Thread: Beer

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Like Ben says, there are so much wonderful beer out there.
Belgian, German, Dutch and British. Lots and lots of good quality brew.
One principle of mine is to have my beers properly brewed.
To me that means 4 ingredients, and nothing more. Just like the German purity act states

Originally Posted by wopmanfixit

But don't you guys in mother England drink your brew at room temperature? Yuk!

When I was younger I did some bartending in London, and better pubs kept beers at different temperatures, depending on the type. Bitters were kept the warmest, lagers were kept the coolest, but still not ice cold like you'd have in the US. I worked at the White Horse pub in Bowling Green, the only beers they kept on ice were the American and Australian lagers, which is how they're drank in those countries. Keeping them at warmer temps creates more of a bouquet, making them taste better. You wouldn't drink red wine ice cold, would you? Best beer I can recall having there was a draught Staropramen. It tasted nothing like the bottled stuff you get in the US. Incidentally, a lot of the 'imported' beers you get in the US are actually brewed locally. A lot of the Guinness you buy is brewed in Canada, you have to check the label to see if it's Irish or Canadian.

Then I worked at a Bass owned pub in Barnet, what a nightmare that was.

Probably the best beer I had while in the UK was a pint of Duechars IPA in Scotland. So smooth it was like drinking water.

I would tend to agree that while US macrobrews are brewed by the devil himself, microbrewing has taken off tremendously in the past 15 years or so. When I was in PA I couldn't get enough Troegs, even though some of them are really strong and could knock you on your rear end if you aren't careful. My favorite go-to beer has always been Sierra Nevada pale ale.

Irish brewed Guinness. No matter what else I try I always come back to the Guinness.

A nice Guinness Stout goes with just about everything.

A recent find of mine while the company had me in Leipzig Germany is Kostritzer Schwarz beir. Its very dark and more of a sweet beer. It was the first beer I ever had with really sweet notes. It shocked me, knowing that being German there could only 4 ingredients, the art of manipulation.

If any of you ale lovers are ever in London then I would highly recommend my local "The Wenlock Arms" The Wenlock Arms

They always have 8-10 ales on that change when the barrel runs out! Very reasonable prices and the atmosphere is magic especialy after 9pm when the jazz groups are on (I think Tuesday & Friday)

A proper London boozer