Beer

[machin05]

I also like to add jalapeños to a chilli, for the same reason.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

Same as cider with ice. Utter nonsense.

Cider with ice is age old, and not invented by Magners. I used to have ice in my cider on a hot day long before the Magners summer when everybody started doing it!

I wouldn't have Tequila without salt & Lemon or Lime. And Corona is so much better with a lime - nothing gimmicky, Mexicans have salt and lime with everything (or so I'm told) if they go well together then its not a gimmick.

Scratchings and salty peanuts go well with Beer, you wouldn't say that was a gimmick though (even though the salty snacks make you thirsty so you drink more beer)

 

[The Bear]

I once put a pork scratching in my coke, it was disgusting.

KP Salted Nuts - Big mouthful of those, with a big swig of full sugar Coke (no diet shite) as you crunch away at them is delightful. Something about the way the salt of the nuts mixes with the sweetness of the Coke makes it very nice.

 

[The Bear]

There's room for lime pickle with any curry. Especially if it's a bit bland or lacking in kick.

No!

Proper mango chutney is another story.

 

[machin05]

Cider with ice is age old, and not invented by Magners. I used to have ice in my cider on a hot day long before the Magners summer when everybody started doing it!

I wouldn't have Tequila without salt & Lemon or Lime. And Corona is so much better with a lime - nothing gimmicky, Mexicans have salt and lime with everything (or so I'm told) if they go well together then its not a gimmick.

Scratchings and salty peanuts go well with Beer, you wouldn't say that was a gimmick though (even though the salty snacks make you thirsty so you drink more beer)

It's something the marketing chaps have lept on though and is a handy USP.

Answer me this, if you ordered a Corona with Lime and the barman said they had no lime, would you order a different drink? Same with Magners and ice, if they had no ice?

Food that goes well with a drink is different to food that goes well in a drink.

 

[machin05]

No!

Proper mango chutney is another story.

NO! Well, yes to chutney.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

KP Salted Nuts - Big mouthful of those, with a big swig of full sugar Coke (no diet shite) as you crunch away at them is delightful. Something about the way the salt of the nuts mixes with the sweetness of the Coke makes it very nice.

If I ever decide to go through with suicide you've just given me a very effective method. I will of course credit you appropriately if and when the time comes.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Didn't the lime in the beer bottle thing start as a trick Mexicans used for keeping flies out rather than anything to add taste or anything? I usually just pushed the thing the whole way into the bottle if I had Corona though.

Wanted to put a hidden Fnarr disclaimer in there but don't know how to do some white writing on Tapatalk.

I couldn't drink Tequila without salt + lemon/lime, they'd handy for covering up the foul taste of distilled cactus mush, but I drink mangers straight out the bottle as often as I have it in a glass with ice.

 

[t3ch]

Crispin > magners

For the record.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

It's something the marketing chaps have lept on though and is a handy USP.

Answer me this, if you ordered a Corona with Lime and the barman said they had no lime, would you order a different drink? Same with Magners and ice, if they had no ice?

Food that goes well with a drink is different to food that goes well in a drink.

Err I probably would order a different drink to Corona if they had no lime, to be perfectly honest I only drink the stuff at home, I have to have it ice cold as well as having the lime in it - and I rarely drink bottles while out anyway!

Like I said I drank Cider with ice in on sunny days for years before Magners and Cider became 'popular' I understand your dislike for a gimmick, or USP, but certain things do go well together.

While we're talking about Cider why is there such a big difference in the strengths between Strongbow on draught and in a can? Its puzzled me for years that one has

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

I've only had one pint of it. We were gigging in London and my other half's mate asked if I wanted a beer. I asked for any ale, as there were a couple on offer, and he came back with Blue Moon. I was most disappointed and ended up giving it to the drummer, who, as most drummers, has excellent tastes!

Fixed your typo there Will, no need to thank me.......

Speaking of Blue Moon, its not bad, but if you're into that sort of thing, Hoegaarden is what you want. Also served with a slice of orange as it has citrus aftertones, but its full bodied and its quite strong too. Tbh though, I'll drink anything except Budweiser, Corona, and those disgusting AfterShock drinks.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Fixed your typo there Will, no need to thank me.......

Speaking of Blue Moon, its not bad, but if you're into that sort of thing, Hoegaarden is what you want. Also served with a slice of orange as it has citrus aftertones, but its full bodied and its quite strong too. Tbh though, I'll drink anything except Budweiser, Corona, and those disgusting AfterShock drinks.

Aftershock was ace! We used to go through loads of the blue one when we were 16/17.

We were mocked by a Dutch barmaid for how we pronounced Hoegaarden when we were in Amsterdam a couple years back. Don't remember getting a piece of orange with it though.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Tbh though, I'll drink anything except Budweiser, Corona, and those disgusting AfterShock drinks.

It confounds me how anyone would expect to make a 'beer' out of rice! Fucking Budweiser!
And it's SO popular!

Mind you, millions read the Sun too don't they....

 

[Doctor Doog]

Drank a lot of Blue Moon (with orange) when I was in the US about this time last year and loved it. I do like wheat beers and fruit beers though and it was hot weather. The other beer I was drinking was Magic Hat #9 which I thought was similar. Recently bought a couple of bottles from Tesco and it wasn't as I remembered it, though it was better after a few hours in the fridge.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Recently bought a couple of bottles from Tesco and it wasn't as I remembered it, though it was better after a few hours in the fridge.

Didn't your ears get cold being in the fridge all that time..
BIG fridge!!

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Just updated the wrong thread!

So if anyone's coming over for the beer and whilst you're doing that, squeezing in the Wolves game, just a note to try the Porterhouse on the sea front in Bray. Cross the railway line towards the sea front, turn right along the front and you'll come to it around 200 yards along on the right. There's a much bigger and better one at the far end of Temple Bar in Dublin if you're around there.
They brew their own beers in the basement - interestingly, right next to the gents urinals. But I've been assured they use a seperate water supply for their beers.
You can get a Sampler Tray - around 8 tumbler size glasses of everything they brew. 3 or 4 Lagers, I think 3 stouts, and around 4 ales. They all come on their own coaster and you can read about them in the brochures on the tables. Costs about €8 for all of them.
Hugely popular, then you can of course spend a very happy number of days in there drinking your favourite one.
They do decent food too so really you can stay in there for days!

On average pints (scoops! 'I'll see you down the pub for a few scoops') cost around €4.50/€5 each, so you'll need a reasonable amount of folding money when going out drinking.
Look out for 'Happy Hours', when you often get shots and fancy alcohol for cheap prices.
See The Drummer for more details on that one!

I'll see if they have a site and if I can I'll post the link here.... http://www.porterhousebrewco.com/

Finally, if this is your first trip over the drinks scene is a bit of a disappointment for real ale lovers.
Apart from places like The Porterhouse, Guinness (or Diageo) have the drinks industry by the short and curlies.

90% of pubs serve their products only!
so you'll get:
Guinness
Loads of lagers - Heineken, Millers, that rice drink Bud, other ones too but I don't drink 'em so I don't know,
Smithwicks Beer, A kind of chemical derivative of ale, not too bad cold - nutty taste.
Kilkenny Ale (creamflow beer, a bit like Robinson's or Tetley smooth or whatever they call that stuff that's all sudsy and not very tasty?

And that's about it I'm afraid! Hundreds of really nice pubs many of them beautifully decorated but the product is all Guinness products.

Occasionally , you'll get Beamish Stout, (guaranteed to be 5c cheaper than Guinness, it's very similar but a bit lighter, more of these - less of a headache in the morning, and you'll get bottles of intersting stuff from the fridge, Polish lagers etc, but you'll have to search long and hard to find decent ales - except for the Porterhouse in Bray!

 

[machin05]

Am I right in thinking that the Guinness is no better over there than it is over here these days? It's served from the same kegs that get exported AFAIAK.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Personally, I can't tell the difference from one country to the next.

I think all of this tripe about, 'it doesn't travel well' stopped when the boats stopped bringing it over from St James's Gate on the Liffey to the UK.

If it's still brewed in London, the only difference is going to be the water, and how much of a difference softer water imparts to the dark stuff I don't know Machin.

 

[Donegal Wolf]

Am I right in thinking that the Guinness is no better over there than it is over here these days? It's served from the same kegs that get exported AFAIAK.

Your right not much difference nowdays, although you are more likely to get a "bad" one over in England.
Dont know the ins & outs about the kegs, I think it was more to do with how it was kept and poured any Guinness I found served in a Banks pub was nearly always muck at one time.
Guinness got there act together in England in the mid-90's, I know the Irish bar Mooneys (which has now gone) on Princess St when that opened the Guinness staff came in to show them how to store the kegs, set up cooling trays in the celler etc, which must have worked cos they did a good pint of the stuff.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

Am I right in thinking that the Guinness is no better over there than it is over here these days? It's served from the same kegs that get exported AFAIAK.

Almost right..... Guinness in the UK is almost spot on these days and I'll happily drink it, but the Guinness over here is superior as Diageo employs Quality Control teams to go around the country in vans checking on the quality, temperature, storage, gas pressure and pipes in all the pubs serving the black stuff. My mate is Quality Control Rep for North County Dublin, and him and his team take their Guinness very seriously. I can usually tell a bad Guinness very quickly, but he can spot any impurities or blockages in the pipes straight away. A good Guinness should have a cream coloured head, and sometimes you get one where the foam is slightly brownish or amber. That means the pipes need cleaning/changing. Also any air bubbles inside the actual stout, visible on the glass, means that the glass was not fully clean.
I used to love Guinness Extra Cold which you cant get here anymore, but you can still get it in parts of the UK, indeed, I had a pint of it last time I was in the Litten Tree in Wolvo.

My mate was telling me that the average bar serving Guinness will need the pipes changing every 6-8 weeks, whilst the Bulmers pipes need to be changed every 2-3 weeks as Bulmers is so acidic that the cider corrodes the rubber.