north or south

[hondo]

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/87956

north:notworthy:

[NickDavies]

Neither. If all there is is GKIPA I'll have lager or Guinness. Or go somewhere else.

[ETA]

"...discerning Greene King IPA drinkers..."

?

[RogerB]

I'm not sure why this is suddenly hot news. The North/South contraption has been in operation for 3 or 4 years, first with the St Edmunds Ale and with the IPA.

I would only drink it if there wasn't any other choice but would go for the North, simply because I get South down here all the time anyway. I wonder what a half North and half South mixture would be like?:confused:

[NickDavies]

It was Champion Bitter at the GBBF a few years back, a fact GK are keen we don't forget. CAMRA seem less keen - this year's programme lists various previous winners but not GKIPA, perhaps desparate to avoid a repeat of the sh*tstorm that occurred at the time.

[trainman]

After the big debate regarding some ales brewed for sparkler (mainly North) and some not (mainly South), I'd be most interested to try, say, a Landlord & a Harveys both with, then without, to form a judgement.

I'd be happy for anyone to suggest beers more suitable for this control experiment, but not one from greedyk.

[oldboots]

After the big debate regarding some ales brewed for sparkler (mainly North) and some not (mainly South), I'd be most interested to try, say, a Landlord & a Harveys both with, then without, to form a judgement.


I've tried Landlord with and without and my advice is if there's no sparkler don't bother. I've tried Gales HSB with and without and not found much difference.

[Rex_Rattus]

On my recent visit to York I had beers with and without sparklers, and in my view they tasted better without them - and I do mean the taste, not just the consistency. It's just a matter of prersonal taste, of course.

[Strongers]

The Bell and Crown by Kew Bridge has sparklers and it is a Fullers house. The Pride tastes completely different, but not in a detrimental way. It's a good pub, but alas I think that the inclusion of sparklers is financially driven - forshame.

[Quinno]

I used to be very anti-sparkler but have come round to it in under the priciple "when in Rome..."

But if I come across a sparklerised London Pride south of Birmingham I will still have words!!!

[aleandhearty]

The passion surrounding the sparkler debate could probably feed the national grid. My approach is based on respecting regional difference. Just as a southern beer is not designed to be served through a sparkler, many northern beers are not the same when dispensed without. (Hop levels are tweaked to take account of the tighter dispense). I try, although often fail, to get the beer poured accordingly. Still think Sean Franklin, of Roosters Brewery, explains it the best:

http://roosters.co.uk/wordpress/?page_id=777

[Quinno]

That's probably the best non-biased sparkler explanation I've seen, good link :glass:

[ETA]

And an excellent introduction to beer tasting in simple terms.

[Conrad]

Excellent link a&h, thanks for that I had been wondering.