Does beer taste worse than before?

[Dave Parry]

I went to a pub in England this evening, for the first time in 100 days. It was my usual after tennis pint with my mates at the local and I was quite looking forward to a Timothy Taylor Landlord.

However, huge disappointment. The beer tasted like some of my home brew when I drink it too soon. Is it possible in the rush to get stocks in to pubs, that it’s still a bit green?

I tried a pint of Green King IPA too. Same taste.

Anyone else?

 

[thesteve]

Lost your sense of taste, Dave?

 

[Galena]

There is a tendency to serve ale colder these days, too cold and it loses some of its finer flavour imo. There is also a tendency to serve all ales with a sparkler fitted to give some sort of head to ales that were not supposed to have a head.
Some beers have changed over the years, Marstons Pedigree and Draught Bass to name two example. They changed the formula over the years, pedigree is now is a mere shadow of it's former self re-formulated for landlords who don't know how to keep real ale. Coors let the yeast strain die for Draught Bass so that will never be the same again.
Not sure as any of these apply to yourself though as it seems more short term, maybe the taste buds were off.

 

[Dave Parry]

Lost your sense of taste, Dave?

I've had the antibody test (privately) and tested positive from early March! It definitely tasted of something - just not the Landlord I thought I remembered. Perhaps rose-tinted taste bud memory.

 

[nixhaz]

Maybe they are trying to get rid of old stock

 

[micklupulo]

I sometimes experience beers I am familiar with, and know how they should taste, having an over sharp and one dimensional taste with not much else to counterbalance the bitterness and suspect this is due to barrels not being left to stand for long enough before being tapped. At one pub I know the landlord ran out of beer that he was prepared to serve one night and explained he had barrels in stock which had not stood for long enough. Frustrating at the time but the upside is that you never get a bad pint there!

 

[Galena]

My taste buds also seem to change depending on time of day and other factors so a beer that tastes fantastic on one occasion may not be quite as I remembered it the next.

 

[NPi]

I went to a pub in England this evening, for the first time in 100 days. It was my usual after tennis pint with my mates at the local and I was quite looking forward to a Timothy Taylor Landlord.

However, huge disappointment. The beer tasted like some of my home brew when I drink it too soon. Is it possible in the rush to get stocks in to pubs, that it’s still a bit green?

I tried a pint of Green King IPA too. Same taste.

Anyone else?

It may be a result of the lines. With pubs closed for so long, there are 4 options for the pubs, leave them in water/air/beer/cleaner. It sounds like the line could have been left with cleaner in, tainting the line...

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Maybe they are trying to get rid of old stock

I thought the same.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I went to a pub in England this evening, for the first time in 100 days. It was my usual after tennis pint with my mates at the local and I was quite looking forward to a Timothy Taylor Landlord.

However, huge disappointment. The beer tasted like some of my home brew when I drink it too soon. Is it possible in the rush to get stocks in to pubs, that it’s still a bit green?

I tried a pint of Green King IPA too. Same taste.

Anyone else?

green king ipa isnt beer or ipa for that matter

 

[terrym]

Cask beer is essentially a live product and will be subject to all sorts of things that affect it taste. How old it it is, cellar management are obvious but there must be several others. Years ago I did a King And Barnes ale trail one evening and supped their Sussex bitter in at least five of their pubs and what's stuck with me was how variable it was from nearly going back to really good.

 

[TheDaysy]

Some of the smaller breweries I use at work had to send me out 1 or 2 barrels ready to go and the rest in need of conditioning for a few days to a week, or in one case beer that was put in the cask that morning, perhaps this was a lager brewery sending it out and hoping nobody noticed.

 

[George Hawkins]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment Dave!
I would have said either the lines or the cask was tapped too soon and did not have chance to properly condition on the stillage. An indicator for this can be flat beer.

 

[Galena]

Cask beer is essentially a live product and will be subject to all sorts of things that affect it taste. How old it it is, cellar management are obvious but there must be several others. Years ago I did a King And Barnes ale trail one evening and supped their Sussex bitter in at least five of their pubs and what's stuck with me was how variable it was from nearly going back to really good.

This is very true and going back as far as I can remember I have been served some pretty awful cask ale over the years