zhao

there are no accidents
oh that fullers does look tasty.

after living in germany for 2 years, though i haven't made a real mission of it, have not discovered any amazing local or national brews... the usual Augustiner and whatever is decent but nothing special. did have Black Boss last week which was good, but has a sour taste and nowhere as delicious as Guiness... any suggestions on something easy to find that i should try?
 

zhao

there are no accidents
if you think guiness is delicious i'm afraid you're lost. it is truely the worst stout.

sounds like i'm pitifully under educated. the up side being the hundreds of stouts to discover! but i suppose i have to move to england or ireland...?
 

nochexxx

harco pronting
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scottdisco

rip this joint please
now that is a legendary beer Nochexxx!

@zhao: i think the answer is you'll have to party in Bavaria for a weekend :D

i was mainly sticking with wheat stuff when in Munich earlier this year but at one of the more famed cafes - and this was at the start of one day, so sober and alert and appreciative - went off on a tasting tangent as recommended by a waiter, having a few styles i knew about, and then some of - what he said - were seasonals, some darker stuff, but it wasn't just dark bocks from Aventinus and stuff, i would recognise those sorts of things.

i was well impressed with some of them. no recollections of names of course (!)

there is this bloke's ten favourite German beers, mind. bit geeky like, but still.

i like Diebels.

this beer styles link is probably going to be worthwhile parking here.
The classic beer styles all originate from the northern part of central and Western Europe, but today those styles are brewed with skill around the world.

i really rate Guinness myself, i mean i'm not even sure if it's the best stout in Dublin (Droid's Porterhouse craft brewers do a very, very nice Plain Porter), but i have drank gallons of the stuff down the years and it's been nectar countless times in countless Irish towns and cities, and nectar in proper Irish pubs in the Anglo-English cities (in particular Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham).
of course its ubiquity means we'll all have drank at least one staggeringly bad version in our lives somewhere, and it can be hard to separate that out.

American craft brewers do some amazing stouts, i must say.

as for the top five list above, i was thinking, and i reckon if i was going to extend it to seven, Canada would be in with a shout (for the reasons Sick Boy noticed, vital micro scene etc), and the Netherlands, because away from a few big name lagers, the Dutch also have a thriving independent scene throwing up a lot of lovely tastes.
 

scottdisco

rip this joint please
cool quote from link up above

Nowhere in Germany are there such individualistic beers as in and around Bamberg.

that London Porter looks immense.
i think i remember having it the once in a Fullers pub, the Old Joint Stock in Birmingham centre (by far the most northerly Fullers tie, fact fans!) and it was divine.

Fullers do some very special bottles, don't they?
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
There's a brewery called O'Hanlon's which is based in the (English) West Country but specialises in Irish-style beers - not just stouts (including a port stout!) but also a red ale and a rye beer. Well worth checking out.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Fullers do some very special bottles, don't they?

Oh yes indeed. Their '1845' bottled conditioned ale won the GBBF Gold Medal for bottled beer a few years ago - I specifically remember because I was on the judging panel that year. :)

There's so much more to the brewery than Pride, which is an odd beer in a way because in 9/10 pubs that stock it it's their 'token' real ale and generally rather meh, but every now and then you find a pub (which may or may not be a Fuller's house) that keeps it properly and it's really good.
 

scottdisco

rip this joint please
Oh yes indeed. Their '1845' bottled conditioned ale won the GBBF Gold Medal for bottled beer a few years ago - I specifically remember because I was on the judging panel that year. :)

There's so much more to the brewery than Pride, which is an odd beer in a way because in 9/10 pubs that stock it it's their 'token' real ale and generally rather meh, but every now and then you find a pub (which may or may not be a Fuller's house) that keeps it properly and it's really good.

blow me Tea, i'm well impressed by your panel duties :)
any tales to share?

i was in a bar the other day that i know has stocked 1845 in the past, but - alas - they have stopped carrying it.
i shall be sure to report to thread the reactions of the lucky novice when i finally get some down me neck.

as for regular Fuller's draught, i am a fan of both Chiswick and the ESB. i think Chiswick is a genuinely very fine beer, i must say.
 
Has anyone made home brews before. I've tried my hand at brewing kit beers about 5 times now and have never been particularly successful. Kit beers are the most basic form of brewing, it's a bit like a more complicated version of mixing water up with orange squash only the process produces alcohol. There are very few variables you can play around with to effect the flavour, you are babysitting the brew and that is your main input really. In theory after 6 weeks and as much as £23 you get 35 pints of pub quality real ale to drink for your efforts. In my experience though you get slightly sour, overly flat beer, though the internet suggests the majority of people are pleased with the result.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
blow me Tea, i'm well impressed by your panel duties :)
any tales to share?

Then I would respectfully suggest you are easily impressed. ;) I just answered an ad I saw in Roger Protz's beer column in the Grauniad's food and drink section. I was the youngest panellist by some margin, I seem to remember. He seemed a nice enough guy, although you couldn't mention his name in earshot of the former landlady of the pub I used to work in (which was a bit of a beer Mecca (so to speak) in its day) without her loudly declaiming "Roger Protz is a twat!". God knows what history they had...
 
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scottdisco

rip this joint please
Has anyone made home brews before. I've tried my hand at brewing kit beers about 5 times now and have never been particularly successful. Kit beers are the most basic form of brewing, it's a bit like a more complicated version of mixing water up with orange squash only the process produces alcohol. There are very few variables you can play around with to effect the flavour, you are babysitting the brew and that is your main input really. In theory after 6 weeks and as much as £23 you get 35 pints of pub quality real ale to drink for your efforts. In my experience though you get slightly sour, overly flat beer, though the internet suggests the majority of people are pleased with the result.

i can't say i have but that doesn't sound particularly appealing i must say. i met a guy who did it once, in a pub, and he seemed to be fairly advanced. he was there to meet a load of other home brewers at some get together they ran.

also, Dunham Massey's Milk Stout is a classic of its style.
 
My last brew of Woodefordes wherry turned out alright, though it still has a slightly sour aftertaste that marks it out as a homebrew. I personally do the homebrew kits because it's an effective way of regularly drinking real ale in your home (there are no suitable pubs close to me) without spending stupid amounts of money in a supermarket. The thing about homebrewing is that a home set up isnt much different from the equipment that a proper brewery has, and it all costs very little. The advantage breweries they have over the amateur is production line efficency & hygeine control, the ability to brew large quantities, and last but not least, expertise & experience. While my limited efforts have been so so, there's nothing to stop a proper homebrew from being a world beater.
 

scottdisco

rip this joint please
Owen you are a legend, thanks for clearing that up, i genuinely had no idea re the home brew SP.

also i once drank Woodefordes wherry on gravity in a rural Norfolk pub - heavenly stuff.

right off to check your ebay site :)
 

scottdisco

rip this joint please
what i drank last night

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price of a scoop has shot up to a shocking £1.41 ;)

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and a few other brews

washed down with a seekh kebab on naan, with onions and yoghurt :eek:
 
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