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BEERS #2 - Beyond the Pale

Started by Shoulders?-Stomach!, March 30, 2020, 03:56:03 PM

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Chedney Honks

Loved all the beer chat over the past year. It's truly taken me from being pretty healthy to putting two stone on and having to lose it all again by stopping drinking beer but what a marvellous ride apart from for my internal organs. It has been fantastic entertainment, an education and I've had great fun. Most of all, I've had some bloody brilliant beer. From Rodley Grand Cru to Rauchbier and some Belgian battery acid in a champagne bottle, I've loved the lot. When opportunity allows, I will report back from beloved Framconio and I will strawpedo a Westvleteren 12 straight from the monke's paw. Thanks in particular to Ferris for his backwater corner shop anecdotes and to the original Drunken Master, Shoulders, for the reviews, recommendations and encouragement to blow a chunk of my emigration savings on an infinite array of somewhat malty lagers. Returning my trusty Augustiner crate to the bottle shop and getting the tenner deposit back was literally like selling a child. In the immortal words of Alain Prost, "Prost!" 🍻🍻🍻

purlieu

Yeah, perhaps as should be expected, BrewDog's more obscure ones tend to still be decent. Jack Hammer is still in supermarkets here and is great - for all its 250IBU boasting, it has lots of balanced flavour - and their overworks sours are always good. I like Zombie Cake but never see it these days.

Mr President became a Tesco exclusive, which hardly fits the Fiercely Independent branding, and our Tesco stopped selling it ages ago. That Cloudwater NEIPA collab is one of the most revolting beers I've ever tasted, just everything people don't like about the style rolled into one and then exaggerated. Jet Black Heart has been replaced by the blander nitro version. Punk has never been a favourite, but it did at least used to be really crisp and refreshing, unlike the slightly murkier version they do now.

The other thing I've spotted, and I suppose this is a craft thing in general, is the move away from 330 bottles towards 440 cans. Our Tesco Express now has Punk and Hazy Jane in 440s, and have stopped their BrewDog bottles all together. Asda have recently added a shedload of new large cans, at the expense of all their craft bottles, as well as reducing their Belgian and English ale ranges in the process.
What bothers me about this is the larger cans always seem to be inexplicably more expensive per litre than the 330s.

phes

Cans make sense in every respect so it's no surprise that the bottle is disappearing. A year or two ago the larger cans (in supermarkets) indicated that it contained a higher gravity beer, but that's becoming less the case, isn't it. Maybe there a lot of sales of beer for convenience. People who want more than a small can but don't want to take beer home to stock the fridge.

I've tried the two weaker cloudwater beers that Tesco now sells for £3 a pop and they just don't make sense to me in any other respect. They're not a huge step up in quality from their little can competition are much worse value than small cans or higher gravity tall cans.

TrenterPercenter

Hello upkeep I'd like a pint of beer please, and don't scrimp on the gravity....


You are talking about strong beer right?

phes

Yes sorry it's a bit of a nonsense anyway. Higher abv

TrenterPercenter

Quote from: phes on May 03, 2021, 05:44:48 PM
Yes sorry it's a bit of a nonsense anyway. Higher abv

Hehe no problem this is beer talk and it's the only way I'll learn ; )

Shoulders?-Stomach!

#1446
Copy pasting, but relevant:

QuoteHigh Gravity Brewing is a term that refers to the process of preparing a type of strong wort with a high original gravity, intended to produce a beer with a high alcohol content. A normal gravity wort is typically in the range of 10°–13° Plato and will result in a beer containing 4%–6% alcohol by volume (ABV)

In Czechia beer is advertised by ° so you will often see a menu like

Gambrinus 10° - 35kc
Plzen 12°- 49kc
Kozel 11° - 41kc[nb]Czech crowns[/nb]

To order you can ask for a desitka (10) and they will instantly know what you are after. It is a completely different culture too, in that there is more than one kind of pale Staropramen, for example, there are 4 or 5 of different strengths and recipes. In the UK this format is non-existent for lager, the culture simply isn't there.

Occasionally, just to add confusion they use a % sign rather than ° This leads to more fresh faced tourists assuming the beers are 10, 11 and 12% ABV

Let's explore the point further. Here is what Bernard brewery offers, including only their pale lagers:

10° Svetly Vycepni
11° Bohemian Lager
11° Kvasnicovy
12° Bohemian Lager
12° Celebration Lager
12° Kvasnicovy
12° Nefiltrovana
14° Nefiltrovana

The variations here are between 3.8-6%ABV, but in Czech culture each one is its own artform subject to its own variations.

king_tubby

I thought I'd help out a local brewery near where my parents live in Lincs and by god, every bottle so far has been awful. Jarring, metallic taste, all far too high % (a 10% stout that no amount of bitterness can disguise the hints of Special Brew) and a DIPA that tasted like no DIPA I have tried before.

I'm not going to mention the brewery cos you know, good on 'em for having a go, but bloody hell. Got a Damson Porter to try tonight, not looking forward to it.

FAKE EDIT: actually the other local one I tried near them before lockdown was even worse. At least I could finish this later lot.

phes

got blocked by the UK Craft Beer Forum for calling them an embarrassment for allowing this shite and the subsequent guffawing to remain on their timeline

https://mobile.twitter.com/WETHERSP00NS/status/1387309204503924739

Yer jokes deffo on daft old Tim.

I think it's the first thing I've ever been barred from. Quite frustrating as despite finding the place a bit objectionable, it also has a lot of friendly, helpful people who are happy to give advice

Shoulders?-Stomach!

New Jersey are giving a free beer to anyone over 21 who gets vaccinated.

https://twitter.com/GovMurphy/status/1389269510612467716?s=19

Shoulders?-Stomach!

If anyone wants to try Polish craft beer, this bottleshop seems to have a fair selection of the big hitters

https://blackbeetledrinks.com

phes

Tangentially, maybe we will see craft brewers attempting more european influenced beer styles in coming months. There will surely be a backlash to sudden ramping up of range and shelf space given to IPAS, pales and pudding stouts in supermarkets. If craft bottle shops want to avoid rapidly becoming an anachronism they're going to need to curate their range exceptionally, and maybe branch out further than the few trendy european brands that have crossed over into UK Craft. I did notice that Hoptimism had got in a big range from Torrside who are unusual and a real gem as UK Craft brewers go

https://hoptimism.co.uk/search?type=product&q=Torrside

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Have recently had good attempts at German style beers from Utopian, Donzoko, Newbarns and Thornbridge. An ok one from Pentrich too. Obviously there is Lost and Grounded, though I feel their Keller is overrated. Have had the odd effort from predominantly pale ale and stout brewers too, like North Brew Co. Enough that I don't feel like I can launch on my usual whinge. Utopian are worth a follow on twitter as they sometimes attract morons who identify their beer love in opposition to lager, which Utopian brews exclusively.

Oh also Bohem Brewery in London for good Czech style beer.

purlieu

Yes, if I've spotted one trend in craft over the past year, it's the rise of lagers. There were a lot of German Pils-inspired efforts, mostly because that would allow the excessive use of hops, but unfiltered helles / kellers and dark lagers are absolutely on the rise.
My experience is limited, as the only bottle shop in town is basically a German speciality place so I can get authentic Franconian stuff a short walk from my front door, but on the whole it's probably a good move.

king_tubby

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on April 29, 2021, 09:26:16 PM

If you're talking about Europe-wide, perhaps globally, then the answer is without question Pilsner Urquell, which achieves volume and quality very well. The effortless nature of the way it slays all of this shit for quality without being much more expensive (in cans and bottles anyway) stands out.

Currently a dozen cans for nine quid in our mutual Asda, Shoulders.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Cheers, that's quite highbrow for that store! Their idea of a real ale is McEwan's Champion.

Btw, Raynville Road Superstore had a big delivery of Franconian beers and their inventory is pretty shit-hot at this moment. https://shop.raynvillesuperstore.co.uk/ Also if you can't be arsed ordering online just drop by with a list and they'll scan and bag it all up while you wait.

Tremblingmadness.co.uk also have 8 or 9 interesting ones from Tier 3. Both sites do free delivery over £75.

king_tubby

Is Raynville noticeably better than Village Liquor? Cos aren't they both run by the same family?

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quote from: king_tubby on May 05, 2021, 08:16:56 PM
Is Raynville noticeably better than Village Liquor? Cos aren't they both run by the same family?

Raynville is bigger overall and a little bit cheaper. I wasn't aware they were connected but that makes sense.

In my view Village Liquor is starting to take the piss price-wise. For example, they were selling a Ridgeside Kellerbier (brewed a few miles away and a can of lager basically) for £5.80. Raynville isn't exactly cheap but lots of German beers for £3.50 is A-Ok.

purlieu

Those 6 packs of PU cans are definitely beginning to spread, ours Sainsbury's have been doing them for a while. It's the worst way to have the beer, definitely nowhere near as fresh as bottles, but even at its worst it's excellent. It was only a couple of years ago that our Asda did it in bottles, the first place I ever bought it.

king_tubby

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on May 05, 2021, 08:20:15 PM
Raynville is bigger overall and a little bit cheaper. I wasn't aware they were connected but that makes sense.

In my view Village Liquor is starting to take the piss price-wise. For example, they were selling a Ridgeside Kellerbier (brewed a few miles away and a can of lager basically) for £5.80. Raynville isn't exactly cheap but lots of German beers for £3.50 is A-Ok.

I'm not 100% they're the same people but someone did tell me. Yeah, agree about the prices, but I'm usually raiding the half price out of date shelf when I go. Also gets points for the masala dhosas his wife distributes from there when she's in a cooking mood.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

QuoteAlso gets points for the masala dhosas his wife distributes from there when she's in a cooking mood.

OK. Wow. Talk to me about this more.

king_tubby

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on May 05, 2021, 10:05:32 PM
OK. Wow. Talk to me about this more.

She used to have the place up from the indie barbers on Burley Road that now sells Iranian stuff. I'll get the deets tomorrow and yeet 'em over, as the young people say.

purlieu

Still only three pubs open in town, thankfully one of our two micro places is among them. They had Brew York's Empress Tonkoko on today, stuck to just a half (at 10.5%, it more than sufficed). Chocolate, vanilla, coconut, and vanilla & spice from the tonka, the base stout flavour still managed to hold its own among everything else, and some booziness in a good way. One of the best beers I've had in a long time.

Shoulders?-Stomach!


Shoulders?-Stomach!

Today I have had 1 x of Monchsambacher Lagerbier, Ganstaller Zoigl, Grief Zwickl

The former was almost Czech-like, amazingly lovely beer. Deserves its sterling reputation.

The Zoigl one is commercial from a craft brewery, a homage if you like. Fruity, full and zingy hoppy with a woodiness that sort of levels the whole thing to a balance. It balances modern and trad very well indeed. I really hope that Zoigl country experiences a full takeoff if Covid dies down because it feels like the best year ever for its distribution.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

https://twitter.com/Thirsty_Pilgrim/status/1391023942068998144?s=19

Lager enjoying a boom in US craft circles. They have the large German and Czech immigrant populations as a catalyst I suppose, but as the British follow every trend the US does slavishly, I wonder when things will really kick off here.

phes

to add to the UK breweries you mentioned, I spotted this dedicated lager brewer. Haven't seen one out in the wild though

https://untappd.com/ManchesterUnion/beer


Shoulders?-Stomach!

Ah, now I have seen their flagship lager in a few places but didn't bother for whatever reason. Perhaps the branding, dunno. There are a lot of duds that have nice sleek new branding concealing the uninspired pap underneath. I will give their stuff a try next time though, pinky swear.

purlieu

Tiny Rebel do a good helles called Lazy Boy Lager. It's a very malt-forward beer, I'd compare it to a 4% bock if such a thing existed, but definitely worth a shot if you find it anywhere.

Calvors do helles, German pils, Munich dunkel and Vienna lagers. I've tried the latter two and they're pretty good, maybe a touch thinner than authentic European examples but definitely nice.

Speaking of UK lagers, today I tried the newly released Tetley's No. 4. Described on the bottle as "made the ale way" it uses ale yeast and so is, technically, an ale, but has been brewed to have the crispness of a lager. Some of the aftertaste is dangerously close to mediocre Euro lager territory, but the main body actually tastes more like a Belgian blonde ale than anything. I spotted a few people on Untappd comparing it to a tripel. It's obviously not as good as an authentic Belgian beer, but it's not bad, and just quite nice to try something genuinely unusual. I've tried quite a lot of new beers this year, and I never expected that, five months in, the strangest would be a Tetley's lager.

Oz Oz Alice

A friend of mine works for Wander Beyond and handed me a can of Forest Down: having looked it up I probably wouldn't have drank something like that for price reasons without being hooked up with it by a friend but its very good. I'm a fan of that brewery in general, from what I've tasted.