Square Bottle

[clayton]

"Moonraker has a reduced abv now (don't like it when beer is tinkered with, it's never the same) but in this case it was fine."

Have to agree with you about tinkering. Moonraker is (was) a classic. This won't have gone unnoticed at Robinsons marketing department - watch out for Old Tom Lite ....

I first discovered Moonraker at the Chester Beer Festival in (I think) 1977 at the Mollington Banastre. By the time I got home I felt like I'd been dancing on the moon. In the late 80's/early 90's Moonraker was a regular alongside Lees Bitter in GBG-listed Clavertons (Lower Bridge Street).

Do you remember Landlord Steve Walker who was famed for being able to
drink eight pint of Moonraker and still serve you a pint at Clavs bar

[Boughton Beerman]

Oh yes! Remember Clavies and Mr Walker very well. That's where I first sampled the delights of Moonraker. Happy and very hazy days!!

Talking of tinkering ... someone bought me a pint of Old Speckled Shite the other day (Bickerton Poacher - avoid btw) now that has been tampered with to some tune. Truly shocking.

[electrophotic]

"Do you remember Landlord Steve Walker who was famed for being able to
drink eight pint of Moonraker and still serve you a pint at Clavs bar "

Yes. Stepped over him once or twice on my way to the bar.

[Boughton Beerman]

Have noticed a trend here of late ....

When I have requested certain beers I have been told "it's not on" or "it's being cleaned" this despite the clips being prominent and public facing. I enquired why the clips had not been turned around, thus preventing the pointless above conversation. I was told that "we are not allowed to" and "the supplier doesn't like it".

This annoying practice does of course give the impression following a fleeting glance at the bar that all is available, but this of course is not always the case.

[BBCJohn]

Have noticed a trend here of late ....

When I have requested certain beers I have been told "it's not on" or "it's being cleaned" this despite the clips being prominent and public facing. I enquired why the clips had not been turned around, thus preventing the pointless above conversation. I was told that "we are not allowed to" and "the supplier doesn't like it".

This annoying practice does of course give the impression following a fleeting glance at the bar that all is available, but this of course is not always the case.

I'm sure Wetherspoons have a policy of not turning pump clips around when a beer isn't available and I find it very annoying.
The SB is a regular offender but a breath of fresh air was when I visited the Gold Cape in Mold, another Wetherspoons pub, but every pump had a beer on, no 'Coming soon' signs to be seen. The other good point was how keen and knowledgeable the staff were about the beers, so top marks to the Gold Cape and 'must try harder' to the SB.
I feel a 'Mr. Angry' letter coming on to boss of Wetherspoons.

(if the beer is on!)

[cheshirescooper]

Have noticed a trend here of late ....

When I have requested certain beers I have been told "it's not on" or "it's being cleaned" this despite the clips being prominent and public facing. I enquired why the clips had not been turned around, thus preventing the pointless above conversation. I was told that "we are not allowed to" and "the supplier doesn't like it".

This annoying practice does of course give the impression following a fleeting glance at the bar that all is available, but this of course is not always the case.

I'm sure Wetherspoons have a policy of not turning pump clips around when a beer isn't available and I find it very annoying.
The SB is a regular offender but a breath of fresh air was when I visited the Gold Cape in Mold, another Wetherspoons pub, but every pump had a beer on, no 'Coming soon' signs to be seen. The other good point was how keen and knowledgeable the staff were about the beers, so top marks to the Gold Cape and 'must try harder' to the SB.
I feel a 'Mr. Angry' letter coming on to boss of Wetherspoons.

(if the beer is on!)

In all fairness Mcspoons have being doing this with pumpclips for a number of years, the upside being the SB isn,t too large a pub to wait for service and the quality is generally very good the staff are good and most ales are little over £ 2 a shout.
Their down fall are the large mcspoons like jd blackler in liverpool where its no fun queuing five deep to find the beer you,ve spotted on the bar aint available.
Got stung there a couple of times now boycotted.

[gbpub]

In all fairness Mcspoons have being doing this with pumpclips for a number of years, the upside being the SB isn,t too large a pub to wait for service and the quality is generally very good the staff are good and most ales are little over £ 2 a shout.

Blimey I wasn't aware there were 2 SB's, please tell where the other one is, because the one in Chester sure as hell doesn't have good staff and the beer quality is more miss than hit. It has to rate as one of the worst outlets in the chain.

[Boughton Beerman]

There is no 'in fairness' about it. It wastes my time and the time of the staff - who in many cases are quite clearly fed up with having to say "sorry it's not on". If it is policy then it is hugely inconsistent; I travel the length and breadth of the UK and use Spoons a lot, only last week I was in an erstwhile Spoons and a couple of the clips were turned.

[electrophotic]

This annoying practice does of course give the impression following a fleeting glance at the bar that all is available, but this of course is not always the case.

Best practice, of course, is to just remove the pumpclip. Failing that, the next best thing is the practice adopted by some other pubs, including the Red Lion (Northgate Street): they have, I think, 13 handpumps, but rarely have 13 different beers on at the same time. The group of pumps near the till usually have about six ales on, and their pumpclips are duplicated on other pumps which are not in use. Simple. All the beers indicated by the pumpclips are available, and all pumps have a pumpclip.

As far as Wetherspoons goes, I have a theory. Most customers, when told that the beer they have asked for is not available, will then choose an alternative. Even discerning real ale drinkers would probably choose an alternative (especially after having waited to be served). So Wetherspoons makes a sale each time, despite failing to meet customers’ expectations. As consumers, we can respond by (a) avoiding pubs that persist in this annoying practice, or (b) when told that the chosen ale is not available, walk out.

Their down fall are the large mcspoons like jd blackler in liverpool where its no fun queuing five deep to find the beer you,ve spotted on the bar aint available.
Got stung there a couple of times now boycotted.

-me too.

[Mr W]

It's a practice that I find in 90% of spoons I've tried across the country.
A quick glimpse at the bar promises a dozen ales but on closer inspection it tends to be just the usual Ruddles, Greene King and one or two other ales available
Can't comment on the SB as I've not been in for ages.

[Boughton Beerman]

A turned clip on a "not available" ale noted at the SB yesterday evening.

[pistonbroke]

Have noticed a trend here of late ....

When I have requested certain beers I have been told "it's not on" or "it's being cleaned" this despite the clips being prominent and public facing. I enquired why the clips had not been turned around, thus preventing the pointless above conversation. I was told that "we are not allowed to" and "the supplier doesn't like it".

This annoying practice does of course give the impression following a fleeting glance at the bar that all is available, but this of course is not always the case.

I'm sure Wetherspoons have a policy of not turning pump clips around when a beer isn't available and I find it very annoying.
The SB is a regular offender but a breath of fresh air was when I visited the Gold Cape in Mold, another Wetherspoons pub, but every pump had a beer on, no 'Coming soon' signs to be seen. The other good point was how keen and knowledgeable the staff were about the beers, so top marks to the Gold Cape and 'must try harder' to the SB.
I feel a 'Mr. Angry' letter coming on to boss of Wetherspoons.

(if the beer is on!)

Don`t expect any sympathy John; or indeed any decent reply,at least not from Tim Martin. Last time I complained,by e-mail and letter,all I received was the usual stencillled apologia,with some anonymous squiggle at the bottom.

[Sinsir]

Hi All
Just a quick reminder of the meet the brewer this evening from 6-8
There will be a free prize quiz a raffle for charity and Free nibbles

Coachhouse and I will look forward to seeing you tonight.

Don't forget pints start from only £1.80

[pistonbroke]

£1.80 a pint is no good if the sodding pump clips ain`t turned round....or a `coming soon` sign glares at you.
And for the record,I was in a `spoons in Hereford before Christmas,and turned a pump clip round myself ,when another punter was told - `sorry,not on yet`.My reward was a verbal slap from the barperson,and having the temerity to challenge them,got another one from the `manage-person`So I wholeheartedly agree with all the sentiments expressed on here.
I will write to JDW HQ to make this point,but I don`t hold out much hope....

[electrophotic]

Piston, you're obviously speaking from bitter experience, but calm down, dear!

Last year I was in the Thomas Telford 'spoons in Ellesmere Port when their ale festival was on. I patiently stood in line for my turn to be served. The punter in front of me asked for a pint of Abbott Reserve (the beer which I was about to order) and he was told by the manager that it was 'not on'. The bloke was not very pleased; he'd been waiting there for longer than I had been. He said 'well why don't you turn the xxxxxxx pump clip round?'. He received the standard corporate answer. He then removed the pumpclip (the way he went about this, no tools were required) and handed it over the bar to the bemused manager who then saw the funny side of it. The handpump was left without a pumpclip. The rest of the beers on the bar being mediocre by comparison to Reserve, I left and hopped onto the next bus thus avoiding any further disappointment.

Don't waste your time writing to JDW, I've tried. You'll get a standard reply and nothing will change.

If you're out on Thursday evening, get into the Red Lion. I think their £2 a pint night is still on, and they have some superb beers from smaller breweries. And, most importantly, when a beer runs out they remove the pumpclip! Yahoo!