Where has Old Speckled Hen gone ?

Irish ales have all but surplanted the English ones at this stage. A good thing, but the English ales don't all secum to been variations on an IPA theme - which was where they won out for me and why I miss them.

Tend to drink stouts and Red Ales when I can.

Neither speckled hen, spitfire, London Pride or hobgoblin are IPA, all are traditional southern ales. At one time they dominated.

You never see an English bitter over hear and again at one time they dominated the English market.

IPA is a bit of a scurge at times.

Some Fine Wines have Doombar.

Brexit has done serious damage to UK exports of beer.

In England there are southern ales and northern bitters with a demarcation line around the midlands. Southern ales tend to be more malty and less hoppy.

IPAs are a style across the country but up until about a decade ago they weren't the dominant style.

For me most of the IPAs are a lazy -throw as much hops as you can manage at a beer and forget that half the flavour profiles come from the malts. I drink a lot of IPA but I really wish it hadn't displaced all the other ales and bitters that in many ways are more skilled offerings.

I was born and bred in England and the brewing industry was an entirely different landscape to what you have now. There were clear regional styles which have largely been swept away by the blitzkrieg that is IPA.

You hardly ever saw an IPA on draft. It was a total rarity.

Hey I lived it. IPA was never a popular drink in England, small share of the market bottle and draft.

As I said it is my opinion that IPA has been a scurge on British Brewing. So rare to actually get a quality IPA.

IPA has nothing to do with "northern" and "southern" being beer styles. "Southern" beer isn't a thing.

The only tangible difference between north and south is the widespread use of a sparkler attachment on taps up north.

Except for all of the old style IPAs that are still made, the ones you're trying to rebrand as Southern Ales.

When dealing with or going to events with the traditionalist CAMRA group I never heard of northern or southern beer. Even the ultra hardliners at SPBW don't talk about it.

You've just made me a little "homesick" for a past life mentioning Marble. One of my favourite breweries to deal with. Probably one of the first to sell the merits of the English craft scene to me too.

GreenKing IPA is nothing like any of the bottled IPAs you can get now, which sort of makes my point.

I lived in a Green King region so I have experience of the beer on draught.