Franconian Beer Message Board
BBQ coming to Bamberg |
| Posted by Barry on 2016-12-21 02:49:27 |
| That's exactly how I remember it John, the now much vaunted Sheffield was in the process of losing its real ale, the Newcastle area the same, much of Birmingham, except, as you say the lovely Black Country. I do remember some good breweries in the south, though, being a northerner, I wasn't so familiar with these (Nick may not believe this but find a Shepherd Neame pub in south London was like discovering a gold mine!). You only have to look at my 240 odd page 1980 edition of the GBG (944 pp in 2014!) to realise the difference. 1980 was the first one I bought, specifically because it was getting so hard to find real ale. The forward says something like, 'Camra was formed in 1971 because the country was becoming swamped with keg and lager'. Beleive me, you happy people who didn't witness the awful days of the late 1960s, 70s and 80s, it was pretty awful, specially for one from Manchester, where real ale was always good and plentiful - and still is, thank goodness! |