Retro Drinks

[arwkrite]

As much as we all like to denigrate them the likes of Red Barrel, Double Diamond, Worthington E and Whitbread Trophy were commercial successes. They must have been, me and my mates drank enough of it. They were affordable, did not poison you if you were sensible and did not taste to bad. But being a youngster back then what did I know. I remember some of the real ales being bloody awful. Keg was the thing to drink but we shall put that down to the tastes of youth.
I think you have all mentioned the odd drinks I remember. The girls all wanted Cherry B ( anyone recall Cherry Heering ? ) ,Ponies,or half a cider. If they wanted Brandy and Babychamp you dumped them fast. No point in spoiling them.

[Soup Dragon]

does anyone remember Bezique?

[Oggwyn Trench]

does anyone remember Bezique?

Yes , the Bridge in Trench had a promotion night , two very fit young ladies (must have been low paid , they had hardly any clothes) offered Bezique round to the regulars , it didnt mix well with Bankss Mild , 10 pints with Bezique chasers = 1 bad head the next day

[hopwas]

does anyone remember Bezique?

Never heard of it.

What is it? Please enlighten us young people...

[rpadam]

I was in the decent Wieden Bräu brew pub in Vienna earlier this week and had a krugerl (50 cl) of 'gemischtes' ('mixed') which is served as a blend of their Helles (light) and Dunkel (dark) beers. I've never come across this 'arf'n'arf-type mixture on the continent before so don't know whether it is actually a retro beer style or not...

[General Staal]

I was out in Birmingham again last night with my brothers and they mentioned that as well as Brown and Mild, they used to drink Light and Bitter. They said it was a bottle of Light Ale poured into a half of Bitter.

I would love to try this, but can anyone enlighten me as to what I would be asking for if I wanted a bottle of Light Ale?

[General Staal]

Never heard of it.

What is it? Please enlighten us young people...

Bezique was made by Bacardi in the 70s and 80s. It was apparently a mix of rum, lemon and lime...

[Oggwyn Trench]

Bezique was made by Bacardi in the 70s and 80s. It was apparently a mix of rum, lemon and lime...

Very herby as i remember , it was in the same style as Taboo and the like

[General Staal]

Brown ale (but not Newcastle Brown) is (in most cases was) the bottle version of mild, as light ale is of bitter. I see from Ratebeer Manns is now brewed at Burtonwood.

You're lucky to find anyone who knows what a light and bitter is nowadays, let alone brown and mild.

I haven't come across anyone drinking lager and lime for ages.

If I wanted to recreate Light and Bitter at home, I could buy a can of Banks's but what would I need in the bottle? Can you give me an example, please?

[NickDavies]

If I wanted to recreate Light and Bitter at home, I could buy a can of Banks's but what would I need in the bottle? Can you give me an example, please?

Another can of Bank's. The main point of light and bitter was to liven up tired warm real ale in the days when much real ale was tired and warm and in London something like Courage Best or Charrington's IPA. Keg bitter - effectively draught light ale - and lager reduced the need to do that, and nowadays thanks to things like cellar cooling and, dare I say it, cask breathers, real ale is far more likely to be in a presentable condition despite poor cellarmanship.

There was, of course, another reason for having light and bitter. You almost always got a 'good' half of bitter in the glass and therefore a fair bit more than a pint, apart from one or two miserable tight guvnors who insisted on tipping the bottle in first, or one I remember who had pint bottles of light ale to top the pint up with.