Real Ale pubs in the 1970s

When CAMRA started to really take off in the mid-1970s, a new type of pub started to appear. Free houses where, rather than just serving the Mild and Bitter of whichever brewer gave them the best deal, they would sell cask beer from several different breweries.

In those days, it was very unusual for a pub to sell draught beer from multiple breweries. Even “free houses” were usually committed to the draught products of a single brewer. Bottled beers were a different matter. Some big bottled brands – Guinness and Mackeson, for example – were available in other brewers’ tied houses. Bass was the only draught beer that broke out of the tie.

Having grown up in a region where brewers mostly had a very limited draught. Mild and Bitter. With no Best Bitter or Old Ale, seeing more than two operational hand pulls was an occasion. Entering a pub with six or even eight beer engines, all dispensing a different beer, was like a punch in the face. In a good way.

I did learn to be wary of pubs with lots of hand pumps. Sometimes more than their trade could sustain. Selling two cask beers was sustainable for most pubs. Six or more? Only a pub with a large number of committed cask drinkers. I preferred tied houses with just a couple of casks. If there was a decent landlord.

And here’s one of the great things about cask beer. A mediocre beer can be polished and made to shine by a good cellarman. The downside is that an idiot landlord can ruin the most wonderful beer.

CAMRA, in my opinion unwisely, set up their own real ale pub chain. There was nothing wrong with the pubs themselves. They had a range of cask beers from different brewers. One, The Eagle, was in Leeds. And in an area I regularly pub-crawled. All the other pubs on the crawl were Tetley houses, so it did offer a little variety.

The problem was more a conflict of interest. A consumer organisation that was dabbling in the trade? Too many places the aims of the campaign and the pub chain wouldn’t be in sync.

Foeders

Despite being dead busy with my new Scottish book, I took some time off on Saturday to visit yet another new beer pub.

It's getting impossible to keep up with the beer scene in Amsterdam. John Clarke tipped me off about another new beer bar in the Pijp, Foeders. I thought I'd best check it out. Especially as it seemed rather more pub-like than last weeks visit, The Wateringhole. Having a Dutch name is a good start.

Foeders is located in a slightly out of the way bit of the Pijp, close to the Amstel river. It's also next door to the most extravagently attractive appartment building on the whole of Ceintuurbaan. Annoyingly, the tram stop that used to be directly outside the pub has been discontinued. Bastards at the GVB.

The lovely leeded glass door panel sets a pleasant tone on the way in. Once past it, the lingering smell of paint betrays how recently the place has opened. There's a definite Amsterdam feel inside, though with a few modern touches. The green paint scheme always makes me think of Amsterdam's jenever bars, which are lovely old pubs. At the back is a tiled fireplace. Typically Dutch.

The long bar down one wall is surprisingly low. Though you do sometimes see that in older Amsterdam pubs And there's a pretty carved bar back.

Overall, pretty good. Not bland at all and with a definite Amsterdam feel. Only real negative point: having the draught beer display on the back wall above the door to the ladies lavs, well away from the bar and the taps. Not very handy.

As for beers, there's a mix of old Belgian favourites like La Chouffe and Rodenbach, some local stuuff like Ij and Oedipus, plus some craft stuff from further afield. Not that I'm going to drink American beer in Amsterdam. You've no idea what condition it's going to be in.

A definite win for the Amsterdam pub scene.



Here's a few more photos:

Foeders  
Ceintuurbaan 257,
1074 CZ Amsterdam.
Tel: +31 6 36593100
https://www.facebook.com/Foeders/

Opening hours:
Sun - Thur 12:00–01:00
Fri - Sat 12:00–03:00

A tale of two bars

Boston (and its surrounding towns) is a fun place. With plenty of drinking opportunities, both large and small. I'll be looking at exactly that today: one large and one small bar. Two very different places, demonstrating the diversity of Boston pubs. But ones which evoked very differing emotions in me.

Quantity or quality. Though it isn't always a simple choice between the two. It can be much more nuanced. And, let's be honest, there's a difference between quantity and true choice. We'll be getting back to that later.

First I'll introduce you to the pubs. Yard House and Deep Ellum.

Yard House is very new. It had only been open a few days when I dropped by last week. It's part of a national chain of beer bars. No, not like Wetherspoons. Much more American than that. Yard House is a barn of a place, offering 180 tap beers and seating for 700. Yes, you read that right, 180 taps. And that's just the start. They've the capacity for even more. It's hard to see where they'll put the new ones, the back of the bar - the usual place for taps in American beer places - already bristles with a continuous line of handles, like soldiers on parade presenting arms.

The beers selection has been well thought out. Mostly beers with a liquid* reputation. The type of beers that moisten the underwear of geeks the world over. Bold, brassy beers that left their subtlety in the cloakroom on their way in.

Its location - close to Fenway Park - is crammed with loud, crowded bars. Big brash bars, seemingly shouting to attract stray passing drinkers. Yard House is the largest and one of the loudest. Understated it isn't. But who, apart from the commercially suicidal, would open a low-key bar in a high-key spot?

Deep Ellum is a long way from Yard House, philosphically if not physically. Nestling in a row of modest brick-fronted shops on a busy main road, in the suburb of Allston. You could fit the whole pub behind the bar of Yard House. The long bar running the length of one wall and the carved bar back give it the pubby feel I love.

I've a recurring complaint when drinking in the USA. Why isn't there anything below 7% ABV? St. Bernardus Abt is my regular tipple, so I'm no stranger to strong beers. But I like my sessions long. And my legs to stay functional. It's a rule of mine: remain capable of standing up and walking out unaided. Sometimes you need to drink without consequences.

Deep Ellum's beer selection is far smaller than Yard House. Smaller probably than the choice in many of Britain's new wave of thwug** bars. Small but perfectly formed. Just 26 taps, including one beer engine.

I've a recurring complaint when drinking in Britain. Why is there nothing but Bitter between 3.8% and 4.2% ABV? I like a little more variety in style and strength. When I was in Deep Ellum on Sunday, 10 of their 26 draught beers were 5% ABV or less. Three were under 4% ABV. The others filled all the slots up to 10% ABV. Now there's real choice. The same with the styles: a German Pilsner, a German Kellerbier, Smoked Lager, Rye Ale, Rye Lager, Hefeweissen, Bitter, Brown Ale, Lambic, Tripel, Golden Ale, Saison, Stout, Imperial IPA, Witbier, Amber Ale, Belgian Pale Ale, three standard IPA's, and what I would call a mid-Atlantic Pale Ale.

Drinking in Yard House was a challenge. First finding a seat. Then getting served. And finally having a conversation. What with the music and the braying hordes, shouting was the only way to communicate. Really not my scene, man. I like a seat and a chat. Oh, and light. So I can read a book or a newspaper.

Dann and Martha had to rush to the brewery on Sunday. I was on my own. Where to go? I didn't hesitate for a second. It had to be Deep Ellum. I couldn't think of a better place to while away a lazy Sunday afternoon. I squeezed in at the end of the bar. It was busy, but not deafening. And plenty of light to read my book (The Local, if you're interested). The hours flew by. Aided by generous quantities of Pretty Things 1838 X Ale. Which was drinking wonderfully, drawn from a cooled cask on the bar. I couldn't have held out 10 minutes in Yard House.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Yard House is the work of the devil. I'm sure plenty have a great time in there. Just not me. I like my pubs intimate and individual. Where the hand of the landlord is visible, even when he isn't physically around. Deep Ellum is very much Max's place. And long may it stay so.




* I know the standard adjective is solid, but I refuse to use that word to refer to something that is irrefutably liquid.

** I also refuse to use the C-word.




Deep Ellum
477 Cambridge Street,
Allston,
MA 02135.
Tel: +1 617-787-2337
http://www.deepellum-boston.com/


Yard House
126 Brookline Avenue
Boston,
MA 02215
Tel: 617-236-4083
http://www.yardhouse.com/MA/boston-restaurant/

I'm a jammy git

Beer Nut said "Amsterdam is the best city I've been to for beer." After contemplating his possible lack of travel experience, I did me some thinking. About life, beer, the present and the future.

Dangerous, I know. Thinking. It's been a while since I jerked the cogs of my mind into motion. Rust trickled from my ears. But there was the odd funny flicker in the cinema of my consciousness.

Despite having my head firmly jammed between the buttocks of the past, I do pay attention to the present. With half an eye. Like how I "watch" television and fiddle on my PC simultaneously. Much as I would love an Edwardian pub in town (Mild, Bitter, Porter, Stout, Burton on draught. Bass Pale Ale, Guinness, Barclay's Russian Stout and Bass No. 1 in bottle), I can't complain. I really can't complain.

When I first lived in Amsterdam, back when mastodons still roamed the earth, there were already a couple of beer bars. Beiaard, Wildeman, Belgique, Gollem. When beer - good beer - meant Belgian beer. A thrill for me, who'd had little contact with the stuff. The world moves on. Hairy elephants disappear. Other countries start brewing good stuff.

Good German beer is as hard to find in most of the world as it is to miss in its Franconian homeland. Not in Wildeman. Schlenkerla Fastenbier By gravity. The Bock, too. You can't get much better than that.

Arend's Nest. Finally somewhere that showcases Dutch beer.

No, we can't complain about lack of choice. Then this week. Peter van der Arend's new pub opened. Beer Temple.

It's billed as an American beer pub. But it's more than that. Thankfully. There's stuff from the likes of Mikkeller and Ellezelloise. I'd give you more details, but it was a bit crowded.

Another place tot tempt me to town. Like I said, I'm a jammy git.



Beer Temple
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 250,
1012 RR Amsterdam.
http://beertemple.nl/