Yes, life’s big questions. Apart from “Was that referee at Stamford Bridge last night really Delia Smith in disguise“.
Today I say “Thank you, Derby CAMRA” for picking GBG pubs on the basis of beer quality, and giving us the White Swan in Littleover. a village-cum-suburb that BeerMat brings us regular reports from.
It looks plain from the outside, and inside is your modernised Greene King informal village dining pub. The sort that rarely gets in the Guide these days unless it’s Scotland and they’re desperate.
My desperation levels rose as I approached the bar and saw no sign of the promised Pedigree. That’s my excuse for the shaky photo below.
“Do you have Pedigree ?” I squeaked at a cheery barmaid oblivious to my pain.
“Yes ! We hide it round the back !” Some of that is true.
“Straight glass or handle ?” Oh, straight glass please.
Then she shouted from the lounge bar (she sure could shout).
“Sparkled or flat ?” It took me seconds to realise what she meant.
Anyway, it was nearly nectar, and clearly reserved for the groups of gentlefolk gorging on giant fish and chips. It wasn’t the only beer hidden in the lounge. I think you’re supposed to read a giant “beer board” or some such nonsense.
Some ignorant folk, mainly Yorkshiremen, have never had Pedi at its best, without the sparkler. This was an NBSS 4, perhaps only bettered by a few rural pubs south of Belper.
“It’s not as good as it was” they said. Yes it is.
I enjoyed being in a real pub, where the front bar was full of lager lads playing darts to a soundtrack of “Knock on Wood” and “Different Drum“, and the barmaid was dispensing helpful advice on girlfriends.
“Would you say I’m brunette or blonde ?” said Mme Pedimeister.
I never found out the answer to that question.
retiredmartin 
Neither. Kind of a brown hair isn’t it?
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I have no idea. Si would have something to say, I feel.
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Absolutely 👍👍♦️ RC should go to this boozer and redress his opinion on Pedi …a great local boozer one of best in Derbyshire
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Have you blogged on it Ian. I put a link to one of your 3 posts but I guess you’d done this earlier. Your posts have reassured me that you can get good established beers in the bid Midlands cities.
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I’ve not blogged on this one but have been there and always good atmosphere with good beer 👍
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“the White Swan in Littleover.”
Littleover eh? Let me guess. Years ago when folk wanted to know where they were located the locals replied:
‘just a little over to the west of Derby’.
Am I right? 🙂
“Bury St Edmund’s finest,”
Would that be the Olde Trip or the IPA? (please don’t tell me it’s the Old Speckled Hen).
Cheers
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Thought you were driving ? Or is it driverless cars there ?
Re: Bury’s finest – all of the above, in a parallel universe.
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“Thought you were driving ? Or is it driverless cars there ?”
I wish! No, my better half needed a quick nap. Not sure why she couldn’t do that in the car. 😉
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Are you right ? You’re always right.
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Delia, being, of course, a TV expert, had nobbled the VAR before the match.
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Pedigree in the Midlands is, I believe, mostly proper Union brewed, with a good Burton snatch. The rest get something different and certainly less ‘Pedigree’, just like the ridiculous pump clip.
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Really ? Where did you hear that some Pedigree not brewed at Burton ?
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Oh, not brewed elsewhere, but in the standard fermenters they use for the ordinary non union beers.
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England’s sparkler/flat divide..this one doesn’t help to decide the position of the line.
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If you’re given a choice, surely that puts Littleover bang in the Midlands.
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If I remember rightly the Grainstore brewery tap at Oakham has 6 with sparkler and 6 without to satisfy their beer tourists from North and South of the Sparkler line.
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Really ? Sounds like a revisit necessary.
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A lot of Pedigree is certainly brewed in normal fermenters rather than Burton unions.
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Is it brewed in different places for different markets then, Ed ?
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I don’t know about different places but they don’t have enough Burton unions for all they brew at Burton. An ex Marston head brewer said 90% is made in normal fermenter.
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That’s exactly it. When it went National there was nowhere near enough union capacity.
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Sounds like prime material for blind taste testing !
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Loved the whole part where you started talking about the lager lads, and the Knock on Wood, and the advice on girlfriends. Almost feel I was there, trying not to let anyone see me jotting down notes about the overheard conversations. 😉
I listened to a podcast where a pub landlord claimed that the use of the sparkler was unfairly maligned, and that it enhanced the flavor of some beers. Are you ever in favor of it?
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I like pubs like this with proper conversation, where you feel you could join in or not.
The sparkler definitely works better on some beers than others, and brewers generally indicate how they think their beers should be served, though I can never get too worked up. It’s just I’ve had “flat” Bass and Pedi in the past and thought them the pinnacle of cask.
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As far as I know, all Pedigree is a blend of union brewed and conical brewed but I may be wrong as that seems particularly pointless.
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Thanks Peter. I’ve asked Marstons where Pedigree is made, as several folk have asserted it’s made at least in part away from Burton.
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You need to be careful. There’s a southern metropolitan type goes in my local and asks for a pint of OBB with the sparkler off? The landlord has actually considering barring him, it’s just not right is it? The point in question is, the whole village is talking about him and he is becoming reviled. It’s got to the point where people are victimising him by going out of their way to say hello to him whilst he is walking round the village!
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Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
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Reminds me of this story – a Swiss town denies a passport to a Dutch vegan because she is ” too annoying. ”
Lols,as the young folk say.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/swiss-town-denies-passport-to-dutch-vegan-because-she-is-annoying-125316437.html
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If you DO ever go to Clifford, Prof, and their beer fest is recommended, let someone you trust know before you travel.
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Cowbells!
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A bloke in the pub the other day swore to me that you only get proper Abbott in East Anglia. The rest of the country gets stuff that’s reconstituted from a concentrate (called 10X, he said). GK simply doesn’t have the capacity to brew enough of the proper stuff, innit?
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“A bloke in the pub” stories are the basis for 90% of my (and BRAPA’s) blog, so I won’t knock them. Greene King do use a stronger beer as the basis for some of their beers but I can’t be bothered to get beery. There’s plenty of capacity at GK; it’s Doom Bar I’d worry about, but of course no-one drinks that !
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Scotland might actually change slightly from GK food places in the next couple of years, Marstons are starting to open foodie places that far north. One just opened in Peterhead, god alone knows what market that is aimed at.
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Grief. They’ll be a BrewDog and Mikkeller bar there next. Bet the Marstons place will have two handpumps, neither of which will see any use.
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3 handpumps and it’s got Pedi!! https://whatpub.com/pubs/ABE/582/harbour-spring-peterhead
Just heard Mikkeller are opening in Copenhagen airport. Dread to think of prices at that.
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There’s so little competition it could well get in the Guide (the Marstons not the Mikkeller). There really is no sense looking at the Mikkeller price list, is there ?
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