The great BEER VS. WINE fight!

[comelately]

It seems to me that this 'Pilsner malt, 5 trillion hops' IPA thing is actually a British phenomenon - Kernel are probably the primary exponents. The US beers (and indeed the likes of Mikkeller) are generally a bit maltier. There's plenty of craft beer which isn't pale, including those strangely named red and black IPAs, and there are Farmhouse IPAs for those who want a bit more funk. Hop bombs have their place but they're hardly the only thing going thesedays.

Siren Undercurrent is a good Session IPA which is more floral than fruity.

 

[luka]

The kernel that converted me was a porter. Although a citra double ipa sealed the deal.

 

[luka]

There was no way I was going back to trying to enjoy abbot ale or whatever after that experience

 

[luka]

Mr teas response to craft beer is standard anyway I had the same thing. Everyone I know had the same reaction. He'll come round. He just needs practice

 

[luka]

For me the first ones I had tasted of decaying tropical fruit and flowers. I still don't know if they were bad beers or if my tastebuds weren't ready yet

 

[comelately]

Other thing about hop-bombs, the high Myrcene levels means if you smoke a joint a hour later it absolutely blows you away.

 

[luka]

Sounds like pseudo science mate, never experienced that

I would humbly suggest it's drinking 9% beers all evening then hitting the cheese that is making you spin out

 

[comelately]

Nah, I tried it with a single bottle of Jackhammer and it nailed me - not in a spinny way, it was nice & expansive.

In Morocco, they often serve bitter lemon for similar purposes.

 

[luka]

Well, let's agree to differ
I'd be interested to know what beers you really Rate, to see where our tastes converge/diverge.
Let's stick with British breweries
Also, what part of the country are you in?

 

[comelately]

I am in London, though I get around.

Siren Undercurrent, Soundwave and Liquid Mistress all rate. So do some of their others.

Dark Star Hophead & APA are both really great, as are some of their specials (e,g, Green-Hopped IPA).

Brodies are a bit samey malt-wise, but the Hoxton Pale, Dalston Black and Hackney Red are all very solid IPAs. Their single hop IPAs make good Summer drinking. Their sours can be very good as a pick me-up.

Brew By Numbers made an excellent Gin Saison last year, but haven't really tried any others of theirs.

I know you can't abide the Weird Beard, but I am convinced the K*ntish Town Beard they made with the Brewdog Camden staff is the mutts. Mariana Trench also - I like a bit of Orange Citrus alongside the lemon and this has it.

My favourite beer thesedays are what I would call 'Umami Porters' - I introduced a friend to one the other day (Black Magic Woman by Hornbeer) and he said it tasted like 'Black Pudding'. That's basically what I'm after - Fuller's London Porter delivers this at a relatively low ABV, but something like Brewdog Dog C (Chocolate Chilli) also nails it. I can spend a hour on a nice third of a 15%. Wildebeest by Wild Beer Co is another example. Fade to Black by Weird Beard is a Black IPA, but still delivers the malt. My tastebuds have been rearranged by two trips to Denmark last year - the first time I had Mikkeller Black it was way too much for me but a few months later I did a 40cl glass in about 30 minutes.

I was in Glastonbury for a couple of months around Xmas/NY and I tried to get along with the local beer but then one of the pubs brought in Hophead as a guest and I was quickly reminded what good beer actually tastes like. After that I switched to the Wilkins' Cider.

 

[luka]

The green hopped ipa was great I had a Load of them at the Southampton arms not t seen it since

 

[luka]

As far was weird beard goes I'm very quick to write off breweries because this stuff is not cheap. I'd give them another chance.
Where do you drink this gear? I used.to like queens head and Southampton arms but they're too successful I can't deal with the crowds. I drink a lot of 5 points at the royal Albert in new cross. I won't go near brodies cos I went out of control at their minging boozer in Leyton once... Necking 10% stouts etc most drunk I've ever been, I've probably got a life ban.
Mother Kelly I like for range but it's a funny place to drink in. I dislike the craft beer company pubs and the brewdog ones.

I don't drink in Hackney as a rule. Too many young professionals in the jolly butcher

Also I prefer neighbourhood boozers. I don't have much use for places like the Euston tap.

I like red lion on leytonstone. I'm there quite a bit
The rake deserves credit for being in early doors and I actually enjoy drinking at tap east in Stratford Westfield

I went to the Wanstead tap once. It wasn't in Wanstead and there were no taps but I wish him all the best

 

[luka]

Also brodies graphic design is so nasty and cheap I can't drink the beer without tasting the cheap packaging

 

[Slothrop]

It seems to me that this 'Pilsner malt, 5 trillion hops' IPA thing is actually a British phenomenon - Kernel are probably the primary exponents. The US beers (and indeed the likes of Mikkeller) are generally a bit maltier. There's plenty of craft beer which isn't pale, including those strangely named red and black IPAs, and there are Farmhouse IPAs for those who want a bit more funk. Hop bombs have their place but they're hardly the only thing going thesedays.

I've just got back from a trip to the States on which some beer was drunk, and the surprise was how well they do IPAs at six or seven percent that are fairly dry but massively drinkable. The big sweetish hoppy stuff (we tried Heady Topper, Lawsons' Sip of Sunshine, various Other Half things, Stone Enjoy By and some other stuff) was really good but not in a totally different league from the best of Buxton or Siren or the Kernel for me. But it feels a bit like a lot of UK craft people still expect any IPA over about 6% to be a total pine-and-grapefruit stamina-fest, whereas they've got past that a bit in the US. But unfortunately they were a bit too massively drinkable, so I can't remember what any of them were.

(Also the shop where we stopped to pick up a few things to take home had three bottles of Kentucky Breakfast Stout going. *swoop*)

 

[Mr. Tea]

That's the analogy I was expecting you to use
It's a much better one.

Glad I've come up to scratch. Yes, New World shirazes might be an even better example - like that Castillero del Diablo one from Chile. Great in the garden on a summer evening with a heavily charred burger slathered in smoky BBQ sauce - with a roast beef Christmas dinner, not so much.

 

[Mr. Tea]

There was no way I was going back to trying to enjoy abbot ale or whatever after that experience

Oh come on, that's a low blow! Picking Abbot Ale as a characteristic British beer is about as fair as assuming Budweiser is the acme of American brewing.

 

[Mr. Tea]

I've just got back from a trip to the States on which some beer was drunk, and the surprise was how well they do IPAs at six or seven percent that are fairly dry but massively drinkable.

It's not American but for my money, the king of high-strength IPAs has to be Burton Bridge's 7.5% Empire IPA - if you can swallow your liberal principles and not baulk at the name/bottle art. Bottle-conditioned and therefore fantastically yeasty, too.

 

[Slothrop]

FWIW, I still love a really good best bitter, but the cask / traddy scene really really needs to figure out some way of recognizing quality properly. There are a lot of people who are happy with obscurity or localness or cheapness of the beer or the number of beers on offer or just a nice pubby atmosphere as a substitute for stuff that actually tastes good and hence bugger all incentive for landlords to pay out for anything really good when they could pick up something from a local micro that tastes like someone's first stab at homebrew but costs £60 a barrel. Hence it's tempting to skip trad real ale pubs if you want stuff that reliably isn't shit.

 

[owengriffiths]

Had some sour beers recently, they seem to be a good bridge Beer & wine. Calypso Berliner Weisse is very good, Wild Beer Company's Somerset Wild is too. Also the Shlenkerla smoked cheese tasting beer is possibly close to Comelatelys unaami porter ideal.

 

[luka]

Royal Albert does football ~and~ craft beer which might be unique