Beer Thread

[Eddie]

8 minutes ago, Jram said:

They don’t count unless they’re on Untappd 

I have no problem with people posting reviews of beers - sharing knowledge is a good thing and for that reason I occasionally write reviews for Beers Of Europe. Whilst it might be fun logging all the new beers I try, I've no inclination to go back over the last 54 years of my drinking life to revisit some of the utter rat piss that British breweries subjected us to in the 1970's before the advent of Camra (shudder).

[sage]

At the cricket with @Eddie and @angieram. 

Had a Coach House Blueberry Bitter, an Old Hooky, Imperial Kirsch and now on a Westmalle Tripel.

Happy Days.

[angieram]

3 hours ago, sage said:

At the cricket with @Eddie and @angieram. 

Had a Coach House Blueberry Bitter, an Old Hooky, Imperial Kirsch and now on a Westmalle Tripel.

Happy Days.

Good to meet you and the memsahib @Eddie and thank you both for the free samples! 

#learnerdrinker ?

[Rev]

4 hours ago, sage said:

At the cricket with @Eddie and @angieram. 

Had a Coach House Blueberry Bitter, an Old Hooky, Imperial Kirsch and now on a Westmalle Tripel.

Happy Days.

Truly a rose between two thorn's.

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, angieram said:

Good to meet you and the memsahib @Eddie and thank you both for the free samples! 

#learnerdrinker ?

Likewise. 

I hope your feet are better from me no doubt treading on them frequently during our respective times in Row X of the North Stand. In those days, I tipped the scales at 21 stone, and anything trodden on stayed trodden on.

[Rev]

@Coconut has never pissed in the sea.

[May Contain Nuts]

16 minutes ago, Rev said:

@Coconut has never pissed in the sea.

 

...I done a whoopsie (just not in the sea!)

Edited August 12, 2021 by Coconut

[Eddie]

11 hours ago, sage said:

At the cricket with @Eddie and @angieram. 

Had a Coach House Blueberry Bitter, an Old Hooky, Imperial Kirsch and now on a Westmalle Tripel.

Happy Days.

And a Tripel Karmeliet, but they're as common as muck.

 

[sage]

7 hours ago, Eddie said:

And a Tripel Karmeliet, but they're as common as muck.

 

And a Tiramisu Paztry Stout. Too much coffee flavour.

[May Contain Nuts]

Beer of Europe German bottle order arrived

3x Schneider Weisse Aventinus Eisbock (12%)
3x Eku 28 (Doppelbock, 11%)
3x Weihenstephaner Vitus (Wiezen Bock, 7.7%)
2x Weihenstephaner Korbinian (Doppelbock, 7.4%)
2x Kloster Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel (7.1%)
2x Kloster Andechs Bergbock Hell (Heller Bock, 6.9%)
2x Lowenbrau Triumphator (Doppelbock, 7.6%)
2x Paulaner Salvator (Doppelbock 7.5%)
2x Weltenburger Kloster Asam-bock (Doppelbock, 6.5%)
2x Schneider Weisse Tap 4 Meine Grunes (Hefweizen, 6.2%)
2x Weltenburger Anno 1050 (Amber/Vienna Lager, 5.5%)
2x Astra Rotlicht (Helles, 6%)
2x Uerige Alt (Altbier, 4.7%, weird bottle)

[Anag Ram]

Local beer from Crete. 

Very nice. Dark and hopoy. 

 

[Eddie]

We went to Beers of Europe on the way to Kings Lynn on Monday, and then again today on our way back home, picking up about 4 dozen bottles. Truly, it is a magical place. We also took in their Warehouse Tap Room on Monday afternoon, but the beer choices on tap and in bottles were largely uninspiring and the service needs a little work. Trappistes Rochefort 6 should not be served in a pint pot. They will learn, hopefully. It's a new venture, and the place has only been open a week or so.

Thanks, @sage, for mentioning the Nip and Growler Ale House when we were at the cricket last week. We spent a happy couple of hours in there yesterday - the Oatmeal Stout, Raspberry Cider and Blueberry Cider I had were all superb. The Memsahib stuck rigidly to her Pilsners throughout - I had a sip and it was exceptional.

[Shake n Bake]

I'm into craft beers and I've been ranking the supermarkets stock for a while. Currently:

1. Morrisons - great choice of of £3-£4 cans but also some goodens on 4 for £6 and a decent 2 four packs for a tenner range.

2. Tesco - probably the best £3-£4 can range but lacking a bit in the 4 for £6 department. They're almost number 1 for their selection of four packs but when you want variety their multibuy offers on individual cans are lacking.

3. ASDA - used to be bottom of my list but upped their game recently with some Vocation and Fourpure additions, plus a few BadCo beers at £1.25 a can. They have a great 4 for the price of 3 offer.

4. Sainsbury's - used to have barely any craft beers but they've upped their game and given us some good beers to choose from recently, but nowhere near the range from the 3 above and no multibuys offers in sight (on my last visit)

5. M&S - for a while my number 2/3 but their range hasn't changed for a while and seems to be getting smaller. Stocking some Amundsen gives them a few points but they'll need Dessert in a Can or a better selection to climb this league table any time soon.

6. Aldi/Lidl - yes I should rank these separately but I'm far too lazy to do so and they're both doing a decent effort with their fake/own brand craft beers, which are definitely worth trying.

7. Co-op - this feels a bit unfair as Co-op had regularly quenched a Sunday evening craving with its brewdog and vocation beers, but it just doesn't have a lot of choice and is usually more expensive than the big supermarkets.

8. Waitrose - too poor to shop there, don't even know where my nearest one is.

What are everyone else's thoughts on the supermarket beers? Any recommendations on some less crafty beers I should be trying?

[Anag Ram]

5 minutes ago, Shake n Bake said:

I'm into craft beers and I've been ranking the supermarkets stock for a while. Currently:

1. Morrisons - great choice of of £3-£4 cans but also some goodens on 4 for £6 and a decent 2 four packs for a tenner range.

2. Tesco - probably the best £3-£4 can range but lacking a bit in the 4 for £6 department. They're almost number 1 for their selection of four packs but when you want variety their multibuy offers on individual cans are lacking.

3. ASDA - used to be bottom of my list but upped their game recently with some Vocation and Fourpure additions, plus a few BadCo beers at £1.25 a can. They have a great 4 for the price of 3 offer.

4. Sainsbury's - used to have barely any craft beers but they've upped their game and given us some good beers to choose from recently, but nowhere near the range from the 3 above and no multibuys offers in sight (on my last visit)

5. M&S - for a while my number 2/3 but their range hasn't changed for a while and seems to be getting smaller. Stocking some Amundsen gives them a few points but they'll need Dessert in a Can or a better selection to climb this league table any time soon.

6. Aldi/Lidl - yes I should rank these separately but I'm far too lazy to do so and they're both doing a decent effort with their fake/own brand craft beers, which are definitely worth trying.

7. Co-op - this feels a bit unfair as Co-op had regularly quenched a Sunday evening craving with its brewdog and vocation beers, but it just doesn't have a lot of choice and is usually more expensive than the big supermarkets.

8. Waitrose - too poor to shop there, don't even know where my nearest one is.

What are everyone else's thoughts on the supermarket beers? Any recommendations on some less crafty beers I should be trying?

You lost me at cans. 

Just me but I'm not a big fan. Draught followed by bottles for me with cans a last resort. 

Nice research piece though. 

[Shake n Bake]

5 minutes ago, Anag Ram said:

You lost me at cans. 

Just me but I'm not a big fan. Draught followed by bottles for me with cans a last resort. 

Nice research piece though. 

That's interesting, cans are the best way to preserve beer as they're airtight (whereas bottles can sometimes not be) and protect from light. I never drink from the can, but find the can doesn't leave any strange tastes. It's a lot better for storing unpasteurised beers too.

I used to be against cans but think I was associating them with warm cheap lager.

Edited August 19, 2021 by Shake n Bake
They're/their

[Eddie]

2 hours ago, Anag Ram said:

You lost me at cans. 

Just me but I'm not a big fan. Draught followed by bottles for me with cans a last resort. 

Nice research piece though. 

Cans are very much the way forward in many circumstances (although beers requiring secondary fermentation may not be an option - I'm not at all sure on that). After all, a keg is just a big can, isn't it? If that's the case, draught beer is just canned beer with a bit more CO2 oomph added.

When I was a junior cellar-man (back in 1967, my dad got his first pub), we were only just moving to keg beers from wooden barrels (in those days, I used to have to thrawl a 36 gallon tub - including the weight of the wooden barrel, around 410 lb, or 1/5 of a ton) before tapping. When we moved to 18 gallon kilderkins or (wonderful) 9 gallon firkins, it was a piece of piss. The only problem was, 'piss' was the operative word in relation to the content.

The first canned beer I really enjoyed was Hoegaarden Grand Cru (apart from Gold Label in the days when I was motivated solely by abv), back in around 2002, when I went to Bruges for the first time. Since then, perhaps like yourself, I've probably relied almost entirely on bottled and draught beers to the exclusion of cans, but the soldering and lining process behind canning (they are now almost exclusively aluminium monobloc) has improved immeasurably - so I'm told.

Of late, I've been diving enthusiastically into Vocation beers (thanks, @sage) - and I can't fault them.

[Shake n Bake]

6 hours ago, Eddie said:

Cans are very much the way forward in many circumstances (although beers requiring secondary fermentation may not be an option - I'm not at all sure on that). After all, a keg is just a big can, isn't it? If that's the case, draught beer is just canned beer with a bit more CO2 oomph added.

When I was a junior cellar-man (back in 1967, my dad got his first pub), we were only just moving to keg beers from wooden barrels (in those days, I used to have to thrawl a 36 gallon tub - including the weight of the wooden barrel, around 410 lb, or 1/5 of a ton) before tapping. When we moved to 18 gallon kilderkins or (wonderful) 9 gallon firkins, it was a piece of piss. The only problem was, 'piss' was the operative word in relation to the content.

The first canned beer I really enjoyed was Hoegaarden Grand Cru (apart from Gold Label in the days when I was motivated solely by abv), back in around 2002, when I went to Bruges for the first time. Since then, perhaps like yourself, I've probably relied almost entirely on bottled and draught beers to the exclusion of cans, but the soldering and lining process behind canning (they are now almost exclusively aluminium monobloc) has improved immeasurably - so I'm told.

Of late, I've been diving enthusiastically into Vocation beers (thanks, @sage) - and I can't fault them.

Vocation are excellent. I think the guy that set it up used to be the head brewer at Blue Monkey (in Giltbrook) and left because he wanted brew more craft. I imagine blue monkey wish he'd stayed when you look at the size of vocation now, even their supermarket lines are really good. I wouldn't mind a trip to Hebden Bridge to their taproom one day.

[Rev]

Out with the La Trappe blonde, which came with a lovely glass, and in goes a Leffe Royale IPA. 

Good purchase so far, enjoying working my way through the different beers available.

[Mostyn6]

22 minutes ago, Rev said:

Out with the La Trappe blonde, which came with a lovely glass, and in goes a Leffe Royale IPA. 

Good purchase so far, enjoying working my way through the different beers available.

Chug chug chug chug. You go steady Frat-boy! 

[Eddie]

Today's gardening club beer is a French biere de garde...