Worst Beer On The Broads

[troutman62]

What's the worst beer you've ever had in Norfolk ? For me of a certain age it had to be Norwich Bitter.

This stuff was in a class of its own when it came to vileness.( is that a proper word ? ) But I wonder if any pub down there sells Tetley bitter ? fortunately I've not seen one. A worthy successor to Norwich bitter if there ever was one. yuk

It seems to be popular in Yorkshire for some reason, maybe its cheap..

[Bound2Please]

never had a worst beer to be honest had some what are a bit better than others but never a worst one

[BroadScot]

Watneys Red Barrell was pretty grim stuff, The Swan Inn, Horning, sold it in the early 70's. For really awful beer, Merseyside in the 60's took some beating! Threfalls think it was called. My cousins called it something else!

Iain

[JawsOrca]

Oh there's one from reedham which I picked by mistake.. Not my taste sadly.. a bit yellow... Yuck... 

[Hockham Admiral]

Steward & Patterson's bitter at The Dog in 1976.... it tasted of bad cider!   

[ScrumpyCheddar]

 I had ordered a pint of Redwell steam lager in Coldham hall tavern not the best I'm afraid ..  

[Bound2Please]

A lot to do with good beer or not so good beer, is how well the cellar, pipes and pu#mps are looked after...  all of the beers you think best can be made not so good just by bad cellar and beer line management....

[Speleologist]

2 hours ago, troutman62 said:

But I wonder if any pub down there sells Tetley bitter ? fortunately I've not seen one. A worthy successor to Norwich bitter if there ever was one. yuk

If you go back enough years, when Tetleys was still an independent brewery in Leeds, it was a very fine beer. It was a proper cask conditioned ale and, if well kept, was the equal of any bitter of the day. However the pale imitation produced by Carlsberg under the Tetley brand bears no relationship to what was once a quality product.

[BroadScot]

6 minutes ago, Speleologist said:

If you go back enough years, when Tetleys was still an independent brewery in Leeds, it was a very fine beer. It was a proper cask conditioned ale and, if well kept, was the equal of any bitter of the day. However the pale imitation produced by Carlsberg under the Tetley brand bears no relationship to what was once a quality product.

Oh how true. I was always told by the landlords in N Yorks, its two n have pulls to the pint lad or it aint a Tetleys Bitter!

[Speleologist]

Back in the day we used to refer to Norfolk and Suffolk as "The Great East Anglian Beer Desert" Most brewers had been bought up and Watneys had almost a monopoly. Red Barrel must be the most consistently awful beer I ever tried. Nowadays, with the establishment and growth of so many new breweries, things are much better. Nowadays a bad beer is usually down to bad cellar craft. The worst I have had in recent memory was a pint of St Austell Trelawney, which is usually a fine ale. It was in a pub on the outskirts of Falmouth and at first taste it was clear that a pint of malt vinegar would have tasted better. On complaing that the beer was off the landlady took a taste and said "It's supposed to taste like that." Needless to say we left, and they lost our custom for both beer and food.

[NorfolkNog]

 

1 hour ago, Speleologist said:

If you go back enough years, when Tetleys was still an independent brewery in Leeds, it was a very fine beer. It was a proper cask conditioned ale and, if well kept, was the equal of any bitter of the day. However the pale imitation produced by Carlsberg under the Tetley brand bears no relationship to what was once a quality product.

Nail on the head there Robin, fully agree. If memory serves did you once venture into the Wellington in my Manor? 

[Speleologist]

Howard, If you mean the Dulke of Wellington on Peel Street it was a regular haunt in the 70's.

[NorfolkNog]

That's the boy Robin, thought you had been in there 

It was an oasis for quality Tetleys back in the day. 

[Speleologist]

It was indeed! Far better than The Gardeners, which was popular with students.It was a decent local community pub with great ale.

 

[Lastdraft]

[NorfolkNog]

You're right there Robin. Funnily enough I popped into the Gardeners this afternoon (just passing)  and yes, it hasn't changed that much at all! Beer was Ok though. 

[SteveO]

I agree that Watneys Norwich Bitter was the all-time worst beer available in the Broads are. In fact it is hard to think of a worse beer sold anywhere. When we lived in Yorkshire nearly 30 years ago, Tetleys was our local brew. It was made in Leeds at the time and there was nowt wrong wi' it, except that it had a reputation for not travelling well.

I have had a couple of slightly vinegary pints on the Broads recently, mainly served in pubs that had a large number of beers on and not enough footfall to ensure rapid consumption, but even these were preferable to the best of the old Watneys offerings.

Steve

[webntweb]

Steve, don't know about it not travelling well.

My local in Manchester about 35 years ago was a Tetleys house. The beer was delivered from their brewery in Warrington and was very variable in quality.

Whenever there was a dispute at the brewery then the beer was delivered from the Yorkshire brewery and was a much better pint.

Roy

[VetChugger]

The worst I ever encountered was the first time we actually came boating on the Broadss. It was early 70's. We stopped at a pub advertising "Elgoods Fine Ales" and it was truly horrible! Closely followed by the afore mentioned Norwich Bitter and Red Barrel. The best drinks we had that time were in Beccles at the "Loaves and Fishes" but I can't for the life in me recall what they were. Must have been a good night!

 

 

[Labrador]

Any lager.

[ChrisB]

Draught Double Diamond was the equal of Red Barrel imho.

[ranworthbreeze]

1 hour ago, Labrador said:

Any lager.

What's wrong with Lager?

Mind you there were many bad ones back in the day, Marksman. Carling in cans is naff since they changed the brew a few ago and I always regarded Stella as a woman's drink (it used to be somewhat scented).

Becks on draft my preferred brew.

Regards

Alan 

[Labrador]

It's all europop.

[MauriceMynah]

All this talk of Watneys, has everyone forgotten the joys of Ind-Coope, with it's Double Diamond working wonders, and better still, Long Life beer, "Specially brewedfor the can, now available in draught." ?

[JennyMorgan]

Bullards Mild was famously considered to be an evil brew in its time. Couple of pints, a pickled egg or two and a few arrowroot biscuits off the bar were guaranteed to kick a hole in the ozone layer!