The Truth about Craft Beers...

Links234

MadsL wrote: »

Amazing how touchy some people get about people talking about beer.

I'm getting an arouma of sarcasm on the nose :pac:

anncoates

Lyaiera wrote: »

Not really. The macro stouts need to be cold because anything else and you'd be able to taste them.

That's what I meant about the deadening effect of cold on taste and that stouts are not supposed to be served that cold?

I think it's as much to do with the fact that people here expect drinks to be cold across the board rather than hiding the taste.

I still like a pint of Guinness or Beamish myself from time to time even though I go more for others stouts/porters when I can.

I love Leann FolIain on tap. I think Guinness missed a good opening there with the poor quality of their new bottles aiming at the so called craft market.

Sugarlumps

Fancy names, fancy labels, fancy Dan’s drinking them. Describing a bottle in the same tones as one would with wine. Anyone with a pot to pish, there in the brewing business. Severely overpriced, 3.60 for a wee can?

Not even if it came out of Angelina Jolie’s pússy would I be paying those prices. The vast majority taste the same, just with little tweaks and variations.

Omackeral

"Budweiser tastes like piss" "Canadian Molson is piss water" "Carlsberg is grand, if you like the taste of piss".

There's a lot of people in here that seem to know what piss tasted like. Worrying.

Just a little Samba

Omackeral wrote: »

"Budweiser tastes like piss" "Canadian Molson is piss water" "Carlsberg is grand, if you like the taste of piss".

There's a lot of people in here that seem to know what piss tasted like. Worrying.

Well it's pretty easily explained, all three of the beers you listed and bog standard pale lagers and pale lagers, generally, taste like piss. Don't act like you've never tasted your own piss, next you'll try claim you never owned a fingerbox.

billythefish99

Sugarlumps wrote: »

Fancy names, fancy labels, fancy Dan’s drinking them. Describing a bottle in the same tones as one would with wine. Anyone with a pot to pish, there in the brewing business. Severely overpriced, 3.60 for a wee can?

Not even if it came out of Angelina Jolie’s pússy would I be paying those prices. The vast majority taste the same, just with little tweaks and variations.

There are enormous differences in flavour among beers, from sours to dessert beers, to dry saisons and bitter IPAs.

PropJoe10

Sugarlumps wrote: »

Fancy names, fancy labels, fancy Dan’s drinking them. Describing a bottle in the same tones as one would with wine. Anyone with a pot to pish, there in the brewing business. Severely overpriced, 3.60 for a wee can?

Not even if it came out of Angelina Jolie’s pússy would I be paying those prices. The vast majority taste the same, just with little tweaks and variations.

Just that one sentence convinces me that you've hardly tried any craft beer.

ThisRegard

PropJoe10 wrote: »

Just that one sentence convinces me that you've hardly tried any craft beer.

would I be paying those prices.

Nor paid for any, since you can often get a selection of such beers on offer in most off licences and supermarkets these days.

Sugarlumps

PropJoe10 wrote: »

Just that one sentence convinces me that you've hardly tried any craft beer.

On the contrary, I've often spent 50 plus quid on a mad splurge on a variation of brews. Beer/ale, whatever spin you want to put on it. The crazier the name, the more costly it becomes.

It's not all bad though.

galljga1

Sugarlumps wrote: »

Fancy names, fancy labels, fancy Dan’s drinking them. Describing a bottle in the same tones as one would with wine. Anyone with a pot to pish, there in the brewing business. Severely overpriced, 3.60 for a wee can?

Not even if it came out of Angelina Jolie’s pússy would I be paying those prices. The vast majority taste the same, just with little tweaks and variations.

Ah man, 3.60 for that, that's a bargain.

Hoop66

I grew up in the UK (mostly) where we've had "craft beer" for over 500 years.

I think it's just a reaction to the increasing homogeneity of the beers that were readily available. Starting in the US with the microbreweries, which was a reaction to the Bud/Coors etc. bland mass-produced stuff.

It has certainly taken off over here in a big way, and of course the larger breweries see this and want in on the act. Even Tesco has their own range now, brewed by Marston's. I've tried a few and really enjoyed the "Saison" one.

Undoubtedly there are those for whom it's just another way to express their superiority, but to me it's great. More and better-tasting beer. Huzzah!

* falls over *

Just a little Samba

Sugarlumps wrote: »

Fancy names, fancy labels, fancy Dan’s drinking them. Describing a bottle in the same tones as one would with wine. Anyone with a pot to pish, there in the brewing business. Severely overpriced, 3.60 for a wee can?

Not even if it came out of Angelina Jolie’s pússy would I be paying those prices. The vast majority taste the same, just with little tweaks and variations.

There are more nuances in beer than there are in wines by a long way but nobody would be ignorant enough to claim "all wine tastes the same" and not be laughed at for it. In win there is 1 variable, the grape.

In beer there is grain, hops, yeast, adjucts like fruits or herbs or sugars (candy sugars in strong belgian beers, lactose in milk stouts) or even specialty malts, there is the degree of the roasting of the grain giving darker or lighter colours, heavy or light body and so on. Wheat, rhy, barley or oat as the source of your malt, etc etc etc.

The difference between a Belgian sour and an Irish stout are far more pronounced than between a cab sav and a rioja.

Sugarlumps

Just a little Samba wrote: »

There are more nuances in beer than there are in wines by a long way but nobody would be ignorant enough to claim "all wine tastes the same" and not be laughed at for it. In win there is 1 variable, the grape.

In beer there is grain, hops, yeast, adjucts like fruits or herbs or sugars (candy sugars in strong belgian beers, lactose in milk stouts) or even specialty malts, there is the degree of the roasting of the grain giving darker or lighter colours, heavy or light body and so on. Wheat, rhy, barley or oat as the source of your malt, etc etc etc.

The difference between a Belgian sour and an Irish stout are far more pronounced than between a cab sav and a rioja.

I don't really drink wine, just a mere comparison. I mainly drink vodka, and I don't sit around a table discussing it's subtle differences.

I wanna get loaded...

We wanna be free to do what we wanna do
And we wanna get loaded
And we wanna have a good time
That's what we're gonna do
We're gonna have a good time

We're gonna have a party.

billythefish99

Sugarlumps wrote: »

On the contrary, I've often spent 50 plus quid on a mad splurge on a variation of brews. Beer/ale, whatever spin you want to put on it. The crazier the name, the more costly it becomes.

You are a spoofer

keithclancy

Talking about Craft beers is like being a teenager all over again.

E.G.

Was at a beer festival in copenhagen, there was a circle of lads all tasting the same beer.

One says: "What do you think"

The other guys are all waiting for the others to answer

One says: "I like it, chocolate aroma with a overtones of lemon zest"

Everyone else: "Yes .. yes .. agree .. totally.

Next beer

Same thing

One guy says "I like it"

Everyone else "Oh thats disgusting .. wtf are you thinking"

Really it reminds me of a group of teenagers:

Group of Teenagers looking at a girl

One guy says "Oh jaysus look at her"

The group "Oh shes a heffer ...wtf man .. you're disgusting"

The point is that some guys are into larger ladies the same way some guys are into standard beers like Heineken, Bavaria, Tuborg or whatever.

So you can shove your opinion on what beers you think other people should like up your arse.

This is coming from someone that lives close to the Belgian border and the local shop carries around 800 different beers, to each their own.

Beer snobs have become worse than wine snobs.

billythefish99

^^^

This is embarrassing stuff. Its really strange how people get upset at those who are interested in the taste of beer.

lee_baby_simms

billythefish99 wrote: »

^^^

This is embarrassing stuff. Its really strange how people get upset at those who are interested in the taste of beer.

I'll never understand it myself. Go find a hobby or something.

xxyyzz

keithclancy wrote: »

Beer snobs have become worse than wine snobs.

That has nothing to do with the taste of beer though. I agree some beer drinkers are snobs and same with wine drinkers but I can't understand how people make the mental leap that they won't enjoy trying a new beer because some clown mentioned its floral aroma on a beer tasting website. Judge the beer on it's own merits, not by the people who drink it.

xxyyzz

I think a lot of it comes down to attitudes towards drinking itself. I have a family and I can't go out drinking 7 or 8 pints anymore where the taste doesn't really matter, I'm only doing it to get pissed and have a good time - I can't deal with hangovers and kids don't have any sympathy for you if you're suffering at 7am. Because of this if I have a drink it will only be one or two and I'm going to enjoy them for the taste and quality of the beer rather than getting pissed as cheaply as I can.

jimmybeige

keithclancy wrote: »

This is coming from someone that lives close to the Belgian border and the local shop carries around 800 different beers, to each their own.

How does living next to something somehow make you an expert on it? I lived in Canada for years, I don't expect my knowledge of maple syrup is particularly superior to anyone else's purely because I lived there. Also, there are more beers out there than Belgian ones.

Baby Jane

xxyyzz wrote: »

That has nothing to do with the taste of beer though. I agree some beer drinkers are snobs and same with wine drinkers but I can't understand how people make the mental leap that they won't enjoy trying a new beer because some clown mentioned its floral aroma on a beer tasting website. Judge the beer on it's own merits, not by the people who drink it.

Yeh, "I really like that band but I'm a bit embarrassed because lots of their fans are pretentious tossers" - so stupid.

Links234

Baby Jane wrote: »

Yeh, "I really like that band but I'm a bit embarrassed because lots of their fans are pretentious tossers" - so stupid.

I like Tool too

keithclancy

jimmybeige wrote: »

How does living next to something somehow make you an expert on it? I lived in Canada for years, I don't expect my knowledge of maple syrup is particularly superior to anyone else's purely because I lived there. Also, there are more beers out there than Belgian ones.

I never said I was ? Simply that the choice is there. Many of the beers are not Belgian by the way, its just so close to the Belgian / German border and on the main transport route from Rotterdam there's a large selection

daveyeh

Nonoperational wrote: »

proper craft beers are wonderful and flavoursome. People that don't like them simply don't like beer.

Arsehole.

MOD: banned

LDN_Irish

daveyeh wrote: »

Who's a clever clogs eh? Must be great to be perfect.


Prick.

daveyeh wrote: »

Arsehole.

Someone's cranky. Did the clocks going forward mess up your sleep or something? Could you not find any prick or arseholes on page 1 to give out to?

Egginacup

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I can't understand the obsession with ice cold drinks in Ireland. If it's cold outside then cold drinks are crazy unless the coldness serves another purpose. Really cold drinks have the effect numbing taste buds making sure the drinker doesn't have to deal with much actual flavour. When the taste buds are somewhat numbed the fizz feels all the more tangy on the tongue.

I think the fizzy texture is the best part of the big brands. A bottle of Miller tastes of nothing really but feels nice in the mouth.

I'm pretty sure the obsession with cold beer comes from watching American TV where Americans slag the UK for serving warm beer. Cold/extra cold beer makes sense in warm countries and on warm day or if you don't want to taste the beer. Since we live in a country where it's rarely warm and frequently cold then I'd prefer if beer the beer I drink was served much closer to room temp

I'm sorry but this statement makes zero sense. I don't know a single person who drinks beer to fend off the cold. What has the weather outside got to do with the temperature of the beer at which people like to drink it. I usually drink in a pub/bar that is warm/hot inside. The weather has nothing to do with it.
Go into any bierkeller in Germany when it's minus 10 outside and you're still going to be served an pretty icy Bitburger or Spaten.

El_Duderino 09

Egginacup wrote: »

I'm sorry but this statement makes zero sense. I don't know a single person who drinks beer to fend off the cold. What has the weather outside got to do with the temperature of the beer at which people like to drink it. I usually drink in a pub/bar that is warm/hot inside. The weather has nothing to do with it.
Go into any bierkeller in Germany when it's minus 10 outside and you're still going to be served an pretty icy Bitburger or Spaten.

It doesn't make 'no sense'. It's culture and convention. It's fairly conventional to serve hot meals in cold weather such as hearty soup and stews while hot summer days are associated with salads, cold soups and pastas even though we eat and drink intemperature controlled buildings.

I was applying the same principal to drinks. Bulmers have famously used the imagery of a warm sunny day and an icy cold pint dripping in condensation.

Personally I prefer drinks to be below room temp but not freezing. My point was that I don't need drinks to be extra cold on a cold day and most days in Ireland are reasonably cold (below comfortable indoor temp of 18-22 degrees).

kylith

kylith wrote: »

I love being able to try loads of different beers and find something that I like. I was in the Porterhouse recently and asked for the barmaid's recommendation and she poured me a couple of wee samples, which was nice of her. I went to the beerfest in 2013 and it was great fun.

Yeah, we were at a craft beer pub in Philadelphia and my friend, who takes her beer as seriously as a sommelier would take their wine, was allowed a small taste of the beers offered until she found one she liked and wanted to buy.

I think that's the way to go with craft beers.

ghogie91

I like craft beers in general but there are some that are absolutely vile.

I hate how highly they are priced. But a good craft beer wins over a general marketed beer any day.

fizzypish

I had no appreciation for craft beer before I made beer myself. I appreciate it more now because I know what I'm tasting. I do understand why people think craft beers are muck though. A real hoppy (herb ish tasting) taste when you don't like or don't expect it can really turn you off. I have made beer before that only I would drink. Bottled stout is an acquired taste at the best of times. By christ it got you drunk though....