Comments on: Dump Red Stripe, get Budvar on

By: Pub Nightmares, from Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog

Pub Nightmares, from Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 08:28:39 +0000

[...] to shrink and simplify the menu. Wouldn’t that same advice translate to a lot of pubs, too: you don’t need five boring lagers, just two. Or, that other classic: “Why are you buying fucking crab from Vietnam when your restaurant [...]

By: Donnie

Donnie — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:22:19 +0000

It does indeed – like most pubs, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are usually rammed, especially at this time of the year. Before its refurbishment a couple of years ago, there wasn’t even an upstairs (previously accommodation for the landlady) so you only had the two small ones downstairs to choose from.

During the week it is all business / advertising people – it’s generally too expensive for students as all the beer is topping the £3 mark, but seeing as there is so much Uni accommodation around the area (and not too many good pubs unless you wander in to Bloomsbury) it wouldn’t surprise me on a weekend.

By: Bailey

Bailey — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:26:24 +0000

Donnie — hello and welcome! Seemd to be mostly students and Spanish people the other night. Does it get busy on a weeknight?

By: Donnie

Donnie — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:26:24 +0000

You can see my office in the background of that picture. The Carps is a strange pub. It often has some good ale on tap, but I try and avoid it nowadays as there are too many people from my industry in there who I don’t particularly want to spend an evening with.

By: Bailey

Bailey — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:33:28 +0000

Blimey!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:31:47 +0000

As if by magic, Brew Dog Trashy Blonde turned up at my local M&B Castle pub last night.

By: Bailey

Bailey — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:20:26 +0000

I can’t think of any, but it’s only a matter of time.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:02:06 +0000

Speaking of Brew Dog, are there any pubs in London which stock their beers on draft on an even semi-regular basis? None than I can think of.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:20:41 +0000

PS. Red Stripe still has a certain cachet so it’s I think that’s why they carry it. For similar reasons I’m considering doing San Miguel in summer. I don’t think it’s a particularly good beer, but people seem to enjoy it due to associations with good times.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:19:16 +0000

I agree that a lot of the Castle estate don’t keep their cask ales properly, but then some do. It would be better if they just made sure the managers all understood how to keep real ale (it isn’t hard and the turnover in all of those places is enough to run at least two if not more). Actually, I find that problem in Castle pubs isn’t lack of quality when they do sell ale – it’s the fact the pumpclips are all turned around half of the time. That suggests they do manage to turn it over, but they don’t plan ahead and tap the beers in advance.

Agreed that all the estate’s pubs should have Pilsner Urquell. Budvar Dark seems a bit hit and miss, though. It seemed popular when they first listed it but then dropped off a bit so many of the pubs took it out.

Brew Dog beers would be able to do well in Castle pubs, yes. James and Martin’s new sales chap should work on that.