Bloody Awful Beer Of The Week

[Wittenden]

Somewhere, in the dark recesses of my wardrobe, probably towards the Narnia end, still lies a battered Timothy Taylor tee shirt in that familiar shade of green. In the nineties, I used to wear it virtually all the time, such was my love of Landlord. However, these days I'm totally indifferent to the beer and am definitely in the Aqualung, SH and Moby camp. Unfortunately, and it breaks my heart to say it, it just isn't what it once was.

I don't remember it from that far back,except as a nortern rarity. In theory, I stll drink it,but rarely do, as usually there is something more interesting. However I do enjoy Golden Best.
Update: inspection of the database suggests my last nine experiences of Landlord were no more than "good".I am still to try it in a Taylor's tied house.

[Thuck Phat]

Somewhere, in the dark recesses of my wardrobe, probably towards the Narnia end, still lies a battered Timothy Taylor tee shirt in that familiar shade of green. In the nineties, I used to wear it virtually all the time, such was my love of Landlord. However, these days I'm totally indifferent to the beer and am definitely in the Aqualung, SH and Moby camp. Unfortunately, and it breaks my heart to say it, it just isn't what it once was.

[oldboots]

I'm a bit on the fence with Landlord, I still enjoy a pint quite often.

I wouldn't place it anywhere near BOBOTW but have to admit I find it, or my taste buds, has changed, I now find it too toffee/biscuity with the Crystal Malt predominating. I suspect I am suffering from Lupulin Threshold Shift after several years of hop abuse, not sure how this would apply to Thuck Phat with his Oakham addiction. I may have to reset my taste buds with a serious course of BBBs.

Agreed Boddingtons, Bombardier and Doom Bar go in the same box as Deuchars and GK IPA, Tetleys isn't too bad now it's a Black Country beer, and 6X just tastes "appley" to me.

[Mobyduck]

Somewhere, in the dark recesses of my wardrobe, probably towards the Narnia end, still lies a battered Timothy Taylor tee shirt in that familiar shade of green. In the nineties, I used to wear it virtually all the time, such was my love of Landlord. However, these days I'm totally indifferent to the beer and am definitely in the Aqualung, SH and Moby camp. Unfortunately, and it breaks my heart to say it, it just isn't what it once was.

To be fair I have only drunk it down south, the best one fairly recently in Salisbury, but at £4.00 a pint they can keep it, is there a north /south divide?

[oldboots]

To be fair I have only drunk it down south, the best one fairly recently in Salisbury, but at £4.00 a pint they can keep it, is there a north /south divide?

Would that be in The Village ? I enjoyed many fine pints of Landlord there when I lived in Hampshire.

Local (North Yorks) prices for Landlord are usually above average being about £3.25 in the posher places, although I paid £3.60 in a foody pub in an exclusive village the other day. On the other hand I paid £2.50 for an outstanding Boltmaker in a privately owned freehouse in my local area. I can't remember what I last paid in the Boltmakers Arms, Keighley, I had Ram Tam anyway (Landlord with extra caramel) but it would have been around £3. I've paid more for dreadful pints in Leeds of course. Places like Pudsey, Shipley and Castleford seem to be cheaper but there's a reason for that

[Mobyduck]

Would that be in The Village ? I enjoyed many fine pints of Landlord there when I lived in Hampshire.

Local (North Yorks) prices for Landlord are usually above average being about £3.25 in the posher places, although I paid £3.60 in a foody pub in an exclusive village the other day. On the other hand I paid £2.50 for an outstanding Boltmaker in a privately owned freehouse in my local area. I can't remember what I last paid in the Boltmakers Arms, Keighley, I had Ram Tam anyway (Landlord with extra caramel) but it would have been around £3. I've paid more for dreadful pints in Leeds of course. Places like Pudsey, Shipley and Castleford seem to be cheaper but there's a reason for that

No it was here ,a rather poncey place and well over priced, wouldn't go back despite the nice pint.
Ram Tam has been my favorite T.T beer for some years, rare down south but was available on a regular basis here until a couple of years ago when there was a fall out with the brewery. I was shocked however to find out only a few months ago it is just "doctored Landlord".

[london calling]

No it was here ,a rather poncey place and well over priced, wouldn't go back despite the nice pint.
Ram Tam has been my favorite T.T beer for some years, rare down south but was available on a regular basis here until a couple of years ago when there was a fall out with the brewery. I was shocked however to find out only a few months ago it is just "doctored Landlord".

The Bricklayers stopped selling Landlord as they had so many problems with beer being set back to the brewery.Taylors had given the distribution contract to a new delivery company about 6 months previous which seemed to affect the end product.

[sheffield hatter]

Interesting one and I'm aware that this is something of a thread de-rail as whatever Landlord is, I don't believe that it warrants BABOTW. I don't have the same enthusiasm for the other beers mentioned by Mr. Hatter which seem to be well placed here.

Not a lot of people on this site will have drunk Boddingtons in its pre-bland form. I used to live in Lancaster in the 70s and 80s, and drank it in the bar at my college, and in pubs in Morecambe, Galgate and Preston. It was a really distinctive beer, with what I characterise as a "dirty" taste. Not citrussy like most modern straw-coloured beers, and certainly not bland. Tetleys bitter at its best was similar in having that "dirty" taste. This was in the days of local beers for local palates - the beers didn't sell outside their local area, so when the accountants took over, they blandified the beers and relied on advertising to get people to drink them.

I completely agree that Landlord now faces much more and more interesting competition and I often overlook it because of this. Recent Landlord revisits have been richly rewarded though and I've often been surprised at how good it is. Memory often plays tricks but I don't think it's changed much over the years and still believe that, if well kept, it's as good as it ever was. I've also noticed that the more you have the more hoppy it becomes.

Ah, the sign of a really good beer. I used to drink it at the Eagle in Leeds in the 90s on my way home from work, and would also get a four pint carry out - definitely my favourite beer at that time, even though I lived in a Tetleys town. Nowadays I can't even get past the first half, never mind four.

I've enjoyed it recently here, here, here and here. Those are just the places that spring to mind rather than the result of a thorough trawl. The best and most reliable place where I've had TT beers though is here. The Landlord is sublime and improves as it goes down.

I was in the Woolly Sheep and the Boltmakers not so long ago, but I drank one of the other Timothy Taylor beers - I'll bear it in mind for a revisit.

Thanks for taking the trouble to send a detailed reply.

[Thuck Phat]

I suspect I am suffering from Lupulin Threshold Shift after several years of hop abuse, not sure how this would apply to Thuck Phat with his Oakham addiction.

My doctor gave me some foul smelling shampoo for that and told me to apply it in a hot bath. It worked and I've enjoyed several BBBs recently including Landlord if it fits into that category.

I was in the Woolly Sheep and the Boltmakers not so long ago, but I drank one of the other Timothy Taylor beers - I'll bear it in mind for a revisit.

Thanks for taking the trouble to send a detailed reply.

No problem. I saw your reviews of those two and really do hope that the Landlord doesn't disappoint if you revisit.

[Aqualung]

I don't often post a BABOTW of my own on here as most rubbish beer (excluding sours) is poor because for whatever reason it's not been served in good condition. On my last night in Wales I was determined to try the budget option which was Hancock's HB. There seems to be doubt about the strength of it, I'm sure it said 3.5% in the pub, Google reveals 3.6% and the GBG says 3.7%. Whatever, it cost £2.40 and wasn't worth half of that. It came up clear, fresh and looked fine. The trouble was that the only taste was a weak malty flavour with no hop flavour or aroma whatsoever. It made the usual roll call of boring brown beers seem positively interesting. It's brewed by Brains for the global abomination Molson Coors. I can only think that Brains must think that because it doesn't have their name on it people won't associate it with them.