Redeem yourselves, England!

So the tale always went back home in Aus that the folk up in England drink their beer warm. I passed it off as a rumour, or a joke, just more ribbing that Aussies give to the Poms. But naught an hour upon setting my feet onto English soil what am I served?! Warm beer. It was like it had been sitting in the sun for a good ten minutes before they brought it to me.

Now, I've talked it over with Tara, and I'm perfectly willing to accept that this was Heathrow airport, I'm sure they see a lot of traffic, and maybe they don't wait for their beer to get completely cold before they serve it out of the tap. Also, the English ale I ordered wasn't available so they gave me a 'Guest Ale', so I haven't actually tried an English beer while in England yet.

So have at it UK'ers. Suggest me your favourite beers that I should try while here. Specify whether I should be drinking it on tap or if it holds up out of the bottle (try not to include something that will be super hard to find on tap if you don't want me drinking it out of a stubbie). I am perfectly willing to forgive this initial warm beer incident if you don't lead me astray with these suggestions. Otherwise I'm taking this news back down to convict land with me and we'll all laugh at you (even more so).

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

I am perfectly willing to forgive this initial warm beer incident if you don't lead me astray with these suggestions. Otherwise I'm taking this news back down to convict land with me and we'll all laugh at you (even more so).

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Too late. Laughing already.

Drink a Foster's. I don't reckon there's a single Aussie out there that's done so.

Well speaking for Huxley as a UKer he is going to tell you to go to Montana instead and get some of our local brews :shobon:

When I was in USA I actually had a really nice local Californian beer, it was great but the bar we got it from very rarely had it on tap. So yeah,I have no gripe with USA's brews (apart from their odd fascination for 'lite beers' I guess).

huxley couldn't find his own arse with both hands, let alone know what a good beer is. last time he was talking about drinking beer it was budwieser which automatically negates any opinion anyone may have on beer.

if you're drinking ale in the uk it is definitely going to be warmer than beer, majority of ale is kept out of the fridge because it ruins the flavour! lager beer or that kind of stuff IDK 'cause I ain't drunk any in England for about 10 years. Well not the really common stuff anyway.

My favourite beer in England, especially in summer, is Old Golden Hen. amazing tipple, really miss it now that i'm out of the country. very crisp and refreshing and has definite hints of tropical fruits, never saw it on tap in my local area but out of the bottles it's great anyway. definitely needs to be ice cold out the fridge so get on that. if you're not a fan of sweet beers might want to give it a miss tho, leans more toward that end of things. it's ale cousin, old speckled hen, is a pretty nice drink, much deeper and stronger taste to it.

a lot of my local ale is quite hard to find outside of the area so I'm not sure if it'd be available where you are, but another drink that I enjoyed a lot was Shepard Neames 1698, this is a strong ale, again very deep and quite bitter ale. goes well out of the fridge as well (never actually seen it on tap).

I like Budweiser. >:(

Also- people actually drink Foster's? I've never tried it. Something about the really fat short can is off putting. That's the only way it's sold here. I don't think I've ever seen a 6 or 12 pack of cans or bottles. Just the fat single cans.

Budweiser is the worst. The absolute worst.

Would not drink warm beer.

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Originally Posted by DK

huxley couldn't find his own arse with both hands, let alone know what a good beer is. last time he was talking about drinking beer it was budwieser which automatically negates any opinion anyone may have on beer.

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Pretty sure last time I was talking about budweiser it was to say it's okay in the UK (not amazing, just decent) but absolute dog piss in the US

If you don't think Big Sky Brewery makes the best booze upon God's good earth though, you're just wrong, don't matter how brummie you are.

Budweiser is yummy and y'all sux0r. :D

"Guest Ale" is just another synonym for Real Ale, Cask Ale, call it what you will but it probably was English.

Cask ale isn't usually cold as in "condensation forming on the glass" cold (like a Fosters would be), but it's usually served cool or a sort of neutral "not really cool or warm" temperature. If it's literally warm, then that's pretty much a crime :(

A beer is only as good as the place that serves it. Most of the crap pubs have been wiped out by natural selection (aka. the double dip recession with extra suck that we just had) but of course, those overpriced minimum effort airport bars aren't going anywhere.
If in doubt with a cask ale (hand pull, to give it yet another name, as they pull the beer through using those massive lever pumps, you see) ask to try a sample first. Pretty much any pub serving cask ales will do that (unless they suck and deserve to die, but see previous point about the positive parts of the recession).
I sometimes also ask if anyone else has been drinking it. If you're the first, a good pub will pull some through first, but some will just give you the warm beer that has been sat there in the pipes.

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Originally Posted by Mo-Nercy

Drink a Foster's. I don't reckon there's a single Aussie out there that's done so.

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But it'ss Australian for beer!

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Originally Posted by noxious.sunshine

Budweiser is yummy and y'all sux0r. :D

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and basically not beer. I'm pretty sure they don't even really use hops. It's a hops extract. Any cheap american beer is gmo/chemical filled BS that in all actuality is not beer. Gotta drink craft beers in the states if you want anything "good" I usually go with a Long Trail Blackberry Wheat although I preferred them when they were seasonal as opposed to now where they are brewed all year round. Or for my really local beer Harpoon which is brewed in my home town I go with the Raspberry Ale.



I hardly drink (been about 10 months since I had a drink last) but, I would like to try a nice brew if I were to ever got to the UK.

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Originally Posted by Shorty

Budweiser is the worst. The absolute worst.

Would not drink warm beer.

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You better get used to it, shortcake, if you still plan on living in Europe.

Also, Amstel Light is the worst beer, followed my MGD.

I don't drink beer so it's no problem for me :jess:

I have never heard of this warm England beer thing before - and nobody I know has anything good to say about a warm beer. The dregs are the worst, I hear.

Lucky I don't drink beer regardless.

Lagers and other :bou::bou::bou::bou:y drinks obviously are drunk cold because they are literally urine and the coldness masks the piss.

Proper ales and stouts should be drunk at room temperature, because they actually have a flavour that can be tasted and enjoyed.

Any of the pale ales or golden ales that I drink back home, allowed to get to room temperature before being drank, would earn you a well targeted flick to the bollocks.

I think I'm starting to see an unreconcilable disconnect forming here. Some people actually think warm beer enhances flavour and doesn't make the beer taste like fresh trucker's urine? The only beer I've had served to me that isn't completely cold is a few different stouts and that was okay.

It's baffling for me too. I can't fathom any sort of beer being drunk at any temperature other than ice cold. I've always considered a James Squire Golden Ale to be my 'winter' beer of choice, but it's still gotta be cold.

James Squire is my favourite brewery as well Mo, the Pale and Golden ales are so nice but not if you let them get warm. Little Creatures is another favourite Aussie beer.

The problem is you've reinforced the idea of piss being what beer tastes like through your pissy beers, so that when a proper one hits your mouth you assume there's something wrong.

;)

I'll see, I'm not going to pass judgement till the end of the trip. But honestly, the fact that England keeps Fosters on tap doesn't bode well.

Thanks to DK for being the only Brit who was able to name a beer actually worth trying.

Beer worth trying is regional (cask ale doesn't travel very far), so there's little point in reeling off a bunch of Northern pale and golden ales on the assumption that you're down London way somewhere.

"Warm" is obviously a subjective description. Ale doesn't have to be ice cold - many of them actually taste better if they're just cool, not freezing your nuts off. That said, if it's not got a bit of coolness to it, it won't be great. And if it feels warm enough that it could've been poured directly from the bladder, then it'll be unpleasant and needs returning.

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

England!

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

UK'ers.

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:mamu:

I work virtually across the road from the Brains brewery. It's not exactly ice-cold but I wouldn't say it's warm either. Real beers have real flavour at a real temperature.

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

I'll see, I'm not going to pass judgement till the end of the trip. But honestly, the fact that England keeps Fosters on tap doesn't bode well.

Thanks to DK for being the only Brit who was able to name a beer actually worth trying.

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No point naming beers if we don't know where you're going. ;)

Agreed that a lot of on tap stuff is very depressing. But just go to better pubs and that'll stop happening. :D

Or just drink till it doesn't matter anymore. XD

Never liked beer, myself. Honestly forgotten that people still drink beer. Everywhere I go, people drink spirits of some kind.

From a little research using the internets, I've found that the entire point of ale is that it's fermented and (generally) served at room temperature.

If you think beer tastes awful when it's warm, here's a kicker: You're tasting the same thing, it's just that the coldness is removing most of the taste. Most people like their sweets at any temperature, but there is a very good reason why nobody says to put the fresh hand made chocolate from the local market into the fridge immediately. Same with cookies. Long story short, if beer tastes bad when it's warm, that's because you're drinking troutty beer, or because you just don't like beer and pretend that you do because you chill it to the point that the coldness outweighs the flavour. But then, all beers taste bad to me, so... :shobon:

Here's a couple of half decent article I stumbled across: 1 2

I've learned a fair bit about something I don't like today. xD

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Originally Posted by Old Manus

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

England!

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Originally Posted by Happy Noodle Boy

UK'ers.

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:mamu:

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TBF, I'm travelling to Scotland as well which a few people on here knew about, so I was happy to get some Scottish beer suggestions. That's my rationalisation at least.

Also, BoB, people invented fridges for a reason. If you want to drink your beverages warm and claim it's more flavourful then so be it. Do you like to drink your soup cold as well?

Nope, but I accept it's because it's basically just a crappily flavoured refreshment rather than some special kind of flavoursome beverage. :D

Although if you get a classy kind of soft drink it can actually taste alright when it's warm. Same for regular juice.

And again, personally, I find beer to be awful in general so a cold beer is better than a warm beer for me. >_>;

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

Although if you get a classy kind of soft drink it can actually taste alright when it's warm. Same for regular juice.

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Dr Pepper is great @ room temperature. Some people even heat it up on the stove on a cold day.

Anyone saying that Budweiser is the worst clearly hasn't tried Milwaukee's Best, Keystone Ice, or Natural Ice.

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Originally Posted by Pike

Well speaking for Huxley as a UKer he is going to tell you to go to Montana instead and get some of our local brews :shobon:

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California has the best local brews.

Ain't nothing better on a cold winter day when you get inside a pub and order a nice warm fruit beer :monster:

omg you guyz.

There's a brewery like in Germany that has a BEER HOT TUB.

That's nasty. Sweltering your body in all of that yeast? No thank you.

They say it has health benefits.

Health benefit: You have to walk home.

Come to Ireland. We can go to Dublin and you can taste fresh Guinness. You'll go back a changed man.

Ales are generally warm as DK and BoB say though some like Newcastle Brown Ale suggest chilling them prior to drinking. I'm a firm favourite of Old Speckled Hen, Smithwicks (irish ale) and Fullers London Pride along with Theakstons when I fancy something a bit more bitter.

There's generally a lot more local ales in rural areas such as the west country where Dan is from. I'm still upset that he never had me and Paul go drinking down that part with him could have been fun!

Lager on the other hand should never be warm and if it is, I'd complain to the bar about it, they'll generally offer to replace the pint so long as you haven't drunk more than a few sips of it with a different lager if they haven't long changed the barrel.


Edit: Also, drinking at Heathrow means the spoons there and that means you probably had a beer fed through dirty pipes too which will massively impair the flavour. The reason why is because the pub will be open 24 hours a day which is a bit of a problem to drain and clean the system properly.