It’s horses for courses. A pint of Owd Rodger to warm the cockles in winter is just the ticket. But on a warm summer’s day, there’s nothing better than a few session beers.
But they sell so much. Why is that?
I discovered a magic effect of ESB - my Malaysian Chinese technician was not inscrutable after three pints and during a month long visit I completely converted him to real Ale. Not sure if our Racal manpacks were ever serviced so well after that though!
Lucky you! In London until the mid-1970s it was a choice between Watney’s Red Barrel, Tavern Keg, or Whitbread Tankard! (Ugh!) Fuller’s and Young’s were our saviour, but even the Ram Brewery at Wandsworth has now gone. 
Batham’s is something of a rarity around here, but there is one pub near Upton-on-Severn that has it permanently on tap. Well worth the trip! My favourite “strong” ale is Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild from the Black Country.
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
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Banff is generally a black hole when in comes to decent beer (can’t stand Tennants or the other fizzy pops.) But the Market Arms is a light in the darkness, always has at least one ale on tap (including London Pride now and again) with the local favourite being Timothy Taylor’s “Landlord”. Scotland was generally a desert for real ale but that changed about 25 years ago with several decent brewers popping up and now it is generally possible to find something drinkable in most areas.
The change started earlier than that. I remember walking into the Clachaig in Glencoe somewhere around 1975 and there was a brand new shiny hand pump on the bar. It was McEwens 60 shilling heavy, it smelled vile and tasted divine! Four pints of that and a hot Bridie and you could sleep like a baby whilst a gale vibrated the tent!
It’s like inferior wine and spirits…Many people don’t know the good stuff.
Much like the difference between an ICOM and a baofeng
I lived within a few miles of that brewery all of my life until October just gone. The smell of hops was a frequent occurrence over South Street / Ingrow.
Against popular opinion, I never liked Timothy Taylor’s beers. I like the lighter coloured beers, I think Saltaire Blonde is my favourite pub beer at the moment. I spent many years working in Saltaire at Filtronic Comtek and later Radio Design, both very near to Saltaire Brewery. http://www.saltairebrewery.com/ The logo is quite similar to a SOTA connected company 