Main bars drinks selection

[jfaragher]

12 hours ago, SighMo said:

Yes was thinking the same about EOTR. A good look a Green Man would also be a good shout. 

Also, Beautiful Days - Otter brewery runs all the bars (apart from Bimble) and they bring a pretty wide and varied selection of beers and ciders.

[Wooderson]

1 hour ago, incident said:

Neither are anywhere near acceptable.

Im resigned to the fact Michael doesnt give a shite about beer at his shindig. He's purely running numbers and would scoff puritanically at anyone that says otherwise.

[Raincatcher]

9 minutes ago, incident said:

I don't accept that it has to be 3-4%. But even if you accept that arbitrary limitation, then Amstel would be infinitely better than either Tuborg or Carlsberg, or if they still make it, Becks have/had a pretty decent 4% version. Even Coors Light or Carling would be better than Tuborg / Carlsberg - hell, the only beer in that part of the market that I actually think is worse is Bud.

But as I say, I don't accept that it needs to be 3-4%. A large chunk, possibly a majority, of the cans people are bringing in are around 5% and other festivals are able to have a 5% lager as the standard offering.

 

I take your Bud and I raise you Carling

[Havors]

7 minutes ago, incident said:

I don't accept that it has to be 3-4%. But even if you accept that arbitrary limitation, then Amstel would be infinitely better than either Tuborg or Carlsberg, or if they still make it, Becks have/had a pretty decent 4% version. Even Coors Light or Carling would be better than Tuborg / Carlsberg - hell, the only beer in that part of the market that I actually think is worse is Bud.

But as I say, I don't accept that it needs to be 3-4%. A large chunk, possibly a majority, of the cans people are bringing in are around 5% and other festivals are able to have a 5% lager as the standard offering.

 

Well its about cost as well... not just about it being under a certain strength. 5% larger costs a lot more and get you shit faced quicker.... something they don't want. Drink aware and all that Jazz.

Carling charge a lot more than Tuborg (Carlsberg) I have dealt with breweries. Plus Carling sponsor certain festivals... Glasto avoid shit like that. 

It does have to be around that mark as once you get to a certain strength it becomes a premium lager and the amount you can drink and not be over the limit changes. I've never been to a festival were the standard lager is 5%... ever.... 

You dont like Tuborg we get it.... Don't assume just because you don't like it they shouldn't sell it. 

[incident]

4 minutes ago, Wooderson said:

Im resigned to the fact Michael doesnt give a shite about beer at his shindig. He's purely running numbers and would scoff puritanically at anyone that says otherwise.

To be fair, the lager situation has improved to an almost unrecognisable extent over the past 10 years or so, which means I don't moan about this anywhere near as loudly as I used to.

In 2009 we had Tuborg at every bar with maybe 3 or 4 bars or site also selling Carlsberg Export as a so called "premium" option and that was the sum total of lager on sale.

Nowadays you have Carlsberg as standard, which is a very minor step up from Tuborg, but you also have San Miguel as a "premium" option which isn't my first choice but is perfectly acceptable, and you can get it at about a third of the bars so you shouldn't have to walk too much further.. Then you've got the excellent offering in the Theatre field with some proper choices.

[The Nal]

2 minutes ago, incident said:

To be fair, the lager situation has improved to an almost unrecognisable extent over the past 10 years or so, which means I don't moan about this anywhere near as loudly as I used to.

In 2009 we had Tuborg at every bar with maybe 3 or 4 bars or site also selling Carlsberg Export as a so called "premium" option and that was the sum total of lager on sale.

Nowadays you have Carlsberg as standard, which is a very minor step up from Tuborg, but you also have San Miguel as a "premium" option which isn't my first choice but is perfectly acceptable, and you can get it at about a third of the bars so you shouldn't have to walk too much further.. Then you've got the excellent offering in the Theatre field with some proper choices.

Its an ok improvement. San Miguel is complete otters piss. 

[incident]

6 minutes ago, Havors said:

It does have to be around that mark as once you get to a certain strength it becomes a premium lager and the amount you can drink and not be over the limit changes. I've never been to a festival were the standard lager is 5%... ever....

That surprises me. Various festivals have Heineken or Red Stripe as standard, which are both around 5% (think Red Stripe is a shade under)

And that's without counting places like Bearded Theory who go all out to get a cracking range in.

[Raincatcher]

14 minutes ago, incident said:

That surprises me. Various festivals have Heineken or Red Stripe as standard, which are both around 5% (think Red Stripe is a shade under)

And that's without counting places like Bearded Theory who go all out to get a cracking range in.

'Premium' beers (those 5%abv+) are taxed at a higher rater than 'standard' beers. This resulted in all the usual beers known for being around 5%, Stella, San Miguel, Heineken etc having different abv in the UK when compared to Europe.

[Havors]

17 minutes ago, incident said:

That surprises me. Various festivals have Heineken or Red Stripe as standard, which are both around 5% (think Red Stripe is a shade under)

And that's without counting places like Bearded Theory who go all out to get a cracking range in.

Yeah maybe smaller festivals it works as they arent catering to 100's of thousands of people haha! The cheap lager is much more mass produced and is cheaper, as well as lower ABV being cheaper as a whole. Don't get me wrong id love something like Red Stripe as the main lager myself but don't think it would be financially viable. 

 

[Havors]

Just now, Raincatcher said:

'Premium' beers (those 5%abv+) are taxed at a higher rater than 'standard' beers. This resulted in all the usual beers known for being around 5%, Stella, San Miguel, Heineken etc having different abv in the UK when compared to Europe.

Yes this ^^

[hurdy]

1 hour ago, Havors said:

And what would be?? Considering it has to be a 3-4% standard lager to cater to the masses.... 

Pravha. 4%, brewed by Staropramen. Perfectly acceptable. 

[compactdisc]

5 minutes ago, Raincatcher said:

'Premium' beers (those 5%abv+) are taxed at a higher rater than 'standard' beers. This resulted in all the usual beers known for being around 5%, Stella, San Miguel, Heineken etc having different abv in the UK when compared to Europe.

Beer duty is charged by % (19.08p per 1%) - the rate only increases if above 7.5%. So a 5% beer is taxed at the same rate as a 4.5% one - you just pay an extra 9.54p for the 0.5%..

Edited April 16, 2019 by compactdisc

[stuartbert two hats]

54 minutes ago, incident said:

I don't accept that it has to be 3-4%. But even if you accept that arbitrary limitation, then Amstel would be infinitely better than either Tuborg or Carlsberg, or if they still make it, Becks have/had a pretty decent 4% version. Even Coors Light or Carling would be better than Tuborg / Carlsberg - hell, the only beer in that part of the market that I actually think is worse is Bud.

But as I say, I don't accept that it needs to be 3-4%. A large chunk, possibly a majority, of the cans people are bringing in are around 5% and other festivals are able to have a 5% lager as the standard offering.

 

Woah woah woah, let's not get carried away.

[Havors]

1 minute ago, hurdy said:

Pravha. 4%, brewed by Staropramen. Perfectly acceptable. 

I dont think any disagrees there is a lot of nicer lagers around but its not just about whats nicer. Can Pravha cater for 200,000 people at a festival do they even brew enough? haha plus its probably much more expensive than tuborg which is brewed in UK. 

[Raincatcher]

17 minutes ago, compactdisc said:

Beer duty is charged by % (19.08p per 1%) - the rate only increases if above 7.5%. So a 5% beer is taxed at the same rate as a 4.5% one - you just pay an extra 9.54p for the 0.5%..

Things have obviously changed since I was an off-licence manager in the late 2000s ? thanks for the correction

[clarkete]

13 hours ago, H.M.V said:

 

It's the pennard organic wine stall on the walk towards Avalon. Always stop for something refreshing either hot or cold depending on the weather

There are wine places too with huge inflatable wine bottles on top. Sure there's one on west holts and another somewhere. Memory is flaky but they definitely also sell prosecco. They will sell you a bottle but obviously has to be decanted first and about 30 of your fine English pounds. Might be worth investing in some water bottles. 

The plastic bottle aspect doesn't cater so well for the prosecco unfortunately, but as you say they definitely do glasses, as do some other bars.

I've looked at tinned prosecco before, but I don't think it's either nice or commonplace.

Edited April 16, 2019 by clarkete

[Badlands]

Carlsberg have relaunched as 'Carlsberg Danish Pilsner'. Has anyone tested it yet, they reckon it's a new recipe. I'm willing to give it a chance.

[Sawdusty surfer]

On 4/16/2019 at 11:24 AM, compactdisc said:

Beer duty is charged by % (19.08p per 1%) - the rate only increases if above 7.5%. So a 5% beer is taxed at the same rate as a 4.5% one - you just pay an extra 9.54p for the 0.5%..

Which is why Carlsberg Special Brew dropped from 9% to 8% and now  +shock horror+ to 7.5%

Is nothing sacred? 

(No, I'm not a Brew Head but there IS a time and a place for everything. We'd always have a couple of four packs in the back of the fridge at Glastonbury just in case the moment arrived)

[compactdisc]

10 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

Which is why Carlsberg Special Brew dropped from 9% to 8% and now  +shock horror+ to 7.5%

Is nothing sacred? 

(No, I'm not a Brew Head but there IS a time and a place for everything. We'd always have a couple of four packs in the back of the fridge at Glastonbury just in case the moment arrived)

Having just done some further research (lacking motivation to do any real work this week), it also explains why Old Rosie is 6.8% - with an increased rate for any cider above 6.9%!

[clarkete]

25 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

(No, I'm not a Brew Head but there IS a time and a place for everything. We'd always have a couple of four packs in the back of the fridge at Glastonbury just in case the moment arrived)

Ha ha, what moment is that?

I've only ever met one person who drank it very regularly (about 30 years ago) and he was a bit of an alcoholic.

[PorkSoda]

On 4/16/2019 at 11:26 AM, stuartbert two hats said:

Woah woah woah, let's not get carried away.

Yeah totally agree Coors light would be the end. Wish they could update to at least amstel or even stella. Red stripe would be a great alternative they did ape last year. I'm sure brewdog have capacity to offer on mass

[The Clearest Blue]

I'm pretty sure every bar I went to over the last few festivals have served Otter Ale, might not be everyone's cup-of-tea but I thought it was tasty enough. Maybe it's just because I'm already drunk that I don't mind it though, might source some over the weekend and give it a try without drunken festival goggles-tastebuds.

[Skelts]

49 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

Which is why Carlsberg Special Brew dropped from 9% to 8% and now  +shock horror+ to 7.5%

Is nothing sacred? 

(No, I'm not a Brew Head but there IS a time and a place for everything. We'd always have a couple of four packs in the back of the fridge at Glastonbury just in case the moment arrived)

I used to shot gun that when I was considerably younger and much much dumber!

[BambooShanks]

23 minutes ago, clarkete said:

Ha ha, what moment is that?

Like Buckfast, Special Brew is one of those utility drinks that's only to be used when you *need* to get ruined in the most efficient and nastiest way possible with no regard for your health or wellbeing.

There are certainly moments where this is necessary.  They just aren't the prettiest moments.

[jfaragher]

44 minutes ago, clarkete said:

Ha ha, what moment is that?

Effectively bridges the gap between drinking pints and needing to piss every 45 minutes and accidentally drinking too much whiskey because its in your hand and you keep reflexively taking a nip...