BBC has picked up on Camra’s statement in it’s latest guide that the number of breweries in the UK is at a 70yr high

BBC News

Wonderful news. I’ll drink a pint of locally brewed real ale to that.

s’good innit. *hic*

If only we could find what the Germans put into theirs to make it taste that much better we could be on to a winner!

It’s what don’t put in. Purity laws.

Makes sense, I hate beer with purity laws in it.

mmmmm, beer.

Purity Laws . What a great pornstar name!

\o/

I love German beers, but don’t agree that they taste better than British. Brewing good beer – ale, bitter, or lager – is something we do damn well. I love all the regional tastes and the history of it all.

Long may our beer tradition continue to thrive!

If only we could find what the Germans put into theirs to make it taste that much better we could be on to a winner!

Haven’t tried many Scottish beers to be fair, maybe they could get some brewing tips from the English? 😆

PSA for anyone from Kent (or visiting in the first 2 weeks of October). I’m definitely going to have my drinking trousers on for that fortnight:
http://kentgreenhopbeer.com/

I wonder if my latest batch is ready yet.

San Mickel, a faux-lager homage to mrs_d’s favourite cerveza.

There are many good Scottish ones zilog. Traquair ale and Atlas Latitude are particular favourites

I’ve just had some real beer.

and

Which were both ace!

Isn’t it great that beer is being successful?

20 million pints a day?
jesus moses!

If only we could find what the Germans put into theirs to make it taste that much better we could be on to a winner!

That’ll be Belgian or Czech Republic you’re thinking of there.
You obviously need to stray away from the cheap lager aisles into the ones selling quality bottled ales and sample a few proper ales. 😉

😉

Macclesfield beer

This wasn’t a good time to give up drinking, was it? :-/

Shame I’m in Germany necking Erdinger and Bitburger.

Thornbridge brewery is ace, if a bit mental when it comes to strength…

Got some Innes and Gunn Rum Finish in the garage bike and beer store ready for Friday night. Expect a happy EDL thread. 🙂

German beer? Are you on crack? That’s lager.

If you can see through the beer it’s probably not that good.
Hobgoblin is lovely. My favourite right now. I’m definately favouring the darker ales at the moment.

Off to a beer festival in a couple of weeks and Thornbridge Jaipur is on the beer list 🙂

Youngsters Double Choc stout and Wychwood Ginger Beard are two of my favourites currently. SO many more to choose from…..
Real beer revival is something to be proud of. Certainly its got so much better, since I started drinking.
Just as long as I never have to drink Rose St Brewery 90/- ever again. *spew* with a lovely woody taste.

Jaipur is absolute nectar. Also approximately eleventeen times as lethal as crystal meth. It’s **** dynamite.

Not a big fan of Hibgoblin personally, but I would quite happily bathe in Young’s double chocolate stout. Still not better that Landlord on tap though…

German beer? Are you on crack? That’s lager.

nein, es ist Bier

I reckon there’s a reasonable chance that the anglicised word “beer” came from the German (Saxon?) original. I mean, it’s even pronounced the same. not “bee-air” like it would be if it had a French or Flemish root.

The Germans do not call their Bier “lager”, that’s what we call it – because it is “lager”ed or “stored” at cold temperatures for several months before it is deemed to be ready to drink.
It’s a sod to brew properly if you don’t have proper temperature control (or a bavarian cave on the doorstep).

As I understand it, lager yeast is bottom fermenting (compared with many ale yeasts that are top-fermenting) and requires cooler fermenting temperatures – ideally 15degC or below – to produce the crisp clean taste associated with “lager”.
I can’t get the ambient temperature of my brewing (i.e dining) room down to 15deg, and although it’s about that at most during the day outdoors in Sept/Oct, there’s too much fluctuation to be able to set it fermenting happily outdoors.

so ale it is for me. Doing a “porter” this weekend, or maybe a chocolate stout.

And thus a bloody good argument was senselessly murdered by common sense….

Franziskaner!!! mmmmmmmm

German beer really rather less good than UK & Irish beers. Belgian now you are talking (well for continental beers anyhow).

Irish beers?

Guinness
Smithwicks
Caffreys
Beamish
Harp

Can’t think of many more that are readily available out in the sticks (and I’m out there again next week, Co Leitrim)

ok, darcy pointed me at an Irish real ale brewery on another thread, but technically that’s “British” – well, “UK” anyway, it’s in NornIron 😉

Yes I know there is not a plethora of Irish beers but I am partial to a Guiness and therefore felt they deserved inclusion.

I bet it’s brewed under licence in Tadcaster 😉

it’s true what they say though, it really does taste better in Ireland. Must be the water

I love beer and I love brewing beer. NZ craft beer is dominated by really hoppy, chewey beers which while nice aren’t exactly session beers. I do a fair few bitters, mainly based around a modified Youns Recipe that have done a lot. Cask conditioned and force carbonated both work really well. I ran a 25ltr Landlord clone as well which is fermenting now so I will secondary and keg that one tonight and this weekend. I’ve done a couple of experimental porters and a dark IPA that was delicious. I also did a proper lager, as JD says lager uses a bottom fermenting yeast and requires a constant lowish temperature which I can do (controlled environment you see). It was stunning, it had a lot of munich in it and was super clear, very tasty – I would do it again and kept a yeast starter for it. Good beer is like good wine to me – i woudl rather have a fizzy water than drink the rank pish that the masses drink and that is not being a snob I just can’t bring myself to drink freezing cold, pale, tasteless rubbish.

There are a good number of fantastic smaller Irish breweries whose stuff makes Guinness taste like water. I like the Porterhouse down by the Liffey – lovely oyster stout and a more traditional version called Wrassles I think – but O’Hara’s and Galway Bay also do some great beers. As well as the Porterhouse Against the Grain is the place to go in Dublin.

I’ve just got in from a tour of Camden brewery, highly recommended if you can get there! Those guys are beer geeks.

I’ve just had some real beer.

That ‘8 Ball’ sounds dangerous. A 7% black IPA? I could get behind that, albeit briefly, before I was under it.

I remember at a beer fest (Bishop’s Castle Beer Festival, look it up) a few years ago, they were selling a local brew called Super Duck or some such. It was delicious, tasted like shandy but in a good way, but was something stupid like 8%. It was lethal, proper stealth brew, fell down your throat like pop and got you spectacularly trousered before you knew what’d hit you.

Wychwood Ginger Beard are two of my favourites currently.

I’ve said this before, but Wychwood really can do no wrong. I’ve tried, desperately, to find something they make that I don’t like; but even their versions of stuff I’m not usually keen on (like blonde beers) are just superlative. There are a few better ginger beers than Ginger Beard, but it’s still bloody good stuff.

I had a black IP the other day – Black Ice.

Freaky. Looks like a roasted malty syrupy gluck fest
Tastes like a crisp hoppy summer ale. Weird shit.

Best beer I have ever had was called ‘Chris from Stone Stout” and was brewed by Brew Dog. It was a scary 14% brew and served in what looked like wine glasses, but **** me blind it was awesome. I hope I taste a beer as good again.

I haven’t had a proper ale in ages. Used to love Hobgoblin but I went off dark ales after a hefty bout of the shits after a beer festival 😆

Im downing Hobgoblin as I read this thread