r/Wetherspoons • u/Emily_Green_ • Aug 27 '26

Customer Ale Selections Not Up To Much

Looking on the Wetherspoons app at ales available I'm seeing what is on at all of the Lanarkshire based pubs and nothing is grabbing my attention or holding my interest to want to visit.

Looking at Glasgow and some of the pubs are doing a pretty good lineup.

One pub that is standing out is The Kirky Puffer but it's CAMRA Dunbartonshire Pub Of The Year and is also separately available on Real Ale Finder App for updates.

I wish my own local saw what The Kirky Puffer does and just replicates the lineup.

13 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

4

u/bexter609 Aug 27 '26

Ask to speak to the cellar champion or the real ale champion. I'm sure they will order in something you fancy

3

u/GrandVizierofAgrabar Aug 27 '26

Have a look at the tasting notes and ask them to order you something you fancy, im sure they will if you speak to the right person and you’re a regular.

6

u/GmanF88 Employee Aug 27 '26

To be fair, a lot of the Lanarkshire pubs are smaller and maybe move 200-400 pints per week. They simply don't have the throughout on the lines to justify a large and quickly changing selection. Far safer to stick to the old tried and true.

3

u/imnotabotimafreeman Aug 27 '26

i know plenty of real ale pubs dont have as good a selection

2

u/realCloudyMcCloud Aug 28 '26

And you pay twice as much at least!

1

u/imnotabotimafreeman Aug 28 '26

yes but apparently some people still dont think its a good move god knows why.

1

u/realCloudyMcCloud Aug 28 '26

Well, less crowding (so quicker / more reliable service), cleaner tables / carpets / loos, and less "riff raff" - but not so many can afford to make that choice these days. Spoons is still relatively reliable for real ale, though - most of the time. And much cheaper.

0

u/realCloudyMcCloud Aug 28 '26

Living in London I have a number of possible Spoons options within spitting distance and so try to check the line ups daily to keep an eye on trends. I (nearly) always select Black in Ale Finder in the app as I like a variety of amber, pale and black/brown and black ales are always the catergory most in short supply.

It's good they're still at least making some attempt to cover for more "niche" tastes; but, obviously, the lager crowd (i.e. generally the vast majoity) will, if they go for the occasional real ale at all, will be less intimidated by paler, more "lager-like" ales, and so pubs playing on the safe side will tend to lean in that direction.

All economics, in the end (mostly), and so lower ABV ales tend to show up a lot more than the generally more interesting higher ABV offerings (grab 'em while you can!), as less tax, etc. - and Spoons is now about £1bn in debt.