This is a difficult one and subject to change, but if I could have 5 beers lined up in front of me now, they would be, in no particular order:

- Black Dog Mild, from Elgood's in Cambridgeshire. It might be that it's served in one of my favourite pubs, but it's delicious and smooth. Sadly, it doesn't cut it bottled.

- White Horse Bitter, from Oxfordshire. Bottled or draught, this is what a good South Midlands bitter should taste like.

- Shepherd Neame's Late Red. The best autumn ale in the world.

- Hoegaarden. I know a lot of people think you're being a Continental-style nancy-boy if you order this, but I don't care. It tastes like angel's piss.

- London Pride. There are so many ropy pints of this around due to the fact that landlords are lax in keeping ales properly, but this is a good session beer, to be accompanied by 20 Players and a miniskirted dollybird.

El Presidente wrote:

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Steinlager - a clean crispy New Zealand lager. Very refreshing

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A crispy lager? Sounds good.

I think it's distributed by Shepherd Neame in the UK. Seen it, never drunk it.

- White Horse Bitter, from Oxfordshire. Bottled or draught, this is what a good South Midlands bitter should taste like.

This phrase made me laugh out loud. I'm really interested to know how you define what a "good South Midlands bitter" should taste like. Is it different from what a good East Midlands bitter should taste like? Is it, say, one part Wolverhampton to two parts Dudley? Good serving of Wellingborough topped off by a sprinkling of Bedford?

...this is a good session beer, to be accompanied by 20 Players and a miniskirted dollybird.

Good to hear the word "dollybird" again. It's been quite a while. Have you been trawling through your Benny Hill DVDs...?

"Meta-ale". Superb...

Not being much of a beer-drinker, I'm obviously missing out on this spiritual side of it.

That'll be the amazing mind-altering ingredients. Mind you, not even El Treas would dream of putting Margate in Essex

El Presidente wrote:

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joel wrote:

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That'll be the amazing mind-altering ingredients. Mind you, not even El Treas would dream of putting Margate in Essex

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Oops I meant Harlow (Mar - Har nearly the same 1st syllable) {insert pathetic excuse here}
d'oh

-- Edited by El Presidente at 19:21, 2007-01-16

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Hahahahahahahahaahahahaha.

Stella Artois, you were indeed right. It has lots to do with Essex. It is the Ford, albeit Cosworth, of beers: common as muck, wouldn't show it off, tries to be up market but fails, however, it'll give you a kick like no other beer out there. Excellent Barry/Chav/Trev qualities.

It's not from Essex - it's just falls under the umbrella stereotype of Essex culture - briefly, what can also be referred to as Chav culture which is widely considered as including quaffing many pints of strong European lager.

One big difference between Stella in the UK and abroad is that in places like Croatia it's served in tiny bottles. (And it takes about an hour for the waiter to come round again and offer you another).

I have to say though inconsistent that DRAFT Ožujsko is not a bad pint. Like I say inconsistent. But better than the Slovenian Big-2.

When it's good.

In bottles it's almost always bland.

-- Edited by Golcar CC at 21:36, 2007-01-16

Bloody Hell. All this arguing about pints has made me rather keen to drink one to numb the pain of doing another proofreding job about some comprehensible computer software system text. Sadly, I went to the fridge, but the fridge was bare!

Thank you for the explaination of Essex and Chavs. Don't they have Chavs in other parts of the country? Don't other parts of the UK serve loads of Stella?

Does that by default make El Treas a 100% Chavtastic Stella guzzling ****?



-- Edited by El Presidente at 10:17, 2007-01-17

El Presidente wrote:

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Nikšiško (sic?)from Montenegro is quite pleasant if you ask me.

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Nikšičko pivo I believe

I've had it. Ok. nothing outstanding. It's true that a good few of these balkan beers are all reasonable lagers (except Karlovačko in particular) and given a warm day and a cold beer they're all quite acceptable.

But not a top drawer flavourful live product.

brazo de natillas wrote:

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Slight English beer bias is down to mostly being forced to drink stuff made from rice, maize and openly pissy hops down here.

-- Edited by brazo de natillas at 23:10, 2007-01-16

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I don't actually mind a bottle of San Miguel. I found the beer in Spain to be honest and drinkable though perhaps not possessing that "wow" factor, that some of my favourites do. Definitely an improvement on the local brews here.

For our foreign readers Lasko and Union are the most popular and common beers here. Lasko - the one with the green label and Union - the one with the red. They are certainly not the worst beers in the world, but if given a choice those discerning beer lovers around here, would almost certainly prefer something else. Lasko is in my opinion a little cleaner and Union a little Maltier. As has been previously mentioned, some nasty hangover symptoms can appear if overdrinking of them has occured (but by the word overdrinking I mean less quantity than many other beers)

Here are some sample reviews from .www.ratebeer.com

Lasko
Poured a golden yellow with white head. Had a somewhat skunky taste and aroma. Very carbonated and grassy taste. Alright I suppose. Reminds me of Steamwhistle.

and

A golden pour with a mild white head. The aroma was inoffensive but was neither malty or hoppy. It was the taste that was something else...it reminded me of cough suppressant. It was definitely not pleasant.

hmm "skunky" and "cough syrup"?

Union

Pours a clear golden color with a fast falling white head. Light honey maltiness up front with a faint hop finish. Mildly crisp, nothing offensive, but nothing that stands out as a nice lager. Slightly grassy and light citrus character.

and

Pours a two finger white head that fades quickly leaving some lace. Clear pale amber color. Light carbonation and light bodied. Hoppy nose. Starts hoppy/bitter occasional sweetness seems to have adjuncts??, bland not even a good lawnmower beer.

"not even a good lawnmower beer" - anyone know what is a good lawnmower beer?



-- Edited by El Presidente at 06:40, 2007-01-17

El Presidente wrote:

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Pours a clear golden color with a fast falling white head.

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i.e. it's served flat.

El Presidente wrote:

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"not even a good lawnmower beer" - anyone know what is a good lawnmower beer?

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Is it a beer you can safely drink while mowing the lawn, or beer you can use to top up the tank?

Each to their own I guess, but Brakspear's is a favourite among the discerning beerdrinker in the UK. He's spot on about Union and Lasko though.

Hadn't seen that site before, cheers.

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Yep. It's harmless, better than harmless on a hot day. San Miguel's my least favourite of the big'uns here. Cruzcampo and Mahou are decent, Alhambra's a little better. There's also a microbrewery in town that turns out something cloudy and different.

Could be much much worse.

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Yes! That's the one - Alhambra. I couldn't remember the name. While a tubo of Spanish beer in general was indeed a nice pleasure on a hot day anywhere - hence my praise for San Miguel. I did remember liking the beer in the Grenada environs best. Spanish beer in general is much better than the sorry state that exists in say Italy or Slovenia.

As far as microbreweries are concerned Mr Golcar CC once promised me a Microbrewery treat that "tasted of lemon" down in Sežana on the Slovene / Italian border. He was right, it tasted of lemon but in a good way. Compared with Ljubljana's own microbrewery restaurant Kratochwill - which is a good place to go if I don't want my wife to be angry at me. The beer is shall we say not to my liking (****house in Australian parlance) so I can guarantee I won't end up blind drunk after spending any time there.

Glad to see an appreciator of Timmy Taylor's Golden Best (the mild you can drink without your friends taking the piss).

Brakspear's i had once or twice and like but have no clear recollection of - but my parents honeymooned in the Cotswolds and brought back a red Brakspear's jug (possibly a water for your whisky jug) so the beer has an indelible place in my psyche.

Mention of Archer's however is right on the nail. I think it's from Swindon I had some down there, but they're common in real ale places up and down the UK, and are really really great - all the ones I've tried.

Just looking now, they are from Swindon, and they've got loads of beers.

I like the December beers, January beers page!

Cheers.

joel wrote:

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This is a difficult one and subject to change, but if I could have 5 beers lined up in front of me now, they would be, in no particular order:

- Black Dog Mild, from Elgood's in Cambridgeshire. It might be that it's served in one of my favourite pubs, but it's delicious and smooth. Sadly, it doesn't cut it bottled.

- White Horse Bitter, from Oxfordshire. Bottled or draught, this is what a good South Midlands bitter should taste like.

- Shepherd Neame's Late Red. The best autumn ale in the world.

- Hoegaarden. I know a lot of people think you're being a Continental-style nancy-boy if you order this, but I don't care. It tastes like angel's piss.

- London Pride. There are so many ropy pints of this around due to the fact that landlords are lax in keeping ales properly, but this is a good session beer, to be accompanied by 20 Players and a miniskirted dollybird.

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Southern piss mate....

Robbies and Boddies....in no particular order...

Coopers and Crown must rate a mention.

Golcar CC wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Coopers and Crown must rate a mention.

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Where are they from?

And what are they like?     

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Coopers is a South Australian beer that is marketed as a boutique beer to make you feel less distressed by finding bits floating in it, like a home-brew. To be honest it's an excellent choice.

Crown lager is brewed by Carlton & United brewers in Australia and is a nice clean tasting pilsener type of beer. Can't really remember too much about it apart from it's distictively gold label and what it looked like

 

 

Anonymous wrote:

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I'd love to go on a pub crawl with disco. Get pissed AND educated!

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I can certainly do the first half of this quite well. 

brazo de natillas wrote:

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Just found a local old man's boozer with five on tap and about 20 in bottles. Mighty impressive for round here. Been particularly enjoying Grimbergen.

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Well done. Can you tell us any more about Grimbergen. As I have had Fish & Chips the last 2 days I've discovered that Heineken makes a better beer batter than Lasko. It also tastes better with the leftovers in the can.

 

brazo de natillas wrote:

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(The other) Michael Jackson can do it so much better than I could.

 

Why does one beer make a better batter? Heston? Anyone?

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 Sounds good that one.

 

Brad's bit of better beer batter might have something to do with Laško turning flat the minute you open it, I guess? Maybe it would be better if he bought a bit of better bitter to make the bit of batter better?

Greeting from Dublin! Having been off the beer a few weeks now, maybe the detox is 'bottoming out' and I'm not really posting here about beer - I'm really still asleep on my bed dreaming of listing my favouite beers!

As a general rule, I usually drink Heineken (or, curiously, Amstel if I am in Holland itself) but if I could get Sarajevsko pivo I'd certainly prefer a few bottles of that. I feel no patriotic duty to plug Guinness, but isn't it a peculiarity that, like the English, the Irish love their beer but, unlike the English, have not traditionally taken to extensive experimentation in brewing. However, there is now a chain of hostelries/micro-brewers in Ireland, so if you're coming this way, check them out at: http://www.porterhousebrewco.com/

Has anyone tried Bishop's Finger beer? I'd be curious to know what it tastes like, since its adverts carry the legend: 'Nothing satifies me like a Bishop's Finger!'

 

The Finger's not bad in bottles, better off the tap. An interesting advertising campaign in Ireland!

Perhaps the "Parish Priest's Pump" would sell there too!

 I can attest to the goodness of Porterhouse, as I believe I listed above. And I was directed there by y'man himself on my last trip to Dublin. 

 

 

I know it's a tenuous link, but did you see that former Irish rugby international Trevor Brennan, who plays for - and owns a pub in - Toulouse, committed rugby's first 'Cantona' by getting stuck into an Ulster fan at a match in Toulouse. According to some reports in the Irish papers, the fan had wound him up with nothing more than, "The pints in your pub are s**te!"

Here's a link: http://sport.guardian.co.uk/rugbyunion/story/0,,1995661,00.html

 

The big question of course is whether his beer's any good. Was that reported?