After my trip to London I fancied a good old cool, well conditioned, sparkled Northern pint or two, so met my mate Graham in the
Angel, which is by the way, not being knocked down, as some rumours allege.
Southport Brewery's Natterjack fulfilled that basic human need, but of course, after a couple, the siren call of the
Marble Arch, a mere two hundred yards away, as always, lured us in. It also has the advantage of having my bus stop right outside it.
W90 was the drink of choice in a fairly empty pub,
Pint being notable by its absence which is never a good thing. It was cool, (previous problems in that area seem to be firmly in the past) bitter, resinously hoppy and very enjoyable. It however ran out shortly afterwards, before we could complete the round. Since my next pint was to be my last, I opted for
Dobber. To my surprise and annoyance, this turned out to be unsparkled, though leaning over the bar, it was the only one that was. I queried this and was advised that the bar staff had been told by the brewers that Dobber is better that way and on no account should it be served with a sparkler, unless the customer insists. What bollocks. Now I would have insisted, but since I had no warning that the only unsparkled pint was Dobber in all the eight or so that were there, it was surely reasonable on my part to assume that it would be sparkled too?*
Now listen lads. We all know you brew very good beer, but don't go telling me how it should be served to me unless you warn me of your silly preferences before I order and then I can safely over rule them.
If you are going to continue to single Dobber out for unsparkled treatment, put a bloody notice up to that effect.*And no, it didn't look or taste as good as a sparkled one would. In my opinion of course.
25 comments:
Should have asked the barman to swill the beer around in his mouth and spit it out into your glass. That will have the same effect as sparkling the beer!
Thanks for your helpful insight.
Thanks. Great blog by the way.
Dobber is better unsparkled - FACT!
Wrong. FACT. In any case, that's not really the main point.
I can imagine Dobber being quite good 'sparkled' (shock, horror!) but I agree with you, if they usually serve sparkled beer they should put a notice up saying that certain beers aren't. I would. The same goes the other way round down here in Tha' Lonnon regarding sparklerising anything!
TM: I presume you're probably not very keen on gravity dispense at beer festivals. I didn't notice any gravity dispense last time I was in the Marble Arch ~ is this something new they've introduced?
I'm glad to read that our local brew is on sale in Manchester.
At my local here that has cask ale I recently tried a Cricket Hill's Colonel Blides Bitter both sparkled and unsparkled - sparkler does it for me.
Er, it wasn't gravity dispense RedNev
I've tried it both ways at the Marble Arch (matron) and do prefer it unsparkled. But I do think they ought to tell you before pouring; I'd be miffed if I went to other pubs expecting no-sparkler beer and it appeared with a creamy head.
Eh? If you went to a pub expecting a sub-standard pint, ie sans sparkler and then you discovered it served properly after all; you should be overjoyed.
hahaahahah the north is coming to its senses eh? finaly.
Wondered if you'd show up on this one Kieran. (-;
I'm not a huge fan of Dobber, but I found it easier to appreciate the one time I had it on gravity (at 57 Thomas St), when it was very nearly flat - something about the heaviness of the texture of the beer set off the flavour. But it's not my favourite Marble beer at the best of times.
As for W90, according to that authoritative source Some Guy On A Blog it's basically their backup session beer - it fills in when they can't make enough Pint, and vice versa.
Oh! I misread the post.
But...I've been told that when the Brewer says the beer should be sparkled, it shall be sparkled. Surely it works the other way 'round!
What is this Dobber then, and "why should" it be unsparkled?
And why can there be pubs in Prague with cask ale, but there can't be in all of Krautley?
I've come around to enjoying it both ways after my last trips to Ængland and Wales, whereas I'd been solidly against sparkling prior to that. I can't decide; more research is clearly warranted.
got to disagree with you insofar as Dobber, like most if not all hoppy beers, is clearly better without a sparkler (IMO of course!). But, the issue of 'sparkler warning' is a tricky one - can we ever hope for a universal symbol or similar that could be appended to beer lists/blackboards, and displayed on the pump?
I do feel that beers should be served as the brewer intended - I know it annoys me when I see one of ours being served with a sparkler (don't mind the slotted metal ones so much, but the plastic 'showerheads' are the creation of one of Satan's lesser demons - it's the one thing I don't like about living in Yorkshire!)
Good to have you back in the Marble Arch Pete :)
No worries Dom. I'll just avoid Dobber until you all see sense! (-;
I'll come straight to the point, sparklers all the way you fucking stoopid Sarfern idiots. No question. Heard great things about Marble, but now from this day forth, none shall ever pass my lips!
November the 5th soon, thats the only time they should be used.punters can always bring an Alka Seltzer with then if they want extra head.
lol @ Coxy & Anon.!
Yes agreeably funny. Well not Coxy obviously. But otherwise. (-;
Good news indeed that the Angel will be untouched by the developments around there. We had 'confirmation' of this as well (http://pubs-of-manchester.blogspot.com/2010/10/price-of-progress-update.html)
really how could I resist.
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