Recommendations for a good brand of Ale

dpqt · 10-04-2012 11:14PM #1

I'm more of a lager and stout man myself, but have decided to give some brand of Ale a try. I have tried Smithwicks in the past and am honestly not impressed with it. What would be a good quality and tasting Ale brand and what would be the cost per can or bottle?

stuchyg · 11-04-2012 12:32AM

London Pride, roughly €1.80 a can. Top place to start

Technocentral · 11-04-2012 04:02AM

Had a Fullers Bengal Lancer IPA earlier for the first time, honestly one of the nicest tasting beers I ever had, got 4 for tenner in Redmonds, Ranelagh.

ciaran76 · 11-04-2012 07:13AM

+1 for Bengal Lancer now prefer this over London Pride.

BunShopVoyeur · 11-04-2012 07:18AM

Definitely London Pride or Innis & Gunn.....about €2.50 a bottle in Tesco. They're both excellent.

poitinstill · 11-04-2012 07:58AM

+1 on london pride..for a bigger hit o'hara's ipa is available in dunnes. Better again get one of each of the o'hara range in dunnes/tesco and see how you like them..then hit you local good offie and look for more of what you like.

oblivious · 11-04-2012 08:45AM

Some Irish craft beer that punch above their weight: O'Hara's IPA, Helvick Gold (Dungarvan), Porterhouse Hop Head and 8 degrees Howling Gale Ale

+1 on fuller London pride

Ruben Remus · 11-04-2012 10:07PM

'Ale' is an extremely broad category. Three I would recommend are:

Theakston Old Peculier: This is a dark English ale with a nice hint of toffee sweetness to it. You can get it in Dunnes for about e2.40 a bottle. Well worth it, in my opinion.

Galway Hooker: A classic Pale Ale which is sold in bottles in most good off-licences. Costs about e2.80 but you can sometimes get it in 4 for a tenner deals.

O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale: Stronger and hoppier than Galway Hooker, this has some lovely citrus flavours. You can get it in Tesco and in good offies for about e2.80.

I wouldn't recommend limiting yourself to one brand - try a few and see which ones are suited to your tastebuds. Enjoy!

BaZmO* · 12-04-2012 10:34AM

Asking for a recommendation on such a broad term as "Ale" is like asking someone to recommend a car.

Light Ale? Dark Ale? Red Ale? Hoppy Ale? Sweet Ale? Bitter Ale? Strong Ale? Mild Ale?

That said, I'd definitely give the London Pride a bash!

n97 mini · 12-04-2012 11:32PM

Ruben Remus wrote: »

Galway Hooker: A classic Pale Ale which is sold in bottles in most good off-licences. Costs about e2.80 but you can sometimes get it in 4 for a tenner deals.

This is super on draught, but not so super in bottles. In fact I'd tend to give the bottles as miss. Something like London Pride in bottles is a better bet.

matrim · 14-04-2012 05:08AM

Given that you are normally a lager drinker I'd say start off on a pale ale without much hops, something like galway hooker. Then work up to Hoppier pale ales.

For red ales I'm a big fan of O'Haras Red Ale

Herb Powell · 16-04-2012 04:49PM

Personally I love pale ales, but the Franciscan Well 'Rebel Red' is the only red ale I've properly enjoyed so far.
As mentioned already, there are so many different ales, you just have to try themand see what you like.

Recommendations for a good brand of Ale

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