What do you drink when all they have is Bud Heino etc

Tigger

Just wondering what do you drink when there is nothing avalible but the mass market stuff?

Blisterman

I usually mix it up. Guinness one round, then Heineken, Carlsberg, Smithwicks. etc.

I'm a massive beer fan, but I'd hate to become a beer snob. And sometimes a cheap lager just hits the spot.

the beer revolu

Smithwicks.

The crazy thing is, I's starting to actually like it!!:eek:

Generally I avoid pubs without choice but I often travel with work and like to have a pint or two in the hotel and it does me at weddings and the like.

I'm glad they relaunched and rebranded Smithwick's a year or so ago cause a while back you'd not have found a Smithwick's tap in Munster.

daddydick

I smell a beer snob OP?

Tigger

the beer revolu wrote: »

Smithwicks.

The crazy thing is, I's starting:eek: to actually like it!!

Generally avoid pubs without choice but I often travel with work and like to have a pint or two in the hotel.

me too

Technocentral

Budvar, have never being in a pub that at least didn't have that, if I was in one that didn't even have that it would be a glass of red wine or a G&T.

T2daK

Bud Ice cold..... If not always end of with Carlsberg

Tigger

daddydick wrote: »

I smell a beer snob OP?

i'm not a snob.i was at a party in a country pub last weekend and the wife was ment to be driving: i looked at the stuff on offer and told her she should have a drink because i couldnt be arsed.

Tigger

Technocentral wrote: »

Budvar, have never being in a pub that at least didn't have that, if I was in one that didn't even have that it would be a glass of red wine or a G&T.

come to the west

Technocentral

daddydick wrote: »

I smell a beer snob OP?

Interesting that you consider avoiding pubs with no choice as snobbery, so a shop with only a few choices of goods or a restaurant with 3 things on the menu would presumably be ok with you too?

Mint Sauce

I nearly only ever drink Guiness or Heiniken.



Unless I'm holiday or away somewhere then I try and get some local stuff. Tried a view differenet varities of Cotswolds Bitter the other week. Twas good stuff.

TheWarrior

I ask for pint bottles of guinness, if they don't have that beamish, then guinness. Ocassionally I can drink a few pints of heineken but only under protes t& a very hot day.
Was out in cork last weekend with my wife, went to disco & someone bought us 2 pints of bud, I tried to drink mine (be rude not too) but my wife handed hers back saying "I'll never be that drunk".

Technocentral

Tigger wrote: »

come to the west

Was in Galway a few weeks ago had some great beers in The Bierhaus also in Cork, Dublin isn't the only place with good choices of proper beer.

Tigger

i live in mayo, you said that you'd not seen a pub without budvar. well i'd be surprised to see it in mayo

Technocentral

Tigger wrote: »

i live in mayo, you said that you'd not seen a pub without budvar. well i'd be surprised to see it in mayo

Fair enough mate, I haven't been in Mayo in about 5 years so I'll defer to you on that, on a positive note there are around 40 beers and ciders produced by Irish microbreweries so its only a matter of time before they spread out around the Country hopefully, though I find Irish people very conservative, if a beer isn't attached to a sport or on telly ads all the time people don't think its any good. I like strong flavored, hoppy beers and ales which none of the big breweries make (or make available at least, one of the nicest beers ever is Guinness Foreign Extra which I've never seen in pubs) if they did I'd drink them.

matrim

I used to normally have Heineken, but have found that I can get bored of it after a few pints now. I also don't like the extra cold taps that some pubs are putting in.

If not Heineken I'd have Smithwicks or very occasionally Guinness

Tigger

Technocentral wrote: »

Fair enough mate, I haven't been in Mayo in about 5 years so I'll defer to you on that, on a positive note there are around 40 beers and ciders produced by Irish microbreweries so its only a matter of time before they spread out around the Country hopefully, though I find Irish people very conservative, if a beer isn't attached to a sport or on telly ads all the time people don't think its any good. I like strong flavored, hoppy beers and ales which none of the big breweries make (or make available at least, one of the nicest beers ever is Guinness Foreign Extra which I've never seen in pubs) if they did I'd drink them.

Guinness foreign extra is lovely however is not gonna be around anytime soon

_blank_

More and more pubs have pint bottles of Guinness, failing that, and if the only option is "the usuals" I drink Smithwick's

T2daK

Des wrote: »

More and more pubs have pint bottles of Guinness, failing that, and if the only option is "the usuals" I drink Smithwick's

unlucky

Mo14

I'll usually just have a pint of stout, Beamish being the first choice (although I don't know of a Kilkenny pub that sells it, so usually Guinness) or Smithwicks to mix it up. I'll rarely have a lager, if I'm paying the guts of €5 for a drink I'd like to at least taste something. But I usually try and steer things to the one pub in the town that sells decent beers.

Am I considered a beer snob?

irish_goat

Pints bottles of Guinness, pint bottle of Smithwicks, draught Smithwicks, Heineken (in that order).

BeerNut

Technocentral wrote: »

one of the nicest beers ever is Guinness Foreign Extra which I've never seen in pubs

The Village on Wexford Street in Dublin stocks it.

busyliving

Pint bottles of Guinness

the beer revolu

Ah, I wasn't counting Pint Bottles of Guinness.
If they're there, I'll have that but then the endless dilemma of shelf (too warm in most pubs) or fridge (too cold).
I'll sometimes mix shelf and fridge if I have a willing partner or else have one from the fridge and suffer it cold but ask the server to take a few out of the fridge to warm up a bit if I'm staying for a few.

Technocentral

BeerNut wrote: »

The Village on Wexford Street in Dublin stocks it.

Cheers

Sarky

If I'm honest, I'd be more inclined to get some whiskey, gin or rum instead if all they had was the usual dull names on tap. I haven't seen a pub that didn't stock a decent brand of at least one of those.

kenmc

If there's nothing else I'll have a stout; Beamish then Murphys then Guinness in order of preference. It usually ends up being Guinness

johnmcdnl

Smithwicks has really grown on me lately so probably that... either that or Guinness.. really just depends on the mood...

Blisterman

Sarky wrote: »

If I'm honest, I'd be more inclined to get some whiskey, gin or rum instead if all they had was the usual dull names on tap. I haven't seen a pub that didn't stock a decent brand of at least one of those.

Agreed, but sadly in England, in many bars the choices of Whiskey are Jack Daniels or none at all. No Irish or Scotch whiskeys at all.

JustAddWater

Technocentral wrote: »

Budvar, have never being in a pub that at least didn't have that, if I was in one that didn't even have that it would be a glass of red wine or a G&T.

Budvar? Seriously I would rather just eat a loaf of bread

Zebra3

Guinness.

Which can leave me badly stung in the summer as I really dislike Bud, Carlsberg, Heino, etc and can't drink cider.

Krusty_Clown

the beer revolu wrote: »

Ah, I wasn't counting Pint Bottles of Guinness.
If they're there, I'll have that but then the endless dilemma of shelf (too warm in most pubs) or fridge (too cold).

I enjoy the occasional pint of Guinness, but must confess to never having had a Pint bottle of Guinness. Are they better than the product on draught?
Can you please explain the difference?

BeerNut

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Can you please explain the difference?

It's not nitrogenated like draught is so there's more flavour and aroma to it.

_blank_

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I enjoy the occasional pint of Guinness, but must confess to never having had a Pint bottle of Guinness. Are they better than the product on draught?
Can you please explain the difference?

BeerNut wrote: »

It's not nitrogenated like draught is so there's more flavour and aroma to it.

Krusty, pint botles of guinness are a completely different drink to Pints of the stuff.

Firstly, the pint bottle feels different in your mouth, for want of a better description, it feels more "largery" than the pints of guinness (this is indeed because it is not nitrogenated as BeerNut says).

The pint bottles have a different flavour too, and taste differently depending on the temperature you get them at, you'll find a lot of people drink them "Off the shelf" so they aren't as cold as bottles from a fridge, which can be fairly tasteless if they are very cold. My grandfather used to stick a hot poker into his pint bottles to warm them up.

Technocentral

Des wrote: »

Krusty, pint botles of guinness are a completely different drink to Pints of the stuff.

Firstly, the pint bottle feels different in your mouth, for want of a better description, it feels more "largery" than the pints of guinness (this is indeed because it is not nitrogenated as BeerNut says).

The pint bottles have a different flavour too, and taste differently depending on the temperature you get them at, you'll find a lot of people drink them "Off the shelf" so they aren't as cold as bottles from a fridge, which can be fairly tasteless if they are very cold. My grandfather used to stick a hot poker into his pint bottles to warm them up.

I love it! I live in an apartment without a fireplace so I might try sticking a hot fluorescent light tube in me Guinness bottles.

johnmcdnl

Des wrote: »

My grandfather used to stick a hot poker into his pint bottles to warm them up.

actually when you say that I remember my grandfather used always leave the bottles sitting on the range... I was only a wee lad so I'd never have had the brains to think he was warming it up

must give that a go sometime to see what it's like.... there must be some method in the madness...

marketty

Heroditas

Typically I'd go for Guinness, mainly because many pubs don't have Murphy's or Beamish.
If I don't want a stout, then I'd settle for something like Becks.
I was out on Friday night and felt like crying because the alcohol selection was so dire.
Guinness.... Smithwicks..... Heineken..... Bud..... Carlsberg and Becks.... that was pretty much all the pubs had.

EDIT: actually, one place had Peroni on tap.

LaBaguette

Now that's an interesting thread.

I usually go for a Smithwicks. I'm actually amazed that the usual offer is Guinness, a couple of tasteless lagers, and Smithwicks. It's a very decent beer and I don't really get how people can chose Bud over that.

A few weeks ago I had a pint with a Irish friend of mine, and when he saw that I had ordered a Smithwicks, he raised an eyebrow and told me it's usually seen an "an old men's beer" (we're both in our 20s). Now I read that somme beer enthusiasts actually sort of enjoy it.

So I'm really wondering about how it's generally perceived. I'd never heard of it before coming to Ireland, but virtually every pub I walked into had it. In a similar vein, I've heard before something along the lines of "Beamish is the Munster stout because they can't afford Guinness there". It was meant as a joke, but I've since met people who do believe it.

BeardySi

Aye, Smithwicks for me too usually, though someitmes Guinness.

Luckily in Belfast most decent pubs have some of the local brews in bottle if not in tap, so I'm not too badly off! Still miss the beers from English pubs though! Living in England completely spoiled the Irish drinking experience for me!

Dermighty

If they had bud light on tap i'd drink that, though I don't like regular bud that much. Heineken is nice, when its cold.

Most beers are nice!

vicecreamsundae

if there wasn't much beer selection I'd usually go for a pint bottle of Bulmers.
Failing that, bottles of Corona.

Martyn1989

LaBaguette wrote: »

A few weeks ago I had a pint with a Irish friend of mine, and when he saw that I had ordered a Smithwicks, he raised an eyebrow and told me it's usually seen an "an old men's beer" (we're both in our 20s).

You'd want to see the fuss people kick up when a lad in his 20s orders a pint bottle of guinness, sometimes even the barmans jaw will hang open, it does turn you off ordering it a bit.

johnnyskeleton

Des wrote: »

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I enjoy the occasional pint of Guinness, but must confess to never having had a Pint bottle of Guinness. Are they better than the product on draught?
Can you please explain the difference?

BeerNut wrote: »

It's not nitrogenated like draught is so there's more flavour and aroma to it.

Krusty, pint botles of guinness are a completely different drink to Pints of the stuff.

Firstly, the pint bottle feels different in your mouth, for want of a better description, it feels more "largery" than the pints of guinness (this is indeed because it is not nitrogenated as BeerNut says).

The pint bottles have a different flavour too, and taste differently depending on the temperature you get them at, you'll find a lot of people drink them "Off the shelf" so they aren't as cold as bottles from a fridge, which can be fairly tasteless if they are very cold. My grandfather used to stick a hot poker into his pint bottles to warm them up.

That was done, in the age before soft drinks and alcohol free beer, to get rid of most of the alcohol

Berty

If they didn't have my usual tipple then I would opt for Heineken from the "Always available" choice.

I don't particularly like drinking the mass marketed brands, since I discovered the world of high quality beers, but when needs must I will drink Heineken.

I just don't think, anymore, that Heineken, Budweiser, Carlsberg etc are very good quality for the price they charge. For not much extra you can get a higher quality product IMO.

It's not snobbery nor some type of street cred thing about which glass I hold. It's about what I want.

TPD

Smithwicks in most pubs with crap selection... In most pubs so :P
If I'm in a decent establishment, I'll try a few I've not had before / don't remember having tasted, but I'll usually settle on Blue Moon before long.

thelynchfella

Smithwicks or a stout for me too.....More and more bars seem to be offering some decent craft beers in bottles now, so if i cant see anything good on tap i'll ask what they have in bottles. Typically though, I tend not to go to bars that only offer the usuals like Heineken and Carlsberg
Our attitude is to beer is quite odd. I remember years ago myself thinking Smithwicks was an old mans drink, but I have no idea where that perception came from.

Fajitas!

If I'm stuck, I'd go for a large bottle of Guinness from the shelf. At least it actually tastes of something.

The Orb

Tigger wrote: »

Just wondering what do you drink when there is nothing avalible but the mass market stuff?

.....which is 95% of pubs.....Vitamin H it is......can someone recommend a pub in town that has an alternative selection of draught or bottled goodies?

Fajitas!

Assuming you mean Dublin, you've got L.Mulligans, The Porterhouse (2 of them), Bull & Castle, Messrs', The Twisted Pepper, Sín É, Against The Grain, Foggy Dew and The Cobblestone. And I'm probably missing quite a few from there too.

If you've a smartphone, have a look for Beoirfinder, it's incredibly handy.

The Orb

Fajitas! wrote: »

Assuming you mean Dublin, you've got L.Mulligans, The Porterhouse (2 of them), Bull & Castle, Messrs', The Twisted Pepper, Sín É, Against The Grain, Foggy Dew and The Cobblestone. And I'm probably missing quite a few from there too.

If you've a smartphone, have a look for Beoirfinder, it's incredibly handy.

Nice one, that's a crawl just waiting to happen