[CJ]

Going to a Cambridge beer festival later this year (I forget when it is), looking forward to it .
Went to the Great British beer festival at Earls Court last year and that was great fun. Loved a cherry tasting ale just wish I could remember what it was called.

[py0alb]

(Original post by CJ)
Going to a Cambridge beer festival later this year (I forget when it is), looking forward to it .
Went to the Great British beer festival at Earls Court last year and that was great fun. Loved a cherry tasting ale just wish I could remember what it was called.

21st to 26th May on Midsummer Common. I'll be there, probably for a couple of evenings.

[walterwhite123]

(Original post by jamesjamesk)
I've been told by a friend who went their a few years back the local stuff is free, I'll have to find out myself in a few days and let you know!

No, I mean it's not free because you've paid for it in the holiday.

[jamesjamesk]

(Original post by walterwhite123)
No, I mean it's not free because you've paid for it in the holiday.

No, not free. But included

[Rainy]

I've a few Duvels in the fridge. It's not a patch on the other Belgian beer around when I lived in Brussels but, for sentiment's sake, I'm quite excited about sipping my way through one or two of them tonight.

I need to find somewhere stocking Orval in Oxford. I loved that beer!

[py0alb]

I have a single, solitary Brewdog 5am Saint in the fridge. Goddamn that is good beer. Such a delicate bitterwseet aftertaste.

Nevermind, I'm playing squash tonight so will be going to the pub afterwards anyway.


Anyone tried Worthington White Shield IPA? I'd heard a lot about it and when I saw it in Tesco's (4 for £5.50 as well) I bought a load of bottles last week. Well, it was damn good and I've ploughed through them all already. Very different to modern fruity, hoppy, US-style IPAs like Punk, a more subtle flavour but extremely moreish.

[Rainy]

Not in a bottle. Actually, I can't say I've really had it on cask either. A pub I once worked in had it on as a guest just as I was going on holiday - I remember tasting it in the cellar but it being too green still to put on. It seemed to have a bit more about it that the fairly insipid Greene King, Deuchars etc but, as I say, haven't had a proper taste of it...

[robo donkey]

I live a few miles from the biggest beer shop in Britain, life is good. So many I've tried, so many more I've yet to try

[py0alb]

(Original post by robo donkey)
I live a few miles from the biggest beer shop in Britain, life is good. So many I've tried, so many more I've yet to try

Where's that then?

Any particular recommendations?

I'm stuck with my local supermarkets, which do a range of reasonable ales, but depending on my mood/whats on offer, I tend to flit between

Brewdog Punk/5am/Blonde
Pilsner Urquell/Staropramen
Kaiserdom Dark/Budvar Dark
Castle Rock Harvest Pale/Elsie Mo
Worthington White Shield
Blue Moon/Sierra Nevada/Brooklyn Lager
Erdinger/Paulaner/Weihenstephan Weissbier

[Manitude]

We have a Booths here in Lancaster. They usually have about 150-200 ales, though not especially cheap.
It's a shame that I don't live anywhere near it though.

[robo donkey]

(Original post by py0alb)
Where's that then?

Any particular recommendations?

I'm stuck with my local supermarkets, which do a range of reasonable ales, but depending on my mood/whats on offer, I tend to flit between

Brewdog Punk/5am/Blonde
Pilsner Urquell/Staropramen
Kaiserdom Dark/Budvar Dark
Castle Rock Harvest Pale/Elsie Mo
Worthington White Shield
Blue Moon/Sierra Nevada/Brooklyn Lager
Erdinger/Paulaner/Weihenstephan Weissbier

It's called Beers of Europe, they have a site too Here

If you want any recs off there I'd personally recommend Leffe 9, Brooklyn IPA, St Peters Honey Porter and Warrsteiner, can't go wrong with any of them really.

We should really be a real ale society, if cider have a society I can't see why we couldn't get an ale one going here.

Here's some fairly good beer hierarchy charts too
http://www.drinkingbeer.net/BeerArti...eer_Types.php5
Pretty good for distinguishing tastes and types I think

[py0alb]

(Original post by robo donkey)
It's called Beers of Europe, they have a site too Here

If you want any recs off there I'd personally recommend Leffe 9, Brooklyn IPA, St Peters Honey Porter and Warrsteiner, can't go wrong with any of them really.

We should really be a real ale society, if cider have a society I can't see why we couldn't get an ale one going here.

Here's some fairly good beer hierarchy charts too
http://www.drinkingbeer.net/BeerArti...eer_Types.php5
Pretty good for distinguishing tastes and types I think

Well its interesting you should mention that. The focus in the beer blogosphere at the moment definitely seems to be on trying to move past the narrow real ale/non-real ale artificial divide and into a more holistic view, where all good beer is celebrated and discussed, whether it is served in a bottle a cask or a keg, whether its lager, lambic or ale, or a crossover like koelsch or steam beer. So that was the thinking behind making it purely a beer lovers society. Even if people simply want to discuss whether fosters gold is on offer in tescos or what music pubs should play, I think that is ok too.

If you want to start a real ale appreciation thread within the beer society, that might be good. Maybe even a "which is the nicest cask ale?" poll.

[robo donkey]

I didn't realise there was a beer lovers society >_<, *feels stupid*. Woops. I'll look it up, surprised it isn't bigger, I agree there should be a bigger focus on enjoying beer as a whole than just an ale vs lager argument, which serves no one. Tonight I'm drinking some new type of San Miguel that I saw on offer, looks pretty refreshing. But I do love my real ales too, I don't think it has to be an either/or type thing as you say, just enjoy the whole beer spectrum

[Curzon]

What are peoples' opinions on drinking temperatures?

I store my bottled ale just out of the sun and drink it as it is. I know a lot of people like to slightly chill them but it takes away from it for me. I've always drunk lager chilled as everyone does, but I had a box of Cobra recently left over from Christmas (yeah I hate drinking lager ) and I just decided to try some at room temp, and it was surprisingly drinkable! Was quite a nice surprise. In a glass of course.

I drunk Brewdog's 5am Saint and Trashy Blonde earlier and bloody hell, Brewdog are impressive. Had their flagship IPA before and that's a hell of a beer too but I have a hard time sessioning it. Very gassy and the big fruity hops are slightly overpowering.

[py0alb]

(Original post by Curzon)
What are peoples' opinions on drinking temperatures?

I store my bottled ale just out of the sun and drink it as it is. I know a lot of people like to slightly chill them but it takes away from it for me. I've always drunk lager chilled as everyone does, but I had a box of Cobra recently left over from Christmas (yeah I hate drinking lager ) and I just decided to try some at room temp, and it was surprisingly drinkable! Was quite a nice surprise. In a glass of course.

I know it makes me a heathen, but I just don't like lukewarm beer. I don't like lukewarm anything, food and drink should either be piping hot or freezing cold.

This is probably why it took me a lot longer to get into real ale than it did to other types of beers. It wasn't the taste putting me off, it was simply the unpleasant experience of drinking warm beer. Doesn't it make you feel slightly sick and extremely bloated after about 2 pints? Maybe thats just me.

Anyway I don't think chilling good beer ruins the taste at all, in fact I would say that if your beer loses its flavour after chilling, then you need to work on making tastier beer. Fortunately, a lot of modern breweries are doing exactly that, which brings me to my next point....

I drunk Brewdog's 5am Saint and Trashy Blonde earlier and bloody hell, Brewdog are impressive. Had their flagship IPA before and that's a hell of a beer too but I have a hard time sessioning it. Very gassy and the big fruity hops are slightly overpowering.

I love Brewdog, probably just because they are the first "modern" style UK brewery to receive national distribution, and Punk is probably their best beer, one of my all time top 5 beers - however it is deliberately designed to be drank at 5 degrees. I can see why it might seem gassy and overpoweringly flavoured when drank at a higher temperature.

[robo donkey]

I like everything chilled to a point, lagers I like *very* cold, a day in the fridge minimum really whereas ales I only like part chilled, nothing really too warm though

[py0alb]

(Original post by robo donkey)
I like everything chilled to a point, lagers I like *very* cold, a day in the fridge minimum really whereas ales I only like part chilled, nothing really too warm though

I always stick lagers in the freezer for 20 minutes before drinking. Go down like * a dream.



*insert your mum joke here.

[Di_mi_tris]

Paulander FTWWWWW

[It could be lupus]

Got 2 Trappistes Rochefort 10's in the fridge as well as 2 Tripel Karmeliet's.

Sadly exams are during the Cambridge beer festival

[py0alb]

(Original post by It could be lupus)
Got 2 Trappistes Rochefort 10's in the fridge as well as 2 Tripel Karmeliet's.

Sadly exams are during the Cambridge beer festival

Are you excited about the Cambridge Tap opening?