Alamy attending Cambridge Alamy Group meeting Wed. 15th January

[Doc]

Further to my last correspondence, James Allsworth, Alamy's Contributor Experience Manager has offered to come to this meeting to meet with us again (as he did last year) and try and answer any questions we have. 

 

If anyone else would like to come, please leave a message on here and let me know.

 

The venue is in Ely, at 12.30, date as above

 

Cheers

 

Kumar

Edited January 6, 2020 by Doc

[Allan Bell]

BUMP

 

Allan

 

[Ed Rooney]

James is a good guy. I wish I could come down.

 

Edo

[Doc]

33 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

James is a good guy. I wish I could come down.

 

Edo

Yup. We wish you could come down too Ed!

It's not too late for anyone else to let me know you want to come to this!!

 

Kumar

[Ed Rooney]

I plan to stay here in Liverpool or at least in the U.K.  So I will be getting to one of these meets at some point. 
 

Another attractive thing that I’ve discovered in Liverpool: a pint of Guinness at my local is just 3.50£.
 

Have any of you noticed that the beer is now served much colder in the U.K.? It’s the influence of larger’s popularity. Cell temperature no more. I’d freeze in that cellar. 

[Betty LaRue]

Warmish beer in the past? I’m not a beer lover, unless sitting or working in the hot sun. Yard work, ball games, fishing. Then it has to be cold enough to give me brain freeze. If it starts to warm a couple of degrees, I can’t stomach it. So I chug it as fast as I can, then have a 5 or 10 minute buzz because the alcohol hits my blood all at once.

I drink iced tea with dinner year round.

Betty

[spacecadet]

32 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Warmish beer in the past? I’m not a beer lover, unless sitting or working in the hot sun. Yard work, ball games, fishing. Then it has to be cold enough to give me brain freeze. If it starts to warm a couple of degrees, I can’t stomach it. So I chug it as fast as I can, then have a 5 or 10 minute buzz because the alcohol hits my blood all at once.

I drink iced tea with dinner year round.

Betty

Betty, what we serve warmer is usually ale quite a different thing fro most of what you'd call "beer", which is usually lager. Ale loses its flavour if served too cold.

 

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Another attractive thing that I’ve discovered in Liverpool: a pint of Guinness at my local is just 3.50£.
 

 

Ed, if you can stand the clientele, a Wetherspoons pub is  a good place for cheap beer ale- you should be able to get a good selection for not much more than £2- £2.50 up there.

The MD is a bit of an arse (he's a fanatical Brexiteer so stopped serving drink from the EU) but there's no denying they know how to buy, and keep, cheap beer. Guinness won't be much cheaper but there are other stouts.

[Jools Devon]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

I plan to stay here in Liverpool or at least in the U.K.  So I will be getting to one of these meets at some point. 
 

Another attractive thing that I’ve discovered in Liverpool: a pint of Guinness at my local is just 3.50£.
 

Have any of you noticed that the beer is now served much colder in the U.K.? It’s the influence of larger’s popularity. Cell temperature no more. I’d freeze in that cellar. 

 

Apparently its the Americans that are making us serve beer "super chilled", and to attract the larger drinkers - plus its the fact that its quicker to pour, with less wastage (probably the real reason)

 

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/cold-comfort-for-guinness-drinkers-1.160225

 

I still prefer a  traditional hand pulled pint - served at room (or cellar) temperature 

 

None of this "Extra cold" for me thanks!

 

[Allan Bell]

20 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

Guinness won't be much cheaper but there are other stouts.

 

Mackeson is a reasonable stout.

I used to drink a stout when I lived and worked in Halifax back in the early 1970's but the name eludes me now. Possibly the effect of the stout itself.🤪

 

Allan

 

[spacecadet]

[Allan Bell]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

I plan to stay here in Liverpool or at least in the U.K.  So I will be getting to one of these meets at some point. 
 

Another attractive thing that I’ve discovered in Liverpool: a pint of Guinness at my local is just 3.50£.
 

Have any of you noticed that the beer is now served much colder in the U.K.? It’s the influence of larger’s popularity. Cell temperature no more. I’d freeze in that cellar. 

 

Edo I am not criticising just explaining convention. £ sign goes in front of 3.50 (£3.50).

 

I realise it will be difficult to break a long standing habit.

 

Allan

 

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, spacecadet said:

Betty, what we serve warmer is usually ale quite a different thing fro most of what you'd call "beer", which is usually lager. Ale loses its flavour if served too cold.

 

Ed, if you can stand the clientele, a Wetherspoons pub is  a good place for cheap beer ale- you should be able to get a good selection for not much more than £2- £2.50 up there.

The MD is a bit of an arse (he's a fanatical Brexiteer so stopped serving drink from the EU) but there's no denying they know how to buy, and keep, cheap beer. Guinness won't be much cheaper but there are other stouts.

Thanks, I understand. I probably wouldn’t care for UK lager? Ale? Stout?  I don’t understand the distinctions.

I’ll stick to my iced tea, Coke Zero, white wine or Coors Light! Or my favorite...margarita. 

[spacecadet]

35 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Thanks, I understand. I probably wouldn’t care for UK lager? Ale? Stout?  I don’t understand the distinctions.

I’ll stick to my iced tea, Coke Zero, white wine or Coors Light! Or my favorite...margarita. 

Lager is bottom-fermented at low temperature. Ale is top-fermented at a higher temperature. Stout could be made either way, but is made dark with roasted barley or dark malt IIRC.

Confusingly some German beers that are served cold and fizzy are actually brewed as ales-  Kölsch,  for example, and Alt from Düsseldorf.

You'd probably find lager a bit more bitter than an American beer (I assume we're talking about the likes of Bud or Coors).

Edited January 13, 2020 by spacecadet

[Robert M Estall]

I fondly remember outback Australian bars which had refrigerated lager on tap. They almost unvaryingly had a wall of ice-cold or even freezing small glasses in glass-fronted displays  behind the bar . The bartender would grab a small glass and fill it with 6 to 8 ounces of the amber nectar. You would pour this freezing beer down your parched throat which was pleasant but hardly tasted and repeat the  procedure frequently. The main thing was to not let the brew anywhere near room or cellar temperature. Tea, iced or otherwise, was not on the menu. And Sheilas were not encouraged, that part I think has advanced a bit.

Edited January 14, 2020 by Robert M Estall

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, spacecadet said:

Lager is bottom-fermented at low temperature. Ale is top-fermented at a higher temperature. Stout could be made either way, but is made dark with roasted barley or dark malt IIRC.

Confusingly some German beers that are served cold and fizzy are actually brewed as ales-  Kölsch,  for example, and Alt from Düsseldorf.

You'd probably find lager a bit more bitter than an American beer (I assume we're talking about the likes of Bud or Coors).

I’m not fond of bitter taste, for sure. Yeah, I’m lowbrow, Coors and Bud are about it.  And a 6 pack will last me a year since I’m no longer in a fishing boat. We used to live 10 minutes away from a large lake. During all the seasons except for winter, we fished on average twice a week from our bass boat.  Believe it or not, and I don’t understand why, but from boat, bank or wading for trout, I out-fished everyone in my family. I guess the fish liked me. Maybe the Coors Light gave me the instinct. 
Boat is gone, fishing partner is gone, and I’m 80 miles from that lake. I miss it all.
Life changes. Doesn’t it, Ed?
Betty

[Brian Yarvin]

Good grief Betty! Just get on a plane and go! Any pub in the UK will make you pretty much anything you want. Cold, warm, dark, light ... it doesn't matter!

 

My niece got married in Cambridge a few months ago and I was the only American at the event. It was easy to get to and I could drink anything and everything. If I remember correctly - and it was quite a party, so maybe I don't - they had everything from Coors to St. Sixtus. In an actual British pub, nobody will judge you. 

 

An American voice at a meeting like this will mean a lot.

[Betty LaRue]

1 hour ago, Brian Yarvin said:

Good grief Betty! Just get on a plane and go! Any pub in the UK will make you pretty much anything you want. Cold, warm, dark, light ... it doesn't matter!

 

My niece got married in Cambridge a few months ago and I was the only American at the event. It was easy to get to and I could drink anything and everything. If I remember correctly - and it was quite a party, so maybe I don't - they had everything from Coors to St. Sixtus. In an actual British pub, nobody will judge you. 

 

An American voice at a meeting like this will mean a lot.

Ahh, wish that I could. The summer redo of my exterior after a huge damaging hail storm last April set me back. I’m trying to recover my finances. Insurance covered most, but there was the deductible and I went beyond that and did some extra things because the timing was right. I’ve always wanted to see England.

Who knows?  Maybe someday. Do the pubs have margaritas? 😁

[Inchiquin]

4 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

 

I’ve always wanted to see England.

 

 

Do it while you can. I've never asked for a Margarita in a British pub but I can't imagine that you wouldn't find one. I prefer Tequila Sunrise myself.

 

Alan

 

[Nigel Kirby]

6 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Ahh, wish that I could. The summer redo of my exterior after a huge damaging hail storm last April set me back. I’m trying to recover my finances. Insurance covered most, but there was the deductible and I went beyond that and did some extra things because the timing was right. I’ve always wanted to see England.

Who knows?  Maybe someday. Do the pubs have margaritas? 😁

 

https://www.timeout.com/london/bars-and-pubs/londons-best-margaritas

 

[Allan Bell]

Let me know when you are coming to the UK. I will probably be living in Lincoln area by then but am willing to travel anywhere in the UK to say "Hello".

 

Allan

 

[MDM]

11 hours ago, Brian Yarvin said:

 

An American voice at a meeting like this will mean a lot.

 

Not sure why that would be but I can do a terrible southern drawl if that's any good. All that country music I listen to. 

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, MDM said:

 

Not sure why that would be but I can do a terrible southern drawl if that's any good. All that country music I listen to. 

[Allan Bell]

2 hours ago, MDM said:

 

Not sure why that would be but I can do a terrible southern drawl if that's any good. All that country music I listen to. 

 

Hope you are not going to practice that tomorrow at the meeting.😄

 

Allan

 

[Allan Bell]

Great Cambridge Group meeting today with James Allsworth in attendance.

 

Lots of questions flew around the table and James was quick to respond to all of them. I won't go into what was asked or the answers in detail but James gave the meeting some very useful information through his answers.

 

Suggest if you have any questions then in the meantime contact James directly, or better still come along to the next meeting that James attends and meet a great guy face to face.

 

Allan

 

[spacecadet]

43 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

I won't go into what was asked or the answers in detail

Unless answers were stated to be in confidence, why not?