And before the smart bottoms say, no not there

I have seen mention here about John Smith's Smooth, normally not in a positive way, I am one of the culprits I admit

However it set me thinking, back hundreds of years to my yoof and the memory of just how lovely Worthington E and Red Barrel, Drum Mild etc was at the time

Back then, when pubs were doing you a favour if they even had crisps for sale, and a stale cheese roll was considered haute cuisine by most publicans, beer from many a pub was slopped up with grubby bits floating in vinegary liquid, sometimes to rub it in you got a glass with lipstick on it as well

Now obviously this was all down to the publican not looking after the beer in the real wooden barrels, some were good but an good many were not, thus when Keg came along it was nectar in relation to the previous offerings

Since then CAMRA was born and real ale has made a comeback, but now those who serve it [or most] know they have to look after it, and many take pride in doing so. The rest stick to keg thus saving us the bother of winnowing out the chaff when making our pub selection