The Beer Thread

[Miles (a sailor)Martin]

Galin does Shear sharpening by hand fo beauticians over a five state area and gets uo to oregon every three mounths or so he starts in the southern part of the state and works his way up to portland via rosemont and bend over a two week period, usually he takes someone with him as he doesn't like to drive in towns , seriously parinoid about cops, but doesn't mind other people driving him about.
 he's been sharpening shears for a living for twenty years, and is a self proclamed beer snob so i would geuss he has tried almost all of the pubs in oregon by now ,so it was like having a native guide.
        i had a lot of fun and am hoping to get up there again soon.
                                                            Miles (a sailor)Martin

[Kolinski Cheztocovich]

Has to be Stout. With a couple of measures of Pernod or Ricard thrown in and a healthy splash of blackcurrent,
Capt. Derigable and Rockula know what I mean

[Capt. Dirigible]

Has to be Stout. With a couple of measures of Pernod or Ricard thrown in and a healthy splash of blackcurrent,
Capt. Derigable and Rockula know what I mean

Jeez! You still drinking that lethal concoction!?

[Sir Nikolas Vendigroth]

Has to be Stout. With a couple of measures of Pernod or Ricard thrown in and a healthy splash of blackcurrent,
Capt. Derigable and Rockula know what I mean

The beer snob in me's rebelling at the thought of such a drink.

The student in me, however, wants to hear more...

[Kolinski Cheztocovich]

Go on try it, it's like a pint of Liquorice Allsorts. Just don't expect the person behind the bar serving you to understand what you're asking for. Get the Stout, get the Pernod(double) and Blackcurrent(lots - equal measure with the Pernod), no ice. Then shock your friends when return from the bar by pouring the Pernod and Black in with your Stout

[Athanor]

When I lived in Britain I mostly drank either Mackeson or Watney Mann's Cream Label stout. Mackeson seems to be still available in Britain but nowhere else; Cream Label - which was the best, of course - seems to have completely disappeared off the face of the planet.

When I came to Western Canada in 1974 there was quite simply NO decent beer to be had. Our choices were lager, lager or lager - Molson's Canadian, Labatts Blue, ad something called Extra Old Stock - all of which tasted much the same, thin, watery and gassy, something like one would imagine cat pee to taste. I can't imagine why anyone would want to drink that stuff from choice, but the majority of Canadian drinkers seem to prefer it  That's when I converted to Single Malt Scotch - preferably one of the Speysides, the peaty Hebridean malts  weren't to my taste, seeming raw and corrosive ( I know enthusiasts of Laphroaig will consider me a barbarian).

Today, however, the situation in Western Canada is much improved, with several microbreweries opening up and producing some very drinkable ales. In Victoria, Race Rocks Brewery's Whale Tail Ale is one I can recommend. Some of the ales produced by Okanagan Springs Brewery are also pretty good. Nelson Brewery's Braveheart Stout is not bad, but not a patch on either Mackeson or Cream Label. Some imported ales can be found, mostly German and Danish, but local liquor stores also have British ales such as McEwans and Newcastle Brown. About the only Imported stout is Guinness.

 I'm currently residing in Mexico for a while, and some of the local brews are not too bad. Leon Negro, Modelo Negro and Bohemia Obscura are quite drinkable (Negro simply means Dark), and for something a bit lighter try Tecate or Dos Equis Ambar.

Whenever I go back to Britain for a visit, Speckled Hen or John Smiths generally fill the bill; but I sure do miss that Cream Label ........

[Wilhelmina Frame]

Ah yes Old Speckled Hen.

[von Corax]

Time to bump this thread again.

Today's beer:

Dead Elephant Ale
6.5% abv. ale from Railway City Brewing Company of St. Thomas, Ontario. Brewed in memory of Jumbo the Elephant. Light brown-amber with low carbonation; definite floral-hop aroma with hints of fruitcake. Strong hop flavour, with both grapefruit and fruitcake notes, and a pronounced but well-balanced bitterness.

[Senior Engineer]

This is our local, and State beer, and yes I know it's spelt XXXX (called Four X), and as said by many because Queenslanders can't spell beer, oh haha. It's a bitter.

http://www.xxxx.com.au/beer-info/

[von Corax]

This is our local, and State beer, and yes I know it's spelt XXXX (called Four X), and as said by many because Queenslanders can't spell beer, oh haha. It's a bitter.

http://www.xxxx.com.au/beer-info/

Did that used to be called Castlemaine? If so, then it's on my list from many years ago.

[Senior Engineer]

Yes it used to be Castlemaine Four X, before the multi-nationals bought it.

[Herr Döktor]

Yes it used to be Castlemaine Four X, before the multi-nationals bought it.

Well, the website and the adverts and 'XXXX Angels' therein go a long way to dispel the stereotyping of the Australian boozehound.

Hang on: no, no they don't.

Mind you, I can't talk- I'm a gin-swilling, Pimms-quaffing, soft Southerner form Surrey, so who am I to cast the first stone?

[Prof Eumides Blakehurst]

Well, this weekend I bottled a Belgian style golden ale and got a heavy braggot underway as I had a spare 2kg of honey that needed using (braggots are a cross between a beer and a mead - so half malt and half honey, but you add hops as if the honey were malt).

Later this year I'm hosting my 20th brewing anniversary as I've just relaised how long I have been brewing.

If only it is as easy to make gin by the 22.5 litre batch... 

[von Corax]

Later this year I'm hosting my 20th brewing anniversary as I've just relaised how long I have been brewing.

Congratulations — I'm planning to brew my first batch Real Soon Now.

[Senior Engineer]

Well, the website and the adverts and 'XXXX Angels' therein go a long way to dispel the stereotyping of the Australian boozehound.

Hang on: no, no they don't.

I guess for marketing reasons most beer 'ads' are aimed at the sports fans or Boozehounds, I have always found this erksome, but money talks. I still enjoy a beer on a hot day, or even a moderate one for that matter. But I am a spirits and red wine drinker myself, Oh, who am I kidding - anything that runs down hill, cheers, hic

[Prof Eumides Blakehurst]

I'm planning to brew my first batch Real Soon Now.

POKE! Get moving then! 

The more you can brew today, the more you can drink tomorrow.

[von Corax]

Thread bump, and beer-of-the-day:

Great Lakes Winter Ale. 6.2% abv, and a first impression surprisingly like cinnamon toast.

[Birdnest]

Beer of the month:

Bitterroot Brewing Imperial IPA - unfiltered, medium body, craploads of hops ... 9.7%.   Definitive defrosting juice.

1 beer 2 beer 3 beer floor.


A question for you Brits ...

What are some brews to track down in the London area?
Stout = good
Ale = extra good (thick, bitter and cask drawn = extra extra gooder
Porter = soso
IPA = the usual
Pilsner and grosch = why?
Lager = light ... soso, dark ... better

[Argus Fairbrass]

London I couldn't say. I very rarely go there, and when I do it's normally to gigs, where they'll sell you a half pint of warm nats pee for a tenner (all tastes the same no matter what you ask for). So you need a Londoner to recommend you good pubs there.

I can tell you in the southeast, we are quite spoiled for damn fine ales, because we have so many micro brewerys in this locale.

We have a group called CAMRA which is the Campain For Real Ale.

Back in the day of course it was mainly populated by huge hairy biker types with enormous pot bellies, but these days all sorts seem to be championing the delights of Ale. So if you can find CAMRA approved pubs in London you'll be onto a winner there I would suspect.

[Angelica Needle]

What are some brews to track down in the London area?

Many of the Wetherspoons pubs (national chain) sell good real ales - always worth trying out whatever they have on tap.
There's one right on Leicester Square - The Moon Under Water - and when I was a student, it was the cheapest place outside of the students' union to get a bar.
They're typical chain-pub - not hugely exciting, but they do at least do good beers.

[Argus Fairbrass]

Actually I've removed that CAMRA Link as it's a pay site and doesn't seem to be giving any usefull info away for free.

But yes Weatherspoons, sound advice, and not as crazily priced as some pubs, around here anyway.

[Herr Döktor]

Most 'traditional' pubs will do 'guest' ales or beers, every week or so they get in a couple of barrels of a different beer, and sell it till it's all gone, find three different pubs, and you'll have a variety of different tipples to sample!

Good luck!

[Wormster]

I can't wait until "Black As Yer Hat" comes back to my local, otherwise I'll stick to Potholer!

[Birdnest]

Most 'traditional' pubs will do 'guest' ales or beers, every week or so they get in a couple of barrels of a different beer, and sell it till it's all gone, find three different pubs, and you'll have a variety of different tipples to sample!

Good luck!

Thanks Doc and Argus.

We have a microbrewers association out here too - dedicated to crafting real ales.

Traditional pub or microbrewery is my sort of thing.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Our local pub - http://www.bitterrootbrewing.com/

I'm not limited to the London area ... it's where the plane lands!  I'm wandering around on google-earth looking for small towns (crap shoot!!) - big cities all look the same to me. (I live in an isolated town of 4000 souls, I used to live in San Diego) .

I'll start a new thread in off-topic once I figure out exactly when. (the hillbillies guide to England)

[Herr Döktor]

Heathrow isn't a million miles from my local brewery:

http://www.hogsback.co.uk/

That is, if you're coming into Heathrow...