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I used to love Hobgoblin from Wychwood[/url:10r4m76o], but I haven't had it in a while, but while travelling back from Lisburn today I stopped off in Sainsbury's for a look. They had a reasonable selection of Ales generally around £1.69 a bottle, but they had 4-packs of Hobgoblin (in brown glass bottles) for £5.99. Bit, if you buy two 4-packs, it's only £10. That's £1.25 a bottle, or about €1.80 in new money. Not bad!

(also got some Badger First Gold, Marston's Burton Bitter and Fuller's Discovery)

Not bad at all. Though adding the train fare and taxi from the station kinda detracts from the value <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt="" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( -->

Must say I'm not a fan of Discovery and I've yet to try a Marston's beer I like, though I've not had the bitter.

I was in a company-rented car, and was being driven, so I was ok <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

I'll be up there in the next couple of weeks, so could do a beer fairy on it for ya <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->

I've had the Discovery from a Cask in a little pub near the UK office of the company I work for. I actually enjoyed it (it was when it was hot and we were sitting in a beer garden), but as I recall I did move onto the Adnam's broadside after a couple Discoveries (I think!)

Strangely enough, the first time I had Hobgoblin was in a pub of the same name in Aylesbury, owned by Wychwood. The amazing thing about the place (apart from the blood and teeth on the floor) was tha it mostly sold macro fizz and alcopops. All the Wychwood gear was in bottles (not sure of they do casks/kegs regularly anyway), but even then you'd be lucky to see one or two of their beers in stock. Sad. But that's Aylesbury for you. <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt="" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( -->

Oh, and I think it was Marston's that Thom was talking about on Saturday when he was talking about light-struck beers? Or was it an IPA? Anyway, the bitter is in a clear bottle too.

&amp;quot;Adeptus&amp;quot;:2txchbi0 wrote: I did move onto the Adnam's broadside after a couple Discoveries (I think!)[/quote:2txchbi0]Broadside's definitely more full-on.

&amp;quot;Adeptus&amp;quot;:2txchbi0 wrote: The amazing thing about the place (apart from the blood and teeth on the floor) was tha it mostly sold macro fizz and alcopops.[/quote:2txchbi0]That's mental, considering how assertive they tend to be in their marketing. Lagerboy.

&amp;quot;Adeptus&amp;quot;:2txchbi0 wrote: Oh, and I think it was Marston's that Thom was talking about on Saturday when he was talking about light-struck beers?[/quote:2txchbi0]Weren't we on Shepherd Neames at that point? Same principle anyway: English breweries and clear bottles. Why, Santa, why?

&amp;quot;TheBeerNut&amp;quot;:5wp0jhwc wrote: That's mental, considering how assertive they tend to be in their marketing. Lagerboy.[/quote:5wp0jhwc]
Absolutely. I was thrilled when I first went to Aylesbury and saw this place as I remembered Hobgoblin being listed in Michael Jackson's Great Beer Guide[/url:5wp0jhwc]. I used to go to Aylesbury alot, and I always think of Luke Skywalker talking about Tatooine: "If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from" <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

&amp;quot;TheBeerNut&amp;quot;:5wp0jhwc wrote: Weren't we on Shepherd Neames at that point? Same principle anyway: English breweries and clear bottles. Why, Santa, why?[/quote:5wp0jhwc]Yeah, we were, but he was comparing it to his experience with (I think) a Marston's beer. My memory is fuzzy, as was my tongue the following morning.

[quote:32781e1k]Oh, and I think it was Marston's that Thom was talking about on Saturday when he was talking about light-struck beers? Or was it an IPA? Anyway, the bitter is in a clear bottle too.[/quote:32781e1k]

I was talking about Marston's Old Empire IPA that night. If my theory holds, that bottle of bitter in a clear glass should smell exactly like the Shepheard's Neame brew you had on Saturday. I have found this to be the case with all clear bottled ales, and also an experimental ale of mine I put in a clear bottle and left on the window sill for 3 months.

As TBN said, why the hell do they do it?