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Young’s was an important London brewery, and remains an important London brand, but it might be losing its place in the city’s language.
Back in the 1970s, Young’s, under the leadership of John Young, was a holdout against keg beer and its beers were championed by the Campaign for Real Ale. It even had its own fan club.
But when we first started blogging about beer, in 2007, things weren’t going so well.
The beer, people said, had been declining in quality for years, and wasn’t what it used to be in those early days of CAMRA.
In 2006, Young’s had sold a majority stake to Charles Wells, John Young died, and the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth closed. Production moved to Bedford.
It felt like the end of an era, especially as it took London down to just 9 breweries, 5 of which were brewpubs.
In the decade that followed, Charles Wells bought out Young & Co and the brewing brand and pub company became totally separate entities, though Young’s branded beer was still generally found in Young’s branded pubs.
What surprised us was the persistent fondness for the brand in London, and especially in South West London.
People really didn’t seem to care where it was brewed, or whether it was any good, as long as they could still buy a pint of ‘Ordinary’ (bitter), a pint of ‘Spesh’ (Special, the best bitter), and perhaps a bottle of ‘Ram’ (Ram Rod bottled strong ale).
Practical linguistics

That traditional insider vocabulary has always delighted us, and its persistence was a sign that Young’s fandom was clinging on as an idea and a sort of subculture.
Back in about 2013 we tried to order “Half a pint of Special in a pint glass and a bottle of Ram Rod, please,” only for the teenager behind the bar to reply, witheringly, “I do know what a Ram’n’Spesh is.”
At a Young’s pub in Wandsworth in 2022, with the pandemic still distorting the pub going experience, we were delighted to find Ram’n’Spesh as an option in the Young’s app we used to order beer to our table.
And even in Bristol, at The Highbury Vaults, we still seem to be able to order Ordinary and get a pint of Young’s Bitter – despite the fact it’s been renamed London Original.
But there are worrying signs.
A pint of what?

In more than one pub on recent trips to London we’ve found that the secret language of Young’s no longer works.
At The Lamb in Leadenhall Market, for example, asking for Ordinary baffled the bar staff. Asking for Ram Rod confused them, too.
Perhaps that’s because these days it’s less a pub for City clerks from the Surrey Side and more of an Instagram-worthy tourist attraction.
Or maybe Carlsberg-Marston’s, which owns the brewing brand, has started to enforce brand discipline.
Starbuck’s coffee shop staff are supposedly to repeat your order back in the correct brand language:
“A small black coffee, please.”
“A tall Americano?”
Something like that, perhaps.
After all, when you’re spending money marketing London Original you sure as hell want people to call it that, and ask for it by name.
And while ‘Ordinary’ strikes us rather a lovely bit of self-deprecating understatement, it’s perhaps not where you’d start if you’re naming a beer to stand out in the crowded market of 2024.
What’s your experience?

Have you successfully ordered a pint of Ordinary recently?
Or, on the flipside, encountered a member of bar staff who didn’t know what you were talking about?
We’ll keep testing the water when we’re in Young’s pubs, asking for Ordinary, and seeing what we get.
The secret language of Young’s is being lost originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog


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