The Beer Thread

[Bamboo Grove]

The discussion about beer, mainly lagers, has just started in another topic so I thought to give the amber liquid it's own. Tell us what kind of beers you like.

I myself prefer bitters but not the bottled versions. Unfortunately here in Finland there aren't that many places which would have draft bitter. The one's I've found to my liking (some of them are available here) are Tettler's, John Smith's and Spitfire. I also like Deucharts whenever there's a chance to enjoy it.
Stouts are occasionally great but can't have more that two or three in an evening. Murphy's can be found in some places here in Espoo/Helsinki area and it's also available in supermarkets in cans, which is better than most bottled bitters.

Largers are good after sauna and while watching football on tv at home. Mainly I drink Finnish largers which however don't differ that much from each other. There are quite a few Czech largers available here but the one I remember to be quite tasty is the Danish Tuborg.

In Thailand I used to occasionally go for a pint or two of Kilkenny's and Guiness, which were the only ones available then.

[Big Boy]

In most parts of the world I prefer lager. Just plain lager - not super strength, blow your boots off stuff. However, there is a very small part of the world where my preference changes to bitter. (At least when I was living there) the bitter in the North East of England was IMHO second to none. My favourite was Tetleys Imperial, closely followed by John Smiths Magnet. Other brands of note included Vaux Samsons and Camerons did a nice one as well.

The pub beer in the North East had to compete with Federation Breweries, and as such was a premium brand to that sold elsewhere in the rest of the UK. I was living in beer heaven for 8 years .

Having said the above, I've not been back to the North East for a couple of years, and don't even know if the beers I've mentioned are still brewed.

[johnnyk]

I like small brewers and English-style beers. When I've been in England I like Timothy Taylor's and Theakston's Old Peculier. Here in Canada I can get Old Speckled Hen and I like it but I support local independent craft brewers who don't sell beyond B.C.

[TypicallyTropical]

I myself prefer bitters but not the bottled versions.

I hope one day you will have a chance to try "Fiji Bitter" that is quiet good. As to Tuborg, I cry ever since they pulled out of the USA.

[HAPPYGOLFER]

The taste of beer depends on the circumstanses, after playing golf when I drink for thirst , Singha is extremly good. Thai beer isn,t very different from most of the norwegian beer , so in sosial life I like beer with a little bit more alcohol in , then i prefer Chang. But this difficult because taste is different from culture to culture

[lomuamart]

As I was brought up about 14 miles away from the original Ruddles brewery, I'm a bit partial to that especially the "County".
Looking at the other preferences above, I'd definitely go with most of them although there a few I havn't tried.
Bottled beer. When I was living in London, there was an off-license close to home that reputably had the largest selection of bottled beers in the country. Most Saturdays, I'd go in there and buy 2 or 3 different ones. That way, I got to taste Corona, but didn't know what to do with it except make it cold - forgot the lime. Still didn't like it. I was introduced to Japanese, Chinese, Belgium Trappist monk, blah blah blah. Some I liked and some I didn't. One of my favourites was a dark Russian beer called "Ziguli" or something like that. The taste was strong, more like a bitter than a lager.
I had a pretty decent collection of bottles at the end of a few year's sampling. Needless to say, I don't know where they are now.

[Nereus]

Real mans beer: Darwin Stubby

[PeteC]

I don't see any mention of Bass. I without fail always used to see that in every pub I went to back in the 80's. Pete

PS: Along with Harp as well.

[lindosfan1]

I used to drink real ales. depending on where I was in the country, my favourite was kentish spitfire a real tasty beer, oddly enough weatherspoons no matter where you were used to carry a lot of real ales, so had the chance to sample many.

[Big Boy]

Pete wrote:

I don't see any mention of Bass. I without fail always used to see that in every pub I went to back in the 80's

That was also big in the North East (and the rest of the UK - not sure if they did a premium brew for the North East though). Personally, I couldn't stand the smell of it, and thought it smelt like sh*t. It was a brew people either loved or hated.

[margaretcarnes]

I haven't seen Bass in the North East for years BB. Tetley and Theakstons OP are still going strong. IPA is good too. But a great loss to the world of beer was Hull Brewery Mild IMO.
I now use a small real ale bar at a secret location in Yorkshire where they have up to 10 guest beers per week, including some good milds. Few cost more than 2.50 stirling a pint which ain't bad for quality.

[Spitfire]

Bass/Ind Coope and many others are located in Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire as the water quality is/was conducive to making beer. It's also where the Marmite factory is if I remember correctly.

I'll never forget the smell over the city when they were brewing beer and Marmite at the same time, reminded me of microwaved cat food.

Spitfire Ale, which is very nice, is brewed in Kent by Shepherd Neame Brewery. So many of the adds have been banned but great ale along with a load of others too, some mentioned already.

As far as the Thai beers go, then they are OK, very easily distinguishable from each other, you know, the deep flavour of Singha to the crispness of Leo etc.

[Jim]

When in Rome....I find that the local brews have been brewed for a good reason. In Hua Hin I tend to drink Thai beers. In Ireland it'll be Guinness, or Murphy's or I actually go for Beamish these days. In England, bitter in the winter, cider or lager on the rare sunny days. The drinks have usually evolved aver a long time to suit both the local climate and the local food.

[charleyboy]

Yates and Jacksons, William Mitchells. Old Lancaster breweries.
Thwaites's ( Blackburn/Burnley district. )
Boddingtons... Now sadly brewed in Wales. They sold their beer on the fact that it came from a well in Strangeways, Manchester.
Tetleys, Theackstons, Whitbread etc...
I could mention other micro brews if my brain hadn't been addled by the other breweries!

[richard]

Hull brewery, Sam Smiths etc. The list is endless

Used to travel on business with a mate who's route was planned not by GPS but a good food guide and a real ale book.

Needless to say we were always late for a meeting, pissed and gorged . Always got our way though