Cask Marque misses the mark [Archive]

london calling

29-01-2014, 21:20

I was in a Cask Marque pub recently and got 2 haves of different beer one was ice cold (imo) and the other was perfect temp.I said to the landlord that one of the beers was too cold .He felt the glasses and agreed there was a noticeable difference but said he had checked the temp this morning and they were within the 10-14 degree range for real ale. Camra say 12-14. I prefer my beer at the top of the range as you can get the flavour of the beer better specially the weaker beers. Are Cask Marque moving the goalposts so its easier to get a recommendation or is Camra just guessing about what the temp should be.

oldboots

30-01-2014, 07:32

The ideal is reckoned to be to serve beer at the temperature at which it was fermented, that used to be easy , 55F (13C) for top fermented beer and 6-8C for bottom fermented. CAMRA seems to have changed that slightly, the current GBG states 11-12C with 8-10C for "some golden summer beers". Cask Marque have, I believe, always gone with the lower temperature range.

My preference is for about 11C (52F) for most "brown" bitters and milds, a touch higher for stout/porter and a touch lower for blondes/golden. Being served slightly cold is better than slightly warm of course. 14C (57F) strikes me as too warm.

I didn't understand ice cold lager until I had a warm Carling :sick:

Quinno

30-01-2014, 10:14

There was a bloke in our branch who used to carry a digital thermometer round with him which would go straight into the beer once at the table. :eek:

Mobyduck

30-01-2014, 10:55

There was a bloke in our branch who used to carry a digital thermometer round with him which would go straight into the beer once at the table. :eek:
I walked into The Seven Stars (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/22067/) a few years ago with a couple of mates, the landlady, Roxy, said you're not CAMRA members are you? No we lied ,she didn't look in the mood for messing, Iv'e had em in here sticking thermometers in the beer ,if you are you can bugger off.
We remained undercover and had some decent beer, no idea what the temperature was though.

NickDavies

30-01-2014, 12:09

I walked into The Seven Stars (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/22067/) a few years ago with a couple of mates, the landlady, Roxy, said you're not CAMRA members are you? No we lied ,she didn't look in the mood for messing, Iv'e had em in here sticking thermometers in the beer ,if you are you can bugger off.
We remained undercover and had some decent beer, no idea what the temperature was though.

Publicans tend to confuse Cask Marque with CAMRA , possibly on purpose. I got a diatribe about Camra (telling him how to run his pub, bunch of know-nothing tossers, usual stuff) from a publican who'd just had an inspection, turned out it was Cask Marque.

Quinno

30-01-2014, 12:36

Publicans tend to confuse Cask Marque with CAMRA , possibly on purpose.

The times when I've encountered similar just turns out that the publican is a thicko. There are quite a few about, I think the industry IQ is fairly low....

Aqualung

30-01-2014, 15:37

There was a bloke in our branch who used to carry a digital thermometer round with him which would go straight into the beer once at the table. :eek:

I did that in the Drum years ago when I thought the beer was coming up too warm.

Aqualung

30-01-2014, 15:42

Al 10000

30-01-2014, 17:03

I did that in the Drum years ago when I thought the beer was coming up too warm.

How sad that some Camra members have to take thermometers round with them to check the temperature of beer.

I thought drinking beer was meant to be a pleasure without having to think if bar staff were standing in the wrong place or what this line or that was in the correct or incorrect place.

If i had any thoughts about joining Camra,things like this put me off from ever joining it.

Aqualung

30-01-2014, 17:47

How sad that some Camra members have to take thermometers round with them to check the temperature of beer.

I thought drinking beer was meant to be a pleasure without having to think if bar staff were standing in the wrong place or what this line or that was in the correct or incorrect place.

If i had any thoughts about joining Camra,things like this put me off from ever joining it.

I don't normally carry a thermometer! In this case I visited the Drum most nights and the beer had been too warm for several days and nobody seemed interested in sorting it out. The reference to hot air and staff / punters was meant to be a joke!
If a beer line runs next to the warm air being emitted by a keg cooler then it is going to warm the beer up unless it is being constantly pulled through.

london calling

30-01-2014, 21:24

I don't normally carry a thermometer! In this case I visited the Drum most nights and the beer had been too warm for several days and nobody seemed interested in sorting it out. The reference to hot air and staff / punters was meant to be a joke!
If a beer line runs next to the warm air being emitted by a keg cooler then it is going to warm the beer up unless it is being constantly pulled through.
I wish I had a digital thermometer as I would use it. I am paying nearly if not £4 00 a pint on average in central London.

oldboots

31-01-2014, 10:35

Aqualung

31-01-2014, 22:28

I wish I had a digital thermometer as I would use it. I am paying nearly if not £4 00 a pint on average in central London.

This is precisely the point. In Central London there is a captive market which means that they will try and get away with anything to fleece you, whether it is a short pint, one that consists partly of overflowing beer that has been poured hours earlier or simply being overcharged.
It has always been the same in Central London since I first started drinking. Beer drinking is a pleasure for me and if the beer is warm, cloudy or a short measure then I will always complain and if I had a pocket sized thermometer then I would gladly carry it around with me. Drinking a global abomination's keg beer in a pub just to claim that I had visited it doesn't sound very pleasurable to me at all.

oldboots

01-02-2014, 09:16

Drinking a global abomination's keg beer in a pub just to claim that I had visited it doesn't sound very pleasurable to me at all.

It rather depends on whither your interest is purely in beer, purely in pubs or in both, my interest and pleasure is in both but I accept everyone is different.

I am happy to visit an untried pub in the hope that it will be a gem much in the same way I will drink an untried beer with the same hope. What makes a pub interesting and a pleasure to visit for me does not depend on the quality of the beer, I know I will be disappointed on the beer side more often than not but the interior, the atmosphere, the punters or some quirk or other may well make up for having to sip a half of John Smiths or a Guinness.

Being a nosy blighter I can't easily pass a pub without wondering what's going on inside.

Al 10000

01-02-2014, 13:53

Drinking a global abomination's keg beer in a pub just to claim that I had visited it doesn't sound very pleasurable to me at all.

If you are going to have a pop at me,come out with it addressing me,not hidden within a post.

I have never at any point on this site that i am an expert about about beer,i drink real ale but i dont know as much about it as most regulars do on this site.

I do claim to know a lot about pubs,this has been an hobby of mine since 1980 trying to visit new pubs that i have not been in before,i know i will hit some keg pubs and rough ones,i get great pleasure of visiting some really rough estate pub with only keg bitters on the bar,just the same as i like visiting unspoilt country pubs or grand Victorian town pubs.

I still stand by my point about taking thermometers into pubs,if i ran a pub and saw some customer dipping a thermometer into a pint i would chuck them out.

If the beer you drink it too warm complain,if no action is taken then go in a pub that serves beer at the right temperature for you.

Aqualung

01-02-2014, 18:24

If you are going to have a pop at me,come out with it addressing me,not hidden within a post.

I have never at any point on this site that i am an expert about about beer,i drink real ale but i dont know as much about it as most regulars do on this site.

I do claim to know a lot about pubs,this has been an hobby of mine since 1980 trying to visit new pubs that i have not been in before,i know i will hit some keg pubs and rough ones,i get great pleasure of visiting some really rough estate pub with only keg bitters on the bar,just the same as i like visiting unspoilt country pubs or grand Victorian town pubs.

I still stand by my point about taking thermometers into pubs,if i ran a pub and saw some customer dipping a thermometer into a pint i would chuck them out.

If the beer you drink it too warm complain,if no action is taken then go in a pub that serves beer at the right temperature for you.

I'm sorry that you saw this as a personal attack, but as Old Boots notes above you are not alone in visiting pubs that only sell global keg rubbish. I've even reviewed two myself, one a Harvester and the other a story too long to go into. I deliberately left both unrated.

We're going to have to agree to disagree on the thermometer issue!!

Quinno

01-02-2014, 18:59

Thermometer wars! One for the next RATs strip in Viz methinks :eek:

sheffield hatter

01-02-2014, 20:59

I still stand by my point about taking thermometers into pubs,if i ran a pub and saw some customer dipping a thermometer into a pint i would chuck them out.

If the beer you drink it too warm complain,if no action is taken then go in a pub that serves beer at the right temperature for you.

Can't argue with that.

bcfczuluarmy

01-02-2014, 21:04

Have we a popcorn smiley? 1014

london calling

01-02-2014, 21:36

Been looking for these PDFs, they're old Cask Marque handouts that have their recommendations about temperatures on them as well as other good stuff, I especially like the advice "Don't let your customers be your quality control" .....if only.

Four times on the cellar card it says 12-14 so they have moved the goalposts to give pubs a perfect score.

london calling

01-02-2014, 21:43

If you are going to have a pop at me,come out with it addressing me,not hidden within a post.

I have never at any point on this site that i am an expert about about beer,i drink real ale but i dont know as much about it as most regulars do on this site.

I do claim to know a lot about pubs,this has been an hobby of mine since 1980 trying to visit new pubs that i have not been in before,i know i will hit some keg pubs and rough ones,i get great pleasure of visiting some really rough estate pub with only keg bitters on the bar,just the same as i like visiting unspoilt country pubs or grand Victorian town pubs.

I still stand by my point about taking thermometers into pubs,if i ran a pub and saw some customer dipping a thermometer into a pint i would chuck them out.

If the beer you drink it too warm complain,if no action is taken then go in a pub that serves beer at the right temperature for you.

Surely if we are rating pubs and giving a score the temperature of the beer too cold or too warm(never found a beer too warm personally) must be considered.If its a regular pub you use fine boycott it but I am now going in pubs that I will never return to so complaining is pretty pointless.

Quinno

01-02-2014, 21:49

Have we a popcorn smiley? 1014

Genius, where did you find that one?

london calling

01-02-2014, 21:50

If you are going to have a pop at me,come out with it addressing me,not hidden within a post.

I have never at any point on this site that i am an expert about about beer,i drink real ale but i dont know as much about it as most regulars do on this site.

I do claim to know a lot about pubs,this has been an hobby of mine since 1980 trying to visit new pubs that i have not been in before,i know i will hit some keg pubs and rough ones,i get great pleasure of visiting some really rough estate pub with only keg bitters on the bar,just the same as i like visiting unspoilt country pubs or grand Victorian town pubs.

I still stand by my point about taking thermometers into pubs,if i ran a pub and saw some customer dipping a thermometer into a pint i would chuck them out.

If the beer you drink it too warm complain,if no action is taken then go in a pub that serves beer at the right temperature for you.

I understand your stance on pubs as I am first and foremost a beer ticker.I have drank some filthy beers even when I new beforehand they were manky but a new beer is a new beer. You don't have to like it.I am weaning myself from this as now in London its easy to get good new beers without drinking the sludge at the bottom of the barrel.

bcfczuluarmy

01-02-2014, 22:25

Genius, where did you find that one?

I couldn't be arsed to find my normal photobucket popcorn smiley so thought I'd look at images and found what is such a better than my one I've used on other forums for years.

Quinno

01-02-2014, 23:19

I couldn't be arsed to find my normal photobucket popcorn smiley so thought I'd look at images and found what is such a better than my one I've used on other forums for years.

Oh - I assumed we were limited to what was available on here. I'll have to try this out. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-forum/stirthepot.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php) http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-forum/weird.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php) seems to work! http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-forum/goodnight.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)

Farway

02-02-2014, 08:42

oh yes, see what you mean (8-{)}

Soup Dragon

02-02-2014, 10:52

can we use smileys in our reviews?

oldboots

02-02-2014, 15:12

Thermometer wars! One for the next RATs strip in Viz methinks :eek:

err actually

1016

Al 10000

02-02-2014, 16:14

Surely if we are rating pubs and giving a score the temperature of the beer too cold or too warm(never found a beer too warm personally) must be considered.If its a regular pub you use fine boycott it but I am now going in pubs that I will never return to so complaining is pretty pointless.

I never said i did'nt rate pubs about the temperatuse of beer,i do,if i ever get a warm drink of beer i will always take it back even if it is the only time i ever visit the pub.

Take a look at this review,it would have got a 7 but for the warm drink. Deacons (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/23526/)

Maldenman

02-02-2014, 16:27

I never said i did'nt rate pubs about the temperatuse of beer,i do,if i ever get a warm drink of beer i will always take it back even if it is the only time i ever visit the pub.

Take a look at this review,it would have got a 7 but for the warm drink. Deacons (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/23526/)

Alan mate, you still gave it a 5! Out of interest what is the worst pub you have been in and what score did it get?

Al 10000

02-02-2014, 16:42

Alan mate, you still gave it a 5! Out of interest what is the worst pub you have been in and what score did it get?

Has you know Maldenman,i always rate pubs higher than most on this site,because i love going in pubs i have never been in before,so if a pub is open it usually gets a 4,one keg bitter on the bar a 5,if real ales are on then the score goes up,but it can come down with really bad service or a bad experience.

LIke in this pub when it was called King William 1V Crown & Stiletto (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/60302/), on a more recent visit the Highfields in Mexborough would in my opinion win the worst pub of 2013 out of all the candidates on that thread.

Maldenman

02-02-2014, 17:14

Has you know Maldenman,i always rate pubs higher than most on this site,because i love going in pubs i have never been in before,so if a pub is open it usually gets a 4,one keg bitter on the bar a 5,if real ales are on then the score goes up,but it can come down with really bad service or a bad experience.

LIke in this pub when it was called King William 1V Crown & Stiletto (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/60302/), on a more recent visit the Highfields in Mexborough would in my opinion win the worst pub of 2013 out of all the candidates on that thread.

Probably my worst one, sounds similar. Kiss Me Hardy (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/68168/)