Weatherspoons at the services?
Discussion
simoid said:
Loads of things could've affected it - temperature, gas, pipes, glass condition, as well as the actual beer.
The pipes being clean makes sooo much difference.I used to work in a pub drinking a pint just after they've been cleaned made it taste totally different.
I welcome this idea only if they keep their prices standardized with their normal pubs as I don't mind the food so would be nice to know there was a reasonably priced place to eat on the motorways.
Dr Jekyll said:
markcoznottz said:
craigjm said:
The beer is s
t because they buy stuff near its use by date to keep the price down
Is that for real?. Reason I ask is because a lot of pints Iv had there had been very average. Had a chilled carling in a pub that has won a lot of awards for real ales etc, and it was amazing. Like a different drink, it must be how its stored etc? t because they buy stuff near its use by date to keep the price down as for the cheap keg piss - 'spoons do enough volume to keep that turning over ...
that said good cellar management can keep beer at optimum condition right to the last pint in the cask /keg...
craigjm said:
The beer is st because they buy stuff near its use by date to keep the price down
Funnily enough all the Wetherspoons near me sell a good range of decent ales that are usually well kept and rarely sit around long enough to go bad. Compared to the other pubs in my area (the centre of town is a different story) most of them have 3 cask ales max, usually one of them is Bass or Doom Bar, which are both st because they buy stuff near its use by date to keep the price down te and they let it go off and won't let you have another if they sell you a st pint. In my area the reason the 'proper' pubs are closing is because they are crap, not because they are expensive.Rostfritt said:
Funnily enough all the Wetherspoons near me sell a good range of decent ales that are usually well kept and rarely sit around long enough to go bad. Compared to the other pubs in my area (the centre of town is a different story) most of them have 3 cask ales max, usually one of them is Bass or Doom Bar, which are both ste and they let it go off and won't let you have another if they sell you a st pint. In my area the reason the 'proper' pubs are closing is because they are crap, not because they are expensive.
It's all about volume. Sell it quickly enough and expiry date doesn't matter. Although people malign Wetherspoons they have done a lot for the beer markette and they let it go off and won't let you have another if they sell you a st pint. In my area the reason the 'proper' pubs are closing is because they are crap, not because they are expensive.collateral said:
The last services I was in had a mini supermarket complete with booze section. Where's the outrage?
Maybe its the fact that my car doesn't have cupholders, but I'd have thought there's a difference between "buy now, drink later" and "buy now, drink now" when driving. The problem is that while obviously its not a big deal for passengers, there's plenty of people who are crap enough drivers to begin with for whom "oh, just one will be fine" is a load of rubbish.
Still, even at their captive audience prices ( ~£7 for a breakfast at Gatwick iirc), the food is better than most service station options and not really any more expensive.
Dr Jekyll said:
They do buy beer close to it's use by date. Though in theory it shouldn't be a problem, the idea is that they shift such high volumes that the customer still gets it before it's timed out.
I think that's an old wives tail to be honest. I wouldn't think a major player on the real ale market would be stupid enough to ruin it's reputation by buying half-life beer in bulk and risk piss*ing it's customer base right off.Mind you, it doesn't bother them on the food front. The latest single card tabloid-sized menu is a visual mess, and most of the stuff on it leaves a lot to be desired.
Spoons is fine for an early doors couple of pints after work, but as for going there in the evening for a meal and drink - you'd have to be pretty desperate.
Cobnapint said:
I think that's an old wives tail to be honest. I wouldn't think a major player on the real ale market would be stupid enough to ruin it's reputation by buying half-life beer in bulk and risk piss*ing it's customer base right off.
Mind you, it doesn't bother them on the food front. The latest single card tabloid-sized menu is a visual mess, and most of the stuff on it leaves a lot to be desired.
Spoons is fine for an early doors couple of pints after work, but as for going there in the evening for a meal and drink - you'd have to be pretty desperate.
It's not an old wives tale it's the core of their business model. Why do you think they have so many beer festivals and short run beers. Just because its near its use by doesnt mean its crap. Just means you have better bargaining with the brewer.Mind you, it doesn't bother them on the food front. The latest single card tabloid-sized menu is a visual mess, and most of the stuff on it leaves a lot to be desired.
Spoons is fine for an early doors couple of pints after work, but as for going there in the evening for a meal and drink - you'd have to be pretty desperate.
craigjm said:
It's not an old wives tale it's the core of their business model. Why do you think they have so many beer festivals and short run beers. Just because its near its use by doesnt mean its crap. Just means you have better bargaining with the brewer.
Do you know that as fact? And apart from the standard house beers, most pubs have short run ales, once its been tapped it's days are numbered, it goes off.
And I'm sure their beer festivals are to promote real ale (which they do an excellent job of IMO), not to make a quick buck from beer that happens to be cheap at source because its half gone. Not only that, I don't think the breweries would want the increased risk of customers regularly returning pints at the bar because it made them pull a funny face. Not good for business.
I would say Wetherspoons bargaining power comes with the sheer quantity of beer it buys, not aged stock. Unless you, or anybody else, KNOWS different.
Cobnapint said:
And I'm sure their beer festivals are to promote real ale (which they do an excellent job of IMO), not to make a quick buck from beer that happens to be cheap at source because its half gone. Not only that, I don't think the breweries would want the increased risk of customers regularly returning pints at the bar because it made them pull a funny face. Not good for business.
It's not 'half gone' it's just closer to the expiry date when it's bought wholesale. Providing it gets poured into the glass before the best before date, what difference does it make whether the pub bought it the previous day or a week beforehand? craigjm said:
It's not an old wives tale it's the core of their business model. Why do you think they have so many beer festivals and short run beers. Just because its near its use by doesnt mean its crap. Just means you have better bargaining with the brewer.
This is just urban myth. Not true. Did your mate down the pub tell you this? Dr Jekyll said:
It's not 'half gone' it's just closer to the expiry date when it's bought wholesale. Providing it gets poured into the glass before the best before date, what difference does it make whether the pub bought it the previous day or a week beforehand?
Alright, a quarter gone then, a fifth, one third. It doesn't matter what you want to call it. If something is closer to it's expiry date, it is most definitely not 'fresh' or 'new'.And yes, providing you get it down your neck before its off is no problem. I just don't think breweries would want the increased risk to their reputation.
The Spruce goose said:
dave1409 said:
I noticed it will be able to serve alcohol from 8am - useful for the morning commuters.
that means f all supermarkets sell 24 hours and most alcoholics are still in bed/pubCool story bro', I know, but the point is that some people want a drink at odd times and in odd locations for perfectly acceptable reasons.
As you can imagine, we were pretty much the only people in the bar - around 100 people managed to get on the plane without having drink, even though they were clearly available.
Cobnapint said:
Dr Jekyll said:
It's not 'half gone' it's just closer to the expiry date when it's bought wholesale. Providing it gets poured into the glass before the best before date, what difference does it make whether the pub bought it the previous day or a week beforehand?
Alright, a quarter gone then, a fifth, one third. It doesn't matter what you want to call it. If something is closer to it's expiry date, it is most definitely not 'fresh' or 'new'.And yes, providing you get it down your neck before its off is no problem. I just don't think breweries would want the increased risk to their reputation.
Cask ale has a limited shelf life once tapped - this is because of a couple of factors the main one being because it's not pushed out of the barrel by extraneous CO2 or N2/CO2 ...
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