English on tap?

Discussion in 'Australia & New Zealand' started by heygeebee, Apr 19, 2012.

  1. Folks,

    Anyone aware of any venues that sell English/Scottish Ales on tap? Recently having Old Speckled Hen, and also Tetleys, on tap in HK made me wonder. The Taphouse sometimes gets Brewdog in, and I have seen the with Meantime, however, was just wondering whether anywhere served the more traditional styles?

    Or is it the last leg of the journey Down Under that really makes the difference in terms of freshness?

  2. MrKennedy

    MrKennedy Advocate (620) Australia Dec 29, 2006

    Not sure about Sydney anymore, maybe Lord Dudley in Woollahra? Jacksons on George? I think a lot of the faux-Irish pubs that used to stock British ales have now deserted that point of difference.

    The Elephant & Wheelbarrow on Oxford Street used to have things like Tetley, Double Diamond etc, but that place has changed names/shtick. Likewise the pub that is now The Office (without Finchy, Gareth and Brent) used to have things like Newcastle Brown Ale, Boddingtons back when it was a Bridie O'Reilly's. The Wynyard near it also used to have Old Speckled Hen. Shame to admit, i was old enough to remember the time when Harts Pub had Bass...does anyone sell Bass now, even in the UK!

    The Elephant & Wheelbarrow has a number of pubs around the country (Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne x 2) with some having Old Speckled Hen.

    Moon & Sixpence in Perth is also quite good for things like Doom Bar, Belhaven Best & Twisted Thistle, Greene King Abbot etc. The importer for a lot of these is in Perth (FM Liquor), so that makes a lot of sense that you'll find the biggest selection there, given freight costs for kegs.

    The Brisbane chain of Pig & Whistle also has a bit and a big pub called Union Jacks as well, surprise surprise.
  3. Lukie

    Lukie Savant (425) Australia Jun 16, 2007

    There is quite a few places in Perth that do things like Hobgoblin, Tetleys, Old Speckled Hen, Doombar, Boddingtons etc. Some even have the hand pump.
  4. Apart from Old Speckled Hen and Doombar, none of the others are real special with particular reference to Boddingtons, Tetley and Greene King Abbott.

    But I am fascinated to see whether the 'Pig & Whistle' has anything good on tap.

    There is no denying that a trip like that across the Atlantic is going to impact on the freshness of the keg. We always, as a rule of thumb, back in London when I worked in a pub there, tapped the keg with 2-3 days of receiving it (as opposed to a lager keg which we could keep for easily a month or two without using it). Of course, we couldn't tap it straight away as they were sent down to us (i.e. dropped from street level down into the cellar underneath the pub) and then rolled to where our beer cellar was and it would take at least a day for it to settle. So, I would suspect that when I do taste an English variant that it will be nothing like what I drank in London nor do I suspect it would be but it sure beats not getting any at all. :)
  5. mulder1010

    mulder1010 Initiate (0) Australia Aug 29, 2008

    Balmain?? Bondi??
    Have seen less and less UK stuff since I have moved here and really hesitant to try bottled stuff as have had a couple really bad experiences with some non brewdog stuff
  6. The Charles Dickens has Tetleys on tap (not sure why you'd go there just for it - I usually end up having a Samuel Smith's bottled product. Pretty sure they have Newcastle and Boddies as well.) and there's a pub in Belgrave with Old Speckled Hen on tap (didn't expect that up there).
  7. MrKennedy

    MrKennedy Advocate (620) Australia Dec 29, 2006

    Warners at the Bay has Hobgoblin on growlers at the moment for $20 a fill.
  8. thanks for this one - checked the website tap list and looks worth a Sunday Lunch drive at some point - quite an oddity - an English-themed Pub with but one English Ale, being OSH. Rest look macro-ish.

    Apart from that - yep seems like I need to get interstate - which is kinda what I thought/feared.
  9. mulder1010

    mulder1010 Initiate (0) Australia Aug 29, 2008

  10. mulder1010

    mulder1010 Initiate (0) Australia Aug 29, 2008


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