Yesteryear beers and were they as good as we remember

[The Baron]

Hi
just a topic up for discussion we seem to always get brewers/drinkers asking for the old beers from when we were young and that they do not taste the same or as good.
Now I am not saying its not true but are some of us me included could be stuck in a timewarp of everything was better when we were young or have some beers generally been thrown to the wolves for the sake of commercialism or profit. If so could we have your nearest recipes to the "better" old versions with a appropriate near yeast that is available today.
As we have a thread running about the perfect bitter I was just wondering if this may help to get that goal as I certainly do struggle with bitters. I can brew some nice ones but never seem to hit the spot.
So old beer recipes please or suggestions Ta

 

[Didge]

I feel British beer has roughly followed our music.

They started off good and then mass production kind of ruined them (unless you enjoyed fosters and manufactured boy/girl bands).

Thankfully the past 10 years has seen a much needed improvement due mainly to CAMRA beer festivals and the recognition of actual talent.

 

[Cwrw666]

Old fart here. I can definitely say that in beers at least things were not better in my younger days. The twentieth century was pretty hard on brewing - 2 world wars that forced down gravities, reliance on various sugars for colouring and replacing malt. The only thing I remember as being better in the 70s was the quality of the hangovers. I can still remember my first 3 day hangover...

 

[peebee]

Old fart here. ...

I've a couple of "Victorian" threads that might suit you better. ☺

 

[phillc]

Grew up in Australia and the majority of beers at the time were fairly bland lager-esque affairs (with added cane suger pre-ferment). However, in the late afternoon of a 35+ degree day, after a day's work, there really was nothing better than slamming down a couple of those ice cold beers.

Now, I do enjoy a good stout, wheat beer or mild. Really can't get into IPAs or bitters. And when I return to Australia, there's such a wide range of choice now, unless I just stick with the tried and known brands, one never quite knows what they'll get. I do miss that lager beer that can be crashed back on a hot summer evening. Budweiser Budvar is about as close as I've found in Europe, even though Austria has a lot of Maerzen type beers, they're generally a little too malty.

As a footnote, even though the Australia lagers of the 80s and 90s were bland, they were still a long way ahead of anything branded Fosters.

 

[The Baron]

Old fart here. I can definitely say that in beers at least things were not better in my younger days. The twentieth century was pretty hard on brewing - 2 world wars that forced down gravities, reliance on various sugars for colouring and replacing malt. The only thing I remember as being better in the 70s was the quality of the hangovers. I can still remember my first 3 day hangover...

I can remember that Bass Brew Ten hangover could be vicious

 

[The Baron]

I've a couple of "Victorian" threads that might suit you better. ☺

Funnily enough I have been reading some of your threads this morning and the one about Brewers Invert sugar etc. The only trouble I have with some of the Victorian beers are the strength as I only do session strength nowadays - there I go again I could drink stronger beers years ago or did I just think I could and suffer the hangovers better

 

[An Ankoù]

Funnily enough I have been reading some of your threads this morning and the one about Brewers Invert sugar etc. The only trouble I have with some of the Victorian beers are the strength as I only do session strength nowadays - there I go again I could drink stronger beers years ago or did I just think I could and suffer the hangovers better

My recollection is that the beers we used to drink were proper pisse d'âne as they would have it around these parts. I used to think that Wadworth's 6X and draft Guinness were fairly strong. Then Carlsberg Hof and Heinneken Special Export came out at 5% and they could catch you out if you were used to swilling beer with two, pint-jugs is each hand. How things have changed. I think we've become accustomed to drinking stronger beer, but probably a maximum of 8 Summer Lightnings or Ringwood 49ers, or 6 Old Thumpers rather than the dozen or so of Watney's or Whitbread, but then I always was a lightweight compared with some of the lads. I remember a particular moment of lucidity walking home after a gallon of Summer Lightning when I realised I had drunk the equivalent of a pint of whisky. If I hadn't walked most of the way home, I think I would have returned to finish off the bottle!

 

[stevey]

I'm just drinking the 1st pint of Worthington White shield from Graham Wheeler's recipe. I don't remember it personally, but it's everything I like in a bitter.
I'm pretty sure I remember drinking Worthington E from a big tin when I was a young lad (party 7? I could be wrong though), and I found it to be acceptable.
I think a lot of old beers just gained a bad reputation when everyone started drinking lager and suffered from reduced sales, and now with the rise in popularity of real ale, we're realizing what we've lost.

 

[An Ankoù]

Now I am not saying its not true but are some of us me included could be stuck in a timewarp of everything was better when we were young or have some beers generally been thrown to the wolves for the sake of commercialism or profit. If so could we have your nearest recipes to the "better" old versions with a appropriate near yeast that is available today.

I'm sure our sense of taste changes as we get older and perhaps everything was new and fresh when we were younger, BUT I distinctly remember the change in Ringwood beers. Before a certain time in (I think) the late 80s, Ringwood best and 49er were lovely, hoppy beers. Then, almost overnight, they changed to being less hoppy and apparently sweeter. While, before, I used to seek out Ringwood beers, thereafter they were boring and the only pint I really enjoyed was Old Thumper. Even that's not worth drinking anymore, having been diluted from nearly 6% OG 1058-1061 on their posters in those days) to 5.1%.
Who remembers The Bishop's Tipple by Gibb's Mew of Salisbury at 6.5%? A lovely drop. you wouldn't need more than half a dozen at lunchtime to keep a smile on your face for the rest of the day. Now Wadworth's have taken of the label and knock it out at 5% on draught. What's the point of that?

 

[An Ankoù]

I'm just drinking the 1st pint of Worthington White shield from Graham Wheeler's recipe. I don't remember it personally, but it's everything I like in a bitter.
I'm pretty sure I remember drinking Worthington E from a big tin when I was a young lad (party 7? I could be wrong though), and I found it to be acceptable.
I think a lot of old beers just gained a bad reputation when everyone started drinking lager and suffered from reduced sales, and now with the rise in popularity of real ale, we're realizing what we've lost.

Nah, Stevey. A lot of it was genuinely awful. So was the lager, but at least you could put a splash of lime in it.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

We had Hartleys brewery in town i would love to go back and try a pint of their best bitter now, it was very popular back then.

 

[The Baron]

I'm just drinking the 1st pint of Worthington White shield from Graham Wheeler's recipe. I don't remember it personally, but it's everything I like in a bitter.
I'm pretty sure I remember drinking Worthington E from a big tin when I was a young lad (party 7? I could be wrong though), and I found it to be acceptable.
I think a lot of old beers just gained a bad reputation when everyone started drinking lager and suffered from reduced sales, and now with the rise in popularity of real ale, we're realizing what we've lost.

I've done the White Shield at is was a very good beer although I did not stick exactly to the recipe from memory.
You know how you have a favourite beer glass although that does change, mine at the moment is a Worthington Red Shield glass

 

[The Baron]

We had Hartleys brewery in town i would love to go back and try a pint of their best bitter now, it was very popular back then.


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Apart from Tetleys which was Leeds based we had BYB which was Bentley's Yorkshire Beers. I think I did have a pint or two but can not remember what it was like

 

[Galena]

Hardy Hansons Kimberley AlesI don't have any particular fond memories.
Mansfield Bitter was another I drank when it couldn't be avoided.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Nostalgia is not as good as it used to be

 

[cushyno]

I do recall having the occasional decent pint here and there, but most of it was watery and bland. Probably because I was mostly in S&N or Vaux boozers in the North East.
One I'd look out for was Castle Eden because I had once had a couple of really good pints of it, a delightful creamy head and smooth body. Almost every time after it was poor, watery or sulphury and gave me the sh**s. The quality of the beer back in the day was so dependent on how well it was kept and how fresh it was.

 

[The Baron]

Castle Eden if I remember was Cameron's and yes it was a good pint if pulled on the handpump. I made a bitter loosely based on that from memory it may have come from the BYOBB by Graham Wheeler but it was keg mine so did not have the creaminess

 

[Brewshed]

A few years ago our local Camra beer festival decided to commemorate 40 years of Camra by just having beers that were in the first Good Beer Guide. I have to say it was a pretty underwhelming selection compared to the usual list.

 

[TonyT]

My favourite which has disappeared, the brewery’s gone but the company still exists, was Brakspear’s Special. I think it was about 4.3% but it was a lovely best bitter. The Courage Director’s brewed in London was really nice too. The modern equivalent doesn’t hold a candle. On the other end of the scale was Welsh Brewers Allbright, aaargh! Or Watney’s Starlight, which at the time was rumoured to be so weak that it would have been legal in the US during prohibition!