Craft beer and real ale drinkers

[Kellfire]

Is anyone else out there a craft beer or real ale enthusiast?

It's something I've gotten into over the past couple of years and have been blown away by the different styles of beers that are out there.

For years I thought I hated beer just because I hate the generic swill like Carlsberg, Carling, Stella etc.

It's now not unusual for me to spend £10+ on a 330ml bottle of beer, that could be anything from an aged Belgian sour beer to a 15%, whiskey barrel aged imperial stout.

Beer is great. :thup:

 

[Liverbirdie]

Is anyone else out there a craft beer or real ale enthusiast?

It's something I've gotten into over the past couple of years and have been blown away by the different styles of beers that are out there.

For years I thought I hated beer just because I hate the generic swill like Carlsberg, Carling, Stella etc.

It's now not unusual for me to spend £10+ on a 330ml bottle of beer, that could be anything from an aged Belgian sour beer to a 15%, whiskey barrel aged imperial stout.

Beer is great. :thup:

Yep, same here but wouldnt call myself a connoisseur, as I can never remember the ones I like , or dont like.

Tend to just walk into a pub, look at the picture on the pump, will make a decision based on the ABV and the description (dont like blonde beers though) but mostly on the nice pretty picture of a steam engine/union jack/coal heap etc.

 

[Rooter]

No, i tried and i can't! Physically i can't! I have asthma and my last attack was circa 1986. Had a pint of real ale that had ever so slightly gone and it brought on a full blown asthma attack (A&E, nebulizer, steroids). Something to do with the yeast i was told. Had another mild one after having some cloudy trendy lager in town too. so no, its gotta be clear manufactured generic rubbish for me. Which is a shame as i like it!

 

[Kellfire]

Rooter, try to stick to pasteurised beers so that the yeast been killed before it's bottled/kegged/casked, that should stop that happening if it's the yeast.

 

[Kellfire]

Yep, same here but wouldnt call myself a connoisseur, as I can never remember the ones I like , or dont like.

Get the Untappd app for your smartphone and you can keep track of what you're drinking and where you got it.

 

[Rooter]

Rooter, try to stick to pasteurised beers so that the yeast been killed before it's bottled/kegged/casked, that should stop that happening if it's the yeast.

Oooh! ta! Any suggestions?

 

[Kellfire]

BrewDog pasteurise all their beers. You can get Punk IPA, Dead Pony Club and Five AM by BrewDog in the likes of Sainsburys and Tesco. You'll also see them in many pubs in bottles or sometimes Punk on tap.

Sadly most craft beer contains live yeast.

 

[jdpjamesp]

Yep, same here but wouldnt call myself a connoisseur, as I can never remember the ones I like , or dont like.

I use an app called Untappd to help on that front. My username is the same over there as here if anyone wants to connect...
I love trying different beers.

 

[jdpjamesp]

Get the Untappd app for your smartphone and you can keep track of what you're drinking and where you got it.

lol great minds!

 

[nickjdavis]

I brew my own now....have been doing it for a couple of years and the financial savings over buying beer from shops/pubs is huge. Maybe £20-£25 for all the necessary ingredients and 6 hours spare on a Saturday will deliver roughly 40 pints.

Keeps me out of trouble and I've brewed some lovely stuff that is easily better than what most pubs serve up.

 

[Aztecs27]

Wouldn't call myself an expert, but I love ales - most "craft" beers have far too many hops in them and tend to taste the same but there are many, many marvellous ales and I like to try as many as possible.

 

[brendy]

No expert but I much prefer trying local beers when I'm on my travels to other parts of the UK&Ire and Denmark. The Danish absolutely love their microbreweries and there are plenty of bars where you simply cannot buy "big" brands.
Theres a place called Christian Firtal in Odense and their weekly changing cellars are just fantastic and always have something for everyone ranging from weak to quite strong, plain to flavoured, pales to stouts etc.
This is just one of the boards they have up, several others including cognacs and other spirits. Not cheap, no tvs nor music and its my favorite pub there now. They rub the beers off the boards as soon as they run out and up goes a new beer within a few hours.

 

[Kellfire]

Wouldn't call myself an expert, but I love ales - most "craft" beers have far too many hops in them and tend to taste the same but there are many, many marvellous ales and I like to try as many as possible.

Whhooooa. You've written off all hop forward IPAs etc as all tasting the same?! Nonsense! The different hops that are used change the flavour massively, as does the yeast, malt, any other ingredients added to the fermentation.

 

[Kellfire]

Mikkeller are the stand out on that board, many of the finest beers I've tried were Mikkeller.

 

[Kellfire]

I use an app called Untappd to help on that front. My username is the same over there as here if anyone wants to connect...
I love trying different beers.

I've added you and am sad to see a Guinness in there. Haha.

 

[Berger]

No expert but I much prefer trying local beers when I'm on my travels to other parts of the UK&Ire and Denmark. The Danish absolutely love their microbreweries and there are plenty of bars where you simply cannot buy "big" brands.
Theres a place called Christian Firtal in Odense and their weekly changing cellars are just fantastic and always have something for everyone ranging from weak to quite strong, plain to flavoured, pales to stouts etc.
This is just one of the boards they have up, several others including cognacs and other spirits. Not cheap, no tvs nor music and its my favorite pub there now. They rub the beers off the boards as soon as they run out and up goes a new beer within a few hours.

Have you been to Brewbot on the Ormeau Road, Belfast? They do something similar. Definitely not cheap though at £6/7 a pint. Massive choice of bottled and canned beers as well.

http://www.brewbotbelfast.com/

 

[Kellfire]

Brewbot took me by surprise, I wasn't expecting it to be anywhere near as good as it was.

 

[jdpjamesp]

I brew my own now....have been doing it for a couple of years and the financial savings over buying beer from shops/pubs is huge. Maybe £20-£25 for all the necessary ingredients and 6 hours spare on a Saturday will deliver roughly 40 pints.

Keeps me out of trouble and I've brewed some lovely stuff that is easily better than what most pubs serve up.

Have you seen that brewdog have released all their recipes for free? Would you consider trying one of them?

 

[jdpjamesp]

I've added you and am sad to see a Guinness in there. Haha.

lol I was in Dublin. Had to have one. Migrated very quickly onto Pale etc. And whiskey. Plenty of that.

 

[Aztecs27]

Whhooooa. You've written off all hop forward IPAs etc as all tasting the same?! Nonsense! The different hops that are used change the flavour massively, as does the yeast, malt, any other ingredients added to the fermentation.

No, sorry - I should elaborate, most new age, hipster "craft" beers made by London based "Breweries" are mostly very samey. I'm not saying they taste exactly the same, but usually the hops are so over powering that it hides any other flavours that they've added to the beer. I love a good IPA when done well.

Also - On an unrelated note, Brewdog beer is MASSIVELY over rated.