1FFACAS

[Craig]

My bro 'treat' me to a bottle of Duvel this evening, tastes like turpentine.

 

[Magic]

I'm guessing First Call isn't Badgers' best offering? Just picked up two bottles at 50p each from asda...

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[Alty]

Little while since I frequented this particular thread. Lemme see.

I now live in East London and do most of my drinking around Mile End, Victoria Park, Hackney, Bethnal Green sort of areas. Loads of good places if you like your trendy craft beers. Absolutely loads. Good cask isn't as easy to find but if you look around you can get it.

Cloudwater, Pressure Drop, Five Points, Tuatara and East London Brewing Company are all good breweries whose beers I get fairly regularly round these parts.

I went to London Brewers' Market at Spitalfields a few weeks back. Loads of good stuff there although it was bloody packed. I think they might need a bigger space next time it's on.

Still yet to go round Southampton but Sheffield was a mixed bag. The main place of note was the Kelham Island which was just as excellent as I'd hoped. Loads of good cask beers in perfect condition.

Best news of all is the fact my other half now works full-time as a sales rep for a brewery, which means plenty of free beer for me

Upcoming beer (and a few other bits and pieces) trips booked: Copenhagen next month; and Barcelona/San Sebastian in June. Good beer scenes in all three, apparently. Very much looking forward to those.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Oh good. Was getting worried - thought you might have embraced SOBRIETY or something ABSURD like that.

I'm a bit rubbish on East London really - always kinda think I should have a much better knowledge of its hostelries and breweries than I do. Bit of a faff to get to if you live out here, I s'pose. Jealous of your new found free beer supply!

I was in Dublin at the weekend. Wasn't quite sure what to expect on the beer front beyond the BLEEDING OBVIOUS but it seems to have something of a burgeoning beer scene, with a number of microbreweries having opened up in the last few years. Went to a couple of good pubs (Black Sheep, Beer Market) owned by the Galway Bay brewery. The latter had a particularly impressive selection of beers, most of them Irish (good they were too), but also the odd offering from this isle (eg a blood orange IPA from Beavertown). Would have liked to have spent a fair bit longer in both.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Went to the Dorking Beer Festival at the weekend. First time I've done that particular one. Only in its third year and reasonably small scale, offering up about thirty beers. A fairly interesting selection though, with a few far-flung breweries (Ilkley, Thornbridge, St Austell, Bristol Beer Factory) joining some local names (Dorking's own Surrey Hills were curiously not in attendance. "They didn't want to come" remarked a volunteer, rather ruefully). I was most pleased by the presence of Thornbridge as, alongside Jaipur, there were a couple of theirs that I hadn't seen before (Seven, Crackendale), both of which went down rather well. Some quite STRANGE SCENES at this beer festival with people deciding to queue up in a line instead of just standing at the "bar" where there was plenty of space and is pretty much standard behaviour in any drinking establishment. Bemused, I just wandered past and got served before all the WEIRDOS

 

[Alty]

Went to the Copenhagen Beer Celebration last weekend.

Bit of an odd set-up in as much as you pay £50 up front, get given a small glass, then just go round and get an unlimited number of drinks.

They had beers from all over the place: Scandinavia; the UK; Germany; USA; and even South America.

Also went round some of the city's watering holes including Mikeller and Friends and Taphouse (just the 61 beers in the latter).

Well worth a visit if you're a beer lover. It's also a really nice city and the people are dead relaxed. My new life plan is to get a Foreign Office posting to a Nordic country

 

[Van Der Graaf]

Copenhagen is great if you're not a student wanting to explore the ales on a budget, there's a reason my foreign jaunts are to Eastern Europe!

Hoping Bucharest has a lot to offer drinking wise next week!

 

[Magic]

Got through a lot of different beers at North Bar lately. Expanding my knowledge and tastes which is good.

They do have a lot of pales on draught though a lot of the time which is a bit odd when they have so many beers but have seen them disappoint people wanting anything remotely like a bitter.

Continuing my enjoyment of wheat beers, I've had a nice couple of Schneider Weisse bottles which go right towards the top of that particular list.

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[spireite]

Got through a lot of different beers at North Bar lately. Expanding my knowledge and tastes which is good.

They do have a lot of pales on draught though a lot of the time which is a bit odd when they have so many beers but have seen them disappoint people wanting anything remotely like a bitter.

Continuing my enjoyment of wheat beers, I've had a nice couple of Schneider Weisse bottles which go right towards the top of that particular list.

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Dat pub doe

Always go there when I visit Leeds, amazing

 

[Magic]

Feel like I need to have a brief pause on my beer tasting...taking its toll on me

Had loads to drink the last week but at least I've got an opinion on a lot of different beers. Unfortunately (due to it being pricey), this was the best tipple I had:

Fantastic hoppy wheat beer. Not cheap but packs a punch at 8.2.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

You all given up for lent lads? Big time Italian vibe at Martino Mansions tonight. Next level.

 

[Stevencc]

What's the swanky unlabeled one?

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Strictly limited edition doppelbock shipped directly to my front door by a contact at the very apex of the now burgeoning Italian craft brewing scene.

 

[Stevencc]

Similarly - I've got some of this tonight...

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

An enticing selection, Carol Fabregas. FUCKING SCENES, one might remark. I expect a detailed critique of each one. TA

 

[spireite]

This stuff is lovely

 

[Alty]

http://imgur.com/5qxCrqD

This stuff is lovely

Anything with New Zealand hops is good with me

 

[markpvfc]

I've had a few Slater's beers, decent little brewery.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Went big in the Cambridge scene last night, lads.

Pale Ale was a little watery for my taste. Heavenly Matter was nice though - smooth, golden body and nice head, like a beloved Labrador sculpted from beer. Fruity bouquet, citrusy notes, malty undertones. Like a solitary Rich Tea nestling amidst the beckoning cleavage of six tangerines. 3.5/5.

Didn't crack the stout yet. Time was pressing on and I've got a bit to get done today, so I decided to do the sensible thing and save it for another day.

Thanks.

 

[Abertawe]

The stout looks like it's got potential but they look very hipster, too much so I'd say.

 

[Abertawe]

Fell into this place yesterday http://www.themagnetfreehouse.co.uk/

Would recommend NW bruddah's check it out. Never seen so many unknown ales on offer and their fridge is stacked with various foreign selections too. Only issue is they serve multiple vegan beers, they shouldn't be advocating such a lifestyle, irresponsible.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Serious biz this. Not gonna lie, I might not be man enough.

 

[Abertawe]

That was the standout, enjoy it.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Smashing these birthday pressies tonight, gents.

#authentic #organic #free-thinking #sustainable

 

[spireite]

Nice! They sell those in my local Morrisons. I do like East Indian Pale

 

[Alty]

Smashing these birthday pressies tonight, gents.

#authentic #organic #free-thinking #sustainable

You shouldn't be encouraging these lager fetishisers. Very disappointing.

Don't care where their ingredients come from, that range is not sustainable.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

We've gained a FANCY NEW BEER SHOP. Recent purchases:

Tiny Rebel - In & Around The Mouth
Tiny Rebel - Clwb Tropicana
Dark Star - American Pale Ale
Dark Star - Hophead
Arbor - Shangri-La
Beavertown - Gamma Ray
Thornbridge - Colorado Red

Looking forward to many further trips, probably bankrupting myself in the process.

 

[Abertawe]

Sipping on an Oyster Stout, good stuff.

 

[Craig]

Stopped off at an off license on my way home.

As I approached the main lager fridge to grab a sixer of my usual tipple a strange feeling of emptiness overcame me. I glanced over to the other side of the shop and the ale section caught my eye. I've often wondered what all the fuss was about. I looked back toward the lager fridge, "not tonight Mr Foster" I muttered to myself, hopefully not within earshot of the three other customers checking out the shop's wares (a young man rubbing away frantically at a scratchcard with which I wouldn't be surprised to learn was his last 2p piece and a middle aged couple ogling the wine section).

I furtively shuffled across to this ale section. It felt alien to me. The half dozen shelves stacked with a variety of oddly named bottles were not refrigerated. I scanned the prices, 3 for £5, 2 for £4, £2.79 for one particualer bottle. One bottle? not even a 660ml Peroni style bottle but a 500ml one. A familiar voice in the back of my mind whispered to me "Craig, you can get twenty bottles of Biere d'Or for cheaper". I turned away, but as I was about to take my first step back towards safety among the crates of Carlsberg and Budweiser an ugly sensation of shame and cowardice dripped into my consciousness. I returned to the odd lukewarm shelves I had moment earlier attempted to abandon.

I began to pore over the bottom shelf and was almost immediately drawn to this beauty....

As a fan of Maiden I had to have it, I would have taken three but I managed to steady my nerves and curb my excitement reiterating to myself that you have to take a variety when ale shopping

I enthusiastically searched the other shelves for some other music influenced brands, a Bat out of Hell pale ale maybe, but to no avail. Just as I was about to give in on my rebellious adventure I spotted this...

Not only is it brewed in God's own county but the name struck me stone cold stunned. Black Sheep, it was as if this ale was calling out to me from the nether, as if it knew the darkest corners of my very soul.

One more, I only needed one more to make this tortuous quest I had set upon all those five or so minutes previous worthwhile, to justify most recent life choice and missing the X20 bus back home forcing me to catch the 222 which calls at every stop. The I saw it, at that moment I fully appreciated how Moses must have felt when he came across that burning bush. Shining out at me between two bland looking IPA's with mediocre labels that wouldn't have looked out of place among the Asahi and Tsingtao. I picked it up and immediately knew my mission was complete. I felt eyes on me at that point, I looked to my left and saw another fellow inspecting a bottle of Cornish pale ale, he doffed his hat to me, I reciprocated with a subtle nod of the head. I don't know if he was real, it was like looking deep into my own soul and embracing my own self. At that moment was I sure I had made the correct choice, more sure of that than anything else I had done in my entire life....

I took my haul to the cashier. I felt utterly invigorated. I viewed the young man getting served before me with his four pack of Coors light with a sort of superior contempt, and it felt good.

 

[Abertawe]