Do Brits Know More About Beer Than The Rest Of Us?

[StreetCowboy]

American beer is nats piss.

I am forever amazed at the breadth of knowledge and experience on the ThaiVisa forum. That someone actually is a connoisseur of insect urine is somehow not surprising. (Assuming you are speaking of gnat's urine and not your friend Nathaniel's urine, of course.)

Real ale is not hard to find, most pubs have at least one ale on tap, it may be a mass produced one, but still an ale. There are also lots of pubs that specialise in real ale and ciders, and they are always very busy places as a result. I think I counted at least 4-5 beer festivals in Cheltenham alone last summer, featuring the best ales and ciders from around the local area.

Consumption of real ale may have declined after the introduction of lagers, but we never lost the taste for it or the skill to make it, real ales are definitely surging again.

totster

When most speak of "Real Ale" they are referring to hand-pumped "cask-conditioned" ale. I do not believe that most pubs in England serve "Real Ale", although this definition is admittedly very restrictive.

You are right, unfortunately in UK it's now becoming about how cool a pub looks like and it is very disappointing when one ventures inside to see what's on offer. Like most stuff, all about money. But saying that, for the connoisseur it is out there. Me, Norfolk Woodford's Ales are the pinnacle of real ale mastery.

You talk as if this was something new; as posted on another thread some time ago, old men have been complaining about changes to pubs since money was invented and people could sell beer to each other

'Real ales' are much more widely distributed than ever before, and companies like Greene King (well, I suppose specifically Greene King) are selling similar products to the export market now

SC

[mark45y]

Bread

Archaeologists have determined that man made beer before he learned to make bread. New studies indicate that the first alcohol was made 5,000 years earlier than thought (about 9,000 BC). It's also thought that pottery was made to hold the beverage.

It's long been known that the first human settlements were in the Middle East and that corn was harvested. It was thought that the corn was for food, but it's now believed it was used to make malt. Grinding stones & ovens have also been found.

It's thought that malt was discovered and used as it's highly nutritious and that alcohol was discovered accidentally when water was added.

Some archaeologists believe beer was invented before bread and that bread was just a biproduct of beer making. Other archaeologists theorize just the opposite. The earliest sickles date to between 10,000 and 8,000 BC and were used to harvest a primitive kind of wild wheat known as emmer as well as wild barley. The earliest evidence of deliberate planting and harvesting of grains is 6700 BC in both Jericho, Israel and Jarmo, Iraq. The beer-first theorists say that beer was the motivation for cultivating these grains because emmer is too difficult to harvest just for food to make it worthwhile.

My own thoughts are that yeast floats around wild in the air almost everywhere. It is only a matter of time before some caveman left out a bowl of fruit juice or gruel and some yeast got into it. The result would be primitive beer or wine.

I would go with the beer first theory and suggest that most food was designed to go along with the beer and wine. Bars before restaurants of course. As our cave man could kill an animal anywhere and eat it but it took a couple of weeks to make beer so one needed a home or cave to do this in.

Beer is also probably the reason marriage was invented. Cave man just walked around hunting and gathering the only reason to settle down was to have a place to make beer. Having a place means someone has to watch the beer while the caveman was out hunting and gathering hence the first wife.

In 1516 the Bavarian Brewery Guilds standardized beer making and a law was passed stating that the only ingredients allowed in beer were water, barley, and hops. The next important advancement came in 1876 when Louis Pastuer discovered that it was yeast that made beer ferment and three years later he developed a pasteurization process that made it possible to preserve beer for far longer than ever before.

The pilgrims settled in Massachusetts instead of Virginia where they had planned to land because they were running out of beer and had to stop and make some. George Washington and Sam Adams were guilded brewmasters.

I have not figured out why Thailand does not make at least a couple of good beers. Mexico does and they are also a hot country where the populations taste buds have been destroyed by hot peppers.

[transam]

[

When most speak of "Real Ale" they are referring to hand-pumped "cask-conditioned" ale. I do not believe that most pubs in England serve "Real Ale", although this definition is admittedly very restrictive.

You are right, unfortunately in UK it's now becoming about how cool a pub looks like and it is very disappointing when one ventures inside to see what's on offer. Like most stuff, all about money. But saying that, for the connoisseur it is out there. Me, Norfolk Woodford's Ales are the pinnacle of real ale mastery.

You talk as if this was something new; as posted on another thread some time ago, old men have been complaining about changes to pubs since money was invented and people could sell beer to each other

'Real ales' are much more widely distributed than ever before, and companies like Greene King (well, I suppose specifically Greene King) are selling similar products to the export market now

SC

Let's just say, out of the way great pubs l have been too, with great ales, on return have deleted the ' fine '' stuff for the run of the mill OK stuff.

REMEMBER THIS, real ale has a life, short life and outlets don't want to loose money so the chemically protected stuff prevails in many pubs.

[pjclark1]

I really like Chang beer.

The strongest beer at the cheapest price in the biggest bottle.

You just can't do better than that.

[PhilHarries]

With beer if you gave me 20 to taste I could place them all in order I reckon.

I'm not sure that your order would be the same as someone else's though. One person may favour a lighter sweeter beer, while others will want a heavier more bitter beer, that's the beauty of real ale.

http://www.camra.org.uk

totster

If you gave me twenty beers to taste I wouldn't have a cookin' flue which way is up let alone any sense of order save ordering the twenty first.

That is, of course, if we are talking Imperial pints not the sherry glass fulls consumed elsewhere in the world.

I don't think as a general rule Brits know any more about beer than anyone else after all it was the Brits that unleashed Watney's Red Bladder, sorry, Barrel on the world.

A great reason for staying with my sister when I return to the UK is that she lives just up the road from a truly great pub. They have five or six regular beers (real ales as known) and then up to six guest beers. Now normally any pub stocking that variety of beers will have a few dodgy ones but this guy really knows how to keep beer and as a break from recent trends he has been running the pub since circa 1986 (in fact he has now bought the place).

Last time I was there was over Christmas last, a great time for a conningsewer of beer to be in country.

[mark45y]

I really like Chang beer.

The strongest beer at the cheapest price in the biggest bottle.

You just can't do better than that.

Interesting point of view. Would you rather watch three bad cheap football games or one good one?

[pjclark1]

I really like Chang beer.

The strongest beer at the cheapest price in the biggest bottle.

You just can't do better than that.

Interesting point of view. Would you rather watch three bad cheap football games or one good one?

Who would I be sitting next to?

Are free drinks included?

[transam]

I really like Chang beer.

The strongest beer at the cheapest price in the biggest bottle.

You just can't do better than that.

Interesting point of view. Would you rather watch three bad cheap football games or one good one?

Yes, must agree M45,

Some people have no class.

[Totster]

You talk as if this was something new; as posted on another thread some time ago, old men have been complaining about changes to pubs since money was invented and people could sell beer to each other

'Real ales' are much more widely distributed than ever before, and companies like Greene King (well, I suppose specifically Greene King) are selling similar products to the export market now

SC

This is true, but more importantly the young guys who cut their teeth on generic lagers and alcopops almost twenty years ago (me included) are suddenly rediscovering real ales, and as I said in a previous post, and as the poster I have quoted has said, real ales are huge now, and widely available.

totster

[StreetCowboy]

I really like Chang beer.

The strongest beer at the cheapest price in the biggest bottle.

You just can't do better than that.

Interesting point of view. Would you rather watch three bad cheap football games or one good one?

Yes, must agree M45,

Some people have no class.

My name is Cowboy and I support Scotland

I think that answers your question....

SC

[tigerfish]

With beer if you gave me 20 to taste I could place them all in order I reckon.

I'm not sure that your order would be the same as someone else's though. One person may favour a lighter sweeter beer, while others will want a heavier more bitter beer, that's the beauty of real ale.

http://www.camra.org.uk

totster

so true Toster !

one thing about smokie though is that if you gave him 20 odd beers to sample. i bet he wouldnt just sip them to get a taste, but finish them all and still be standing at the end of the session.

Edited March 11, 2011 by tigerfish

[smokie36]

Let's just say, out of the way great pubs l have been too, with great ales, on return have deleted the ' fine '' stuff for the run of the mill OK stuff.

REMEMBER THIS, real ale has a life, short life and outlets don't want to loose money so the chemically protected stuff prevails in many pubs.

Just had a pint of real ale in my local pub in London....counted the pumps and disappointingly there were only 22 real ales on this evening but I'm sure all 24 pumps will be on tomorrow.

All real ales are £1.99 a pint whether brewed out back or guest.....that's under 100 Baht folks....

And no its not a Wetherspoon s*ithole.

Most of these beers on tonight will be gone by tomorrow evening and replaced so it is possible to run these places successfully and with fair pricing.

The sheep can keep on bleating!

Enjoy.....I will.

[smokie36]

With beer if you gave me 20 to taste I could place them all in order I reckon.

I'm not sure that your order would be the same as someone else's though. One person may favour a lighter sweeter beer, while others will want a heavier more bitter beer, that's the beauty of real ale.

http://www.camra.org.uk

totster

so true Toster !

one thing about smokie though is that if you gave him 20 odd beers to sample. i bet he wouldnt just sip them to get a taste, but finish them all and still be standing at the end of the session.

Totster is correct. Light and dark beers are different animals.....and most of us could handle 20 beers at 3.1%. Ginger beer anyone???

[Lickey]

I left school at 15, had 3 months before my tech college MVT started, I got a job at the Greene King brewery in Bury St Edmunds, they had just started doing Abbot Ale, my job was to sweep out the drained tanks, the yeast would be pressed and re-used for the next batch, sweeping out the tanks would leave me so dizzy, i could hardly push bike home,

W hen i go to the UK, i want some Abbot ale, some pubs seem offended when i ask for a sample, If the sample has big bubbles on it, avoid it, a nice level small bubble froth is a good draught Abbott Ale, Beware, its a beer that creeps up on you, 6 pints and you are well oiled!!

[endure]

Britons think they know more about everything than anyone else. That's what makes them unique, interesting and often humorous. They probably know more (whatever that means) about Ale than most?

We DO know more about everything than anyone else. We just don't brag about it

[pjclark1]

My name is Cowboy and I support Scotland

I think that answers your question....

SC

Yep, you are always doomed to watching bad football

Edited March 12, 2011 by pjclark1

[smokie36]

My name is Cowboy and I support Scotland

I think that answers your question....

SC

Yep, you are always doomed to watching bad football

You must be still wearing short pants....or just old and well rather forgetful hmm?

Thought Bitter and Twisted was one of ours!

[smokie36]

I left school at 15, had 3 months before my tech college MVT started, I got a job at the Greene King brewery in Bury St Edmunds, they had just started doing Abbot Ale, my job was to sweep out the drained tanks, the yeast would be pressed and re-used for the next batch, sweeping out the tanks would leave me so dizzy, i could hardly push bike home,

W hen i go to the UK, i want some Abbot ale, some pubs seem offended when i ask for a sample, If the sample has big bubbles on it, avoid it, a nice level small bubble froth is a good draught Abbott Ale, Beware, its a beer that creeps up on you, 6 pints and you are well oiled!!

Abbot is a classic case of a beer that needs well looking after. Not sure why but it tastes especially good in the pubs of Cambridge. From memory anyway.....

5%+ as well...not a session beer.

[lomatopo]

Just had a pint of real ale in my local pub in London....counted the pumps and disappointingly there were only 22 real ales on this evening but I'm sure all 24 pumps will be on tomorrow.

All real ales are £1.99 a pint whether brewed out back or guest.....that's under 100 Baht folks....

Can you share the name of this pub? Can you share any of the names of these 22 real ales? Having 22 different cask-conditioned ales seems impossible. Again, real ale is unpasteurized, unfiltered, cask-conditioned (preferrably dry-hopped) and hand-pumped.

Most pubs and brew-pubs would have a single real ale.

edited to add: I can buy Old Speckled Hen in cans, bottles and in a pub (pasteurized, filtered and pumped by CO2 from a keg), or a cask version in a pub. The latter is challenging to find, in my limited experience.

Other British styles like IPA and Porter can be fantastic ales but these are hard to find. They are popular styles with craft and home-brewers.

Finally, German Kellerbiers (cellar beer) are similarly cask-conditioned, and for lagers, the only ones I've tried, quite amazing.

Edited March 12, 2011 by lomatopo

[smokie36]

Just had a pint of real ale in my local pub in London....counted the pumps and disappointingly there were only 22 real ales on this evening but I'm sure all 24 pumps will be on tomorrow.

All real ales are £1.99 a pint whether brewed out back or guest.....that's under 100 Baht folks....

Can you share the name of this pub? Can you share any of the names of these 22 real ales? Having 22 different cask-conditioned ales seems impossible. Again, real ale is unpasteurized, unfiltered, cask-conditioned (preferrably dry-hopped) and hand-pumped.

Most pubs and brew-pubs would have a single real ale.

http://www.brodiesbeers.co.uk/ The pub is called the King William IV. I can especially recommend trying Sunshine or Brewers Gold or Amarilla or...etc....

[taff33]

If I drink beer with a meal instead of having a wine does that make me a slob, or some one who doesn't care what other people think.

[smokie36]

If I drink beer with a meal instead of having a wine does that make me a slob, or some one who doesn't care what other people think.

It depends what you're eating. A good hoppy dark ale to wash down your fish and chips is great. Wouldn't work so well with caviar I guess.

[bangkokrick]

I used to be a bar cellar man in the UK for a 2 year period, so know a little about real ales. If anyone wants information as to finding their favourite tipple I recommend that you visit the following site. Loads of information regarding good beer guides and beer festivals in the UK.

CAMRA LINK

Cheers, Rick

[StreetCowboy]

Just had a pint of real ale in my local pub in London....counted the pumps and disappointingly there were only 22 real ales on this evening but I'm sure all 24 pumps will be on tomorrow.

All real ales are £1.99 a pint whether brewed out back or guest.....that's under 100 Baht folks....

Can you share the name of this pub? Can you share any of the names of these 22 real ales? Having 22 different cask-conditioned ales seems impossible. Again, real ale is unpasteurized, unfiltered, cask-conditioned (preferrably dry-hopped) and hand-pumped.

Most pubs and brew-pubs would have a single real ale.

edited to add: I can buy Old Speckled Hen in cans, bottles and in a pub (pasteurized, filtered and pumped by CO2 from a keg), or a cask version in a pub. The latter is challenging to find, in my limited experience.

Other British styles like IPA and Porter can be fantastic ales but these are hard to find. They are popular styles with craft and home-brewers.

Finally, German Kellerbiers (cellar beer) are similarly cask-conditioned, and for lagers, the only ones I've tried, quite amazing.

As I undwerstand, IPA was brewed to be pasteurised, kegged and shipped to foreign countries to make the soldiers bad tempered and belligerent; the Pale either refers to the morning after, or is a mis-spelling of pail - again, could be referring to the morning after, or the serving measure

As I say, of course the British know more about beer than the rest of you, but most of it we make up on the spur of the moment...

SC

[smokie36]

Other British styles like IPA and Porter can be fantastic ales but these are hard to find. They are popular styles with craft and home-brewers.

Finally, German Kellerbiers (cellar beer) are similarly cask-conditioned, and for lagers, the only ones I've tried, quite amazing.

The pub I mentioned earlier has both Porter and an excellent IPA also a seven hop IPA at 7.7%!

German beer is good across the board only shame about the sausages....

[smokie36]

Just had a pint of real ale in my local pub in London....counted the pumps and disappointingly there were only 22 real ales on this evening but I'm sure all 24 pumps will be on tomorrow.

All real ales are £1.99 a pint whether brewed out back or guest.....that's under 100 Baht folks....

Can you share the name of this pub? Can you share any of the names of these 22 real ales? Having 22 different cask-conditioned ales seems impossible. Again, real ale is unpasteurized, unfiltered, cask-conditioned (preferrably dry-hopped) and hand-pumped.

Most pubs and brew-pubs would have a single real ale.

edited to add: I can buy Old Speckled Hen in cans, bottles and in a pub (pasteurized, filtered and pumped by CO2 from a keg), or a cask version in a pub. The latter is challenging to find, in my limited experience.

Other British styles like IPA and Porter can be fantastic ales but these are hard to find. They are popular styles with craft and home-brewers.

Finally, German Kellerbiers (cellar beer) are similarly cask-conditioned, and for lagers, the only ones I've tried, quite amazing.

As I undwerstand, IPA was brewed to be pasteurised, kegged and shipped to foreign countries to make the soldiers bad tempered and belligerent; the Pale either refers to the morning after, or is a mis-spelling of pail - again, could be referring to the morning after, or the serving measure

As I say, of course the British know more about beer than the rest of you, but most of it we make up on the spur of the moment...

SC

But SC it only seems impossible......its a long time sine I was nicking cans of Tartan Special from Wm Low. If only the Export had been stored in the blind spot....!

[StreetCowboy]

Other British styles like IPA and Porter can be fantastic ales but these are hard to find. They are popular styles with craft and home-brewers.

Finally, German Kellerbiers (cellar beer) are similarly cask-conditioned, and for lagers, the only ones I've tried, quite amazing.

The pub I mentioned earlier has both Porter and an excellent IPA also a seven hop IPA at 7.7%!

German beer is good across the board only shame about the sausages....

I was walking down Hart Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui and I came across a pub selling Deuchars IPA

Mind, that was two or three years back...

SC

[taff33]

Lomatopo

When in the UK try Weatherspoons(Witherspoons) pubs you'll find real at good prices

[smokie36]

Lomatopo

When in the UK try Weatherspoons(Witherspoons) pubs you'll find real at good prices

They could be a chain of pubs selling top quality real ales showcasing the best of british food and being great places to visit.

Only they are not. I'll leave it at that.

[smokie36]

Other British styles like IPA and Porter can be fantastic ales but these are hard to find. They are popular styles with craft and home-brewers.

Finally, German Kellerbiers (cellar beer) are similarly cask-conditioned, and for lagers, the only ones I've tried, quite amazing.

The pub I mentioned earlier has both Porter and an excellent IPA also a seven hop IPA at 7.7%!

German beer is good across the board only shame about the sausages....

I was walking down Hart Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui and I came across a pub selling Deuchars IPA

Mind, that was two or three years back...

SC

Deuchars IPA has been all over London for a few years now. Something to do with a brewery buy out.

Doesn't surprise me to find its travelling to Hong Kong......plenty expat Scots over there!

Edited March 12, 2011 by smokie36