Shock Of The Week

[Mobyduck]

Greene King can brew good beer!
Had heard from other sources this was an excellent beer, had to ignore it earlier in the week as I was driving, but saw it today in the Monks Retreat (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/56814/) and had to give it a go, Greene King New Horizons IPA 6.0%, it is shockingly good,if only all their beers were half as good....

[Aqualung]

Greene King can brew good beer!
Had heard from other sources this was an excellent beer, had to ignore it earlier in the week as I was driving, but saw it today in the Monks Retreat (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/56814/) and had to give it a go, Greene King New Horizons IPA 6.0%, it is shockingly good,if only all their beers were half as good....
I don't rate it as highly as you have (I gave it 8 out of 10) but I don't think there's any doubt that GK have turned a corner. At the Spring Festival last year they did a 7% Double Hop Monster which was superb and a BOTW for me. I've actually enjoyed visiting a few GK pubs over the last year but that was more because of the guest ales.
Having said that I'll still drink Abbot if there's nothing much on offer but regard it as a missed opportunity.

[NickDavies]

Well it seems the Chinese have acquired a taste for GKIPA. Maybe they'll take the whole lot and leave us the nice stuff?

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/nov/09/greene-king-hits-gold-as-chinese-demand-soars-after-xi-jinping-pint

[sheffield hatter]

Greene King can brew good beer!
Had heard from other sources this was an excellent beer, had to ignore it earlier in the week as I was driving, but saw it today in the Monks Retreat (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/56814/) and had to give it a go, Greene King New Horizons IPA 6.0%, it is shockingly good,if only all their beers were half as good....

Came across their Gangly Ghoul (http://www.greeneking.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=74), described as "An easy drinking beer. A warming toffee character with a touch of orange peel citrus and spiciness." The most noticeable feature to me was the musty smell of cobwebs in a damp cellar. How do they do that? I drank this beer in the Frog & Parrot (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/43177/), where the house beer is also by GK: Lord Parrot Ale. By way of contrast with the Gangly Ghoul, this tasted of precisely nothing. Again, how do they do that?

[Aqualung]

Came across their Gangly Ghoul (http://www.greeneking.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=74), described as "An easy drinking beer. A warming toffee character with a touch of orange peel citrus and spiciness." The most noticeable feature to me was the musty smell of cobwebs in a damp cellar. How do they do that? I drank this beer in the Frog & Parrot (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/43177/), where the house beer is also by GK: Lord Parrot Ale. By way of contrast with the Gangly Ghoul, this tasted of precisely nothing. Again, how do they do that?

To be fair aren't nearly all themed (Sport, Rock Group, Halloween, Xmas, Royalty, Pub House brews etc, etc) beers rubbish? Given that Xmas drags on for at least a month you would think the brewers would make some sort of effort but few seem to. I dread the arrival of the Spoons Xmas beer list.

[Mobyduck]

To be fair aren't nearly all themed (Sport, Rock Group, Halloween, Xmas, Royalty, Pub House brews etc, etc) beers rubbish? Given that Xmas drags on for at least a month you would think the brewers would make some sort of effort but few seem to. I dread the arrival of the Spoons Xmas beer list.

I'm struggling to think of any themed beer that's rocked my boat.

[Aqualung]

I'm struggling to think of any themed beer that's rocked my boat.

There was a Halloween Shep's beer that I quite liked a year or two ago and Hook Norton Twelve Days for me is a good Xmas beer. Batham's and Holden's just bring in their XXX and Old Ale with no reference to Xmas at all and I'm looking forward to finding both before the year end.