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