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Wetherspoon Watch

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This page let's real ale drinkers know what ales are on in Spoons and how they taste. A guide to scores:
5. Average
6. Showing signs of promise
7. Perfect

Nice - Must have 1 more pint
8. Really nice - Must have 2 more pints
9. Near perfect
10.

31/10/2026

Cambuslang. Wetherspoons

Castle Eden
6/10
Had a sample of this in Glasgow and it wasn't brilliant, so popped down to Cambuslang for a pint as it had just went on.
I also had a sample and it looked and tasted OK, but the pint poured flat and after a few sips had that flotsam look about if where it's clear there's detergent in the glass.

The staff member was quite insistent there was no detergent in the glass and that real ale is naturally flat😪. A quick 5 minute spin in their industrial glass washer might clear detergent from 'most' of the glasses but if any come out with even a trace or smear of detergent inside the glass, it will make ale go flat.
With a queue building up behind me and her impatience and intolerance now shining through, she replaced the detergent contaminated glass with the tulip shaped glass I prefer.
Look at the difference.😏
I let the Guinness white inch head go as I'd had a couple of sips of the first pint.

I was going to reminisce about my fond memories of Castle Eden ales from the 80's but that was their standard ale or bitter from those days.
I never encountered their hoppy and slightly citric IPA's - fortunately.😏

Paul

29/10/2026

East Kilbride. Hay Stook

Maxim. John Bull Stout
7/10
A brewery of some renown.
Not as strong as their Maximus ale and it feels and tastes lesser for that reason and not because it's simply a lower abv.
A second for sure but a third would be a challenge.😯

Paul

29/10/2026

Carlisle Wetherspoons

Farne Island
6½/10
An attempt to fuse a blonde and hoppy infused ale with something malty.
It almost worked.
Hops winning out as usual.
Not sure if this is as fresh as it could be which would warrant a higher score.🤔

Allendale. Wagtail
7½/10
Altogether different from the above ale.
Better balanced and more quaffable.

Steering away from Spoons and centering on the CAMRA Carlisle festival, a collaboration between Loch Lomond and Castle Rock produced this Tea Cake themed b**r which was the ale of the festival for me and others.😯

Fun and games.😵‍💫
I'm not sure if the attached quiz was for kids or adults.
As kids weren't allowed in it must be for adults.🤔
Enjoy!
Print off and you might have even more fun.😉

The Christmas menu in all it's glory from a noticeboard in the SJM this morning
Sadly, no mention of plum pudding ale from JW Lees, still, there's still time for Sir Tim to mandate it's inclusion in our festive activities.🤔

Paul.

24/10/2026

Rutherglen Wetherspoon's

Butcombe. Blonde Melissa
2½/10
Got a full pint as the sample tasted OK ish.
However, I'm having reservations about the pint.
The tangy aftertaste is probably all part of the package and not an oft vinegary note.😔
It doesn't smell off...
LIVE UPDATE - Halfway down the pint it does smell off...
Not my preferred style of ale.

A happy ending to the story of the above ale.
Noticed the pump was now closed for cleaning and mentioned to the staff that the pint was vinegary.
Convinced the duty manageress to give me a complimentary pint of Abbot for my potential stomach discomfort issues.😯
If you don't ask you don't get.😉
Sadly for this particular Spoons, I've submitted a score of 1 (poor) on the Camra scoring site.

Having sampled all 30 of the festival ales, Martin and I are in agreement - Theakston Salted Caramel porter trumps them all.😚

Paul

20/10/2026

Burning Sky. Porter
6/10
Heavily, if not over roasted.
Too burnt by far.
Certainly rich.

Sambrook's. Afterglow
6½/10
Earthy for sure.
Not like other fine offerings from this brewery.

Orkney. Orca
7/10
More subtily balanced with all the usual stout tastes and aromas.
The sweeter notes shining through eventually.
Maybe worthy of a second pint but not a third as it is somewhat heavy going.

Paul

13/10/2026

Served up a tad chilled to begin with. I'm warming to them as they reach an ambient temperature.😏

Scores to follow...

Coach House. Barley Moon
7/10
A good all round bitter and potentially sessionable but not as nice as their flagship blueberry bitter.😶‍🌫️

Conwy Autumn Red
6½/10
Lots happening in this brew.
Maybe too much.
Not unpleasant but not sessionable for me.
Definite orange peel notes in there.

Adnams. Broadside Original
7/10
Earthy & Woody on the nose and full of body in the mouth.
Heavy going and perhaps not recommended as a session b**r unless you've got hollow legs.🤔

Titanic. On Duty. (Crystal Palace)
6/10
All credit to Titanic for trying to fuse "zesty citrus" with "a subtle sweet malt flavour", it'll not catch on.😙

Paul

12/10/2026

Various Glasgow Spoons. Sat 10 Oct

Nethergate Black Shadow
6½/10

Salem. Coastal Cocunut
7½/10
I can smell cocunut and the hops are very well balanced.
A definite summer ale, somewhat out of place at this time of year.🤔

Oolong ESB
6/10
The guest Chinese brewer has managed to brew an ale at Oakham brewery without raiding their Citra or Mosaic cupboards.😗

Hook Norton Yard Arm
6/10
6 hops competing with each other.
Still, they've managed to produce a steady state of equilibrium of sorts.😏

Mad Squirrel Red Dawn (The Counting House)
Smelt and tasted awful
A bar manager was passing our table who I recognised from a recent CAMRA monthly meeting.
He replaced our red dawn half pints with 2 half pints of Theakston salted caramel porter.
We shall try and seek out a fresh version of Red Dawn before the festival ends...

Rebellion. Knuckler
6/10
Neutral and inoffensive

Theakston Salted Caramel Porter
8½/10
I've saved the best for last.😘
Sadly, I never got a photo of the b**r or pump as it was a crazily busy Saturday night.
The beautiful, almost decadent smell of salted caramel was there before I started to drink it.
The smell somewhat stronger than the taste fortunately.
Personally, I'd like to mix n match this ale with Old Peculiar over a 4 pint rotational session.🤔
Rarely brewed, I can only hope that Theakstons consider having this b**r generally available with Old P over the cold winter months.🤔

Martin and I have bagged 20 of the festival ales so far and hope to tick off the remaining 10 over the coming week.

Paul

09/10/2026

This is the 2nd time I've received this type of 'warning' from Facebook this year.
I did appeal it last time but never had any feedback whatsoever.
I've attempted to find out more (as per the link below), but its steeped in vague generalities.
In contrast, META still claim that I'm eligible to monetise the page if I had half a mind to do so.

Has anybody encountered something similar?

I'm wondering if it's as a result of me never having boosted my posts or paid any monies to Facebook?
Could it be a disgruntled viewer submitting a complaint?
I think they've eliminated access to under 18's so it can't be that surely.🤨

Should I move the whole enterprise to TikTok.🤔😲

Paul

09/10/2026

Sir John Moore & Crystal Palace (7 Oct)

Brewsters Weizen Up
7/10
A competent take on the Erdinger style.

Cairngorm. Autumn Nuts
7/10
Fairly well rounded in a minimalist sort of way.😶

Exmoor Red
6/10
Formulaic Red for me.
Nothing of note.

Pinball Wizard
7/10
Worthy of note.
It grows on you.

Salopian 1000 yard stare
6½/10
Hops are fairly well balanced

Otter. Reggae
6/10
Largely inoffensive!

Mikkeller. English Dream Pilsner
6½/10
I doubt whether l***r or real ale drinkers would want a 2nd pint of this.
Pilsner should be chilled.
Despite it not being chilled, it's still pleasant enough to drink.

JW Lees - Old Blighty
7/10.
Very much typical of the Manchester style as the Watch team drank a few JW Lees b**rs on a recent visit to that great city.
(Sir Tim, please ensure that the Spoon empire secures plum pudding this Xmas.😉)

Rather concise notes on what was a bit of whirlwind tour of Glasgow Spoons.
Disappointingly, the Henglers Circus had no festival ales showing on the App on Day 1.

Paul

07/10/2026

Pinball Wizard 5.5% abv
Beautiful coffee, chocolate rich malty taste
Just my type of ale,
Brewed by Adnams, who gave a fine reputation.

7/10

Martin

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