I had a few when down in Torquay the other month. They weren't that great, though some had a sweet, heavyish taste, almost Scottish in tone. Another issue is that they tended to crop up in lower-grade pubs. Hard to build up volumes and repeat custom if 50% of your ale is cack when served...Originally Posted by Aqualung
Quite right, the 60 barrel brew house is in fact a 15, he produces 60 FIRKINS a brew. A barrel is 36 gallons, not 9. Maybe someone should point that out...
It will be interesting to see if the error is perpetuated in the imminent 2015 guide.
This was my overall impression. Why did he need his own bottling kit? We never really saw what the different beers all are but it sounds like the Devon Dreamer (it's called Denbury Dreamer in the 2014 guide) is a pale hoppy beer. If it's his best seller then what was the purpose of the blind tasting with just a small group of people?
Because Stuart Howe didn't really like it that much, preferring the Royal Hunt. The small group contained some beer bloggers and (beer?) sommeliers and so were probably well up on the current beer scene. They also preferred the Royal Hunt signalling to AP that was the beer to concentrate on. It was reckoned that Devon Dreamer's popularity was largely down to its name
'And where he supped the past lived still. And where he sipped the glass brimmed full' John Barleycorn, Carol Ann Duffy.
It also sounds to me like Devon Dreamer is a "summer" style beer which given the brewery's proximity to the South Devon resorts would make it a popular choice at the height of the tourist season. I don't suppose these "experts" or the muppet from Sharp's even took that into account. Doom Bore isn't popular because of any quality it has but because they are part of a global corporation that has the power to muscle their way into the pubcos. Sadly that also includes Wetherspoons. I have to admit I almost lost the will to live when they dragged Sharp's into the programme.
I watched the programme and clearly editing can produce a "story line " which paints the central subject in a poor light.However he did seem to lack a lot of basic business skills,but I warmed to the man when in conversation with his wife a long way from camera essentially saying why would anyone take note of the tasting opinion of the person responsible for brewing Doom Bar.
The piece of the programme I found interesting was in the design studio and the ideas to change the confused branding used hitherto by Hunters.
It's such a crowded market and although you need to brew decent ale (jury out on this regarding Hunters) it seems vital to present the right marketing image in a consistent manner.Food for thought there for any aspiring micro,especially when so many pump clips seem to confuse the customer by being overburdened with colours,images,verbage ,strange fonts and weird shapes. Or is it just me ?
"Good people drink good beer" Hunter S Thompson
Just watched it. Quite funny really, all the guff about rebranding hasn't hit Torquay yet (I was there a couple of months back), all the pumps where I spotted his beer were all old style ones. So clearly the marketing/organisational side is still fairly backward.
That bottling machine 'debacle' was quite sad but I do wonder which company was making it. There are a number that offer the service....
It's worth a view.
Proof of the pudding is in the eating ,so to speak.
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
-W.C.Fields
This was one thing I totally agreed with. London brewers like Redemption and even the new kid Wild Card have very recogonisable style pump clips so that a casual glance will immediately show the presence of their beer on a bar. Of course this also has the unwanted effect where a punter that doesn't like the brewery can quickly rule it out as an option.
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