BEERS

[The Boston Crab]

So ill today but I just want to drink some nice beers now. Where can I buy beer that is interesting and good price online? Can't be fagged going out.

[Emma Raducanu]

Beerwulf.com

[The Boston Crab]

Cheers my man. Gonna order some lovely beer today.

[DrGreggles]

Use the code XMASDEAL for a £7.50 discount before the end of the day.

[The Boston Crab]

Damn thanks. Everything is coming up BEERS.

[hummingofevil]

So... what did beer Santa bring you all? I had some of that Gordon's Christmas Ale which seemed to be everywhere but never seen it before. Is it a genuine old-school ale or are they trying to pull a Werther's original on is and is a new "old" brand. Nice though. Drinkable at the strength and not too over powering.

Also got a crate of Rosie's Cider from Llandegla so that been keeping me company.

Went to trendy beer thing in Hoult's Yard  few weeks back and had a couple of nice 75s of Gueze a sour/black Tilquin blend and some Dutch craft imperial stouts that were amazing. Brewery with a "K". Can't remember. Amazing though

[hermitical]

Picked up some Stroud Cherry Stout from Gloucester services on the way back from the folks - very nice. But a Christmas cold has meant I haven't tucked into much of my pre-Christmas cheapie Beerwulf order :(

I did try St. Bernardus Abt 12 and Founders Breakfast Stout both of which I had high hopes for but just didn't blow my mind. I think I am kind of stuck on Duchesse De Bourgogne and Rodenbach Grand Cru - I love them

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I think the 12 really is excellent. Apparently the brewmaster is behind Westvleteren's most vaunted beer. A couple of Belgians have recommended just getting the Bernardus 12 rather than paying the premium for the Westy (which I haven't tried any years of)

I got a few packs of English ale including 3 from Bath Ales. My partner's mum got me a 6 pack containing Piraat, Gulden Draak and Bornem beers.

I bought a 75cl Mikkeler vs Boon Oude Gueuze which was kept in vermouth foeders, so gonna be interesting to try that.

Then there's all the BeerWulf stuff. Dry January? Only on the palate...

[hermitical]

My palette is probably not very refined and I definitely don't know anything about beers - I'd just tried to pick up some top-notch stuff, there was a metallic taste which I wasn't fond of. The Duchess and RGC really hit home for me so I'm probably a bit stuck!

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

In that case get on every Flanders Oud Bruin/Red/barrel aged Belgian red you can find.

Petrus' Oud Bruin, Aged Red and Rood Bruin are probably the next easiest to come by.
Vichtenaar, Ichtegems & Omer Vanderghinste are worth picking up. Bacchus do a mellow Oud Bruin which is tasty.

If you have cash then Rodenbach's upscale range, Alexander, Character Rouge & Vintage are worth a look

Most craft ale brewery efforts at the style I have tried have either missed the point, tried to run before they can walk with some daft compound beer, or been absolutely awful.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Also:

Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge
Verzet Oud Bruin (not my fave but see what you think)
Bourgogne des Flandres
Ypres by De Struise is excellent and pricey
Monks Cafe Grand Cru
Liefmans Goudenband

[hermitical]

That's quite a list, cheers!

[Norton Canes]

Rounding off the year with a bottle of Schneider Weisse Tap 6, good stuff.

[hummingofevil]

Lemsip and a cough. :(

[Glebe]

I'm having a Wicklow Wolf ale.

[billyandthecloneasaurus]

Was gonna up an old London thread or the best bars thread but here will do - best pubs to go to in London? Brewery recommendations would be nice too. I've done a lot of the major touristy stuff in the past so this time I'm hoping to fit in a few bars.

Best beer I've had lately was a Saison Dupont. Fantastic.

I know I'm massively late and I don't really know much about beer but I've always enjoyed the Bank of Friendship in Highbury.  Nice vibe.  Feels like a "proper pub", but seems to always have a pretty cool, liberal crowd in there.  And there's always a cat wandering about.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

New Year's Eve beers

Gem amber ale by Bath Ales - would recommend this one. Nice coppery slightly hoppy beer. Crisp and enjoyable.
Piraat 3 Hop - belgiany but with a bitter edge. 10.5% and pretty formidable
Bornem Tripel - a very traditional and beautiful tripel

[sardines]

Pulled a ten year old st bernardus Christmas beer out of the garage over the holidays. Lots of alcohol lots of heat. Lingering mouth feel of old spice poured onto toothbrush.

[hermitical]

Rounding off the year with a bottle of Schneider Weisse Tap 6, good stuff.

Got one sat in the box waiting for me...

Lingering cold and quiet night in so just a couple of Rodenbachs, Grand Cru and Classic

[ColinPopshed]

With the Belgian stuff I just can't get past the lovely Delirium Tremens. Had some on Xmas eve with a Hobgoblin and some Chapel Down Curious Brew.

I once (knowingly) paid over the odds in Brugge for a bottle of Westvleteren 12 which was delicious, but not worth the faff to get hold of/pay for.

[DrGreggles]

Also:

Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge
Verzet Oud Bruin (not my fave but see what you think)
Bourgogne des Flandres
Ypres by De Struise is excellent and pricey
Monks Cafe Grand Cru
Liefmans Goudenband

I do love a Liefmans.
The Cambridge Blue sometimes has it on tap.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

The Goudenband?! That's a provision beer so intended to be aged in the bottle.

Anyway, my partner got to drink that last night so I upped the ante and had a Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple. I didn't think too much to Piraat/Gulden Draak tbh, they seem to be pointlessly strong and show-offy about it.

The quadruple is delicious though, an absolute potion.

[DrGreggles]

The Goudenband?! That's a provision beer so intended to be aged in the bottle.

Not the Goudenband. I think it's Kriek.

[Cuntbeaks]

Not the Goudenband. I think it's Kriek.

I bought a load of both Goudenbands and Krieks with the intention of letting them sit for a few years. Unfortunately the Krieks are so tasty i just cannot resist them and only have a few left. Still got 12 Goudenbands though.

[hummingofevil]

I'm close to broke and jobless but needed a beer treat as dry January fuck you/ ill over NY reward. Gone for the Puhaste Dekadents. Imperial Stout from Estonia at 11.2%. Rum raisins and vanilla. Thick and treacly with brown head. Exactly how a beastly treat beer should be. Christmassy, strong as, but still very drinkable. Got a box of 3 Hotel Chocolate rum truffles to go with it and I'm rather happy right now. An absolute belter.

—-

Also a reminder that the correct way of doing beer cheese is to mix young AND aged chunks of Gouda and serve with a little bowl of celery salt for dipping. Have that with a decent belgiian blonde and life is good.

[hermitical]

Anyway, my partner got to drink that last night so I upped the ante and had a Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple. I didn't think too much to Piraat/Gulden Draak tbh, they seem to be pointlessly strong and show-offy about it.

The quadruple is delicious though, an absolute potion.

Got one of these in the last order as well

[Cuntbeaks]

Got a Draak 9000 in a Lidl 'Belgian Beers' 6 Pack a few years back. Along with 5 others i hadn't tasted.

£5

A Lady Godiva.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I don't want to become a home drinker tbh, but some of the prices are difficult to keep paying out in bars. In Leeds Belgian tripels/strong blondes/darks are now £6 (used to be £3.50-£4.50 around 2008 so that's a big jump in 10 years - my salary hasn't gone up with such commensurate zeal...), and if you want to drink some Cloudwater type stuff then forget it, you're looking at £6+ for that as well.

The bottle shops such as Growlers and until the recent closure, Tall Boys have helped but paying £25 for 4 beers elsewhere is pretty damaging tbh.

It doesn't get any more joyful having to pay £4+ for a standard lager. Best bet is real ale, but around here the only sub £3.50+ ales are shit cask pales or Sam Smiths/Spoons which are ok for one but not what I'd base an evening out on.

It's tough to keep pubbing.

On the plus side the 50% food offers in January mean you can grt a full meal for less than the price of a pint. It's arse about face I tell yer

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Also it's interesting seeing craft ale breweries totally ceding to Bavaria on hefeweizens. If you visit craft bars they will pretty much always offer Weihenstephaner or Paulaner/Maisels instead of a craft wheat beer. I can't remember having too many good pints of craft weizen. Nearly always "look we added US hops" - fuck off.

So many breweries try spinoffs of styles without checking they can nail down the original style to start with. Bit of a smokescreen if you ask me.

[phes]

I had my first pint of draft Franziskaner last night and it was absolutely delicious until my date pointed out it tastes like baked beans. Which it does. She also attempted to return a pint of pale on account of it tasting like 'Brussel sprouts and cabbage' but was talked out of it by the barman and a local who claimed she should stick with it because the taste 'grows on you' (heh). It didn't and she found the last mouthful every bit as repugnant as the first. It definitely had a veggy quality to it, though it wasn't tainted in any way.