Beer And Beer Drinking

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Immryr

Well-known member
i think buxton axe edge is the best beer i've had all year. especially good from a cask but the bottles are great too.
 
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viktorvaughn

Well-known member
Any interesting tips fellow beer drinkers?

I had a lovely ale called Jugged Hare at the Prince Arthur in Hackney if anyone comes across that one.

Anyone had good experiences of online specialist beer shops? I thought it might be a good way to get some interesting beers.
 
Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
I recently had something from Traquair calling itself a Jacobite Ale. Dark and strong, very fruity and coriander spiced, tasted like something Belgian. Would buy again.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Glad this thread has been bumped, it reminded me I wanted to post something here.

Had this on draught in Oxford the other day:

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Seriously one of the best lagers I've tasted, up there with Pilsner Urquel I reckon, and that's saying something - deliciously fresh, with that lovely soft mouthfeel you only get with live beers. And it was perfect served at regular cellar temperature, i.e. cool but not the normal chilled lager temperature. Look out for it. And the brewery's only been going for three years, I'll definitely sample their others when I see them.
 
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viktorvaughn

Well-known member
^That does sound good.

It's easy to forget how good larger can be as I normally focus on ales and other things.

I enjoyed having a drink at the Camden Town Brewery - they have made a cool little bar built into one of the railway arches up where they are in Kentish Town. The brewery presumably is in the next one or two arches. Nice vibe and right next to the overground (North London line).

Their Camden Hells larger is good, as is Pale Ale and Wheat. I like the fact they are both 4% as it's worrying easily to drink a massive amount of alcohol with all these 5, 6 and 7% beers around. American style IPAs in particular are all so strong, I'm not sure it's wholly necessary.
 
Ransbeeck

Ransbeeck

Well-known member
viktorvaughn said:
Anyone know any good pubs/bars in Brussels? I'm on this weekend!:D
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For beer drinking? Delirium is the traditional tourist hotspot. But Moeder Lambic is better in my opinion.

Lambic is a local Brussels beer btw. There's also Geuze, which is made by blending several types of Lambic. Not too many people like it though.

But actually, almost any pub in Belgium will have Orval, La Chouffe, Westmalle,... available, and at a lower price than a specialty pub.

If you're looking for a cool bar to hang out, it's best to try the area around the Beurs/Bourse (stock exchange). Bonnefooi for instance is often nice, usually with live music.

I don't live in Brussels myself, but have quite a few friends living there. This is what I can think of right now but if you want to know something more specific I can ask around.
 
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viktorvaughn

Well-known member
Ransbeeck said:
For beer drinking? Delirium is the traditional tourist hotspot. But Moeder Lambic is better in my opinion.

Lambic is a local Brussels beer btw. There's also Geuze, which is made by blending several types of Lambic. Not too many people like it though.

But actually, almost any pub in Belgium will have Orval, La Chouffe, Westmalle,... available, and at a lower price than a specialty pub.

If you're looking for a cool bar to hang out, it's best to try the area around the Beurs/Bourse (stock exchange). Bonnefooi for instance is often nice, usually with live music.

I don't live in Brussels myself, but have quite a few friends living there. This is what I can think of right now but if you want to know something more specific I can ask around.
Click to expand...

Thanks that's great. I'm no mega beer expert so just a medium selection of stuff will appease me! Somewhere with a nice atmosphere would be best as my other half isn't bothered about the beer itself.

I'm well up for trying some lambics as I've only had one once and didn't really like it but it was a while ago.
 
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viktorvaughn

Well-known member
It's completely geeky but i've just signed up to Rate Beer which allows you to rate beers you have and keep track of them, as well as providing info on them and their brewing process, and look up similar beers. It has an app so you can do it on your phone down the pub for extra antisocial vibes.
 
Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
It's worth doing a bit of background "research" before you go to Belgium, IMO - you don't need to spend days in the library or anything but try some of the beers that you can get easily in the UK, find out (wikipedia) what the different styles are, the difference between dubbels and tripels, trappists and abbey beers, lambics and flemish reds etc, so you don't go into some beer-geek heaven of a pub with a list of 500 bottled beers but not know what any of them are and end up drinking stuff that you could have got in your local Sainsburys.

Also bar staff are often helpful - if you're somewhere with an interesting beer list and say "I like Tripel Karmeliet, what would you recommend that's similar but more unusual" they'll probably be happy to suggest something...
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I like lambics but they're definitely an acquired taste. When I've had them with friends I've offered a taste and usually had it handed back to me with a "What the fuck?" facial expression and a polite "Thanks but it's not really my thing".

Most of the interesting beers here in Holland are from across the border to the SW. There's a bar next to my flat that has a good couple of hundred types in bottles and regularly changing guests on tap, which is nice, although the draft ones are (I think) pasteurized and carbonated while the bottled ones all have a live yeast sediment, which is the opposite way round from most British beers. Though I could be wrong about the draft ones - does anyone know if Belgian tap beers are 'real ales', in the British sense?
 
Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
Mr. Tea said:
I like lambics but they're definitely an acquired taste. When I've had them with friends I've offered a taste and usually had it handed back to me with a "What the fuck?" facial expression and a polite "Thanks but it's not really my thing".
Click to expand...

The best advice I've heard for lambic novices is to approach them as if you're getting something between a very dry cider and a very dry champagne rather than anything you're used to thinking of as beer.
 
Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
The second best advice I've had is that they were originally a peasant farmer's sort of drink and meant to be refreshing after a hot day in the fields, hence if you've worked up a thirst it's actually remarkably satisfying to neck a gueze in one, particularly if someone else is paying.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
The champagne comparison is good - in fact I think the wild yeasts used to brew lambics/geuzes are similar to the strains used to make champagne. Many of them even come in a sort of miniature champagne bottle with a caged cork. I guess this isn't just for show, since the secondary fermentation makes them lively as hell.

Edit: yeah, I can see that about it being refreshing after a day's work - I guess the traditional English equivalent would have been a bone-dry scrumpy.
 
Ransbeeck

Ransbeeck

Well-known member
The Cantillon brewery is in the center of Brussels. They accept visitors. Never done the tour myself but I've heard good things about it.
 
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viktorvaughn

Well-known member
Slothrop said:
It's worth doing a bit of background "research" before you go to Belgium, IMO - you don't need to spend days in the library or anything but try some of the beers that you can get easily in the UK, find out (wikipedia) what the different styles are, the difference between dubbels and tripels, trappists and abbey beers, lambics and flemish reds etc, so you don't go into some beer-geek heaven of a pub with a list of 500 bottled beers but not know what any of them are and end up drinking stuff that you could have got in your local Sainsburys.

Also bar staff are often helpful - if you're somewhere with an interesting beer list and say "I like Tripel Karmeliet, what would you recommend that's similar but more unusual" they'll probably be happy to suggest something...
Click to expand...

Yep good shout! I have just read all the wiki stuff, pretty interesting.
 
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