Harp

p~b

got a few can of harp last week, great stuff, just wondering do they have harp in pubs anymore

b0bsquish

most pubs should have harp in bottles.

Saruman

Not sure what happened to Harp. Its pretty cheap too.... I like it.. better than Bud or other American beer flavoured water more and more Irish people drink these days.

p~b

i'll go on a hunt tomorrow and see if many pubs have it, then i'll taste it to make sure its as good as the cans, for investigative purposes only lol

DublinWriter

p~b wrote:

got a few can of harp last week, great stuff, just wondering do they have harp in pubs anymore

Most Irish/UK corporate-produced pisswater tastes acceptable if you chill it enough.

For real beer, go Belgian.

p~b

i'd like to try some foreign beers but i just dont have the confidence to buy drink that i dont know as it could be worse than the bud, corrs etc

i tried a lidl beer once and thought that was better so i should prob venture a bit more the when i go to the offo again.

any recommendations on what to go for that would be available everywhere

techtrainer

p~b wrote:

i'd like to try some foreign beers but i just dont have the confidence to buy drink that i dont know as it could be worse than the bud, corrs etc

i tried a lidl beer once and thought that was better so i should prob venture a bit more the when i go to the offo again.

any recommendations on what to go for that would be available everywhere

it just couldn't be worse!

try erdinger, especially the dark stuff... anything belgian is good too..

Zaph

Czech beer is great too, particularly Staropramen and Budvar.

I was in Rome last year and ended up in an Irish bar there where the only draught beer they had was Guinness, Smithwicks and Harp. Being naturally suspicious of Guinness abroad and not being a Smithwicks drinker at all, I had a pint of Harp. I'm pleased to inform the group that it is still every bit as bad as my last pint of it was close to 20 years ago. I didn't stay for a second pint.

Blub2k4

If you like Harp you'll love real beers. I remember that stuff as being dreadful, even after the taste change in the 80's.

Try Warsteiner in Tesco at a euro a bottle, or even Stella at the same price although it's not as good.

Hendrixcat

Harp is beyond redemption. It is nasty tasting and I find it hard to belive that there is any market for it at all. Don't worry about trying new beers. Just work your way up from some of the better lagers and ales. Some of the beer from Belguim can be a shock to the system if you're unfamiliar with the strong flavours derived from higher alcohol levels and richer malts.

DublinWriter

Hendrixcat wrote:

Some of the beer from Belguim can be a shock to the system if you're unfamiliar with the strong flavours derived from higher alcohol levels and richer malts.

I went to the 24th annual beer festival in Antwerp a few years back. It was one good experience! You buy a glass like a small wine glass and a book of ten tickets for about €10.

You then go around all the stalls off the various breweries sampling their wares. A lot of the Belgian brewieries are quite small, sometimes only employing 5-6 people.

About 10,000 people attend each year, and surprisingly enough it's a very restrained, well-behaved event. Could you imagine the scenes of carnage and chaos if something like that was held here?

There's over 1000 Belgian beers. I know about 10 personally! The 50 or so top selling Belgian beers have their own signature glasses, so if you go into a Belgian bar, and ask for a Duvel, you will get it in a 'Duvel' glass, which is shaped like a Cognac glass.

Stella over there tastes totally different to the UK-brewed phish that passes for Stella here.

Black Swan

Saruman wrote:

Not sure what happened to Harp. Its pretty cheap too.... I like it.. better than Bud or other American beer flavoured water more and more Irish people drink these days.

Finding Harp in bottles is easy in California. Irish theme pubs often have it and Guinness on tap. I too find Harp superior to the Bud swill we produce for export.