Good to see that Budvar are determined not to "do a Staropramen"
There's a very discernable taste difference between the 500mL bottles (Prague) and the 660mL bottles (Some industrial estate, UK), and not in a good way.
They then have the cheek to put "Prague" prominently on the label of the UK-brewed muck.
That random bloke in the pub gave you a bum steer there. Where does he get it from?
Moretti is brewed in Manchester and Madrí is split between Tadcaster and Burton on Trent.
The BBC did a whole thing on Britain's (and Ireland's) fake continental lagers a couple of years ago:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63901215
Bristol. As is Madri!
Celebrating a little bit tonight. Got invited to read at a Poetry Day event in County Limerick tomorrow, and I'm on the bill at an Irish language event for Cork World Book Festival on Saturday, and my new poetry collection is on its way to 2 more bookshops next week. Have to enjoy the little victories.
Otterbank, from Muff, Co. Donegal: Just The One (a 3 year old, mixed fermentation amber ale, 7.1%) and Oíche Mhaith (a mixed fermentation blend of strong porters, 9.4%). Two lovely treats.
Moretti is now brewed in the UK, make of that what you will.
Aldi's Rossini and Rheinbacher are both worth a try in the cheap-but-good lager stakes. Tesco's Manislav isn't the beer it used to be but is still decent for the price.
Its a fairly generic lager with very little to distinguish itself from others.
Based on its return to availability and being quite cheap, maybe try Harp. Its reputation is unfounded. I'm not taking the piss with this suggestion.
Otherwise, Aldi have a knock-off Italian lager with a name that probably sounds like Peroni. (Poretti, which I think they do sell, is an actual Italian brand, not a knock-off)
Can anyone suggest a reasonably priced substitute for Moretti?
Used to drink a lot of Galway bay stuff but i find a bottle or two of Moretti is a lot nicer (imo). The price has jumped over the last year though so if anyone can suggest a reasonably priced alternative I'd appreciate it.
When buying a mix of craft beers from off-licences recently, I think I've paid deposits on some, and then not have them accepted by the machine. I guess the lesson now is to keep or photograph the receipts.
BA Narwal is a lot better than recent Pointy Shoes, which has disappointed me for the past few years. I prefer to buy Irish, but like to taste everything. And Wicklow Wolf is one on the most consistent, and quality brewers we have in Ireland. As for the one from Verdant, it is pretty expensive, but I wanted to try it, as I'm a big fan of them But the value just isn't there. I wouldn't buy it again.
With the 15 vs 25 cent thing, for me, it's about the principle. I've always recycled, so this new system is an imposition. But I still take part.
Only today though, did I realise the wastage where I work. I passed a bunch of cans and bottles, with the logo, which are discarded. And they are just bagged up with the regular trash and going to landfill.
@Citizen Six That's a total SNAFU by the retailer but they won't rectify the error if nobody complains.
€8.49 for one can of beer though, that's dearer than Pointy Shoes!
…and €9.39 is dearer again!
Hope they were nice. I wouldn't be too worried about 15 or 25c if paying that much per can though.
@irish_goat Non-registered products are not supposed to be charged the deposit but some retailers feck things up (Supervalu I'm looking at you)
There are few non-logoed products left at this stage.
Here you go. To make matters worse, it's says 15c on the shelf, but the receipt says 25c.
And to get back on topic here, the Verdant dipa is really nice, but totally not worth that price.
Didn't realise you get charged the deposit regardless of whether or not the product is registered/has the return logo. Can't blame you for getting your money back.
We'll still just err on the side of caution when it comes to discussing how to trick the machines.
I did something about it. You'll see my original post was edited by a moderator, as I was accused of defrauding the system.
I just made sure I got the deposit I paid, at the retailer, returned to me at the RVM.
I took a simple step to have my deposit returned, at the return vending machine. As I said, I'm not going to waste time going back to retailer. And on principle, I'm not going to let the system keep the deposit I've paid at point of purchase.
No point whinging about it on here if you're not bothered to do something about it.
I rarely use the barcode checker, but I'll have a look and see what it says for the items.
The retailer charged the deposit, which they will hand over, so it's not like I'm claiming a return on something the deposit hasn't been paid on.
For people like me, who already recycles, the scheme takes up extra time in my life. I'm not going to bother returning to the point of purchase to take it up with them.
What happens when you put the barcode in here?
If you've been charged a deposit for a non-refundable product then that's something you're going to have to take up with the retailer who sold it to you.
Understood. But it's not defrauding the system. I was charged the deposit at point of purchase. I'm just ensuring I get my money back. I shouldn't have to bring my empty cans home again, and put them in the green bin, because the system has flaws.
This is most likely IMO. Re-Turn threatened that it products need to registered 6 weeks before market placement so folks might have rushed to register barcodes, or registered a load just to have a bank to pull from. In reality it's taking less than 10 working days at the moment.
If you produce up to 749000 cans a year, there is no cost to register new products, just a flat €500 fee a year. 750000-1499999 it's €1000 flat per year. So, no incentive to pre register to save money.
I've bought a few imports recently, and the machines at my local supervalu won't accept them.
snip
Mod: Let's not discuss ways of defrauding the system.
My guess is they registered the barcode with Re-Turn before they knew which beer it would be assigned to.
If they are using the same barcode on more than one product it'll cause stock control hell.
If its just a mistake in registering the name with Re-Turn and the barcode is product unique, no issue at all.
Come to think of it, registering was free before a certain date so it is also possible that a load of future barcodes were registered back then with no idea what the beer would be.
I noticed the same. I think it was Galway Bay Obsidian that flashed up as an IPA. I don't see how it would bother the retailers: surely the SKU name on the till system is different from the name entered on the Re-Turn system, though they have a barcode in common?
My local RVM shows the registered name of each item; and I've noticed that a special from an Irish brewery scanned as "[Brewery Name] IPA" - it was a porter. Wonder if we're going to see some specials having the same barcode and price. Which will drive retailers demented, but avoid paying registration fees for new products.
Or just ignoring the rules. That's how it usually works.
Sudden flurry of new beers in Bradley's, including Verdant from the UK. Perhaps breweries / importers are adapting quicker than we expected?
Lovely taste from memory
I'd be wary of draught n/a beer unless there is a very consistent flow. These beers don't have to benefit of c. 5% alcohol to help preserve them.
I tried the Estrella 0 and it was rancid 😅 Maybe it's a seldom used line in that particular pub. Either way, put me right off that beer and off ordering anything other than a very-popular-beer in that pub!
