Worst commercial beer

[Lesinge]

Funny that John Smith's and Tetley's though rightly reviled in their current form used to be really, really good session beers. Something definitely went wrong about the time of the nitrokeg fad in the 90s, or was it when S&N bought Courage and Carlsberg bought Tetley's? Since then they've just tasted 'cheap', like they reduced the hops to a mere whiff and replaced malt with some chemical equivalent and sugar. I used to love the sulphorous eggy smell of a good Tetleys. Not any more, not for a long time. Landlord's going the same way. Used to be great, now becoming thin and flavourless.

I agree with all the genuine bad-un's quoted here: Carling, Fosters, Carlsberg, GK IPA (really?), anything with a supermarket label on it.

I had a girlfriend from yorkshire back in the early 80s and loved visiting her folks to drink draught Tetleys. Wouldn't touch that stuff in a can now, would give me a right old stomach ache with all that gas pumped in. Boddingtons are the same.

 

[chub1]

I've made a few stouts but never been a big Guinness drinker or anything.. I always though extra cold seemed self defeating.. anyone had one to confirm? Seems like a marketing campaign to sell even more tasteless beer

I too like stout's. Not adverse to a Guiness now and then,not the extra cold though:nono:.
Did a few fishing trips to the republic in the past and the Guiness was way superior to what it was here.

 

[Ale]

No, but I'd have a shiny, shiny, braumeister. What's not to like! :lol:

Dont sell that situation short.

You'd have a shiny, shiny Braumeister, all the time you want to brew and enough money to do what you want

 

[hoptoit]

I too like stout's. Not adverse to a Guiness now and then,not the extra cold though:nono:.
Did a few fishing trips to the republic in the past and the Guiness was way superior to what it was here.

Can agree with that. Had fishing trips back in Ireland late 80s and even then it was way better.
That stuff they put on the cold pumps I've always avoided like the s***** end of a barge pole.

 

[shepp]

I think the issue with these tasteless beers like John's Smith's, Worthington Creamflow, Guinness and all the standard Lagers on tap, is that boring beer sells.

Boring beer sells because most "drinkers" don't actually like beer. They just like getting pissed on whatever slides down easily without gracing their taste buds.

The last time I helped out at a food festival serving craft ale samples you could instantly separate the beer fans from drinking fans.

Beer fans would approach the stand, ask about the beer on offer and sample them politely and discuss the flavours and give meaningful feedback.

Drinkers would be getting dragged around by thier wives. The wife would say something like " you like beer dear"(by which she means, "you like to sink 10 pints of commercial swill and satgger home"). This would be met with a begrudging walk over to try the beer.

Once said beer was tasted it would either be followed by a vacant look or a statement like " tastes too tangy" "tastes too strong" or "what % is this?" or my favourite "is this wheat beer?".

The state of most commercial beer style interpretations is a direct reflection of those who consume them, tasteless.

Probably the same people who only ever say 'how strong is it' when I mention I brew beer.

 

[Gunge]

Probably the same people who only ever say 'how strong is it' when I mention I brew beer.

Ye, get that all the time... "bet it's like rocket fuel innit"? Occasionally get someone who asks how to make beer but their eyes soon glaze over and they excuse themselves by muttering something about it sounding way beyond their simple mind and sticking to their Fosters/Carling etc etc. Sheesh, some people huh?

 

[Amidared]

To be honest I find it difficult to find a decent pint outside of my two locals, one a Meantime pub (Greenwich Union) and the other a free house with a knowledgeable landlord. I think the whole Craft Beer scene is receiving the same kind of hype that the big producers used on the public for so long and I have been really disappointed by some of the over hyped craft beers that I've drank. Hobgoblin, Brewdog and a few of the U.S. beers I've tasted Samuel Adams and Sierra Nevada have all disappointed whether big breweries or so called craft breweries. ( Circadian from Ringwood breweries is the other side of the coin, brilliant.)

After brewing a few of my own stouts, one a 9.5% Imperial which I regard as my best ever brew I just can't touch Guinness any more and that's after drinking it for decades. Compared to my own stouts Guinness is thin tasteless slop with a huge marketing history. Shame. A friend who I havent seen in a few years said to me in a pub " you drink Guinness don't you?" I answered him " I used to drink Guinness yeah until I discovered Stout".

 

[BeardySi]

Can agree with that. Had fishing trips back in Ireland late 80s and even then it was way better.
That stuff they put on the cold pumps I've always avoided like the s***** end of a barge pole.

Guinness in the eighties was a very different beast - it actually had a flavour. They reformulated it in the mid nineties to give it more mass market appeal and less flavour...

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Greene and King IPA should be prosecuted under Trade Discription Act

 

[Ale]

Last time I went to the supermarket I stood there looking at the beers and thought to myself that I would not enjoy the ones on offer any more than my pimped kit beers at home so walked away from them. They have stopped doing a lot of other things I used to buy regularly so I drive a bit further to go somewhere else now. Mess with the customers and you will lose them.

 

[peteplus1]

Answer is: Most supermarket beers. Don't settle for mediocre beer. There's SO much choice away from the supermarkets which generally don't sell ANYTHING decent (some obvious exceptions aside now they're all finally cottoning on). Find those juicy IPAs , barrel aged stouts etc etc. There's a whole world of glorious beer out there that the vast majority still don't know about or are too blinkered/set in ways to try!

 

[dad_of_jon]

Distelhäuser pilsner is simply apalling. The same goes for Jupiler in my eyes, however they have a great marketing team these days. It used to be a cheap B brand for the working folk (like Crystal which actually is drinkable), but about 10 years ago they went from almost dead to one of the best selling beer by agressive manly man commercial campaigns, sponsoring football leagues etc. And somehow people now love to drink it here.

+1 I steer clear of jupiler when in Belguim/Netherlands.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Last time I went to the supermarket I stood there looking at the beers and thought to myself that I would not enjoy the ones on offer any more than my pimped kit beers at home so walked away from them. They have stopped doing a lot of other things I used to buy regularly so I drive a bit further to go somewhere else now. Mess with the customers and you will lose them.

this happened to my a while back, although I do like a duval and a bacchus from the supermarket as well as an elvis juice. I've been buying Bengali to take away from the local spoons £2 a can - not too shabby!

 

[simon12]

Greene and King IPA should be prosecuted under Trade Discription Act

It is a crap beer but its authentic to the style of an IPA produced in the 1st world war period until quite recently when breweries bought it back closer to its previous ABV and bitterness.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

IPA ...high gravity and high bitterness...GK IPA is niether

 

[strange-steve]

Another candidate for me is the godawful Clonmel 1650. I don't mind some macro lagers, I think they have their place, but this stuff is just vile.

 

[Pope]

Answer is: Most supermarket beers. Don't settle for mediocre beer. There's SO much choice away from the supermarkets which generally don't sell ANYTHING decent (some obvious exceptions aside now they're all finally cottoning on). Find those juicy IPAs , barrel aged stouts etc etc. There's a whole world of glorious beer out there that the vast majority still don't know about or are too blinkered/set in ways to try!

Have to disagree...Sainsburys & Morrisons have embraced craft beer...there's a great choice in those supermarkets.

 

[Pope]

All the ones mentioned such as GK IPA, Carling, Guinness, Skol are awful.

The missus bough a diabolical beer in York* on Saturday night: Bad Co - Elf Juice. It's a spiced ale-it's absolutely awful, like drinking a glass of jagermeister.

*Must mention that York is a fantastic place to drink for people with taste...The House of Trembling Madness, The World Beer Freehouse and the bars on the Micklegate Run (in particular the Artful Dodger & Falcon Tap) are spot on with great choice.

 

[simon12]

IPA ...high gravity and high bitterness...GK IPA is niether

In the 21st century yes thats true but for most of the 20th English IPAs tended to be more like Green Kings (which despite being not that hoppy its more hop forward than grain). The ones that went to India were high gravity by todays standards but not especially for there time.
Also note GK IPA was the best selling cask beer in the world from 2002 (overtaking Tetley) until 2013 (overtaken by Doom Bar) showing that even cask ale drinkers prefer crap beer.

 

[Brew_DD2]

All the ones mentioned such as GK IPA, Carling, Guinness, Skol are awful.

The missus bough a diabolical beer in York* on Saturday night: Bad Co - Elf Juice. It's a spiced ale-it's absolutely awful, like drinking a glass of jagermeister.

*Must mention that York is a fantastic place to drink for people with taste...The House of Trembling Madness, The World Beer Freehouse and the bars on the Micklegate Run (in particular the Artful Dodger & Falcon Tap) are spot on with great choice.

York is brilliant for beer. York Tap, House of Trembling Madness, The Maltings, Pivni and now they have their own BrewDog too.