesn’t feel weird

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:07:20 +0000

[...] beer was served with a sparkler, as you’d expect in that part of the world, but here it just seemed to give the head some [...]

By: Stonch

Stonch — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:03:44 +0000

“I’ve never, ever, been involved in a flame-war.”

You’ve come close today!

By: Tyson

Tyson — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:47:24 +0000

Evan. It’s a fair cop-I don’t earn the majority of my income from writing, so couldn’t/wouldn’t claim to be a professional writer. However, unlike most bloggers, I have actually had hard copy published, and practised editorial duties, so I would hope I understand the nature of the written word. I will take the charitable view that you simply misunderstood my comments, rather than being too dense to understand them. Basically, all I was doing was agreeing with Stonch about everyone making certain, basic, assumptions. I didn’t say anything about assuming readers know “exactly” what I’m on about-my blog is deliberately just about pubs and drinking, and nothing technical. You can’t get more basic than that. But, for example, I do make the same assumptions that most (including this excellent one), beer blogs make. I expect the readers to be generally interested in beer/pubs, and I don’t continuously explain what real ale is. I don’t think crediting the reader with above amoeba level intelligence is any bad thing.

Having said that, I may be wrong. “You want me to fire up Lynx and go read your flame war on sparklers from ‘92? You want me to fire up Mosaic and check out your site from ‘95?” Er, no. I don’t remember saying that either. I was actually thinking that you could try a 30 second net search. The point was that the subject of sparklers has already been discussed ad infinitum. That’s a fact you are going to have to live with. What it does mean is that all the information you need is out there, and (nowadays) easily accessible. What, you want me to reinvent the wheel because you’re too lazy to Google? Sorry, buddy. Ain’t gonna happen.

Finally, apart from your condescending, and infantile tone, can I also say I’m offended by the notion that I’m some sort of beer fanatic/geek. Also, can I say, I’ve never, ever, been involved in a flame-war.