Topic: Drink Better Beer - Belgian, German, Craft, Ales, Lagers all your hoppy goodness in one place

[Scottish-Don]

Apologies. It's been a long day. Put it down to me having a crap day after being up before 6.
Their whole marketing and brand is about them being a "punk" outfit that looks after the "shareholders" (drinking hipsters) and employees.

They aren't. They are in it for themselves. Open another bar. And another one.

They've systemically fucked over small brewers and companies who can't compete and then started flogging their shit wherever they can get it.

I mean the whole fucking Aldi collaboration. Pass me a bucket.

Taking the piss out of Cummings trip while jumping into bed with the government. Get to fuck.

It's a crap company, shite beer . I feel bad for their staff. As for those odious twats. I hope they loose every penny

Big drop?

As an Aberdonian, a regular in the 3 Brewdog Aberdeen Bars for over 10 years & a former Brewdog employee (my daughter still is), it's been a tough read in here.

Was going to bite my tongue however this post gripes me, hightlighted the main parts.

1) Drinking Hipsters! Behave lad, your the one commenting in a Craft Ale thread.

2) In bed with the Government, please explain.

[red_Mark1980]

The sickly video of them "thanking the government" for furlough in a government video. They'd sell their own grandma if it made them another quid

[Red_Mist]

Met my brother-in-law and nephews in the park yesterday for a kickabout. I said I’d bring some stuff for a picnic afterwards and he said he’d bring the ale. Nice one I thought, until we were parched and the daft sod pulled 4 cans of Brewdog Punk AF out of his bag

To be fair, it was quite refreshing. Not bad for an alcohol-free beer (most of which I’ve never really got on with).

[Drinks Sangria]

Tried Top Rope's 'Hall of Pain au Chocolat' Stout when away in York for a few nights last week. Lovely, moreish stuff. Strong, but a nice chocolatey coffee hint to it. A new recommendation if anyone gets a chance.

It was in a little Taproom/Store called Hop and Glory, it had a very eclectic selection of every type of ale you can think of. Pricey, but a lot of it was imported stuff so you can understand why. We loaded up with some weird and wonderful selections, so will be commenting in here when I get round to trying. They even had a salted lager from Finland - Pohjala - that we'd only ever seen in Helsinki and across the water in Tallinn.

Had a Madagascan Vanilla one from an Oldham-based Brewery who's name escapes me, that was a decent little stout too.

We also went to Brew York and had a Raspberry Ripple APA, not bad, tart aftertaste, and a porter so powerful it was listed as wine on the menu. Nice and smooth start but very strong, lasting aftertaste on it - hard to drink the half a pint I went for at 13% 

[Red-Soldier]

As an Aberdonian, a regular in the 3 Brewdog Aberdeen Bars for over 10 years & a former Brewdog employee (my daughter still is), it's been a tough read in here.

Was going to bite my tongue however this post gripes me, hightlighted the main parts.

1) Drinking Hipsters! Behave lad, your the one commenting in a Craft Ale thread.

2) In bed with the Government, please explain.

Exactly.  Two of my local breweries:

https://www.badgerbeers.com/

https://piddlebrewery.co.uk/

Proper craft ale.  Not that hipster shit that Brewdog produce.

None of the decent pubs around here sell Brewdog.

[jackh]

Brewdog beers have been a bit of a go-to for me during recent years - it's widely available in convenience stores and I tended to opt for it rather than the standard stuff that's been in stock in such shops for years.  Knew that there'd been murmurs of discontent in the past, but hadn't engaged with it sufficiently - will be swerving their beers from now on (both in shops and at my local).  I've still got one of their homebrew kits that a mate bought me a sale a few months ago, so I'll probably give that a go but that's all.

My only one frustration is that I've tended to enjoy the bars in the past - particularly as they have quite a decent selection of food options for vegetarians.

[red_Mark1980]

Had a Madagascan Vanilla one from an Oldham-based Brewery who's name escapes me, that was a decent little stout too.

Donkeystone

[Drinks Sangria]

Donkeystone

That's the one! I've also noticed a Tesco near me is stocking Red Willow stuff at the moment on promotion.

[Red-Soldier]

More evidence that Brewdog are a shithouse company:

Brewdog: Watchdog urged to probe solid gold can prize claim

A winner of one of Brewdog's "solid gold" beer cans has asked the advertising watchdog to investigate its claim the prize is worth £15,000.

The Scottish firm offered 10 people the chance to find a gold can hidden in a case of its beer.

Some winners questioned the worth after discovering the cans are gold plated, and one has asked the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to probe whether any rules were broken.

Brewdog stands by the valuation.

A company spokesperson said the use of the term "solid gold" was a mistake, but it stood by its £15,000 claim, saying the estimate was made up of more than just the metal used.

The ASA confirmed it was looking into the matter after it was contacted by sales manager Adam Dean, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

Mr Dean told the BBC: "I realised I had won after I treated myself to a can after having mowed the lawn and spotted something glistening away in the case.

"It said on the can 'you've won a £15k 24 carat gold Hazy Jane can'. Once I'd got over the shock I wanted to cover it on my house insurance. I got in touch with the can's makers, Thomas Lyte, who told me it was actually brass with a 24 carat gold plating.

"I had it valued by a jewellery expert. He told me it was only worth £500. I'm just totally disappointed and I want it resolved. I legally entered a competition to win a solid gold can but I've not got that. I asked for shares to make it up to £15,000 and Brewdog basically said no, so I called the ASA."

He said the ASA had asked for all the emails he's received from the company and told him it will "assess my concerns".


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57650685

[red_Mark1980]

Honestly they can get to fuck..

Disgusting pair of individuals

[Elmo!]

As said elsewhere, this sums them up perfectly.

A thin veneer of punk, masking a solid core of arseholery.

[So… Howard Philips]

As said elsewhere, this sums them up perfectly.

A thin veneer of punk, masking a solid core of arseholery.

Reminds me of Nigel Kennedy the Aston Villa supporting 'punk' violinist.

[red_Mark1980]

Reminds me of Nigel Kennedy the Aston Villa supporting 'punk' violinist.

Thanks. Now I have THOSE spitting image sketches in my mind

[Red_Mist]

Shameless plug for a mate for https://northernsocial.co.uk/

Hope that’s allowed mods.

Some interesting beers delivered straight to your door.

[Elmo!]

James Watt now complaining because they aren't allowed to bullshit their way around advertising rules to claim an alcholic drink ishealthy.

[Wigwamdelbert]

Been a while since I've posted anything  - lock-down has brought me a new hobby in home brewing.
If you haven't heard of them or seen ads - the Pinter by the Greater Good produces top, top quality beer and has a wide range to choose from, American Ale, California style lager, weiss beer, lagers, espresso stout,  IPAs, an apple cider and a dark fruit cider and my favourite, the DIPA Space Hopper.

Honest review- they have had problems, the equipment has had some issues, with people reporting valve fails, and breaking parts, but their customer service is great, and any issues I have had have been sorted quickly. They are  a new company, and learning - their distribution recently was suffering from delays, but they seem to have that sorted with increased production and larger premises.

I've done home brewing before, with very mixed result - home brew beers always taste like home brew - the stuff from the Pinter is as good, if not better, than than pub beer

[stara]

This was a treat. Water comes from UNESCO biosphere reserve, “Rhöniversum”, and all ingredients are local certified organic. 5/5.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/W1w26YxEW9w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/W1w26YxEW9w</a>

 

[kaesarsosei]

Are the tins with widgets the best/only way to enjoy a draft Guinness at home, or is there something else out there? Or for anyone who enjoys a pint of draft Guinness, what's the closest you can get to that at home?

[Corkboy]

I drank Rockshore. By some distance the worst beer I have had in decades. Think airport Heineken mixed with flat Budweiser and some horse piss. Liquid cardboard. How fucking dare they, really.

[Mumm-Ra]

Are the tins with widgets the best/only way to enjoy a draft Guinness at home, or is there something else out there? Or for anyone who enjoys a pint of draft Guinness, what's the closest you can get to that at home?

The widget can's much closer to draught than the bottle. I think it's the best you can do without going to the pub

[red_Mark1980]

I drank Rockshore. By some distance the worst beer I have had in decades. Think airport Heineken mixed with flat Budweiser and some horse piss. Liquid cardboard. How fucking dare they, really.

Better or worse than a can of Skol?

[Drinks Sangria]

A new bar has opened up near me and I popped in the other night to see what was going on, a large selection of Belgian beer, had a Leffe to begin with, massively hit the spot, love the stuff.

Then I had an 11% Cherry Chocolate Kirsch Stout they had from Vocation. Well, me and my girlfriend shared a pint, it was super rich, really strong and had a powerful, lingering sweet aftertaste with the slightly tart bite of cherry at the end. Nice stuff, a bit of a novelty beer, you wouldn't likely want more than a half or 2/3 max.

Then followed Red Willow's Vietnamese Coffee Stout. Absolutely lovely. Strongish at 5.6%, but really impactful coffee flavour in the background of what's a very solid stout. Moreish.

[Nobby Reserve]

When we were in Scotland, went in a couple of places that did this stuff on draft:




It's really, really nice.

But can't get hold of it anywhere back down here (Waitrose seem to have stopped doing it, and Aldi sold it during their beer festival in July but don't stock it)

[Elmo!]

When we were in Scotland, went in a couple of places that did this stuff on draft:




It's really, really nice.

But can't get hold of it anywhere back down here (Waitrose seem to have stopped doing it, and Aldi sold it during their beer festival in July but don't stock it)

West are a great brewery (and their bar in Glasgow is great). You can order their beer from their website.

https://www.westbeer.com/

[Nobby Reserve]

West are a great brewery (and their bar in Glasgow is great). You can order their beer from their website.

https://www.westbeer.com/

Yeah, looked at that. It's £25 for 12 half-pint bottles plus £7 p&p. Works out best part of £5.50 a pint

It wasn't that nice   

(Aldi were selling it at £1.69; Waitrose at £1.85)

Comparable in taste to a Hoegaarden and only a small step up from Erdinger. IMHO of course.

[Red-Soldier]

Can receommend this as a nice summer tipple:



https://otterbrewery.com/beer/otter-bright/

[Drinks Sangria]

Can receommend this as a nice summer tipple:
https://otterbrewery.com/beer/otter-bright/

Is it a Golden Ale? The flavour notes remind me of Salopian's Lemon Dream a bit.

[Red-Soldier]

Is it a Golden Ale? The flavour notes remind me of Salopian's Lemon Dream a bit.

It's labelled as a lager.  I'm not usually a big lager drinker, but this one was very nice indeed.  Not your typical lager really.

[Red-Soldier]

Got a bottle of this for tonight - lovely 



https://www.exmoorales.co.uk/exmoor-stag/

[Yorkykopite]

Can receommend this as a nice summer tipple:



https://otterbrewery.com/beer/otter-bright/

It's decent stuff is that. As is their regular bitter.

Had a pint of something called Tokyo Golden Bitter in a Cotswold pub at the weekend. Lousy name, but quite nice ale. But what was really disconcerting was to see the old Japanese Imperial Army flag on the badge clipped to the hand-pump. A bit like flying the swastika to advertise a German beer.

[liversaint]

Just finished a bottle of Prowling Puma from Cold Black Label of Bridgend.

A black IPA that has a smooth black malt finish with a hoppy IPA base. Lovely stuff at 6.3%.

Recommended.

[Drinks Sangria]

It's decent stuff is that. As is their regular bitter.

Had a pint of something called Tokyo Golden Bitter in a Cotswold pub at the weekend. Lousy name, but quite nice ale. But what was really disconcerting was to see the old Japanese Imperial Army flag on the badge clipped to the hand-pump. A bit like flying the swastika to advertise a German beer.

Yeah bizarre that no one in the company has knowledge of the subtext that comes with that image or the nomenclature around it - I'll admit that it's only recent years I've been aware of the connotations and it's not widely known in western cultures in that way, but definitely they should not be using it to advertise beer.

[The G in Gerrard]

Any ideas for good craft beers as part of a Christmas gift?

[Drinks Sangria]

Any ideas for good craft beers as part of a Christmas gift?

Anything Titanic, Salopian, Mobberley Brewhouse, Cheshire Taphouse, Black Lodge, Red Willow.

Red Willow's Vietnamese Coffee Stout is a winner, Titanic do a Grand Reserve Plum Porter that is nectar from heaven, as well as a lovely Cherry Dark and a Cappuccino Stout. Mobberley's Onyx is a top notch oatmeal stout.

For lighter beers, Black Lodge do an IPA called Pirates, Skull and Bones that is super drinkable, though also super pricey at £5.50 a can (8% too). They also do an American one that's light and tasty without any of the heaviness of the aforementioned stouts called 100 Dollar Volvo, that's a good foundational American ale.

This place is nirvana for me though - https://www.titanicbrewery.co.uk/ - they really can do no wrong. They're not cheap but it's class stuff. Most of these are local to Liverpool and Cheshire or Chester, which is my general neck of the woods, which is why I've focused my recommendations here. I tend to prefer darker ales so let me know if you want more IPA or Blonde shouts.

[Elmo!]

Cromarty Brewing Company are great.

https://cromartybrewing.com/collections/all

[The G in Gerrard]

Anything Titanic, Salopian, Mobberley Brewhouse, Cheshire Taphouse, Black Lodge, Red Willow.

Red Willow's Vietnamese Coffee Stout is a winner, Titanic do a Grand Reserve Plum Porter that is nectar from heaven, as well as a lovely Cherry Dark and a Cappuccino Stout. Mobberley's Onyx is a top notch oatmeal stout.

For lighter beers, Black Lodge do an IPA called Pirates, Skull and Bones that is super drinkable, though also super pricey at £5.50 a can (8% too). They also do an American one that's light and tasty without any of the heaviness of the aforementioned stouts called 100 Dollar Volvo, that's a good foundational American ale.

This place is nirvana for me though - https://www.titanicbrewery.co.uk/ - they really can do no wrong. They're not cheap but it's class stuff. Most of these are local to Liverpool and Cheshire or Chester, which is my general neck of the woods, which is why I've focused my recommendations here. I tend to prefer darker ales so let me know if you want more IPA or Blonde shouts.

Cromarty Brewing Company are great.

https://cromartybrewing.com/collections/all

Cheers both. Should have said it's for my Dad and I try to get him to try different beers otherwise he's strictly a Carling drinker (with the odd John Smith's now and then) so anything similar to (but better) than Carling would be great!

[Elmo!]

Cheers both. Should have said it's for my Dad and I try to get him to try different beers otherwise he's strictly a Carling drinker (with the odd John Smith's now and then) so anything similar to (but better) than Carling would be great!

In that case maybe something like this from West: https://shop.westbeer.com/the-lager-box.html

[Dench57]

Cheers both. Should have said it's for my Dad and I try to get him to try different beers otherwise he's strictly a Carling drinker (with the odd John Smith's now and then) so anything similar to (but better) than Carling would be great!

If your dad is a steadfast lager drinker, I would recommend getting a good selection box of European lager/pils/kellerbier, Czech and German stuff. They shouldn't be too far out of his comfort zone, and if he has taste buds he'll never want to drink piss like Carling again. Something like this. It used to be a lot easier to buy great, cheap European boxes with fast delivery from the mainland but obviously harder since Brexit..

Hell, I'm currently buying boxes of Budvar from Aldi for 11 quid for 12 as my "standard" booze, and that's head and shoulders above any of the mainstream UK lagers

[CheshireDave]

Titanic do a Grand Reserve Plum Porter

Absolutely. I lived right near a Titanic owned pub for a while and you're right. Plum Porter on cask is bloody lovely. Far nicer than the bottles. But the bottles are still really good.

If you like that sort of thing get yourself some https://brewyork.co.uk/product/tonkoko/ - it's the best stout I have ever had.

[The G in Gerrard]

In that case maybe something like this from West: https://shop.westbeer.com/the-lager-box.html

If your dad is a steadfast lager drinker, I would recommend getting a good selection box of European lager/pils/kellerbier, Czech and German stuff. They shouldn't be too far out of his comfort zone, and if he has taste buds he'll never want to drink piss like Carling again. Something like this. It used to be a lot easier to buy great, cheap European boxes with fast delivery from the mainland but obviously harder since Brexit..

Hell, I'm currently buying boxes of Budvar from Aldi for 11 quid for 12 as my "standard" booze, and that's head and shoulders above any of the mainstream UK lagers

Cheers both! Will take a look at these later. Been looking for Sapporo as well (which has been mentioned on previous pages) but can't find it.