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BEERS

Started by xXx SuTtOnPuBcRaWl xXx, August 21, 2008, 08:19:58 PM

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Don_Preston



This stuff is a contender for one of the nicest beers I've ever had. Shame I can't seem to find the 30 Reserve anywhere.

Has anyone ever had a bottle of a Thomas Hardy beer? Apparently it's the strongest beer in Britain (at 11.7% per 250ml bottle) and it certainly knocks your socks off. At £4 a bottle, it's a rare treat. Saying that I saw a stronger bottle of beer in an off-license in Bradford-Upon-Avon not long ago (£8 I think it was) and the owner almost shrugged Thomas Hardy Ale off with a "Do they still make that?" type comment.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

What's the strength of that one? (And if that's £4, how much is a bottle of 30?)

I often find myself giving real premium ale bottles like that a wide berth because to be honest I don't think I've got the experience to properly appreciate something like that at the moment. A small part of me would just be going "mmm, this tastes expensive", which is no way to begin.

I could show you round wheatbeers until you got bored of the sight of them though.

Don_Preston

The Ola Dubh comes in at 8%, think I read that the 30 Reserve is somewhere along the lines of 10%. Lovely chocolatey and roasty palate (I'm a sucker for the darker beers) complimented by the whiskey finish.

Alas the premium ales are terribly expensive in pubs. I paid near enough £10 for two bottles of Chimay Blue Trappist beer not long ago, so you do have to pace it to feel like you're getting your money's worth. Saying that they were then seen in Asda for £1. 50 a bottle not long later, so I snatched at the chance and had a very hazy beer night not long afterwards.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

When it comes to Belgium beers/dark ales/weird beers its worth buying them in the shops and doing your drinking at home unless you want to be pocket-raped. Plus when you're at home it's easy to stagger to bed/toilet.

Scottish bitter still has a black mark against it that isn't deserved any longer- there are some great beers out there..

Danger Man

Quote from: Don_Preston on May 12, 2009, 01:09:45 PM
Has anyone ever had a bottle of a Thomas Hardy beer?

Yes, I have.

It's ok but when you go past 8% you are in Barley Wine territory and the beers have a tendancy to become very sweet and sickly.

Some American beers (Samuel Adams, for example) go up to 25%. At this point you aren't really drinking beer, it's more like sherry.

ThickAndCreamy

Tesco and Asda have a reasonable selection of Belgian beers, including two of the popular Trappist varieties. They do (and my rating out of 10);

Orval - 8.5
Chimay Blue - 8
Chimay Red - 8

Duvel - 7
Hoeegarden (anyone else here tried the Grand Cru version? It's divine) - 7
Kwak
Leffe 6 Blonde Or Brune - 7

Shitty untraditional kriek - 3
Stella Artois - 2
Tesco Finest Weak Beer

I've yet to try the Tescos Finest because it's not cheap (over £2 for 750ml) and I can predict it will be horrible. Also, surprisingly I've never had kwak before but I will certainly get some next time I arrive.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

That rating for standard Hoegaarden is excessively generous.

Tesco Finest wheat beer isn't particularly good, no. They have a real nerve to try and palm it off as a premium product when it's a poor supermarket imitation of a premium product. It's almost a French wheat-beer. Lacking in refinement and hangs over you like a bad debt.

Kasteel Cru is perhaps the strongest you can go beer-wise (it's about 11%) before you aren't actually drinking beer, but something else they haven't quite got a name for yet.


ThickAndCreamy

I'd disagree, Rochefort 10's are 11.3% and they simply taste like a quite strong beer. They are definitely in my top 5 beers I've ever tried, with probably only a Rochefort 8 edging them out. It's incredibly at with such a high ratio of alcohol the wonderful taste of fruit is not overpowered, the smell is also still glorious as well. I would have thought you could of reached around 15% if you can manage to still keep the taste of a beer and hide the alcohol gloriously like in a Rochefort 10. I've never tried anything above that before though other than a can of Amsterdam (13%) which in France. It resembled white lightning in packaging and in taste.

In reality, I'm not certain if a 15% beer could still be a "beer" though, but judging by other high alcohol content beers I've had I think it could be done. It would certainly be a rarity mind.


Shoulders?-Stomach!

Ahem, well, 11.3% We're splitting hairs a bit aren't we? I'm sure it belongs to a similar sub-group of beer.

ThickAndCreamy

I was being a touch of a twat I must admit, but the point still remains, if a beer at that alcohol content can mask the alcohol and taste delicious I'm sure others could at a higher alcohol ratio.

I've never heard of a sub-group of beer for it I must admit though.

Danger Man

Ahem....beer in the 9-12% range is technically Barley Wine.

Above 12% the normal yeast used to make beer can't survive but some companies use unusual brewing techniques and different yeasts to create 'beers' in the 20%+ range.

As a beer snob, I think beer stops around the 12% mark.

ThickAndCreamy

I remember being taught at Science in secondary school that fermentation of beer does stop at 12% or 13%, but I was never sure whether to believe it or not.

Lady Beaner

Quote from: copylight on May 11, 2009, 11:12:33 AM
It's fast approaching sunset where I am and I'm about to pop the lid on my 3rd Corona. This excites me immensely. The 1st one I cracked open, I just had to record this moment of almost religious intensity - notice how the precious last rays of sunset seem to drink in the heady golden rush of the Inca. It's so much more than a tangy thirst quencher is the Corona; it's a cheeky monkey, the Civic Type R of the bottled beer world.


Your post and pics actually made me salivate.

copylight

Glad to have serviced you dear.

Quote from: ThickAndCreamy on May 11, 2009, 05:28:38 PM
Onto more positive notes, I mainly wanted to discuss what I had and adored, an Erdinger Weissbier. I'm shocked I've never had it before really, but my god, it was absolutely divine. It smelt wonderfully and tasted of a beautiful blend of woody fruits that seemed incredibly dominant, yet not overpowering. It's one of the finest beers I've had in recent memory.

Damn good stuff and, bizarrely enough, widely available in Central China at the Paulaner chain of bars. Costs about 3 spuds a bottle but well worth it and sends down a white sausage with sauerkraut reet proper.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Erdinger is nice, very nice considering what it is usually up against, but it's very very middle of the road for weissbier.

In terms of available equivalents, Paulaner is slightly nicer, Schneider Weisse is quite widely available from a bottle and gorgeous.

One look at Brauhaus Riegele Augsberg has me salivating:

http://www.riegele.de/startseite/startseite.php?sprung=



It's not as widespread as Erdinger or Paulaner but it's around, and it's super. ior.

Don_Preston

Just a quick question about weissbier: The only variety I had was in my formative beer drinking days, and I think that was Kronenbourg White (or whatever it's called). I thought it just tasted like a fruity lager. Are other weissbiers the same sort of thing, or are they generally in the similar vein as the Leffe/European beers?

mothman

In my experience most of them seem to be like Hoegarden, only not always as lemony. Being stuck as designated babysitter while skiing last year (I can't ski), I developed a taste for Erdinger which I think you can get in Asda - not that I ever do, because they also do Erdinger Dunkel, a black beer, and I love black beers more than anything (if only you could get Staropramen Dark in this country).

Don_Preston



Now this is what inevitably comes to mind when I hear 'Black' and 'Beer' together. One of the strangest beers out there. Not to mention cheap, as I paid £2 odd for a wine bottle-sized. It's as thick as road tar and tastes of Christmas Pudding. It should be typically mixed, normally with lemonade or Sprite to form a "Sheffield Stout," which is very refreshing on a hot day. Whiskey or rum can also be mixed with it, although I didn't enjoy it as I had a particularly poor variety of rum at the time.

Not advised to be drunk neat in a pint glass, mind!



One thing I think is very unfair is that the judge is a woman and is pregnant herself.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

The majority of wheat beers are very different to Hoegaarden. Hoegaarden is quite out on its own in terms of what is available. The citrus taste is particular to that beer.

Wheat Beer isn't like Leffe/Belgian beer. It is simply beer made with different ingredients in a different way. So it doesn't taste like lager or a continental ale. A lot of them have hints of banana clove, nutmeg, ginger and in Belgium and Holland they do actually contain botanical ingredients which influence the flavour. They are mildly sweet tasting and build up a sort of pleasant caramel aftertaste that increasing compliments the flavour of each gulp.

Wheat beers, like Guinness have a certain adjustment period. You might find first of all that it tastes rather peculiar. They are also strong and will catch you off-guard, making you feel slightly sleepy and woozy even after one glass. I'd recommend Erdinger to try first of all as it's the most available and also is a nice place to start- it has a very pleasant taste which develops as you're going along. On a hot day you'll probably sink it without thinking about it.

Wheat beers are my favourite style of beer as they combine the refreshing qualities of a good lager without the gassyness of lager. They also have as much about them as quality czech or german lager.

Money wise, they're expensive, but bear in mind that you might not feel like more than one or two anyway, so it balances out.

Quote from: ThickAndCreamy on May 12, 2009, 02:04:27 PM
Orval - 8.5

They sell Orval in Tesco and Asda!? That's shocking.

Don_Preston

Quote from: mothman on May 13, 2009, 12:32:21 PM
they also do Erdinger Dunkel, a black beer, and I love black beers more than anything

I tried one of those last night, but can't say it particularly stood out as anything special I'm afraid. My flatmate did try Cain's Double Bock, which I did throughly enjoy from the few sips I had.

The best drink of the night was a Titanic stout, which was bloody lovely.

SOTS

That Corona picture on the last page is really really really making me want some. All the proper supermarkets are at the other end of town. I feel pathetic making an actual trip just to go and get lager.


And some limes, of course.

Suttonpubcrawl

What the hell is wrong with you people? Corona? I fail to understand how anyone can actively enjoy it. It's drinkable, but so is half a can of Special Brew topped up with some water. I know what I prefer.

thugler

Yes, can we have Corona removed from the beer thread, seeing as it's not really beer.

Danger Man

Quote from: thugler on May 14, 2009, 08:25:54 PM
Yes, can we have Corona removed from the beer thread, seeing as it's not really beer.

Sadly, it is. Lager is a type of beer and Corona is a pale lager. It has every right to be on this thread although we do not have to like it.


Actually, it's quite nice in the summer with spicy food

jonboy

Ah, weissbier - the king of beers. There was no adjustment period for me though, I fell for it after the first gulp.
Have to agree with S?S! that weihenstephan is probably the best, but fransiskaner (morrisons) and paulaner hefeweiss (tesco) deserve a mention too.
There's a very nice wheat beer called Licher in the norwich playhouse bar. I always need to drive though so can never quaff it in any meaningful quantity.

Old Thrashbarg

Corona's great. There's nothing more refreshing, to me, on a hot summer's day. If you say otherwise, you're wrong (obviously, with it being my opinion. Much like the rest of the nominations are the opinion of those nominating).

Red Stripe's a bit of an odd one for me in that, depending on what I've already consumed in terms of food and drink, it can either be really quite nice, or disgusting. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground at all.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

For wheatbeer skinflints, Aldi do an authentic wheatbeer with the delightful name Schofferhofer that is definitely worth a look. From what I remember, the label looks a bit Lea & Perrin's-ey.



Arf.