Pubs Galore consigned to the past ?

[sheffield hatter]

Nailed. I tried and gave up; the same half a dozen circular arguments with the same band of swivel-eyes and keyboard warriors repeating the script. I do occasionally dip in to see if Alex Keenleyside (AKA Cooking Lager) has posted anything. He's an expert ego-pricker.

I assume that this post was in response to this one from OB

I wouldn't get too bothered about anything on Discourse, although better than the old CAMRA forum it's still the same parade of ignorance, and people banging on about their particular hobby horse - be that how good/bad Wetherspoons is, how out of touch/dictatorial the National Executive is, how people are deluded about keykeg/dinosaurs about cask, or snowflakes getting hot and bothered about some trivia or other.

It's normally either tedious tripe or enraging rubbish as generally only the usual suspects contribute, anyway just about no-one in CAMRA actually reads it.

...rather than the one you quoted, which refers to WhatPub.

I do occasionally dip in to see if Alex Keenleyside (AKA Cooking Lager) has posted anything. He's an expert ego-pricker.

Yes, it's always worth reading Pub Curmudgeon just to see if Cookie has been for a visit. Not sure I'd want to plough through Discourse too often, though.

[Aqualung]

I think people in general don't get the difference between What Pub and PUG plus all the others. I wouldn't call the What Pub spiel a review but an objective description and apart from the Real Ale aspect of it an impartial one. All the other site spiel amounts to reviews, often a snapshot of the pub, usually based on a single visit and completely subjective. That's the way I like it. When I'm plotting visits to pubs I try and avoid reading the reviews on here but always (apartfrom JDWs) check out what beers I might expect via What Pub. I go through the PUG reviews when I'm trying to concoct a credible review from my own visit and seeing if I agree or disagree. I'm not saying that's the way everybody should operate but it's the way I do things. I only look at Farcebook, Tripping Advisor and (hardly ever) Google for info about closing or opening dates.

[Aqualung]

I wouldn't get too bothered about anything on Discourse, although better than the old CAMRA forum it's still the same parade of ignorance, and people banging on about their particular hobby horse - be that how good/bad Wetherspoons is, how out of touch/dictatorial the National Executive is, how people are deluded about keykeg/dinosaurs about cask, or snowflakes getting hot and bothered about some trivia or other.

It's normally either tedious tripe or enraging rubbish as generally only the usual suspects contribute, anyway just about no-one in CAMRA actually reads it.

I got emailed this which just about sums it up I think :-

New visitor to this site, it’s like Facebook for beer drinkers!

[Bucking Fastard]

When I'm plotting visits to pubs I try and avoid reading the reviews on here but always (apartfrom JDWs) check out what beers I might expect via What Pub.

I use both sources for beer information when plotting a visit to a "new " pub.I often find that the What Pub beer description to be inaccurate or misleading ,while a respected PuG reviewer will often give a better overall steer despite the review reflecting a single pub visit.The accuracy of What Pub beer descriptions may depend on how many time a branch member actually visits the pub in question and is prepared to update What Pub,and it is quite possible may suffer from the "single visit" issue as well.

[Aqualung]

I use both sources for beer information when plotting a visit to a "new " pub.I often find that the What Pub beer description to be inaccurate or misleading ,while a respected PuG reviewer will often give a better overall steer despite the review reflecting a single pub visit.The accuracy of What Pub beer descriptions may depend on how many time a branch member actually visits the pub in question and is prepared to update What Pub,and it is quite possible may suffer from the "single visit" issue as well.

The beer descriptions are frequently inaccurate on What Pub and surprisingly often with JDWs. Not all reviewers list all the beers and of course one person's beer heaven might be my beer hell. I don't ignore the PUG reviews entirely when planning but take more notice of the scores. I take more notice of latest reviews but new JDWs, micropubs, Holden's, Batham's and others I'm highly likely to visit anyway so won't bother too much about the score. Once I've visited and reviewed a pub I "Follow" it and always check subsequent reviews to see if there's any agreement or otherwise. I've been especially interested in what people made of the Olde Vic in Stockport as I thought it might be a Marmite pub.

[Mobyduck]

I think people in general don't get the difference between What Pub and PUG plus all the others. I wouldn't call the What Pub spiel a review but an objective description and apart from the Real Ale aspect of it an impartial one. All the other site spiel amounts to reviews, often a snapshot of the pub, usually based on a single visit and completely subjective. That's the way I like it. When I'm plotting visits to pubs I try and avoid reading the reviews on here but always (apartfrom JDWs) check out what beers I might expect via What Pub. I go through the PUG reviews when I'm trying to concoct a credible review from my own visit and seeing if I agree or disagree. I'm not saying that's the way everybody should operate but it's the way I do things. I only look at Farcebook, Tripping Advisor and (hardly ever) Google for info about closing or opening dates.

I use PUG more than any other source nowadays when putting together a crawl, having met a good few of the reviewers now personally I can get a good idea of the pub and whether it will be good for me or not based on their reviews, I only use what pub generally to check beers(if the PUG reviews are over a year old) and opening times, and these aren't always gospel.I used to use BITE with a hefty pinch of salt to get an overview, not now though and never Tripadvisor or Google.

[AlanH]

I use PUG more than any other source nowadays when putting together a crawl, having met a good few of the reviewers now personally I can get a good idea of the pub and whether it will be good for me or not based on their reviews, I only use what pub generally to check beers(if the PUG reviews are over a year old) and opening times, and these aren't always gospel.I used to use BITE with a hefty pinch of salt to get an overview, not now though and never Tripadvisor or Google.

Certainly don't use the GBG/What?ub App! This should be "confined to the past" because the information is.

I marked a pub as closed.
Time taken:
Pubs Galore 49 minutes
What Pub 3 days
GBG App 3 weeks and still not done!

[Aqualung]

I use PUG more than any other source nowadays when putting together a crawl, having met a good few of the reviewers now personally I can get a good idea of the pub and whether it will be good for me or not based on their reviews, I only use what pub generally to check beers(if the PUG reviews are over a year old) and opening times, and these aren't always gospel.I used to use BITE with a hefty pinch of salt to get an overview, not now though and never Tripadvisor or Google.

Certainly don't use the GBG/What?ub App! This should be "confined to the past" because the information is.

I marked a pub as closed.
Time taken:
Pubs Galore 49 minutes
What Pub 3 days
GBG App 3 weeks and still not done!

I've been to a fair number of pubs recently that have never been visited by PUG or if they have the visit was well over a year ago. That isn't meant as a criticism of this site as considering how few people are involved it is remarkably up to date. If it's a JDW or micropub it doesn't matter as I will go regardless of anyoone's opinion.
I think I've said before that What Pub and the GBG depend on how effective the local branch is, some are pretty sharp and some are pretty useless.
With the GBG it seems a shame that there are some branches that have to omit pubs that should be eligible while other branches literally scrape the bottom of the barrel to gain their full quota. I've also heard that some branches never remove an existing pub entry even if something new and better has emerged. That's a really stupid policy.