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Any fans of Real Ale out there? |
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#351 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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He's started off with Hobgoblin, I'd hardly call that a poor beer.
But we should all bow down to you and your superior knowledge of what is classed as a "good" beer, right? I just think that a lot of people are not very open minded when it comes to beer and think that Hobgoblin, Badger and Old Speckled Hen are the be all and end all. I used to be the same to an extent, I'd buy supermarket beers and be very happy and then I discovered the two amazing bottle shops nearby, selling things that I'd not come across before and it's genuinely changed my life. I've discovered some stunning stuff and some amazing breweries. |
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#352 |
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,636
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*sigh*
It's not the information the poster needs though, he's a complete newbie to real ale so surely it's best to start him off with the basics, then if he wants to explore further then he can. We're never going to see eye to eye, I give up. |
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#353 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,720
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Quote:
*sigh*
It's not the information the poster needs though, he's a complete newbie to real ale so surely it's best to start him off with the basics, then if he wants to explore further then he can. We're never going to see eye to eye, I give up. I'm not suggesting he go straight in with a barrel aged imperial stout or something but why should the basics be average beer? Anyway, I've recommended some decent stuff that I know is available in my local Tesco that absolutely fits his "refreshing" bill, Elvis Juice is one of the most refreshing beers I've had. I just thought suggesting going to a bottle shop would be quite good as he'd be able to speak to someone knowledgeable and get some professional assistance. All I'm saying is why limit yourself? Never see eye to eye? It's quite hard to see somebodies point of view who claims to dislike something (craft beer) despite never having tasted it and one of your reasons being "pretentious hipster names" which is just rubbish. Beer is beer and I wouldn't slag anything off until I'd tried it. |
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#354 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 21,729
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Quote:
He's started off with Hobgoblin, I'd hardly call that a poor beer.
But we should all bow down to you and your superior knowledge of what is classed as a "good" beer, right? |
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#355 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 21,729
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Quote:
*sigh*
It's not the information the poster needs though, he's a complete newbie to real ale so surely it's best to start him off with the basics, then if he wants to explore further then he can. We're never going to see eye to eye, I give up. |
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#356 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,636
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Quote:
Perhaps if you stopped posting inflammatory comments that aren't even a reply to a post then things would settle down a bit eh?
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#357 |
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,403
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Who are you, his dad?
I do agree with Jambo, beer is beer and it doesn't really matter if it obscure or available in every high street so long as it is decent. I do think people get too obsessed with pigeon holing things and dismissing them, when really it's just a bleeding drink, so does it really matter? I also don't think we need to impose 'rules', there is nothing to say a newcomer to beer has to start with well known generic stuff before progressing to less known stuff, there are plenty of places now to find more variety so where is the harm in diving straight in and taking a few risks? |
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#358 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,720
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I've been on a course from work today in Nottingham and discovered a great little pub called The Keans Head which I popped in whilst I had an hour to kill before walking to the station. They had a Buxton Brewery tap takeover and I had a Chocolate Ice Cream Brown Ale (another of their collaborations with Swedish brew gods Omnipollo), it was bloody lovely. I could have quite easily stayed longer and missed my train! It was my 997th different beer since I started using Untappd so nearly hit the big 1000! Quote:
Really don't understand what your problem is.
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I agree that you need to chill out here. Jambo is a good and passionate poster about both food and beer and I for one enjoy reading his posts, even if I don't always agree with his thoughts on certain products or other opinions.
I do agree with Jambo, beer is beer and it doesn't really matter if it obscure or available in every high street so long as it is decent. I do think people get too obsessed with pigeon holing things and dismissing them, when really it's just a bleeding drink, so does it really matter? I also don't think we need to impose 'rules', there is nothing to say a newcomer to beer has to start with well known generic stuff before progressing to less known stuff, there are plenty of places now to find more variety so where is the harm in diving straight in and taking a few risks? As I've said before good beer is good beer. No reason to have to start drinking mainstream stuff. He suggested Greene King IPA, to me that's a terrible example, that's to IPAs what Fosters is to lager. At 3.6% it's not even really a true IPA either. It's all subjective though, some people love Fosters. |
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#359 |
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,167
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A little update
![]() Been working my way through some selection boxes, avoiding any dark stuff. Nothing fancy but easy to pick up with my weekly shopping and decent value. Maybe a bit mainstream for the connoisseurs but an easy place to start. One box was a badgers classic ales, another was a marstens selection. There was another yet that had speckled hen, speckled hen golden and a Hobgoblin Gold and a couple of Green Kings in it but for the life in me I can't remember the box were called. Must be too much ale lol ![]() Oh and some London Pale Ale because it was on offer. A little bit more powerful and stronger, but perfectly enjoyable. Thanks to the excellent and simple earlier advice, I'm having a good time indeed <hic!> with pretty much anything of the gold, golden, pale or IPA variety. Old Speckled Hen was a nice surprise, really fragrant and aromatic but not overpowering with it. Is that classed as a golden? Turns out my neighbour is a big ale fan and he gets a box of 8 small batch craft ales delivered every month for £30. How much! I wouldn't mind but they were all 330ml's too which caught me out with the London ones. I don't mind paying for quality but there are limits ![]() He's also lent me his copy of Ferment magazine lol. That title makes me chuckle every time I say it. He donated me a White Hag Red IPA, hmmm that was interesting, the first term that sprang to mind was "a bit spicy". Gave me a bit of a warm glow I think that would be wicked in the winter. Not quite ready to settle on any favourites, I'm just enjoying the ride so far it's quite fun with the selection boxes never knowing what's coming next. As long as I stay away from the dark ones I don't think I'm going to go too far wrong. My last "fad" was vintage cider. Wow that was in a league of its own compared with mainstream fodder. 7.5% at that! The low ABV's actually put me off pub ales for many years, too much fluid for too little gain! Yet even with a lot lower ABV's I'm finding these beers go straight to my head in a good way. Maybe because I'm not used to them or maybe because they are extra gassy. By the winter I may be more into seasonal ales (more complication lol!) but on a sticky warm night light, crisp and refreshing is just my ticket. I don't fault you guys for getting really passionate about the subject, nothing wrong with that at all. But I'm not quite ready yet to go out of my way to a specialist ale shop or pay silly money for the gourmet stuff. It might be wasted on me anyway, as my friend says every time we go to Nando's and I demolish an Extra Hot without flinching, half my taste buds must be dead
Last edited by jaycee331 : 12-07-2016 at 00:50. Reason: missing words |
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#360 |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,685
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I find it just a little sad that it now seems that to most people, real ale (the original name for craft beer) is something you buy in bottles. I can understand it in some ways, because many of the pubs where I live are pricing their beers so high that I am no longer prepared to experiment in the way that I used to. One pub charges nearly as much for a pint of beer as it would cost me to buy a bottle of drinkable wine, only the beer often isn't as palatable. Luckily, there are still back street pubs which take a pride in their beer and where you can still buy an excellent pint for under £3.
If I had to restrict myself to only one brewery for pale bottled beers it would be Sadlers - sometimes available in B&M Discounts for as little as 99p. For darker beers I would probably stick to the York Brewery, especially their Centurion's Ghost Ale. |
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#361 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,720
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Quote:
I find it just a little sad that it now seems that to most people, real ale (the original name for craft beer) is something you buy in bottles. I can understand it in some ways, because many of the pubs where I live are pricing their beers so high that I am no longer prepared to experiment in the way that I used to. One pub charges nearly as much for a pint of beer as it would cost me to buy a bottle of drinkable wine, only the beer often isn't as palatable. Luckily, there are still back street pubs which take a pride in their beer and where you can still buy an excellent pint for under £3.
If I had to restrict myself to only one brewery for pale bottled beers it would be Sadlers - sometimes available in B&M Discounts for as little as 99p. For darker beers I would probably stick to the York Brewery, especially their Centurion's Ghost Ale. Some breweries don't make a lot of cask or keg, Cloudwater for example brew seasonal beers so have a constantly changing range. Unless it's a tap takeover it's unusual to see Cloudwater beers on draft outside of Manchester. They're undoubtedly one of the best breweries in the country though so I'll happily buy their bottles. In fact this week I'm eagerly awaiting a message from my local shop to tell me the Cloudwater DIPA V4 and V5 are in stock as I'm extremely excited about trying them. It's a very limited release though, only a handful of places getting draft and only just over a hundred shops nationwide getting stock. A lot of people do get bogged down in the whole real ale vs craft thing which is stupid, a lot of people also seem to think craft stuff is all modern and not how beer should be when in actual fact, whilst there are experimental and innovative brews, a huge amount are more traditional and a lot of older styles have been brought back such as Saisons and Goses. Most "craft" IPAs are hoppy and strong which is exactly what an IPA should be and what they were traditionally as opposed to the commercial 3-4% "IPAs" you see everywhere. I don't see the point in getting hung up on price either. When it comes to food and drink, wine, beer whatever, I think if you enjoy it then it's worth whatever you paid. Different beers are made differently, some are barrel aged, some are limited edition, some are imported, so prices vary. I wouldn't expect to pay the same for a barrel aged 12% imperial stout as I would a 4% session pale as they're just not comparable. You'd sit and take your time over the stout so paying more isn't an issue. |
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#362 |
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Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 318
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My Husband was born before this local brewery went into production (1985) not to far where he lived as a child.
It is called Titanic Brewery and is based in Burslem which is in the Potteries. The name came from the late Captain Edward John Smith who was born in Hanley just up the road from Burslem and captained the Titanic and died along with others during her maiden voyage. Before my husband had to give up alcohol for health reasons, he enjoyed having a beer which was often Iceberg which is one of the Titanic beers. Along with some other members of the motorbike club he goes to they went on a guided tour around the brewery which ended with them having a couple of free beers and some food. Not many places stock Titanic beers although we have seen them in Waitrose and Stocks in Altrincham Husband says it is a really good beer. |
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#363 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,636
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Glad you appreciated the simple advice Jaycee, I got the feeling that you wouldn't want to be too adventurous starting out which is why I recommended your basic mainstream ales, you can use them as a starting point and you'll find that you start to appreciate more complex beers if and when you start to branch out.
Those selection boxes of beers are a pretty good deal for a newbie, although I always found one that I didn't like! Guinness do a golden ale now, you might want to check that out. I haven't because personally I prefer Porters, Ruby Ales and Stouts
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#364 |
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Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 17
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just beer and vodka is good
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#365 |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,685
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I don't know where you live but that's not the case around here. There are plenty of pubs selling both cask and keg to a high standard.
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A lot of people do get bogged down in the whole real ale vs craft thing which is stupid
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My Husband was born before this local brewery went into production (1985) not to far where he lived as a child.
It is called Titanic Brewery and is based in Burslem which is in the Potteries. The name came from the late Captain Edward John Smith who was born in Hanley just up the road from Burslem and captained the Titanic and died along with others during her maiden voyage. |
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#366 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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Keg is dead beer injected with gas. It takes a supreme degree of incompetence to serve it in anything other than its static, sterilised state.
. Are you also one of these people that refuses to drink anything other than a pint and looks down on 2/3 glasses too? |
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#367 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,636
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It's all subjective Jambo mate, remember?
Or do you not practice what you preach? |
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#368 |
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It's all subjective Jambo mate, remember?
Or do you not practice what you preach? What I don't like are sweeping generalisations such as "keg is bad". |
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#369 |
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Join Date: Dec 2014
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But anyone who disagrees with you gets called snobbish and old fashioned.
Okay then
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#370 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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But anyone who disagrees with you gets called snobbish and old fashioned.
Okay then ![]() Sweeping generalisations such as "all keg is bad", "all lager is crap" or "all craft beers have pretentious names and are rubbish" are quite simply old fashioned opinions and all too often with nothing valid to back them up other than for example one pint of keg beer they tried 20 years ago. |
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#371 |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
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The olden days just called. They'd like your old fashioned and quite frankly snobbish opinion back. There's absolutely nothing wrong with keg and a lot of the top breweries do fantastic beer in keg.
Are you also one of these people that refuses to drink anything other than a pint and looks down on 2/3 glasses too? Name me even one keg beer that could possibly be described as fantastic. |
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#372 |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
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Are you also one of these people that refuses to drink anything other than a pint and looks down on 2/3 glasses too?
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#373 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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I only time I ever drink beer out of anything other than pint glass is if I just want a half at the end of the night.
Name me even one keg beer that could possibly be described as fantastic. Buxton - Axe Edge IPA, Chocolate Ice Cream Brown Ale, Vanilla Ice Cream Pale. Beavertown - Bloody 'ell, Gamma Ray, Neck Oil, Black Betty, all three of the Lupuloids IPA series. Magic Rock - High Wire. Abbeydale - Wet Yer Whiskers. Siren Craft - Vermont Tea Party Dark Star - Creme Brulee That's just off the top of my head in a fairly short space of time. Quote:
Just remembered this... I've never heard of a 2/3 glass and it's hardly surprising, as unless something has changed that i'm not aware of, pubs wouldn't be allowed to serve in them because it isn't a legal measure.
I was drinking 2/3 pints on Monday and a lot of places serve either 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 or pints based on the ABV of the beer. It's also possible in some places, Brewdog bars for example, to buy paddles with four 1/3 pints on which is quite a good way of having four different beers if you're low on time. The British (and possibly Australian too) term for a 2/3 pint glass is a Schooner. I find 2/3 glasses great as often you're drinking higher ABV stuff. It's also good if you're drinking lower ABV stuff as you can have 3 different beers but you've only had the equivalent of 2 pints. 1/3 of a pint is again useful for big imperial stouts, if you're on a bit of a session but really fancy trying that 12% imperial stout a 1/3 measure is ideal. |
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#374 |
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Join Date: Mar 2016
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I work for a chain that owns black sheep brewery, and we have three main ales, and three guest ales.
Our main ales are the Ember Inn which is produced by black sheep brewery, Brakspear and Adnams Broadside. Our current guest ales are Tyneside Blonde from Hadrian Border brewery, Sharps Doombar and Cattleshed from the Old Dairy brewery. I think they're all pretty good, but I tend to stay away from the sweeter ones.. |
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#375 |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
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Blimey, where to start? I'll just go with a few things I've had over the last month or so that have been on keg and have been damn good beers:
Buxton - Axe Edge IPA, Chocolate Ice Cream Brown Ale, Vanilla Ice Cream Pale. Beavertown - Bloody 'ell, Gamma Ray, Neck Oil, Black Betty, all three of the Lupuloids IPA series. Magic Rock - High Wire. Abbeydale - Wet Yer Whiskers. Siren Craft - Vermont Tea Party Dark Star - Creme Brulee That's just off the top of my head in a fairly short space of time. Again, you're stuck in the past because 2/3 is a pretty standard measurement in quite a lot of places. I think it was around 2012 it came in. I was drinking 2/3 pints on Monday and a lot of places serve either 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 or pints based on the ABV of the beer. It's also possible in some places, Brewdog bars for example, to buy paddles with four 1/3 pints on which is quite a good way of having four different beers if you're low on time. The British (and possibly Australian too) term for a 2/3 pint glass is a Schooner. I find 2/3 glasses great as often you're drinking higher ABV stuff. It's also good if you're drinking lower ABV stuff as you can have 3 different beers but you've only had the equivalent of 2 pints. 1/3 of a pint is again useful for big imperial stouts, if you're on a bit of a session but really fancy trying that 12% imperial stout a 1/3 measure is ideal. |
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