Young's Gold / London Gold

[rpadam]

Does anybody what the difference is (if any) between Young's Gold and Young's London Gold?

Maybe they are the same thing, but there are two different pump clips out there (with the bottom half of 'London Gold' being mid-green in colour and the 'Gold' one being much darker and more blue/black).

Thinking about it, perhaps 'London Gold' is only sold in Young's pubs and 'Gold' in other outlets e.g. the rebranded Taylor Walker houses, where it seems to be a regular offering (in London, at least).

[RogerB]

As far as I know it's the same thing. There is no mention of 2 different ales on either the brewery web site or on any beer websites that I use. It was originally Kew Gold, brewed to celebrate Kew Garden's bicentennial with a donation given to the Garden upkeep with every pint sold. I had heard that the beer was so popular that W&Y decided to keep it as a permanent beer but the Kew Garden hierarchy didn't want any long term associations with beer hence the name change. I would guess that the London bit is a geographical relevance.

[Rex_Rattus]

I have to say that I had only noticed clips labelled "London Gold". I have been in a few Youngs and "Taylor Walker" pubs recently and haven't noticed Young's "Gold", but possibly I'm just being unobservant. My guess (and it's no more than a guess) is that they are the same thing and that some pubs are using old clips. In fact I thought that London Gold is a re-naming of Young's Kew Gold, and that Young's had to change the name as the result of protests from green, possibly teetotal, workers at Kew who objected to their world famous establishment being associated with the demon drink. I'm not sure where I heard it though, and it might be an urban myth. A good story though. Also a pretty good beer as well.

[rpadam]

I have to say that I had only noticed clips labelled "London Gold". I have been in a few Youngs and "Taylor Walker" pubs recently and haven't noticed Young's "Gold", but possibly I'm just being unobservant. My guess (and it's no more than a guess) is that they are the same thing and that some pubs are using old clips. In fact I thought that London Gold is a re-naming of Young's Kew Gold, and that Young's had to change the name as the result of protests from green, possibly teetotal, workers at Kew who objected to their world famous establishment being associated with the demon drink. I'm not sure where I heard it though, and it might be an urban myth. A good story though. Also a pretty good beer as well.

I am aware of the Kew Gold background, but the story I heard was that the Royal Botanical Gardens didn't grow sufficient hops to satisfy the demand for the new beer (first sold in bottled form in 2008(?), but then launched as a cask beer in 2009 to celebrate Kew's 250th anniversary). I seem to recall there then being some fuss about the "inspired by hops grown at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" marketing, though.

Bearing in mind that it is brewed in Bedford, perhaps the "London" bit of the name is now an issue too?

[Rex_Rattus]

Actually Kew Brew has been around a few years. The first time I encountered it, in bottled form, was in the summer of 2006 when the landlady of Ye Olde Cock Tavern in Fleet St gave me a bottle. Being given beer in a Central London pub is the sort of thing that doesn't happen every day, and tends to stick in your mind.

[rpadam]

I've now found a Young's Gold pump clip picture...

[RogerB]

looked at a photo of London Gold clip on the Youngs web site - both 4% so I think we can safely say they are the same ale.