Wednesday 12 November 2008

I feel dirty and ashamed...

... that I set foot in a Wetherspoons. I hate them. Your life is too short to spend time reading a rant about why I despise these hell-holes, so I won't do it.

It's that time of year again when Wetherspoons commission some interesting beers and like moths around flames the beer-curious flutter in.

I tried Firestone Walkers California Pale Ale (4.5%) -  fresh, (too) cold and indifferent. Somehow there seemed to be a hole in the flavour even after the beer had warmed up. The bitterness seemed not to be integrated. This is a style I have a lot of experience of: I've even judged the category at the GABF.

On the other hand:

Mikkel's Viking's Return (4.5%), a smoky, malty dark ale was a work genius. It was excellent. Danish brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergso brewed it for the festival at Jennings in Cumbria. A message to Jennings: don't let him leave with the recipe, steal it off him.


6 comments:

Thomas said...

Having had a whale of a time in Copenhagen at the European Beer Festival, it doesn't surprise me that you enjoyed a Danish inspired beer. Those guys are doing a fabulous job over there with craft beer.

Tandleman said...

I've said it before and will say it again. There are good and bad JDW. To despise them all is short sighted.

Jeff Pickthall said...

I almost started writing a "why I don't like Wetherspoons" diatribe but I stopped myself just in time.

A simile will suffice - I dislike W'Spoons like I dislike nylon sheets.

Thomas said...

Perhaps you are just spoiled with the choice you have. I come from a land with no cask ale and the site of a Wetherspoons wherever I might be in Britain excites me. The atmosphere isn't great but I know I'll get a pint of real ale.

I moved from England when I was a child, but got a similar reaction to liking Wetherspoons from my brother who lives over there. Perhaps my attitude would change if I had a wider choice of cask ale.

Zak Avery said...

I'm loving the continual change of colours and stylesheets - it's like a new website every day.

Unknown said...

The best Spoons I frequent are nowhere near as good as the best free houses I visit. The worst Spoons that I have endured were much better than the worst free houses.

In Nottingham there are two Spoons about a minute's walk apart; one is a tacky chrome & glass city bar with the vague hint of random violence amongst the lagerboys. The other is a clean, multi-roomed city pub with a good range of cask (including LocAle).

Tandleman's spot on. I'm more than happy to drink in a JDW - if I ended up in a town where I had no gen about the pubs, I'd rather visit the Spoons that pick any other pub at random.