Convert Me

ft9

I have a few drinks every Saturday night before heading out.

Usually 6 bottles of 'mainstream' beers. Be it Bud, Heineken, Corona or Miller and I like them no problem at all.

I have read and heard so many people call these drinks, slop, piss, chemicals etc etc that I am starting to wonder what I am missing out on with the lesser known 'real' beers.

So I am asking you to recommend some beers for me to try. Ones which are freely available in off licences such as Dunnes Stores etc.

chin_grin

Seeing that what we'd like wouldn't necessarily be what you'd like would you not take a few risks and buy a six different bottles in the offy and do a "trial and error" yourself?

I usually change beers every few weeks (or depending on if they're on offer...:pac:).

I've been on Lech (quite nice!), Tuborg (was hesitant as I steer away from the "bargain" cans and it was lovely), Grolsch (nice too). Hoegaarden (absolutely love this).

My recent one is the Trouble Brewing beers. The Dark Arts Porter is a nice tipple (I'm sure you can get bottles, it was on tap in the Bull and Castle). Also I sometimes pick up Honey Dew.....what.....I like it!

But yeah, take risks it's your palette.

irish_goat

A nice idea is, if you're in Dublin, Galway or Cork you can head to a craft beer pub and get a tasting tray which is 3 one-third glasses of 3 different beers. It's a good way of trying different styles without splashing out for a full pint.

Martyn1989

Theres also alot of offlicences with a 4 craft beer 500ml bottles for €10 which isnt bad. That way you get both Irish and international and can pick from a broad range of styles.

johnnyskeleton

Even if you change from heineken to carlsberg you are still broadening you horizons. Just keep trying different stuff and don't ever let anyone tell you that a beer you like is "piss".

ft9

Carlsberg is absolutely rank though in fairness.

I have no problem drinking Heineken I love it.

But people who are into their beers seem almost possessed by it, conveyed by their attitude to the mainstream brands.

So I must be missing out on something good.

nungesser

i love a good lager and buy these at O'briens. My fav is "Boags" from Tasmania, the italian beers are great too "Peroni" and "Morretti". others worth checking out: Cobra, Tiger, Grolsh, Warsteiner, Pilsner Urquel, Spaten, at the pub the "Becks" on draught is nice

slayerking

nungesser wrote: »

i love a good lager and buy these at O'briens. My fav is "Boags" from Tasmania, the italian beers are great too "Peroni" and "Morretti". others worth checking out: Cobra, Tiger, Grolsh, Warsteiner, Pilsner Urquel, Spaten, at the pub the "Becks" on draught is nice

I'd recommend trying something a bit different than any of these. Nothing wrong with them really, its just that there all relatively samey, not a whole tonne of difference between them, and virtually impossible to tell them apart if you did some kind of blind taste test!

I'm not sure where your located, but if its Dublin, there are many great off licences and pubs that can help you choose something interesting. Any of the good off licences that have an extensive beer range (Like Drinkstore in Stoneybatter or Redmonds in Ranelagh) have staff that are very knowledgable about beer. They can point you where to start.

Similarly, Some of the good beer bars around the capital are also very helpful if you ask them for advice on what to try. Many will even give you little tasters to help you decide.

If your not near Dublin, there's still some interesting beer to be got in many of the supermarkets and most off licences. My advice.... try something like a Chimay Red (Belgian ale), a Franziskaner (German Wheat beer) or a Hoegaarden (Belgian Wit beer). There a little bit different than regular lager but not too in your face and fairly easy to like.
Most Tescos will also stock some of our own Irish craft beer. Any of the O'Haras are really nice especially the Stout and the Irish Pale Ale. Theres also some English pale ales like London Pride. Basically look for bottles that look a bit interesting and try lots of different styles!!

Ronan cork

If lager is your tipple I'd say start there, anything czech or German is a fairly safe bet and then you can move onto blonde ales like duvel etc. I've seen it too many times that a lager drinker comes in with a beer geek and gets given a chimay or something very full on and hates it so they leave so he can get a Heineken or whatever. Ease yourself into it as there is a huge range out there and nobody starts with the top end. The taste difference between something like bud and budvar is quite substantial so no need to go straight for the hard stuff!!
Just pick up a bottle of Czech or German lager ( both made with high quality ingredients by law) and post what you think of it and we can advise further from there.
I hope you find the beer that shows you the way as there are tens of thousands out there, you just need to get past the 10 mainstream ones!

BeerNut

Ronan cork wrote: »

Czech or German lager ( both made with high quality ingredients by law)

I think the brewers might like you to think that, but no such laws exist. Pilsner Urquell is made from corn syrup, for instance. It's still a lovely beer. I'm sure they use only the highest quality corn syrup

Ronan cork

Yeah I wasn't 100% sure about the Czech pagers but I thought there was legislation in place to ensure all pilsners were made according to certain rules. Must just be a location thing so!
Quite surprised to hear that about urquell to be honest as they are one of very few that still produce their own malt on site and brew small batches the old way with wooden barrels etc for quality control...at least I think they do anyway!

BeerNut

Ronan cork wrote: »

I thought there was legislation in place to ensure all pilsners were made according to certain rules. Must just be a location thing so!

German law used to ban adjuncts from beer -- it's called the Reinheitsgebot ("purity law"). And because of consumer demand most German breweries still stick to the rules voluntarily. But it's just about the ingredients being used and nothing to do with the quality of the ingredients or the quality of the finished beer. It's perfectly possible to make crappy Reinheitsgebot-compliant beer, and lots of breweries do.

Ronan cork wrote: »

they are one of very few that still produce their own malt on site and brew small batches the old way with wooden barrels etc for quality control...at least I think they do anyway!

I'd look for independent confirmation of that. SABMiller have been telling some pretty stinky porkies about the brand since they took it over, especially about how old-fashioned their methods are. Not that any of that matters really: it's a beer that tastes good enough to not need an impressive origin story.

Lapsed Catholic

Am I right in saying that strictly speaking only beers brewed in Pilsen may be called Pilsner and that all others would be of that style?

BeerNut

Lapsed Catholic wrote: »

Am I right in saying that strictly speaking only beers brewed in Pilsen may be called Pilsner and that all others would be of that style?

No, unless you're saying it to Plzeň city council or the board of directors at Pilsner Urquell. It's a completely generic term used by breweries all over the world for pale lager.

Lapsed Catholic

I've been wrong all these years! :eek:

Would you see the beer industry/sector moving in the direction of wines with designated geographical areas, like Champagne? Burgundy is made from Pinot Noir which is grown in Oregan, USA and makes excellent wines but cannot be called Burgundy. Ditto Bordeaux/Claret

London Porter from London only?

BeerNut

Lapsed Catholic wrote: »

Would you see the beer industry/sector moving in the direction of wines with designated geographical areas, like Champagne?

It has, to an extent. Czech Beer, Munich Beer, Kentish Beer and lots of others are legally protected designations. Specific styles are much harder to get protection for because, basically, you can make any kind of beer anywhere. Kölsch has managed to get one and I think that's because it's a style that wasn't widely copied before the application went in. "London Porter" or "Irish Stout" would be a much harder case to make.

stevenmu

BeerNut wrote: »

It's perfectly possible to make crappy Reinheitsgebot-compliant beer, and lots of breweries do.

I read somewhere before that preservatives and other additives don't technically count as "ingredients", so breweries can legally claim that the only "ingredients" they use is malt, hops and water, despite having a ton of other stuff thrown in.

Ronan cork

BeerNut wrote: »

I'd look for independent confirmation of that. SABMiller have been telling some pretty stinky porkies about the brand since they took it over, especially about how old-fashioned their methods are. Not that any of that matters really: it's a beer that tastes good enough to not need an impressive origin story.

i saw that on a discovery channel documentary, 'how stuff works' about beer. i hope their influence doesnt stretch that far!! might have been made before miller took it over though. will have to look into that...

you should go into teaching mate, a true fountain of knowledge!

Seaneh

Lapsed Catholic wrote: »

I've been wrong all these years! :eek:

Would you see the beer industry/sector moving in the direction of wines with designated geographical areas, like Champagne? Burgundy is made from Pinot Noir which is grown in Oregan, USA and makes excellent wines but cannot be called Burgundy. Ditto Bordeaux/Claret

London Porter from London only?

London Porter is just a style, like Dry Irish Stout. Lots of american breweries would use those names.

Lapsed Catholic

Seaneh wrote: »

London Porter is just a style, like Dry Irish Stout. Lots of american breweries would use those names.

That's my point. Maybe the concept of terroir might do beer some good.

Seaneh

Lapsed Catholic wrote: »

Seaneh wrote: »

London Porter is just a style, like Dry Irish Stout. Lots of american breweries would use those names.

That's my point. Maybe the concept of terroir might do beer some good.

I don't agree to be honest. To restrictive!

shadowcomplex

irish_goat wrote: »

A nice idea is, if you're in Dublin, Galway or Cork you can head to a craft beer pub and get a tasting tray which is 3 one-third glasses of 3 different beers. It's a good way of trying different styles without splashing out for a full pint.

where in cork can u do this

shadowcomplex

try franziskaner

irish_goat

shadowcomplex wrote: »

where in cork can u do this

Think the Franciscan Well does it though I'm not 100%. If not, I'm sure they'd still allow you a taster before you commit to buying any beer you don't recognise.

the beer revolu

shadowcomplex wrote: »

where in cork can u do this

Bierhaus, Pope's Quay