OH DEAR, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO SHEPS ?

April 2025. Chatham.

Back at the luxurious but also affordable (£27.99) Chatham Docks Travelodge it was time for tea.

Being refined gentlefolk from the Wells, my in-laws were expecting a pre-dinner G & T, so I had to skip my planned Travelodge craft check-in on Untappd,

and buy a round of Gordon’s and tonic (£6 each, Happy Hour).

It’s almost certainly a terrible thing to stick gin in between beer, but life is very short, especially in Medway.

Chatham Marina looked pretty as a picture, but the retail park/cinema complex isn’t Bluewater,

and the Ship & Trades isn’t a match for those smart Fullers dining pubs at Portsmouth Quays.

Pic: Expedia

Hand pumps for show, anyone ?

Why (oh why) we chose (well, I did) the Whitstable Bay and Master Brew rather than a nice bottle of Malbec, I’ll never know. Those thin glasses certainly squeeze any last character out of stodgy pints.

Michael complained about the loud tinny pop music in the main bar, necessitating a move to the restaurant, followed by four plates.

Actually, the fish and chips was pretty good, and late on I came to my senses and had a bottle of 1698; at £5.50 the only bargain of the night.

But am I reading this right; has it really been imported from Sydney ?

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

27 thoughts on “OH DEAR, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO SHEPS ?”

  1. I think Pinnacle is their distributor: “Shepherd Neame and Pinnacle Drinks have a relationship where Pinnacle Drinks acts as the importer for Shepherd Neame beers in Australia, specifically in the state of New South Wales. This means Pinnacle Drinks handles the distribution and sales of Shepherd Neame’s beers, including Whitstable Bay Pale Ale and other beers, within that region.”

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    1. Yes, looks like it was due for export but missed the boat. Maybe something to do with the Orange One’s total worldwide ban on trade.

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      1. This research was in the hope you were wrong. I really enjoyed the SN bottled beers and was going to be disappointed if they were imports. I thought they were quite good.

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  2. Martin, that bottle of 1698 was definitely your best bet at the Ship & Trades, and I would say the same applies at any other Shepherd Neame tied house. Sheps are effectively a contract lager brewer these days, and beers such as Master Brew, and even Spitfire are thin, insipid and lacking in character.

    I haven’t checked, as I stopped buying the GBG years ago, but I doubt there are many Shepherd Neame tied houses in the guide. Local CAMRA members, I keep in touch with, all tend to avoid Sheps for the reasons outlined above.

    A shame, as the brewery have some really nice pubs.

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    1. Maybe it’s just me but I thought my four pints of Shepherd Neame, only in Mabels Tavern though, this past year all drank perfectly well.
      I must be overdue a trip to Kent.

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      6. It’s been fun watching BRAPA visit the Chichester pubs. Not often I’ve been somewhere before you or him! Cask in a beer garden is one of life’s true delights.

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      7. Where Joan and Dave lead we will follow. Such a shame he doesn’t get to go in the Park ,,. Think Simon said it’s his first foray into West Sussex. It took me years to get to grips with it

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      8. “We’ve had summer this week” and poor quality cask beer as even more opt for the cold fizz.

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      9. I’ll be curious what Simon makes of West Sussex. I think it will work well for him since the busses and trains seem very good. The Downs area north of Chichester could be a bit difficult though.

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      10. Yes I was just thinking that, north of Chichester is tough.

        Loads of pubs in the Worthing area, nearly all of them a 20 minute walk from a station.

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  3. They should rebrand 1698 as Australia Export Pale Ale or something, “brewed to survive the long journey by boat”. Old Protz would be delighted.

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  4. I paid £4.70 for a 1698 in the Stag in Hastings two days ago. Very reasonable, but it was not as good as the one I last had it two years ago.

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      1. It was almost too smooth for a strong ale, but it could have been my numbed taste buds. Still, a great ale.

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  5. I used to regularly pick up bottles of 1698 from the supermarket, but stopped a few years ago as they seemed to have developed an overwhelming cloying and sweet taste which made them undrinkable for me. Might just have been a dodgy batch, but it put me off them.

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      2. 40 yrs ago it would have been a GBG contender. “Lively high street post office. No cask, but bottle-conditioned ales available”.

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