Butler's Bell - Gaolgate, Stafford.

[LeeA]

I had heard that too, but this foulness had the tint of pipe cleaner rather than of 'off. Either way, ruined a perfectly good pint.

Sounds like the beer had just gone off, especially if it had a vinegary tang. I dont know how long the beer lines are in the Bell, but in a lot of places there can be a good few pints just sitting in the line. Unless the staff draw a few pints off before service (unlikely) you may have had some rotten beer that had been in the line for some time, especially if it is a slow selling brew.

Even more reason to sample the lovely beers in the Rose & Crown and The Sun.

 

[United57]

I don't know if it was a tall tale but somebody told me of a bar in Holland where the price went up with fast selling beers and down with slow selling beers. It was linked to a large screen.

 

[tek-monkey]

We had nights like that at uni, made for an interesting hangover!

 

[Rufus]

I went in about three weeks about to find Mud City Stout on draught. I was very happy, had a pint or two and it was lovely.
Went back the following weekend specifically for the Mud City Stout and it was still on, but my pint was absolutely foul. Whatever they'd done (or not done) had turned it into an acidic horror. Very unhappy.
I mean, I know 'ooh, Wetherspoons, you can't expect much' but how badly can you mess up one draught ale?

I may well be wrong (wouldn't be the first etc) but don't Wetherspoons sell so cheap because they buy beer on the cheap near to its use by, sort of thing, hoping that the cheapness will shift it in time? That's what i'd always thought anyway.

Presumably that would mean if they don't shift it sharpish, it will be none too pleasant all too quickly?

Basic economics would tell anyone with half a modicum of sense that if brewers had that amount of out of date beer... (Wetherspoons after all sell quite an amount of beer a week as you no doubt have noticed by the crammed pubs.) The brewers would be bust in five minutes. In reality it is quite the opposite they are major players in the beer purchasing game. An average JDW shifts vastly more product than any other pub on the high street...it doesn't sit around long in the cellar either and hence you are guaranteed a pretty good pint dispensed by state of the art equipment that is rigorously maintained and clean. What more can I say. Urban myth and that is all it is. You can't have failed to notice the 10 hand pumps on the bars with local ales from micro brewers supporting them to grow and giving vastly more people the opportunity to try them. In any event, they offer a try before you buy taster and if by some bizarre twist (remembering that beer is a live product and its behaviour is not always totally predictable) they will change it if its not great.. You can't say fairer than that. I'm not sure where all the snotty remarks come from. They are a major investor in Stafford. The pubs employ as many people as the big supermarkets and they use local contractors and local artists to build their pubs and maintain them, you can't help to notice the local artwork in the butlers bell. They restored the picture house back to glory after years of decay and neglect. And finally don't forget you get all this vastly cheaper than anywhere else! What is not to like?

 

[Rufus]

Hordes of chaps in the very whitest of shirts do pass by now and then, perhaps they are the target market..

The Butlers Bell Is in GaolGate and apparently the building was built on the site of the former Gaol Gate.

 

[United57]

JDW do not sell short date beer but like most pubs if its not looked after or the cellerman is lax then things can go wrong. I'm led to believe some businesses buy short date beer.

 

[John Marwood]

If you want a decent meal in town try that little gaff near Panel Drop Palace

Tipping Street - canna remember the name but its kinda opposite Superdrug on the same side as those Oddfellows

 

[Gramaisc]

If you want a decent meal in town try that little gaff near Panel Drop Palace

Tipping Street - canna remember the name but its kinda opposite Superdrug on the same side as those Oddfellows

Would that be Food 4 Thought? - http://www.southstaffsandshropsheal...pportunities/Food-4-Thought-Cafe-Project.aspx - would it help if we mentioned your name..?

 

[Withnail]

Urban myth and that is all it is.

Cripes, that's me told.

You can't have failed to notice the 10 hand pumps on the bars

I can have, it is not somewhere i go.

The Butlers Bell Is in GaolGate and apparently the building was built on the site of the former Gaol Gate.

As you can see from the Speed map of 1610 -

- the North Gate, which was used as a gaol (thus Gaol Gate), was further north.

 

[ATJ]

I'm not sure where all the snotty remarks come from. They are a major investor in Stafford. The pubs employ as many people as the big

Why would I try before I buy on an ale I have already tried and know I like? I pointed out that a nice ale went foul within a week, that's not a snotty comment, it's a fact.

I like Wetherspoons, I like the prices and I like the spirits. The fact is that it has the reputation it has for a reason- people don't hate cheap places just for the virtue of them being cheap. Wetherspoons has a bad reputation for ale and for food and the way to battle that reputation is to fix the problems, not to blame potential customers.

 

[Gramaisc]

Why would I try before I buy on an ale I have already tried and know I like? I pointed out that a nice ale went foul within a week, that's not a snotty comment, it's a fact.

Hopefully, the staff in the Butler's Bell wouldn't regard a justifiable compliant as a 'snotty comment'...

the North Gate, which was used as a gaol (thus Gaol Gate), was further north.

Mr Speed's map does show a 'House of Correction' (No 10 on the key) around where the traffic lights are now, by Caffe Nero..

 

[Wormella]

I don't know if it was a tall tale but somebody told me of a bar in Holland where the price went up with fast selling beers and down with slow selling beers. It was linked to a large screen.

We had nights like that at uni, made for an interesting hangover!

Bar Footsie evenings, magical, drunken evenings - they probably aren't legal any more, I haven't seen one in ages.

 

[Goldilox]

I pointed out that a nice ale went foul within a week, that's not a snotty comment, it's a fact.

Assuming it was from the same barrel it would naturally be bad a week later - cask ales will be noticeably deteriorating 3-4 days after they go on.

 

[ATJ]

Assuming it was from the same barrel it would naturally be bad a week later - cask ales will be noticeably deteriorating 3-4 days after they go on.

Well, quite. And a bar that is trying to change focus and serve excellent ales should regularly change barrels, properly clean pipes and keep a very beady eye on their ales. Maybe 10 ales on the bars is too many for them to adequately keep an eye on!

 

[Goldilox]

Maybe 10 ales on the bars is too many for them to adequately keep an eye on!

Or just too many for them to be moving as much as they need to keep it fresh. Always better to have a choice of two fresh beers than ten stale ones!

 

[Withnail]

Mr Speed's map does show a 'House of Correction' (No 10 on the key) around where the traffic lights are now, by Caffe Nero..

The Gate was no longer big enough for Stafford's multitudinous miscreants, so they built a new place. That as you point out, was still further north than the site of the Butler's Bell.

But we digress.

 

[andy w]

Or just too many for them to be moving as much as they need to keep it fresh. Always better to have a choice of two fresh beers than ten stale ones!

Good point, the Rose and Crown has had a couple of critizisms about not having much choice but what they serve is excellant. Went in this lunchtime and the Blonde was light and refreshing

 

[John Marwood]

Would that be Food 4 Thought? - http://www.southstaffsandshropsheal...pportunities/Food-4-Thought-Cafe-Project.aspx - would it help if we mentioned your name..?

It may do - I am known as Walter here - the one eyed bald bloke from the Marshes

 

[LeeA]

Good point, the Rose and Crown has had a couple of critizisms about not having much choice but what they serve is excellant. Went in this lunchtime and the Blonde was light and refreshing

I do think that Joules have got their pubs and beers just right. Their three real ales, all in excellent condition and superbly refurbished pubs.

 

[PeterD]

I read something on facebook saying that they have a sign saying no football tops but the also saying you can get in the picturehouse wearing one. That poses a problem for me as some saturdays I will be in town proudly wearing a Villa top, that said always prefer the picturehouse anyway.