Favourite 'boutique' beers?

califano

Tried 'crabbies ginger beer' yet(alcoholic 4%)?. I havent yet but id be interested to know what people think of it as i like regular ginger beer.

BeerNut

I bought a bottle recently but haven't got round to it yet. There are a lot of terrible ginger beers out there (Blandford Fly, Ale Mary) but some really good ones too (Ginger Marble). I'm hoping this is closer to the latter.

oblivious

There is a tv ad for it, they must be really push it

BeerNut

The same company makes Lambrini and the Red Square and VS alcopops. Doesn't bode well...

dereko1969

It's not a beer at all, it's more of an alcopop. Was nice enough, I used it to make a Havana Mule, Havana 3 yr old, plus this plus slice of lime, delicious and rather potent.

ciaran76

BeerNut wrote: »

Yes, very nice, though not a million miles from Sierra Nevada Pale Ale which is readily available and currently 4 for a tenner in Deveney's Dundrum.

Edit: Oops, it's actually SN Anniversary which is 4 for a tenner. It's better than Little Creatures PA, I reckon.

Ok will defo try that one as Pale ales are what I enjoy the most.

grenache

Goose Island for me when it comes to pales ales. Although i tried this indian pale last night from California in the Bierhaus and it was the most floral hoppy tasting beer i'd ever come across. I can't remember its name but I will seek it out the next time i'm there.

BeerNut

One of the Speakeasy ones? Big Daddy?

mayordenis

BeerNut wrote: »

One of the Speakeasy ones? Big Daddy?

Speakeasy was on tap lately there, Sierra Nevada maybe they've also been on special in the Bierhaus alot.

neil_purdy

winefan wrote: »

Goose Island IPA. Great sipping beer.

Stole my post!!!!!:D

Get down to Redmonds offie in Ranelagh.. Great selection of beers.. Usually go in and grab 1 of each..

mayordenis

neil_purdy wrote: »

Usually go in and grab 1 of each..

Thats alot of beer

electrogrimey

Have another fun night of beer tasting ahead of me. Just picked up:

A Red Stripe
A Bitter & Twisted Blond Beer
A Delirium tremens
A Schneider Weisse Original
A Maredsous 8
and a Big Daddy I.P.A

None of which I've tried, and all of which have been strongly recommended, both here and elsewhere. If I remember anything tomorrow I'll write a bit of a review for each.

kenmc

Other than the red stripe, they're some of my favourite beers you've just listed out there - could almost be my own shopping basket!
Love DT, but a lot don't like the excessive sweetness that comes in this - I love love love it though. Big Daddy is a beaut too, and really partial to Bitter and Twisted.
Nicely done, but be careful which order you taste them in - if you start with the big daddy you won't taste much else!!

electrogrimey

kenmc wrote: »

Other than the red stripe, they're some of my favourite beers you've just listed out there - could almost be my own shopping basket!
Love DT, but a lot don't like the excessive sweetness that comes in this - I love love love it though. Big Daddy is a beaut too, and really partial to Bitter and Twisted.
Nicely done, but be careful which order you taste them in - if you start with the big daddy you won't taste much else!!

Same here really, didn't make much at all of the Red Stripe, tasted like an expensive version of that Bier D'or from Lidl. The Maredsous wasn't really my cup of tea either, I'm not really that into those dark winey beers. The Delirium was the nicest I've had in a long time, and the Big Daddy was great too. The Bitter and Twisted was really interesting too.

forestman

my list tonight:

Crabbies alcoholics ginger ale...very nice!
Wychwood BeeWyched
Wychwood Fiddlers elbow
Wychwood Hobgoblin

Good Night!!

stillhere08

Of the beers I have tried lately I would go back for a Westmalle dubbel or a Maredsous 8, two of my favourite Belgian ales. Also any of the decent gueze beers, which I find hard to find .

vicecreamsundae

rounders123 wrote: »

Tried 'crabbies ginger beer' yet(alcoholic 4%)?. I havent yet but id be interested to know what people think of it as i like regular ginger beer.

I love regular ginger beer and had been wanting to try out the alcoholic variety for a while. went to a bar in bristol with a friend where they stocked two, Crabbie's and Frank's so we gave them the taste test.
Frank's is from the makers of Kopparberg, and was the slightly pricier version, so we half expected it to win but it was such a let down. Barely any ginger flavour off it at all, I was not impressed.
Crabbie's was delicious, nice and gingery, easy to forget you're drinking a 'beer' though i wouldn't liken it an alco-pop as some people have, i didnt find it at all too sweet or sugary.

does anyone know if alcoholic ginger beer is available in ireland? i haven't seen it around.

BeerNut

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

does anyone know if alcoholic ginger beer is available in ireland? i haven't seen it around.

You can get Crabbie's, Williams Bros Ginger and Little Valley Ginger in decent beer offies. I've seen them all in DrinkStore recently, for instance.

Sergeant

Clotworthy Dobbin is great stuff. Not as nice out of a bottle, but still fantastic. And I've found an off-licence that always has it in stock.

henryporter

Was up in Sainsburys being unpatriotic for a change and picked up some Brewdog IPA - extremely tasty ale, should have got more. 6% ABV too. Highly recommended.

BeerNut

A quid a bottle too, last I saw. Likewise Dogma and Trashy Blonde, which are even better, IMO.

henryporter

£1.36 I paid yesterday; must keep a look out for the others you recommend, although it's normally 6 months or more between visits north due to not wanting to face horrid traffic and famine type scenes in Sainsburys!

_blank_

electrogrimey wrote: »

Fuller's Honey Dew

This and London Pride are being sold in Tesco's for €1.99 a bottle in the Rep, have been for weeks, looks like it's a permanent price.

I was in London earlier this week and was in a pub in the Highbury area, which had both London Pride and Leffe Blonde on tap.

I was alternating pints all night

Seaneh

Black Butte Porter or the Hammerhead from McMinnimans brew pubs in Portland Or.