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a few years back the only decent beers in the supermarkets were the "ales" which were usually bought by Hawkwind fans with questionable personal hygiene.
If I can go in to Asda and pick up a couple of fancy beers with hip labels then great, i judge books by the cover all the time
AM not reading all that
I agree with the OP.. there are many very good Micro/Mini brewers out there who are being very creative and coming out with some excellent tasting beer.
Porters, Stouts, IPAs, Session ales they are all covered.
I won a case of 18 tins of John Smiths at Christmas(3 years ago).. they are still sat in my garage .. free to a good home..
[quote=Boba Fatt ]i judge books by the cover all the time
Not only by their covers, but also by who else is reading them apparently.
If you wanted to suggest it was better than more traditional real ale then that might be a useful argument, though I reckon you'd have a fight on your hands. Of course traditional real ale probably includes my local brewery http://www.stgeorgesbrewery.co.uk which has been going a lot longer than BD, yet is still far smaller scale (and I don't think they have any ambitions to get much bigger). I'm sure there are similar examples local to most people on here which have nothing to do with the influence of BD and most of which were founded before BD. Because BD hasn't even had much influence on the trend for small local traditional breweries.What it probably has encouraged is the "craft beer" market - but as I pointed out before, beer doesn't have to be "craft" to be good. Just my personal opinion (though I suspect it is shared by many on here and elsewhere), but I'd far rather have a pint of St George's than something overhopped with high ABV (which you need to take out a mortgage to buy). Sure there is a market for such beers, but it's still a small part even of the "real ale" market and you certainly can't put the revival of proper beer down to it.
As i stated:
"..........is probably the greatest time for UK beer, whether that be keg, cask, bottled or canned."
I wasn't disagreeing with you, i was stating it is the best time currently for UK beer, whether that be "real" or "craft" ales, as i say i grew where there was nothing except lager and Guinness and to discover the selection of real ales when i moved to York was a real-opener.
I'm not against any type of beer, i'm all for choice, as for some craft beers being expensive, you're right some are, but they often use more expensive ingredients and have much shorter shelf lives.
I am lucky enough to now live in Norfolk (for beer, not bikes) some great local pubs and apparently more breweries than any other county, i have a good relationship to the brewery (brewing great real ales) Beeston Brewery and i brew my own beer to, i'm not one of the geeks that goes mad with all the tasting notes, but i do like to try lots of styles of beer and enjoy the chemistry/ brewing behind it
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Are you looking at my overpriced 330ml tin of craft ale?
mrmonkfinger - MemberI know nothing about Brew Dog, but I like beer.
Doom Bar, Butty Bach, HPA are current favourites.
What Brew Dog Brew for me?
well, its a safe bet to start with their 'Dead Pony Club' which is 3.8% iirc. Very nice session style ale and a good in to their product- which contrary to alot of the opinion above- i really like. Punk IPA is also good with a little more citrus Bitterness but not overly so like some US ipa's that are very bitter. That tends to be the one most go for due to its average ABV (5%) and accessibility in supermarkets. From there there's a huge variety. A personal fave of mine is Elvis Juice which has a grapefruit flavour. Very nice.
Id also recommend trying one of their bars if you can. Some bores seem to equate a bar that doesn't have wood panelling and a juke box with 'pretentiousness' but that is a load of bollocks reflecting the type of anus who parks in disabled spaces/books anniversary meals at a Jamie Oliver/wears cargo shorts etc etc... (that's a joke btw calm down) The staff are knowledgeable and are happy to let you try all beers on draft before committing.
I'm from Aberdeen and saw the effect Brewdog (their flagship bar is in the city- one of two) had on the extremely tired 'auld manny' and chain winebar shitholes that were/are ten a penny. There are now several independent bars and breweries in the city and beyond which has been great for the pissheads among us. I see them as a positive force. Some others as this thread would suggest, have something against the company which is- in my opinion- odd and sad. However, some genuinely think the beer is not very good, so its all subjective of course. They certainly should have at least one beer you'd like.
I'm not against any type of beer, i'm all for choice, as for some craft beers being expensive, you're right some are, but they often use more expensive ingredients and have much shorter shelf lives.
Not sure why this would be . Hops aid shelf life, more hops generally means longer shelf life in cask/draught beer. If its packaged ( bottle - can ) then it makes no difference. That is down to how clean the brewery is, and how its preserved ( filter or pasturised )
You can hide a multitude of sins behind a large hop bill. EG , Diactyl is an off buttery flavour , you wont find in a 60ibu IPA , but in a 20IBU Best Bitter if you have a few mg's it will show through. Ditto DMS, some VDK flavours simply get overpowered by the hop alpha acid and heavy aromas .
Not sure why this would be . Hops aid shelf life, more hops generally means longer shelf life in cask/draught beer. If its packaged ( bottle - can ) then it makes no difference. That is down to how clean the brewery is, and how its preserved ( filter or pasturised )You can hide a multitude of sins behind a large hop bill. EG , Diactyl is an off buttery flavour , you wont find in a 60ibu IPA , but in a 20IBU Best Bitter if you have a few mg's it will show through. Ditto DMS, some VDK flavours simply get overpowered by the hop alpha acid and heavy aromas .
Whilst i understand what you are saying, many of the large IPA and Pale Ales and other hop heavy/ citrus tasting beers, you can taste the same beer fresh, at a month post brewing and 3 months post brew and the tastes definitely change, the hops often lose their potency and taste changes. Whereas many of the big imperial stouts/ darker Belgian style beers, definitely improve with age so to state once packaged in bottle/can, flavours can't change, whilst i understand that being hop heavy aids longer shelf life (why IPA came about), many of the fresh fruity/ hoppy beers definitely don't age well in taste even if they are safe to drink for years.
It is often interesting to taste on the big IPA's at a month post-brewing and then a year after, sometimes the flavours have mellowed for the better.