Scottish & Newcastle learns why where matters

John Smith's Cask AleLocal drinkers say they can taste the difference (and that’s good) now that Scottish & Newcastle has resumed brewing some of its John Smith’s cask ale in Tadcaster.

A spokesman for the company said: “In order to gain a better understanding of the recent product quality issues experienced by some stockists of cask John Smith’s we have been producing supplementary brews at our Tadcaster brewery.”

The beer is also brewed in Warrington.

The York Press quoted one regular drinker saying, “It was magnificent and so smooth on the palate that I was forced to test several further pints to check it was no fluke. I implore the brewery to bring production back to Tadcaster. If they don’t I’ll stick to my cider.”

How passionate drinkers can be about a beer others label “average” is apparent in comments posted at the end. They are all worth a read, even those from drinkers who don’t think much of the beer. Here’s one:

“For over a hundred years John Smith’s have been telling us the secret of their brewing was the artesian well water beneath Tadcaster, now they’re saying it doesn’t matter. They can’t have it both ways.”

5 thoughts on “Scottish & Newcastle learns why where matters”

  1. “For over a hundred years John Smith’s have been telling us the secret of their brewing was the artesian well water beneath Tadcaster, now they’re saying it doesn’t matter. They can’t have it both ways.”

    Sounds like words all breweries could learn from, including a certain Bavarian dynasty who feels changing time-tested processes means nothing to their drinkers.

  2. Stonch – would that be the Warrington versions or Tradcaster? A rhetorical question.

    It must mean something that the “whereness” of production matters so much in a beer many people don’t like.

  3. Ropey? Are you aware that is how lambic brewers accurately describe their beer-to-be when it is “sick?”

    You can literally grab the beer between your thumb and forefinger and create a rope (that, excuse me, looks much like snot).

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