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Thread: What is Bad about Shepherd Neame

  1. #1
    I'll stay on me own
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    Default What is Bad about Shepherd Neame

    I read the Forum on a regular basis and often read about how much regular forum members dislike Shepherd Neame beers.

    I personally really like Shepherd Neame beers and have always sought out their pubs over many years of drinking,me and a mate did the Master Brewer trail in 1983 and managed 82 Shepherd Neame pubs in one week.

    When i was doing my regular London pub crawls which pub would i go in if there was any spare time at the end of my crawl not the Euston Flyer but round the corner to the Mables Tavern and a cracking drink of Master Brew.

    So back to my original question,what is wrong with Shepherd Neames beers.

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    Waterborne Beer Inspector Bucking Fastard's Avatar
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    It could be something to do with the taste,which is always a personal decision.Like you Al ,I quite enjoyed Shep's beers back in the 80's and 90's but possibly problems occurred when there was a significant expansion in their brewery capacity in 2004/5 to over 200,000 barrels per year.This seemed to coincide with a drop in their beer quality,it can be difficult to upscale production and maintain quality,ask Charles Wells.

    It is very laudable that Shep's stay committed to only using Kent hops but this means they have missed the brewing revolution over the last decade brought about by using hop varieties from USA,NZ,Slovenia,etc etc.

    These days I am very reluctant to order Shep's beers if there is a reasonable alternative.
    "Good people drink good beer" Hunter S Thompson

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    This Space For Hire Aqualung's Avatar
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    The only draught Sheps beer I've had in recent times is Bishop's Finger and that seems to be the same as I remember from say 15 years ago. I can't remember the last time I went in a Sheps pub, but I get the impression that like all the other SE England regional brewers they are overpriced.

    I agree about them missing out on the micro brewing revolution, but I think that this applies to all of the major regionals.

    The three ASDA in-house bottled beers are brewed by Sheps and I find the Whitechapel Porter and the Golden Ale very agreeable. The Gentleman Jack seems to me to be identical to Bishop's Finger.

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    Inndigestion Strongers's Avatar
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    All of the SN beers I've had have tasted of soil.
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    Pub researcher (unpaid) rpadam's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Al 10000 View Post
    question,what is wrong with Shepherd Neames beers.
    Not a lot, in my opinion, but it can be very tiresome to find yourself in certain parts of Kent with nothing else on offer...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Al 10000 View Post
    I read the Forum on a regular basis and often read about how much regular forum members dislike Shepherd Neame beers.

    I personally really like Shepherd Neame beers and have always sought out their pubs over many years of drinking,me and a mate did the Master Brewer trail in 1983 and managed 82 Shepherd Neame pubs in one week.

    When i was doing my regular London pub crawls which pub would i go in if there was any spare time at the end of my crawl not the Euston Flyer but round the corner to the Mables Tavern and a cracking drink of Master Brew.

    So back to my original question,what is wrong with Shepherd Neames beers.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bucking Fastard View Post
    It could be something to do with the taste,which is always a personal decision.Like you Al ,I quite enjoyed Shep's beers back in the 80's and 90's but possibly problems occurred when there was a significant expansion in their brewery capacity in 2004/5 to over 200,000 barrels per year.This seemed to coincide with a drop in their beer quality,it can be difficult to upscale production and maintain quality,ask Charles Wells.

    It is very laudable that Shep's stay committed to only using Kent hops but this means they have missed the brewing revolution over the last decade brought about by using hop varieties from USA,NZ,Slovenia,etc etc.

    These days I am very reluctant to order Shep's beers if there is a reasonable alternative.
    I used to hate sheps beers but over the last few years my tastes have changed, I now find I like very bitter ales ,preferably pale and loaded with citrus, with this change,(age related I'm sure)I now don,t mind the rather harsh taste of a Sheps beer,although I agree given the wonderful beers available thanks to the aforementioned micro revolution they have missed a trick or two.
    "Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
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  7. #7
    Between pubs sheffield hatter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Al 10000 View Post
    When i was doing my regular London pub crawls which pub would i go in if there was any spare time at the end of my crawl not the Euston Flyer but round the corner to the Mables Tavern and a cracking drink of Master Brew.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bucking Fastard View Post
    It is very laudable that Shep's stay committed to only using Kent hops but this means they have missed the brewing revolution over the last decade brought about by using hop varieties from USA,NZ,Slovenia,etc etc.
    I don't often come across Shep's beers, but the couple of times I've been in Mabel's in recent years the beer has always been fine. As I'm not a fan of beers that taste of grapefruit and lychees, I heartily applaud their decision to stick with Kentish hops. Local beer for local people! Down with the revolution!
    Come On You Hatters!

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    This Space For Hire Wittenden's Avatar
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    I've always enjoyed most Shep's beers: on a good day, with the wind behind it, Master Brew canbe superlative,but unfortunately that isn't always the case. I agree that they were better back in the 70s and 80s, but then of course I was a Fremlin's drinker, and that was a completely different kettle of fish, inspite of being brewed on opposite sides of the road.
    Yes, they have a harshness-perhaps because they use hop pellets rather than the loose leaf- and are expensive (the brewery seems to charge their own tenants more than the freetrade),but their ubiquity is the problem,rather like Black Sheep in the North. Also, a fair amount of beer-snobbery:" Kentish Ale" on a beer rating site ( a fan) describes Master Brew as "the workman's beer".Not strictly accurate, as most of the builders etc that I know seem to prefer lager...
    Not the most exciting brewery,but we'd be worse off without it! Some of their more rural pubs are real crackers.
    "At that moment I would have given a kingdom, not for champagne or hock and soda, or hot coffee but for a glass of beer" Marquess Curzon of Kedlestone, Viceroy of India.

  9. #9
    Real Ale Drinker Crossste's Avatar
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    My problem/experiences with Shep's, and particularly Spitfire, is that it is usually found in the 2for1 plastic type eating houses that we sometimes find ourselves eating in when we are out and about on the boat. Usually there, on the bar, alongside 1 or 2 off Bombardier, G.K, Marstons Burton Bitter etc, usually served to cold and by some kid who is more adept at pulling something else rather then a good pint. Somewhere in the pubco's many signs and table literature will be their statement of their commitment to real ale.

    Having said that none of it is really Shep's fault and perhaps if i were to try it some of their more traditional houses i may well enjoy it.

    It just seems that brewers of the afor mentioned beers along with TT Landlord and at one time Deuchers IPA (whatever happened to that, it was every where a while back) seem to have put quantity over quality.
    From the home of the kebab of doom

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    Quote Originally Posted by Crossste View Post
    My problem/experiences with Shep's, and particularly Spitfire, is that it is usually found in the 2for1 plastic type eating houses that we sometimes find ourselves eating in when we are out and about on the boat. Usually there, on the bar, alongside 1 or 2 off Bombardier, G.K, Marstons Burton Bitter etc, usually served to cold and by some kid who is more adept at pulling something else rather then a good pint. Somewhere in the pubco's many signs and table literature will be their statement of their commitment to real ale.

    Having said that none of it is really Shep's fault and perhaps if i were to try it some of their more traditional houses i may well enjoy it.

    It just seems that brewers of the afor mentioned beers along with TT Landlord and at one time Deuchers IPA (whatever happened to that, it was every where a while back) seem to have put quantity over quality.
    You can add Sharps Doom Bar to that list nowdays.
    "Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
    -W.C.Fields

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