Beer And Beer Drinking

[scottdisco]

i remember mentioning these people in the Belfast thread, i've certainly got love for them if you want real ale up north.

as for further south, i gotta big up Franciscan Well in Cork, both for their own stuff and the festivals they have at the brewpub, i was at one once last year and i think they said all of Ireland's independent breweries were there, and i admit that goes up to only about a baker's dozen or so, AFAIK, under 20 anyway IIRC.

the Porterhouse outlet by Trinity College is a good Dub location, more single floor space than the one in Temple Bar.

 

[Sick Boy]

I don't know if I've already posted this in this thread, and I can't be bothered to check, but Canada is one of the best places for beer in the world as far as I'm concerned. Not only are our mass-produced domestics actually drinkable, but we get specialist coveted breweries like Unibroue at domestic prices while the rest of the world pays twice as much for them.

Great Canadian Beers:

Unibroue
Blanche De Chambly <- one of my all-time favourites
Trois Pistoles
La Fin Du Monde
Maudite
and a bunch of weird fruit beers

Other:
Upper Canada (Dark Ale, Lager, Wheat, etc.)
Stratford Pilsner
Steamwhistle
Mill St. Tank House Ale (they do a bunch of beers this is my favourite - they also have this weird coffee-infused one)
Rickard's Red
Creemore Springs
Sleeman Cream Ale

 

[scottdisco]

what Sick Boy said about Unibroue.

nice to see a mention for Rickard's Red mate!

i picked up a sort of bizarre fetish for it.

 

[scottdisco]

general question

what does everybody like?

dark beers, regular floral stuff, sweet beers, quite bitter ones, ones with unusual flavours due to special ingredients?

some of my favourite beers on earth, for instance, are imperial stouts (a strong style), but i know not everybody likes even Guinness, so.. ...similarly gueuzes, which some of us clearly love, are tart, like say a scrumpy.

etc.

(eg: sounds like Sick Boy, Mr Tea, and lmmryr, for three, have broad palates.)

 

[STN]

Can a US Dissensian confirm if Mackenjacks is widely available there? I'm a big fan.

Also love Red Menace out of Seattle.

The only ones that Sick Boy mentions that I've tried are Sleemans (fairly easy to get on tap here in trendy places - good stuff) and Maudite (really, really great).

Coopers from Oz (as previously mentioned) is lovely stuff.

Can one of our US-dwelling compatriots post some reviews of Sam Adams beers? All we get over here is the boston lager - very good, and not unlike Coopers.

Haven't had a real ale for a while. I think Dorset is an undersung region. It's not all Badger you know (though that is fucking gold, all of it, even the weird ones that taste of flowers).

 

[BareBones]

haha, "unibroue"

i'm a total beer phillistine, the most exotic i get is a bottle of Tiger or Asahi or something.

 

[Sick Boy]

(eg: sounds like Sick Boy, Mr Tea, and lmmryr, for three, have broad palates.)

Yeah, I'm not fussy really. It mostly depends on what or if I'm eating, and what the weather is like for me. Or how much I intend on drinking of it. So fussy in a different way.

Can one of our US-dwelling compatriots post some reviews of Sam Adams beers?

It's shit. Well, I think so.

 

[owengriffiths]

I've had some of the Hilden brewery beers, some are alright. By the lack of real ale in ireland, I am reffering to the almost complete lack of it in pubs, at least 90% of pubs dont stock anything less mainstream than Becks. I think the difference to England is that over there it's often the small rural pubs that really promote independent beers. In Ireland that is the last place you would go looking for them. Same goes for any down at heel pub, social club- they would only have the likes of Tennents, the ubiquitous Guinness & Harp, etc. On the other hand the most reliable place for real ale would be Wetherspoons, though thankfully NI only has around 5 of these and these are the ONLY chain pubs there are.

I would be curious as to why Ireland has lost the independent beers tradition. I would identify 3 possible causes

1. Guinness was so successful it killed off all the competition bar English & European mega breweries.

2. In the North at least, the troubles may have created the conditions where it was particularly hard for small businesses to survive, and therefore easier for multinationals to take hold. Though that argument is highly flawed.

3. The Irish are genuinely very content with mainstream lager and see no need to experiment with anything else.

 

[Slothrop]

Andy, given you're in Glasgow, and given Slothrop sounds like the go-to for Scots ale,

Not really, it's just that a lot of the ones I've tried have been nice. Including:
[quote}those caveats notwithstanding, if you can get any Isle of Skye bottles in your local supermarket, try for some of them.[/quote]
I had a really wicked pint of Red Cuillinin Fort William the other day.

I do like the (primarily British?) thing of randomly rocking up in an area and finding loads of really good local beers you've never heard of.

 

[droid]

I've had some of the Hilden brewery beers, some are alright. By the lack of real ale in ireland, I am reffering to the almost complete lack of it in pubs, at least 90% of pubs dont stock anything less mainstream than Becks. I think the difference to England is that over there it's often the small rural pubs that really promote independent beers. In Ireland that is the last place you would go looking for them. Same goes for any down at heel pub, social club- they would only have the likes of Tennents, the ubiquitous Guinness & Harp, etc. On the other hand the most reliable place for real ale would be Wetherspoons, though thankfully NI only has around 5 of these and these are the ONLY chain pubs there are.

I would be curious as to why Ireland has lost the independent beers tradition. I would identify 3 possible causes

1. Guinness was so successful it killed off all the competition bar English & European mega breweries.

2. In the North at least, the troubles may have created the conditions where it was particularly hard for small businesses to survive, and therefore easier for multinationals to take hold. Though that argument is highly flawed.

3. The Irish are genuinely very content with mainstream lager and see no need to experiment with anything else.

Porterhouse do all kinds of 'real ale' type business.

http://www.porterhousebrewco.com/

never tried it meself. All tastes like piss to me.

 

[scottdisco]

I would be curious as to why Ireland has lost the independent beers tradition. I would identify 3 possible causes

1. Guinness was so successful it killed off all the competition bar English & European mega breweries.

i reckon no.1 must have a lot to answer for.
no country has one beer so synonymous, this singular importance, commercially?

OK i can only think of two Italian breweries off the top of my head, and only think of a handful from quite a few other countries, but none are surely as popular worldwide as Guinness in its different permutations.
(granted a handful of other domestic brews are q. big in Ireland.)

@Slothrop: yep i'm down with that MO!

i was reading a Midwest beer geek magazine once and these two Wisconsin chaps had written up a pub crawl holiday they'd taken in Cambridge, it was quite sweet really.
they'd gone in the Eagle, maybe the Granta, can't remember where else.

(the last time i was on the lash in Cambridge i fell gut-wrenchingly in lust with some pretty student in the Champion of the Thames. ahem.)

 

[scottdisco]

four personal faves

and, of course

anyone else?

i wuv pictures of pump clips, me

 

[Mr. Tea]

.....and I'm spent.

 

[owengriffiths]

I like the way Sainsburys is bringing a good brewery Badgers to a wider audience, but it's a bit much of them stocking their entire range, some of the beers are pretty similar.

This may have been touched upon earlier on, but I do find funny the types of names independent beers end up getting called. Themes that supposedly signify manliness. Transport related, ie. Titanic stout, Woodfordes Greast Eastern Ale (a steam train). Then you've got the fairytale/ rustic/ animal side of things. Hobgoblin, Wychcraft, Thirsty Ferret, etc. I think if I released a beer called 'Witches Tit' I'd make a mint. Or maybe rusty rivet, greasy spanner, fred dibnah's big tall chimney

 

[Mr. Tea]

Bishop's Finger!

 

[Tentative Andy]

I'm half-drunk, and from looking at this thread, have hit upon what is either the best or the worst idea ever: grime-slang themed real ales.
The possiblities are endless. "I'll have a pint of Showercurtain, please barkeep". :slanted: . Someone should make this happen.

 

[baboon2004]

gueuzes, which some of us clearly love, are tart, like say a scrumpy.

Gueuze is wonderful.

My preference is for a good Weissbier, or any Belgian beer, really (Leffe, Duval, Delirium....).

Just don't get real ale, stout etc.

 

[STN]

god that fraoch stuff is foul.

 

[Slothrop]

i was reading a Midwest beer geek magazine once and these two Wisconsin chaps had written up a pub crawl holiday they'd taken in Cambridge, it was quite sweet really.
they'd gone in the Eagle, maybe the Granta, can't remember where else.

That sounds a bit like going on a clubbing pilgrimage to the UK and spending three nights at an indie disco in hertfordshire tbh.

Greene King = blech. So many better pubs in 'tab.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Just don't get real ale, stout etc.

god that fraoch stuff is foul.

Heretics!

(Well, each to his own, I guess.)

Slothrop is dead right about the decidedly meh Greene King.