Beer and Grapefruit

As there is no pub in our little village I brew my own beer. Very similar to Newkie brown a bit darker. Advantages,,, 50p a pint, not drinking and driving, We brewed ginger beer as a youngster using a "Ginger Beer Plant" we bottled it in any bottle we could find, beg or steal. It exploded in the airing cupboard that put a ban on brewing at home.... Mother was not amused but Dad could be seen snickering when he thought we couldn't see him. John

Back on the Lager v Bitter topic, I’ve recently returned from an all inclusive and in one of the restaurants the Lager was on self service from 11:30 till late. If you wanted Bitter you had to wait for the bar to open. Looking round the clientele I reckon only about 10 to 15% were bitter drinkers the rest were drinking one of the four or five Lagers available.

Well I never, when offered lager now (help yourself) or beer after a serious wait, most opted for the lager.

So obvious there was no need to paint anything on a red bus ...

Tim

Nah.

Any fool can serve lager, it takes an expert to serve beer

N.

Being a Brit I like my beer in pints, pints of lager tend to be a bit warm at the end and I find warm lager not very nice, the continentals may have a point with their 250ml serving but I find this a bit of a nuisance as I need to visit the bar or catch a waiter twice as often. A bitter does not seem to suffer going from cellar to room temperature. As my pace and purpose of having a beer have changed somewhat since my youth I now look for a beer that is enjoyable to drink and taste is important. It is a bit unfortunate that a nice beer is often a strong one but 47 years of beer drinking I do know my limits but sometimes forget how to count higher than three, if my wife is with me she takes on the task of keeping count and reminding me but beer seems to cause deafness as well.

Mike

I imagine you were abroad and this is when you would find me drinking lager as well so perhaps not a solid survey. I would be surprised if the alternative to the lager was a cask ale, more likely to be Boddingtons or John Smiths so I might pass and have a lager in the hot weather. The Bitter lager debate will rumble on just like the Brit vs Jap motorbike one did, I doubt many people change their mind but youngsters do seem willing to try a whole range of beers lagers and ciders, I couldn’t guess what my sons will order but they know I will have a bitter if possible.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 22/09/2018 20:51:21

Might like the Abbott Confessions Neil 8.5% served in halves, worth a try but not to my taste.
Not many light ales i rave about i usually turn my nose up at IPA yet alone AmericanPaleAle.

Worst ever had considering i will try almost anything Titanic Iceberg and thats citrus.

Much prefer a full bodied dark ale guarantee will love the Bellhaven Burns, not rated strong but does me in.

Theakstons Old Peculier was the stuff that did me in when I drank

Don't do much now, just a few ciders now and then so no hangover issues

Just can't afford to lose the day after anymore

Never liked the strong stuff, they call it 90 shilling beer up here, pretty horrible and usually served in half pints

Probably the nicest real ale I've ever tasted was something called Latitude

On the Lager front that Peroni stuff is quite exceptional, brewed by Italians

Edited By Ady1 on 23/09/2018 19:24:58

Ever had Santa Claus Beer?

I have had a few barley wines but they tend to be a bit sickly, to be honest. I think between 4.5% and 6% is the best tasting range for a beer if you are only a having one or two.

At the other end of the scale, my steplad introduced me to Bud Light which when cold enough is quite pleasant on a hot summer evening, although I prefer honest Budwieser Budovar ('Beer of Kings' to Bud ('King of Beers'.

N.

There's a Canadian bar in a French alpine resort I frequent where the weakest beer available is 5.5%. All the others are 8%+. I remember a pundit opining that making a good tasting beer was easy at 5% but making a great tasting beer at 3.5%, like Brakespears, was where the real skill lies. Fortunately for me, Ringwood brewery is now just down the road and Badger ( I'm particulary fond of Fursty Ferret - pity about the name) is not far away.

Rod

It must have loads of wheelbarrows parked outside to take the patrons home after a session.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 23/09/2018 23:30:49

Theakston's Old Peculier - when first introduced to that (about 40 + years ago) was told you drink 2 pints then go and lie down in a darkened room!

Like 'proper' bitter in a pub, served not cold, although in the recent hot summer did make an exception and have my cans stowed in the fridge (were in France and only able to get decent ale in cans - the EU has a lot to learn!).

Now into brewing my own bitter, but can drink it faster than I can brew it. My version of Timothy Taylor's Best Bitter and Landlord drunk very well, as did Exe Valley Autumn Glory. Got a slightly hopped up version of TT's Best Bitter fermenting as we speak: must start another brew very soon.

Used to drink larger when I was young and serving in hot climes, especially when visiting Aussie where everything is served straight from the freezer it seems. Enjoyed it then, but prefer a proper English bitter now.

Chris

PS.  Those Yankee beers brewed with grapefruit and other citrus stuff are awful, shouldn't be allowed, should be banned on the grounds of bad taste, literally - not a proper brew at all, just a wet for poncy posers who don't appreciate a proper beer.

Edited By ChrisH on 23/09/2018 23:57:06

I do like a drop of Old Thumper

Fursty Ferret isn't bad either.

Sorry, I still quite like a number of the Citra hopped beers. In my defence, I try to make sure that the landlord gets a barrel of Green Jack Baltic Trader in for every beer festival. When visiting sister and brother-in-law in Northern Germany, we drink Veltins Pilsner. It's quite pleasant in a subdued sort of way. £0.65p/pint equivalent price from the local shop last time I was there!

Been going to the Lakes for over 40 years. The fells might be feeling steeper, but fortunately I can still manage a good few pints of Sneck Lifter. I suppose when the day comes, I can always drop down to Jennings Bitter. I think that would qualify as one of Rod's great tasting 3.5 percenters

Restaurants not content with charging well over the top prices for a pint are now swindling us with a schooner measure of 2/3 of a pint, perhaps they hope no one will notice it equated to over £7 a pint. As I was des I ordered a coke, volume shrinkage was also in evidence here, £3 for a 200ml bottle of Diet Coke! Or £8.52 for a pint

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 30/09/2018 12:08:05

Is it now permissible to serve beer in a non-crown marked pint or half-pint glass? If so, I need to bring this up with my MP!

Bugger! Just read that draught beer (the only sort) may only be sold in 1/3 pint, 2/3 pint, ½ pint or multiples of ½ pint (½ pints must always be available).

What is the world coming to?

Edited By Mark Rand on 30/09/2018 20:53:40

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 22/09/2018 19:29:11:

Nah.

Any fool can serve lager, it takes an expert to serve beer

N.

Try telling that to the St Austell chain who insist on pulling their beers through sparklers that ruin the beer, make it flat and take away the taste, I asked for the sparkler to be taken off the pump in one of their pubs and the young lad said in a loud voice " so you like flat beer then " and proceeded to rapidly pull the pump until the glass was full of flat beer with no head, I explained to him how to pull a proper pint and he just ignored me and went back to work, in a local village last week with 2 friends we sampled the local brews and they were gorgeous, in the pub next door we tried the St Austell Proper Job but once again ruined by being forced through a sparkler and even worse the local Jail Ale was also being pulled through a sparkler, the barman didn't drink real ale so as far as he was concerned we were nothing less than grumpy old men moaning about his beer. Re the Starlight bitter a friend and I got plastered on it in the early 70s.

Banks were serving beer in non-marked glasses in the 1980s, using metered pumps with a 1/2 pint piston and chamber on either side. Apparently the pumps were certified and tested.

Old Thumper.

Enjoyed malty, bitter and warm

Neil