Bit early, I know….

Spent most of the day fettling my bike and fitting a new pair of forks ( Wren 110mm upside down fat bike forks), but that’s another thread tomorrow probably.

Now relaxing enjoying a glass or two of Old Crafty Hen.

Superb beer, what else is like this, Speckled Hen is ok, but this Dark malted beer hits the spot for me.

Oh yes, love a bit of Old Crafty. Have you tried King Goblin?
I usually pick both up if I’m in a dark ale sort of mood.

Both very good and usually in the deals they have on in Asda & Morrisons near us. 4 for £5 and the ilk.

Crafty Hen definitely my beer of choice at the moment

Shepherds Neame India pale ale at Lidl or Asda, 4 for a fiver at the mo and its proper gorge..
And not very pale..

Keep ’em coming,

I can feel a bit of beer shopping coming on.

Morrisons usually have a good selection of beer at reasonable prices.

Wadworths 6X is another favourite.

Going off the real ale angle has anyone tried the cans of Pistonheads Morrisons (and possibly others) stock?

Old Golden Hen is very nice as well.

Poachers by Badgers is excellent. They do another dark ale but the name slipped my mind.
Broadside good too but more of a winter ale for me. Leighton Buzzard Brewery do Black Buzzard black IPA – gorgeous.

Just enjoying “Over the Hill” from the Hillside Brewery. Not the best after a hot evening ride, but a full, tasty dark beer.

My first Beer52 selection box arrived this afternoon, btw. 😀

It’s not real ale is Green King beer 😉

Cheers, just noticed that 4 bottles have been consumed, and very nice they were.

I will have to investigate the mentioned ales , purely on a research nature……

Two rounds of white thick toast now, with marmite, lovely.

Fork review tomorrow,

Four Old Crafty Hen? Respect, it’s strong stuff.

Gorgeous though and *very* drinkable. “Shipyard IPA” is also a current favourite of mine. Just discovered the 660ml bottles of Brewdog Punk IPA too. Very moreish.

Piston head lager is nice, Munich malt and dry hopped so plenty of flavour but still very refreshing.

If you like old English ales then it’d be rude not to be drinking old peculiar!

Geek fact: old ales were brewed strong then cask conditioned over the winter, before being blended with fresher ales brewed in summer to make palatable beer. Newcastle brows was I think the last to do this comercially untill they were taken over and profuction moved from the original site. The new recipie is just an average of the old two as modern fermentation temperature control makes OK beer first time.

If you can get it, Sadler ales are very good. The Mud City stout is awesome though at 6.5% not a session beer. The Worcester Sorcerer is about as close as they get to Crafty Hen

I very nearly cried when the Morland brewery was bought by green king and sold off for residential development. Old speckled hen out of a barrel was amazing and tasted nothing like the shit derivative of abbot ale bearing the name now. Bastards

My slight hangover is a reminder that I drank four bottles of Crafty last night……

Old Crafty is nice, bog-standard Speckled Hen (in tins) is my default bargain “every-day” tipple.

Theakstons XB or pushing it a bit further, Acorn brewery old moor porter is a delight.

Since I’ve owned a fat bike I too have been appreciating grown up beer. My friend bought a selection for my birthday. The 2 that stand out are Jennings Cocker Hoop and Gold Hobgoblin.
I look forward to returning to pubs where they sell this kind of stuff (Filo in Hastings) rather than making do with a bottle of Becks.

It’s not real ale is Green King beer

Green King gives me the trots. Ironic, growing up on the Essex/Suffolk border.

Too much to recommend, but a reliable brew is Fuller’s London Pride, but especially ESB

I like it, I really like the golden can version but it’s quite strong…

Hobgoblin Gold for me too at the minute

Love an Old Crafty. Bloody lovely stuff.

Hoppy Hen is pretty good too.

Love a bottle of Trooper too. Wychwood do a beer called Piledriver which I think is good.

Pimpmaster that’s because it’s a reaction to not getting Adnams a much superior brew and depending on your age even Tolly was better…than the Greene King beers.

My dad wouldn’t even enter a Greene King pub without grumbling about their beer when I was growing up.

Wychwood do a beer called Piledriver

I have to track that down, not one I’m aware of.

Wychwood can do no wrong in my eyes, everything they’ve ever done is superb, even beers I don’t like, to a point where I’ve actively bought things I don’t fancy to test that theory. I throw the gauntlet down, I’ve yet to have a bad (or even not to my tastes) Wychwood.

I’m compiling a list for this weekend’s drinking, purely as part of research based on the recommendations.

Hobgoblin Gold looks a very likely contender.

Bit esoteric, but I had a couple of the local Ebeltoft I.P.A tonight @ 6.1%abv, and very good it was too. If you’re ever anywhere in Denmark that has it on tap I can recommend it.

Piledriver is tasty, pretty sure it’s another rock band ale courtesy of the Mighty Quo. I like Trooper as well, got it on tap at quite a few locals.

I quite enjoyed the Guinness West Indies Porter and another good strong ale is the Bombardier Reserve – The Colonels Choice. I used to get a bottle each of that, King Goblin, and two Crafty Hen before falling unconscious on the sofa… 😀

My old go to ale was Fursty Ferret, not had that for ages now though so may be due a session!

Crafty Hen is really good. Might even get a couple for tonight. Current favourite though, is Proper Job (St. Austell Brewery). It’s an IPA so not along the same lines as Hen, but really strong hoppy taste, 5.5% and bottle conditioned. Have a look at the Big Job too. You won’t regret it.

Ossett Brewery Treacle Stout
Acorn Brewery Old Moor Porter
Fullers London Porter
Ilkley Brewery Ilkley Black
Wychwood Black Wych
Moorhouses Pendleton Witches Brew / Black Cat

Cougar – reckon you’re right there. I’ve not had one of their beers I didn’t like. Black Witch is good too.

The poster above has reminded me about Proper Job; bloody lovely it is too. I discovered that in a pub in Hope Cove this summer.

Atlantic and Wolf Rock from Sharps are really nice too. Both loads nicer than Doom Bar.

Perhaps we need a new sub forum for beer

Tried a pint of Great Heck Shankar IPA in the local last night. Extremely drinkable.