What's everyone's favourite beer of the moment?

[merseadog]

As an ex pub manager (and local CAMRA pub of the year winner.) I would make one comment.

Most of the beers mentioned are great when in cask conditioned form. What is vital is that it has properly looked after.

If you get a pint thats been hanging around in the pipe since last week it's going to be c**p.

So dont rush to form an opinion of any one beer from any one pub.

[yashicamat]

As an ex pub manager (and local CAMRA pub of the year winner.) I would make one comment.

Most of the beers mentioned are great when in cask conditioned form. What is vital is that it has properly looked after.

If you get a pint thats been hanging around in the pipe since last week it's going to be c**p.

So dont rush to form an opinion of any one beer from any one pub.

Well said Too often are breweries blamed for a pub's mistakes. Further to the above, I'd also remark that I've yet to come across a bottle conditioned beer which is even close in character to it's cask conditioned version. I'm not saying that one is necessarily better than the other (although I find typically cask conditioned beers are superior), but the complex manner in which real ale matures means that a bottled version is never the same as a cask version, so it's important not to judge a beer on that basis too.

[Soot1e]

Light beers-- EPA from Marstons, Whitstable Bay from Shepheard & Neame and the aformentioned Champion Ales.

Whitstable Bay also available in Bottles from Tesco, pretty good beer for a bottle.

Visiting Suffolk is always a joy with so many Real Ales available and I think the county has the biggest concentration of breweries.

As said before a good beer can be ruined by non caring pubs, it's sad to say most in south Essex do ruin what was a good beer. Hats of to the Wetherspoon Chain, their beers are always on the button and Xmas a good time to visit them for the special Chritmas Ales.

I feel thirsty now

[JerryT]

Not really a golden beer person, but if i had to have one it would be Hop Garden Gold from the Hogs Back brewery in Tongham, Surrey. they also do TEA (Traditional English Ale) which is also a good beer but a little darker.

Favourites though are;

6X, had a great pint straight out of the wooden barrel near Avebury, not far from Devies where it is brewed.

Fullers London Pride for supping or ESB if only have time for a couple

Badgers Tangle Foot

TEA (as above)

A good pint of Dircetors

Marston Pedigree

Theakstons Old Peculiar (sp)

Just for fun, because you wont want many Ripsnorter again from the Hogs Back

Not a fan of real ale in bottles and definately not from a can. Nor US beer (i find them to have an acidic after taste) although i am sure there ar some good ones.

As you can tell, i like a darker, sweeter beer.

[woodyallen]

It's a dark Ale, but I love Goddards Brewery's Fuggle Dee Dum, from the Isle of Wight.

[keystonedriving]

I'll put in a vote for Doom Bar, their Red Ale for Spring was good this year, too.

I also used to like Wadsworth's 4X, which was a Mild they made for a while.

Rob.

[Nigel R Slack]

Rochefort 10, a Trappist beer from Belgium has fabulous flavour. It's strong (12% alcohol) and pricey over here but well worth trying.

[cjb]

nuff said!

Do they sell it near you? It's hard enough to find here, about 15 miles from the brewery.

[yashicamat]

Nor US beer (i find them to have an acidic after taste) although i am sure there ar some good ones.

As you can tell, i like a darker, sweeter beer.

Most US beers tend to have big bitterness numbers and quite often are loaded up with hops (irrespective of if they're dark or pale beers). Such beers are very bold and can be an aquired taste; I love them personally, but they won't suit a traditional English Mild drinker's palate!

[Gwilo]

Just had a bottle of Franks alcoholic root beer, DON'T BOTHER IT'S HORRIBLE.

I love the weird taste of root beer, so Franks is quite popular here - it doesn't taste of alcohol so much, so i can drink quite a bit of it....same goes for their Ginger Beer, which is absolutely gorgeous (i think).

Moving away from essentially alcopop type beer.....

Desperado will do nicely, thank you if they've got it.

Ultimate treat - Samichlaus.

Old faithful.... it's guinness extra cold if i can get it.

[Jigger72]

Aldi 0.5% shandy - £1.68 for 10x250ml bottles - it's about all I can cope with now that doesn't give me a headache :(

Genius

2. Badger brewery....Golden Glory......summer in a bottle..nice and light

P.S. I can also recommend some good Ciders and whiskey......(Talisker is my favorite)...but thats OT!

Number 2 – couldn't agree more. I'm drinking a bottle as I write

Ciders? Not so keen, although I did once succumb to the hype and couple of years ago had a Magners over a pint of ice. It was actually a brilliant first pint thirst-quencher after a hard day's graft, but I couldn't go for more than one

Whiskies? Let's bring it on. I love a drop of Laphroig (is that spelt right?) and a drop Jameson's as a chaser hits the mark. I'm also a fan of J&B but purists would probably vomit at the thought of a blend.

Żywiec and Tyskie, both Polish lagers, absolutely fantastic for lagers!

Surely not – they're about 6%

The Budweiser fridge in my bedroom is usually stocked up as well

Do you mean Budvar or watery American rice beer?

Right now my favourite is San Fransisco Anchor Steam Beer (yes, they can make a decent beer, too)

Where do you get that stuff over here? I like the look of it

Love Badger beer, but then I am a little biased as I live 2 miles from the brewery. Looking forward to thursday and a guided tour, and a few pints afterwards.

Lucky, lucky barsteward

Well said Too often are breweries blamed for a pub's mistakes. Further to the above, I'd also remark that I've yet to come across a bottle conditioned beer which is even close in character to it's cask conditioned version. I'm not saying that one is necessarily better than the other (although I find typically cask conditioned beers are superior), but the complex manner in which real ale matures means that a bottled version is never the same as a cask version, so it's important not to judge a beer on that basis too.

With that Piddle in a Bottle, I went to the micro brewery that makes it and tasted a glass from the barrel and you're right – totally different. It wasn't as fruity, but I preferred the sharpness

The other beer I tried last night was Augustus Ceaser, a lager/IPA hybrid from Scotland. Hmmmm, delicious

I would have responded sooner to all these but my 4 year old managed to mash multiple DVDs into the iMac's optical drive and left me with a metallic wailing banshee instead of a nice quiet PC so I've been without for a week. It cost me £150 to fix it so that's his piggy bank empty for the next 3 years

['daiking']

I love the weird taste of root beer, so Franks is quite popular here - it doesn't taste of alcohol so much, so i can drink quite a bit of it....same goes for their Ginger Beer, which is absolutely gorgeous (i think).

Moving away from essentially alcopop type beer.....

Desperado will do nicely, thank you if they've got it.

Ultimate treat - Samichlaus.

Old faithful.... it's guinness extra cold if i can get it.

You must have tried the Marble brewery's Ginger Marble? Great summer pint.

[yashicamat]

You must have tried the Marble brewery's Ginger Marble? Great summer pint.

Or anything from the Marble brewery really . . . their beers are top notch.

[samuir1974]

Or anything from the Marble brewery really . . . their beers are top notch.

Absolutely love Marble Ginger Ale!! :yes:

We have a couple of great CAMRA pubs near us and spoilt for choice on beweries!

Fanny's Ale House in Saltaire, and The Junction in Baildon.

Fanny's Ale House

[cjb]

Absolutely love Marble Ginger Ale!! :yes:

We have a couple of great CAMRA pubs near us and spoilt for choice on beweries!

Fanny's Ale House in Saltaire, and The Junction in Baildon.

Fanny's Ale House

Fanny's Ale house is great. Lovely pub.

[Octygone]

Just found some very nice pear cider in Lidl, 5% alcohol and it tastes of pears as well unlike most of the others

Brambles pear cider http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg//lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_20146.htm?offerdate=&ar2=4&id=389&country=GB&zipcode=SN2+8DA&city=Swindon&district=&street=Chapel+Street&ar=4&nf=True

[TissMe]

For my Mark

There is only one Lager.......THE king of beer Budweiser

Me......well I drink owt LOL

Sarah

[skodanorman]

Camerons Strongarm, the one & only.

[Caenantkath]

Reverend James made by Brains ... loverly!

[devonutopia]

Nice to find Budwar on tap in a local pub in town, and I'm out on the lash on Saturday, best bit is they have THREE taps. One dark, one light and a 50/50!

[sausage roll]

Absolutely love Marble Ginger Ale!! :yes: We have a couple of great CAMRA pubs near us and spoilt for choice on beweries!Fanny's Ale House in Saltaire, and The Junction in Baildon. Fanny's Ale House

Fanny's Ale house is great. Lovely pub.

When were either of you last in Fanny's?

It's always heaving on Friday/Saturday nights when I go. It takes minimum of 20 minutes to get served as it's always five deep for the full length of the bar Drives me bonkers when it seems to take longer to get served than it does to drink the pint you've just bought. Fabulous pint of Timothy Taylors 'Landlord' though which kind of redresses the balance a bit.

Speaking of which........

I spy a couple of cold ones with my name on :yes:

[MEDIX999]

Cant beat a decent real ale...

I am quite partial to Wadworth 6x at the moment by cask in the pub or bottle in the shops.

Never really been a lager drinker, although I do enjoy the lager beers such as sol and corona.

[vindaloo]

Elgood's Black Dog, Williams Bros "March Of The Penguins", Youngs "Double Chocolate Stout".

Brothers Pear Cider, though it's either better in bottles or one starts to pick the taste apart after many cans...

I also quite like the Rebellion brewery's "monthly" beers. I've tried quite a few over the past year or so and they've mostly been cracking.

Lager - Peroni, Staropramen etc...

J.

[samuir1974]

When were either of you last in Fanny's?

It's always heaving on Friday/Saturday nights when I go. It takes minimum of 20 minutes to get served as it's always five deep for the full length of the bar Drives me bonkers when it seems to take longer to get served than it does to drink the pint you've just bought. Fabulous pint of Timothy Taylors 'Landlord' though which kind of redresses the balance a bit.

Yes - it does get a bit busy in there and the recent expansion hasnt helped the situation at the bar!

Still - lucky enough that it is a 5 min walk from work...... so on a Friday lunchtime; i'll be there testing out the delights setup for the weekend punters!

[Grizzle]

Not a massive drinker

Beer - Quilmes

Cider which i drink most if anything - Thistly Cross Traditonal cider (scottish cider lol )