I too drink ales most of the time. I also brew mostly ales as the temp. thing comes into play. I do find though that at certain times a lager is the way to go, like after hockey. I like bocks also.
Originally posted by Richard English
Can you get good ale in Finland nowadays? [/b]
Sorry Richard, I forgot, there is one finnish Ale brewed by a big Finnish brewery, Sinebrychoff. It's called Velvet III (alc. content 4,7%). I have tasted it a log time ago, and it didn't really impress me then. I remember it had quite soft malty taste, a bit dry and strong on hops. But I have to give it another try to say what I really think about it.
J
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All the Fuller's and Young's beers you mention are good although Young's SLA is the only bottle-conditioned one. The others are best on draught.
Newcastle Brown is a strong but relatively poor bottled beer whose reputation is greater than its merit. John Smith's smooth is a nitrokeg beer, not a Real Ale, and is good only by comparison with the likes of A-B Budweiser.
Smithwicks is Irish and is brewed by Guinness. It is not Real Ale but, again, is good compared with most of the chemical fizz beers.
Beers dispensed "on tap" (that is, by means of a font driven by gas pressure) will never be much good. Cask beer should be dispensed by hand-pump from a cellar as only in that way can proper maturity be assured. The difference between the taste of the two types of beer and dispense is massive.
Those who have drunk properly conditioned and served cask beer will know what I mean; those who have not must take my word for it.
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Richard English
How many drinkers have you converted to good beer today? ;)
Quote "...I'd bet most folks can't tell the difference.. I know I flunked an Ale vs Lager test...."
Then I have to assume that you have not yet had the good fortune to try a reasonable range of each type.
It is true that there are some very light ales (in both body and flavour) as there are some darkish and relatively full-bodied lagers. A non-expert offered a blind tasting between a bottle of very light ale and a bottle of full bodied lager might be mistaken. However, there could be no doubt whatsoever between a "normal! lager and a "normal" ale.
Try a blind tasting of Fuller's 1845 against a bottle of real Budweiser (Czechvar in the USA) and then tell me there's no difference!
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Richard English
How many drinkers have you converted to good beer today? ;)
I suppose you may be correct. I am a novice and was speaking from a homebrewers point of view. As Jay Leno just pointed out in his "Jaywalking", most "normal" Americans don't even know who the vice president is so I still hold my ground on this issue. I believe most "normal" folks would'nt know the difference between Ale & Lager. -DRWeaver-
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Quote, "...I believe most "normal" folks would'nt know the difference between Ale & Lager. ..."
That depends on how you define "normal". If if by "normal" you mean the beer-drinkers amongst that 10% of the world's population that happens to live in the USA, then you're probably right.
In the remaining 90% of the world's population it would depend on what their drinking culture was. It would not be true of the UK, I feel sure.
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Richard English
How many drinkers have you converted to good beer today? ;)
Last edited by Richard English : 01-04-2004 at 04:45 AM.
Well, SOMEONE has to come to lager's defense! I don't believe in segregating the two, and I certainly don't let the macro crap lagers bias my opinion, as others do. The fact is, I can find hundreds, if not thousands of great lagers across the world, and I enjoy a clean, hoppy Dortmunder or rich Double Bock as much as an IPA or Stout.
For those of you who still lump all lagers into the Budweiser and Miller group, why not try a Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold or Eliot Ness Vienna, Penn St. Nikolaus Bock or Weizen, Victory Pils, Bob's 47, or maybe a Capital Amber or Oktoberfest? All excellent BEERS.
Don't get me wrong, I love great ales just as much, and like most others, I don't let a few awful ales ruin it for me. Hello, anyone out there have a Genny Cream lately? So why is it that's not the case for lagers? UNFAIR!
I enjoy a good crisp pils. And the Dortmunder Gold from the great lakes brewing company, which is right in my backyard, is fantastic. And a good doppelbock is, well, good.
Regardless of this, I still have a greater love of ales. But I'm really starting to enjoy the California Common's.
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