tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542521298906723397.post5627597134976573213..comments2019-09-01T17:27:07.621+01:00Comments on Curmudgeon's "Opening Times" Columns: June 2016Curmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542521298906723397.post-38197388207078065012016-10-01T08:22:49.740+01:002016-10-01T08:22:49.740+01:00Paul - I had Bass there a few years ago. WhatPub ...Paul - I had Bass there a few years ago. WhatPub says they still sell it, plus a few other. Not in the Beer Guide any more though. Lovely pub with view across to 'Pool.retiredmartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15429804437739227082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542521298906723397.post-39111834735098744522016-09-10T11:56:27.176+01:002016-09-10T11:56:27.176+01:00I used to drink Bass at the Magazine Hotel in Wall...I used to drink Bass at the Magazine Hotel in Wallasey in the early to mid 80s<br />The only beer on handpull- it was a great pint. Unfortunately I don't believe that it's still available despite the fact that they now have a broader range of beers<br />The pub is still signed as a Bass house<br />I had few pints at the Coach and Horses in Dumfries a fortnight ago where, once again, it was the only cask available. <br />Both nice old pubs down by the river.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10455851044083892833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542521298906723397.post-5024337397661484122016-09-10T09:20:54.198+01:002016-09-10T09:20:54.198+01:00Curmudgeon is to be congratulated on his first cla...Curmudgeon is to be congratulated on his first class article on Draught Bass in the June issue of Opening Times. This is an excellent and much underrated beer which I drink very regularly at the four pubs which serve it permanently in Shrewsbury. We also have one pub to the north of the town and two to the south, all on or near the A49, in which I partake from time to time. <br /><br />Having been brought up in rural Berkshire I did not come across Bass until I went to university in Aberystwyth in 1960. The local brewery, David Roberts, had just been taken over by Hancocks of Cardiff and Bass was widely available in Hancocks pubs in the town - Hancocks Bitter (HB) at 1/6 per pint, the cooking bitter, and Bass at 1/10 per pint, the premium bitter. <br /><br />When I came to work in Stockport in 1968, I frequented what was then the superb George for a double treat - Higsons Bitter and Draught Bass. At this time there was a small Manchester brewery called Swales, taken over by Boddingtons in 1970. Its products were known as “Swales Swill” but Swales houses had Draught Bass and I remember drinking it in the White Hart on Cheadle High Street. After Stockport I worked in various locations in England and sought out Bass, frequently without any luck, although I do remember a pub in Walthamstow in the late 1970s, the Flower Pot, which sold only Bass from several handpumps. <br /><br />Draught Bass is given no advertising by its current owners AB Inbev and since the brewing is subcontracted out to Marston's (who actually withdrew its sale, despite many protests - and it was the best seller - from a free house they acquired in central Shrewsbury), the beer appears to be an orphan in need of a caring brewery. The last widespread advertising I recall was in the 1970s. <br /><br />Whilst on CAMRA business in the south west last year I came across the Yacht Inn in Penzance. This is a St Austell house with two Bass handpumps, the Bass outselling all other cask beers on offer. If a historic Bass house is sought the Coopers Tavern - now a Joules pub - in Burton upon Trent, the former Bass brewery tap, should be visited. Bass is the most popular beer there.<br /><br /><i>(Note: This appeared as a letter in the September edition of “Opening Times”)</i><br />John O. Lewis, Shrewsburynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542521298906723397.post-27652542982789275522016-06-06T18:33:20.222+01:002016-06-06T18:33:20.222+01:00Draught Bass is a good example of why it can be no...Draught Bass is a good example of why it can be nonsensical for folk (including Beer bloggers) to say 6X is rubbish, Greene King IPA is undrinkable, Bass/Pedigree is a shadow of it's former self etc.<br /><br />The Bass in Manchester's Unicorn, despite that being a good drinker's pub with a reputation for Bass, has always disappointed. As you've noted before, the Potteries and Burton are still good places to get excellent Bass, along with parts of Cornwall.retiredmartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15429804437739227082noreply@blogger.com