Recommend me some nice Ale.

[Paulie Tandoori]

Brains is a very good brewery and do some lovely beers. And its great fun asking for a pint of Brains as well

A fuzzled old fogey at a beer festival once told me to try anything that had "Old" in its name - when i looked at the menu card, it would have meant drinking half the beer on it, hence his fuzzledness i guess.

London Pride is my tipple though, can't beat a decent pint of this imo.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Well, if you had come to the brum drinkies on saturday you'd could have any one of a huge selection of weird and wonderful ales as there was a beer festival on

But no, you couldn't be BOTHERED to come.....

Why would I want to spend my time with you 'orrble lot?

 

[vauxhallmum]

badger's golden glory is good for one bottle but any more and you start feeling a bit weird. the fun is trying them all.

ewww, tastes of peaches

like the Badger Champion, though

 

[co-op]

Numbers

There is no shortcut to Enlightenment. It is a long and hard path that you just have to walk for yourself and some mates if there are those who seek the same spiritual enlightenment.

However seeking truth in the wayside pulpits offered by Saisburys and Tesco and what is known as The Offie will not suffice. You have to pay homage at the temple that is the Public House. Seek one that has a good Keeper and where the Alter is kept clean. The Servants of The House will also be of serious mind and devoted to the cause. Be not impatient as they practise the essential rituals and duly your desires shall be fulfilled.

Mind you there are some seriously shitty pints of bitter served at pubs, bottles can be safer.

I got really wound up a couple of months ago when I took a pint back here in Stockwell and the (non-bitter drinking) Australian women behind the bar spent about 5 minutes tasting it and holding it up to the light before giving me something else...they don't even know what the fecking stuff should taste like dammit! If I tell them it's off, it's fecking off, right? Why would I lie?



*and deep breath and relax*

Anyway. London Pride is my usual fave, ?because I was raised in west London and my first local was a Fullers pub? Who knows?

And for lager if you're that way inclined, I discovered Sam Smiths bottled organic a couple of years ago. Lovely.

 

[vauxhallmum]

And for lager if you're that way inclined, I discovered Sam Smiths bottled organic a couple of years ago. Lovely.

I like that.

And Brooklyn Lager which was much loved and is now much mourned

 

[SpookyFrank]

Abbotts Ale

Evil!

Greene King are on a mission to destroy as many local breweries and local beers as possible, they are evil and anyone who likes real ale should avoid them like the plague. And, to be honest, Abbot is nothing special anyway and their IPA is crap.

Badger and Wychwood are both good breweries. I don't know if you can find it in bottles but Cotleigh brewery makes some lovely beers, particularly their 25th anniversary one.

 

[mozzy]

Evil!

Greene King are on a mission to destroy as many local breweries and local beers as possible, they are evil and anyone who likes real ale should avoid them like the plague. And, to be honest, Abbot is nothing special anyway and their IPA is crap.

Badger and Wychwood are both good breweries. I don't know if you can find it in bottles but Cotleigh brewery makes some lovely beers, particularly their 25th anniversary one.

Opps - I had no idea about this - will leave alone from now on.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Opps - I had no idea about this - will leave alone from now on.

Please do, they're the starbucks of breweries

 

[Spion]

ewww, tastes of peaches

Agreed. I find it to be like drinking after shave/perfume

 

[mozzy]

Please do, they're the starbucks of breweries

I feel embarrassed I recommended this now!! Thanks for the info!

I've noted posters have been talking about Sam Smiths beers - Hull is really good for these pubs - we have got 3 in the city centre and they all charge under £2 a pint!!

I think I will be spending more of my money in these pubs rather than Greene King pubs and beers from now on!

 

[chooch]

I've noted posters have been talking about Sam Smiths beers - Hull is really good for these pubs - we have got 3 in the city centre and they all charge under £2 a pint!!

Ah, but is it the real stuff, or the ok if there's nowt else I suppose it's only costing me £1.78 nitro-keg stuff?

 

[mozzy]

Ah, but is it the real stuff, or the ok if there's nowt else I suppose it's only costing me £1.78 nitro-keg stuff?

Proberbly! I'll have to ask friends who know more about ale than myself - I have only got into ale in the last couple of years, but that attitude does sound very typical of Hull!

 

[Maggot]

Whitstable Bay is a lovely organic ale made by Shepherd Neame. Not on draught in many places but available in bottles.

 

[sam/phallocrat]

I always find those American-micro-style superbitter IPAs (if that's what it's like) a bit dull after a while - they're great for one pint, but then it all gets a bit mouthwashy.
Something freshly hoppy but with a bit of malt behind it is better for extended drinking, I reckon.

I wouldn't know if it's like that tbh not having tried many american beers - you're right in that it isn't too malty but I'm not a great fan of malt. At £1.89 a pint in the better spoonies in town it's a good bet, but it's *not* for sessions. Deuchars does do that job very well, or another local brew called moonshine (abbeydale brewery), which is also very pale but reasonably complex in taste.

 

[soulman]

Three of my favourite bottle bears: Cains Raisin Beer, Taylor's Landlord, and Marston's Firestoker. They've all got very different tastes, and the best way to find what you like is to buy a few different bottles at a time.

 

[Thraex]

I can remember, about 10 years ago, when I started drinking Real Ale. Loads of fun ahead and you'll soon learn just which type you enjoy, and, more importantly, which pubs selling draught ale know how to look after it correctly (in Central London, for me, it has to be The Ship on Wardour Street, lovely ale, nice pub and good staff all supervised by the lovely Charlotte, even if she does support Ipswich).

For my money:

Fullers London Pride
The spring ale Fullers do
Timmy Taylors Landlord
Youngs Ordinary and Special
Ooh and a yorkshire brewery (can't remember which one) that does Terrier

So many Numbers and all out there for you to try...TIP: ask for a taster if you're not sure, I learnt that after my first pint of porter...bleugh.

 

[QueenOfGoths]

Badgers, Black Sheep and Hobgoblin are three of my favourites and pretty easy to get in supermarkets. Although an excess of the latter on Saturday left me 'tired and emotional' on Sunday.

Or try some Belgian beers - Leffe, I prefer Bruin to Blonde, Duvel, Kwak and Grimbergen are all pretty good and, again, fairly widely available.

 

[co-op]

Opps - I had no idea about this - will leave alone from now on.

Yes - they come from a little brewers called Greene's that were set up as part of the real ale movement of the 70s but have now definitely turned to the Dark Side. I remember Abbots with some fondness ('Abbot's in, brains out' as we used to say...) but I was living down in Brighton last year and we came across this Greene King boycott going on in Lewes where we'd head out for the occasional pint and it really changed my views of them.

There's a good review of the Lewes story here, and also some interesting stuff about the wider industry in there too (especially the link between these giant 'pubcos' and the selling off of so many of our pubs for flats etc that we suffer so much from here in London) -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/britain/article/0,,2041087,00.html

 

[fractionMan]

I really like bellringer from abbey ales (bath)

 

[Numbers]

Wonderful thread - but am I expected to spend the rest of the year trying these all out

I had a few Timothy Taylor's Landlord last night, in a well kept bar, I drink there normally cos the beer is nice so it was a bonus, I even drank from one of them proper Ale jugs, with the handle... very nice indeed.

I think I shall enjoy getting to know these Ale's.

cheers all, or is that cheers Ale.

 

[vauxhallmum]

mmm Cain's Raisin Beer sounds nice.
Have found Brooklyn Lager now, though, so am vv happy

 

[Socket]

I've recently become partial to a bottle or two of Jenning's Sneck Lifter. So partial that the offie is getting it in at my behest, which ain't bad going for a Londis.

 

[Poi E]

Fuller's Golden Pride.
Fuller's London Porter (yes, stout/porter is 'ale')
Nigerian Guinness
Dragon Stout

Ahhh likes them dark.

I had my first Nigerian G. in a while last night and it was just as spectacular as always. Although, The Sri Lankan Lion Stout is one of the best, too. Highly recommended.

 

[chymaera]

I've recently become partial to a bottle or two of Jenning's Sneck Lifter.

Excellent beer, I had "several" pints of it on draught at a motorcycle rally last year.

 

[Socket]

Excellent beer, I had "several" pints of it on draught at a motorcycle rally last year.

I've never seen it draught. Must seek some pubbery that has it.

Currently drinking a Wychwood Circlemaster. Like most Wychwood beers it tastes OK, quite refreshing in fact, but leaves the palate quicker than Anne Widdecombe leaving a Peter Tatchell coffee morning.

 

[soulman]

mmm Cain's Raisin Beer sounds nice.
Have found Brooklyn Lager now, though, so am vv happy

The raisin beer is lovely in small doses. I've only ever had a few pints, after that I believe it can get a bit sickly.