Beer?

[albal]

Taken on board ferry from Santander last night. Very limited service, no bar, restaurant. Stay in cabin please.
A delicious IPA, glad I had it to carry on.

 

[Gunk]

I've just discovered this over the last couple of weeks, still American in taste which I quite like, but much better quality than the usual stuff.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I'll keep my eye out in case it appears in draught form in 'spoons - when the muppet politicians get everything opened up again so we can get out for a proper beer!

 

[MntnMan62]

I'm kind of new to the forum and it seems as though most of you are from Britain and Europe. My favorite beers are things like Chimay (blue, gold or red), Guinness, Newcastle Brown, Dogfish Head IPA (90 minute), and occassionally Rolling Rock if I want something less "chewy". When I was working in NYC I went to a bar that has 70 beers on tap and 150 different beers in the bottle. They also usually had at least one hand drawn ale. I tried on at a friends suggestion and was blown away. It was awesome. What I found odd was when my wife and I vistited London about 20 years ago I was intent on having some hand drawn ale. We went to a pub in London that seemed to have mostly locals. I went to the bar and ordered two hand drawn ales and while I waited for him to pour them I looked around and was suprised to see people drinking........of all things......Budweiser out of the aluminum bottles. Really? I mentioned to the bartender that I was from the US and was there looking forward to sampling all sorts of English and European beers and asked why everyone seems to be drinking Budweiser? His response was "Because they like it." Duh. But Budweiser? I still don't understand it.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

View attachment 528241
Taken on board ferry from Santander last night. Very limited service, no bar, restaurant. Stay in cabin please.
A delicious IPA, glad I had it to carry on.

Faith, their core pale ale, is also a classic beer.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I'm kind of new to the forum and it seems as though most of you are from Britain and Europe. My favorite beers are things like Chimay (blue, gold or red), Guinness, Newcastle Brown, Dogfish Head IPA (90 minute), and occassionally Rolling Rock if I want something less "chewy". When I was working in NYC I went to a bar that has 70 beers on tap and 150 different beers in the bottle. They also usually had at least one hand drawn ale. I tried on at a friends suggestion and was blown away. It was awesome. What I found odd was when my wife and I vistited London about 20 years ago I was intent on having some hand drawn ale. We went to a pub in London that seemed to have mostly locals. I went to the bar and ordered two hand drawn ales and while I waited for him to pour them I looked around and was suprised to see people drinking........of all things......Budweiser out of the aluminum bottles. Really? I mentioned to the bartender that I was from the US and was there looking forward to sampling all sorts of English and European beers and asked why everyone seems to be drinking Budweiser? His response was "Because they like it." Duh. But Budweiser? I still don't understand it.

Yes, it's mostly UK on here with a few European-based Brits. I can only think of one regular poster from the States: @Gravity Aided , though there are probably others that I don't seem to come across.

As for beer, a lot of people seem to prefer cold, light and sparkly, which probably explains the Budweiser popularity in that pub. When you say hand drawn ale, I assume you mean cask. Cellar temperature, usually less cold than the lagers, less sparkly, and an excellent way of serving most darker beers, from bitter to porter to stout with a few red and amber ones thrown in. Unfortunately, a lot of the newer brewers don't do much in terms of cask, focusing mostly on keg. I think that this is mostly market led - keg is pretty much standard if you're drinking what gets called ''craft beer.'' It's stable and comes in smaller quantities so it suits bars that keep a wide, evolving selection of beers. It's great to have the choice but many beers taste best when they're cask.

Of course, when I talk about cask or keg, I'm doing so from memory because our bars, taprooms and pubs have been closed since mid-March. I'm missing it badly but getting by with cans.

Anyhow, if you come over to the UK again, let us know and we will provide you with plenty of recommendations.

 

[MntnMan62]

Yes, it's mostly UK on here with a few European-based Brits. I can only think of one regular poster from the States: @Gravity Aided , though there are probably others that I don't seem to come across.

As for beer, a lot of people seem to prefer cold, light and sparkly, which probably explains the Budweiser popularity in that pub. When you say hand drawn ale, I assume you mean cask. Cellar temperature, usually less cold than the lagers, less sparkly, and an excellent way of serving most darker beers, from bitter to porter to stout with a few red and amber ones thrown in. Unfortunately, a lot of the newer brewers don't do much in terms of cask, focusing mostly on keg. I think that this is mostly market led - keg is pretty much standard if you're drinking what gets called ''craft beer.'' It's stable and comes in smaller quantities so it suits bars that keep a wide, evolving selection of beers. It's great to have the choice but many beers taste best when they're cask.

Of course, when I talk about cask or keg, I'm doing so from memory because our bars, taprooms and pubs have been closed since mid-March. I'm missing it badly but getting by with cans.

Anyhow, if you come over to the UK again, let us know and we will provide you with plenty of recommendations.

Yes. I guess I'm thinking of cask. We call it hand drawn here because you have to pump the tap to get the beer to flow whereas with regular keg beer it is pumped up. I prefer darker heavier beers that have lots of flavor and character. Here in the US many of us consider Budweiser similar to Corona, otherwise known as piss water. Sure there are lots of people who like both but I wouldn't consider myself someone who follows the crowd. Our bars have been closed for months now as well although they are trying to open restaurants up again in places. I'm staying away because too many people here aren't willing to follow proper social distancing protocol and wear a mask. I'm watching the places that have opened up and anticipate the number of cases of the virus to start to rise in those places. I do love a good pub and going out but I also like staying home, drinking in the comfort of my living room or back deck. I also hate people so, either works for me. I appreciate the offer for recommendations. We've been to London twice, Paris twice and I've been to Geneva. Next trip to EuropeI would like to be Italy, but they need to get the 'Rona under control first. Quick story. The last trip to London we had our son who was about 11 or 12 at the time. He and I love watching Monty Python, especially The Holy Grail and we quote it all the time. We were visiting one of the castles and they had people acting in period attire. One guy looks at us and asks "How do you know if ......something or other, I don't remember...." So my son looks at him and says with a smile "She turned me into a newt." He responded, "Well, it looks like you got betta." It was funny. Anyway, thanks for the response. Stay safe and healthy. Cheers.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

What I found odd was when my wife and I vistited London about 20 years ago I was intent on having some hand drawn ale. We went to a pub in London that seemed to have mostly locals. I went to the bar and ordered two hand drawn ales and while I waited for him to pour them I looked around and was suprised to see people drinking........of all things......Budweiser out of the aluminum bottles. Really? I mentioned to the bartender that I was from the US and was there looking forward to sampling all sorts of English and European beers and asked why everyone seems to be drinking Budweiser? His response was "Because they like it." Duh. But Budweiser? I still don't understand it.

My local watering hole usually has half a dozen real ales kept in good condition, yet I know from conversations with the staff that keg lager and bitter combined with gassy industrial cider like Strongbow outsells the proper stuff. Why punters drink this crap in preference is beyond me, especially as it's more expensive! The power of marketing maybe?
The Budweiser that gets marketed to us isn't even the proper stuff - Budvar, which is actually a half decent beer. The Americanised version has the cheapest, nastiest ingredients possible used in it's recipe. As far as I'm concerned, it's piss water.

 

[MntnMan62]

My local watering hole usually has half a dozen real ales kept in good condition, yet I know from conversations with the staff that keg lager and bitter combined with gassy industrial cider like Strongbow outsells the proper stuff. Why punters drink this crap in preference is beyond me, especially as it's more expensive! The power of marketing maybe?
The Budweiser that gets marketed to us isn't even the proper stuff - Budvar, which is actually a half decent beer. The Americanised version has the cheapest, nastiest ingredients possible used in it's recipe. As far as I'm concerned, it's piss water.

I've had that Strongbow stuff. Isn't it apple cider or something to that effect with some added malt liquor to make it alcoholic? It's ok but too dang sweet. Budvar. Is that like Czechvar? My neighbor loves that stuff and buys it by the half keg. Give me a nice ale that's heavy and flavorful and chewy and I'd rather have two of those than 6 of the cheap garbage stuff.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

…asked why everyone seems to be drinking Budweiser? His response was "Because they like it." Duh. But Budweiser? I still don't understand it.

Nor do I understand it. I suppose in a hop-brew emergency I may have been known to drink US Budweiser; but, whenever I do, it always leaves me feeling as if I have been sucking a mouthful of rice. It has a distinctly ricey taste to me. Give me a British or Belgian brew any time or, when in France, a lovely stone-stoppered bottle of Fischer from Alsace. I have never found Fischer, a kind of half-way house between lager and brown ale, on sale anywhere except France — but if you have never been to France, stone-stoppered Fischer is a compelling reason to do so. The Champagne is not bad, either.

 

[figbat]

I'm lucky enough to live in a rural setting surrounded by villages with 'proper' pubs; one of them is the 2020 CAMRA pub of the year. A pint of hand-drawn Old Tyler from the West Berkshire Brewery is nectar, especially mid-way through a MTB ride. Our local pub is a freehouse and gets some good ales through - currently serving Loose Cannon's Abingdon Bridge in take-away pint glasses.

That said, I am a convert to the so-called 'American' style IPAs, which dominate my fridge now. BrewDog latched me onto the style and now I have an array of options along these lines.

 

[albal]

Yes. I guess I'm thinking of cask. We call it hand drawn here because you have to pump the tap to get the beer to flow whereas with regular keg beer it is pumped up. I prefer darker heavier beers that have lots of flavor and character. Here in the US many of us consider Budweiser similar to Corona, otherwise known as piss water. Sure there are lots of people who like both but I wouldn't consider myself someone who follows the crowd. Our bars have been closed for months now as well although they are trying to open restaurants up again in places. I'm staying away because too many people here aren't willing to follow proper social distancing protocol and wear a mask. I'm watching the places that have opened up and anticipate the number of cases of the virus to start to rise in those places. I do love a good pub and going out but I also like staying home, drinking in the comfort of my living room or back deck. I also hate people so, either works for me. I appreciate the offer for recommendations. We've been to London twice, Paris twice and I've been to Geneva. Next trip to EuropeI would like to be Italy, but they need to get the 'Rona under control first. Quick story. The last trip to London we had our son who was about 11 or 12 at the time. He and I love watching Monty Python, especially The Holy Grail and we quote it all the time. We were visiting one of the castles and they had people acting in period attire. One guy looks at us and asks "How do you know if ......something or other, I don't remember...." So my son looks at him and says with a smile "She turned me into a newt." He responded, "Well, it looks like you got betta." It was funny. Anyway, thanks for the response. Stay safe and healthy. Cheers.

I,m lucky as our local is doing off sales. Open 5-7pm daily.

Both cask ales from vibrant forest brewery. Entalea IPA unfined at 4.5%. A classic VF beer. The stout - Tonkallind .tonkabean and coffee. 4.8%. Flavour really comes through.

 

[Gunk]

I’m on this tonight, only bought it because it was reduced but it’s very good.

 

[Maverick Goose]

Well I enjoyed my Vault City beers so much, I ordered some more, including their latest Imperial Stouts. The Blueberry Cobbler beer (6.7%) was most excellent-sweet, sour, a little bit nutty. Off the wall but well worth a punt if you like that style of beer, as was the Peach & Nectarine Sour (5.6%). My Siren delivery just arrived as well, including two of my all time favourites in Broken Dream Breakfast Stout and Soundwave IPA. Churs!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Well I enjoyed my Vault City beers so much, I ordered some more, including their latest Imperial Stouts. The Blueberry Cobbler beer (6.7%) was most excellent-sweet, sour, a little bit nutty. Off the wall but well worth a punt if you like that style of beer, as was the Peach & Nectarine Sour (5.6%). My Siren delivery just arrived as well, including two of my all time favourites in Broken Dream Breakfast Stout and Soundwave IPA. Churs!

I've got a Siren delivery on the way. There's a new Brut IPA in there called On the Bubble that I wanted to sample. I didn't manage to find their Broken Dream variation with added cacao and hazelnuts: Twisted Breakfast Stout.