To wish my local would stop offering so much 'yellow' beer and start to offer some more traditional brown stuff ?

[vienna1981]

Local pub always has five pumps put aside for guest cask ales. If all five are available it's highly likely that at least four will be of the blonde/pale/golden genre, i.e. yellow-coloured witchpiss. Great if you like that stuff - probably aimed at lager drinkers - but no good for traditionalists like me. Why is the dark, flavourful, full-bodied beer so often overlooked by this (chain) pub ?

Nothing wrong with wetherspoon beer, worked for them years ago, and their cellars are maintained far better than most pubs I worked in. They are also a big champion of microbreweries and more often than not are stocking at least one or two local ales.

It is likely that lighter ales are stocked because that is what sells.

I'm fed up of IPA and its variants, it's bloody everywhere, crowding out the other styles. Even in Holland where I live, where you used to get all the wonderful Belgian beers, you're now seeing endless IPA. I hope this fad passes soon. Give me a dark, sour beer anytime!

n0ne have u tried Duchesse? Bottled, dark, sour. It's belgian but I can find it in the UK, so I'm sure it's available in Holland.

I still mourn the passing of Rodenbach Alexander

To me Wetherspoons and beer can be summed up with this conversation;
Barmaid: what drink would you like with your meal?
Me: what beers do you have?
Barmaid: Carling, Fosters and Stella
Me: those are lagers
Barmaid: what's the difference?
Me:....

I'm really lucky, in our city we've got new real ale pubs opening up all over the place.

Pipbin. There is but it's more expensive than Spoons. I might just have to bite the bullet.

Perhaps the rise of the microbrewery is, ironically, partly responsible. There have been so many over recent years with significant success that there is limited scope to be original so the breweries make, as has been suggested here, for the stuff that sells in order to stay in business. Hardly a stout, mild or best bitter in sight but plenty of yellow. The Ilkley Brewery is near me and they don't make a single brew that appeals to me which is a shame because they seem be favoured in local Spoon pubs. Not surprisingly. Mary Jane is absolutely foul.

Back in the day, when pubs were largely owned by the likes of Allied Breweries and Bass Charrington, there was limited choice but greater guarantee of a quality and tasty pint. Tetley Bitter and Mild at The Queen on Burley Road (now a sodding Tesco ). Fantastic. Best beer in Leeds. Not yellow.

YANBU

I'm a drinker of the yellow witchpiss and favour the citrussy, summery ales that proper beer drinkers dislike so much.

I like variety and I also like my brown beer drinking friends (and husband) not to be giving out that ignoramuses like me have triumphed.

This is why you should move to Belgium!

Are Leffe and Pelforth Bruin Belgian beers ?

Leffe is, I think.

Fretyenot, if the staff are that uneducated you should speak to the manager. It certainly hasn't been my experience. I love going into my local and having a choice of a dozen real ales, including some craft beers on draught as well as a huge choice of bottles beers.

Leffe isass produced by the same can as Stella Artpis. Pelforth is I think manufactured in Marseille.

Mass produced by the same company, sorry.

I remember seeing bars in north east France years ago selling Pelforth, Leffe and Kanterbrau. It never occurred to me that they may not be French breweries.

Back to the local Spoons and, in fairness to the staff, they largely concede that the choice of cask beer is poor with too much concentration on one or two similar styles. Trouble is they're powerless to do anything about it. I've yet to speak to the Manager but he never seems to be there that much. On one occasion customers could complete a form suggesting beers they would like to see being sold. I had some success when a barrel Old Speckled Hen appeared after (at least) my suggestion. Sadly, I haven't seen OSH since and the customer suggestion scheme has also stopped !

Managers in spoons don't have any buying power, I imagine their ale range is based on throughputs, and whilst they'll probably have a perm amber/dark ale on this time of year the goldens are pretty popular. Also spoons aren't traditional proper ale pubs, so they'll need product to do the volume, as a tub of ale will be out of date within 3 days. I have to say though I've been impressed with the range of lager (and ale) by my local weather spoons in recent times, the beer festivals are also not too shabby.

If you want decent real ale in your area pick up a copy of the Camra good beer guide, it will details all your local Camra pubs - I've found some cracking local ales this way.

I suspected that the Pub Managers have little, or no, say in what beer they serve. So it would therefore be equally pointless querying this issue with the fellow in question.

Can I reiterate for clarity's sake, I don't have a problem with quality at Spoons. I have little doubt that the yellow beer is perfectly good but it's not going to be everybody's taste. There should, therefore, be an adequate choice so different tastes are accommodated. There isn't an adequate choice in this particular Spoons and THAT is the problem, not quality. Goodness knows Spoons must have substantial buying power so it can't be that difficult to source a good variety.

I'll concede it may have been just that one member of staff in that particular 'Spoons.

Vienna, have you been to The Angel in Leeds, they sell dark mild for less than £2 a pint, it's always heaving in there though.

I have been to The Angel but not for years. As a Sam Smith pub it's probably the cheapest in Leeds.

Not tried the Mild but the Extra stout is first class.

North bar in Leeds has a great selection also, lots of foreign beers available too

And Sam smiths are great - I love the chocolate stout.

It's also not witchpiss season. Summer brews are coming in, and they tend to be lighter and hoppier.

Although YADBU to drink in a Wethers.

The 'summer' brews are sold all year round in this pub. I have no issue with Spoons per se, apart from long-term decor and maintenance. Just this particular one and it's limited range.

I'll put North Bar on the list.

Ooo haven't had a Sam Smith beer in forever! Don't think I could find one down here in essex!

holdon...You could try central London. Apparently Sam Smiths have substantial property ownership there, including Canary Wharf, so one of their pubs might be lurking somewhere. The thing with SS pubs is their external anonymity, so they can be hard to find wherever they are.

Tonight in my regular Spoon, out of five guest ales, we have three pales, one golden and one amber, whatever that is. To hell with it. I'm having Abbot Ale.