Beer

[machin05]

I don't have a good palate at all - I'm useless with food. But these flavours aren't subtle a lot of the time. They blast your face off, and that's what I like about them!

 

[Langers]

I don't have a good palate at all

But you DO have a thesaurus.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Oh and DW, I didn't realise you liked stouts. You should have gone for the Old Ford Export. It would have smashed whichever Murphy's-esque pint you'd had for six. Superb drink.

I had number seven on this list:

I mean it was alright, but it was just....ordinary. Nothing special about it whatsoever.

I don't care enough about beer to pay £4.50 for 2/3 of a pint I'm afraid. Nothing is that good, it's stupid money in my book.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

Personally I find a lot of these brews as average to poor, and the massive increase in number means a massive increase in substandard selection. I don't go to pubs enough or catch up with the latest brews so ordering something of a board like above is a complete lottery, either I've been very unlucky or its just generally average beers being marketed as better then they are.

To be honest. I've brewed better beers myself than some of the ones I've tried (I'm not that great a brewer) and paying £3.50 for the pleasure just puts me right off choosing one from a list like that.

 

[Johnny75]

Yeah, that'd be one of the exceptions I mentioned, but only becasue it's not a nice beer. Again quite common price for big double IPAs clocking in a ~9%

They had the Thronebridge Jaipur X (10% double IPA) for £3 for a third. That was worth it IMO. It's £3 for one drink that you'd woulnd't really want much more than a 3rd of anyway. I'd pay £3.50 for a third of Cloudwater DIPA or Beavertown Double Chin etc.

Quality > Quantity > Price

I can see where you're coming from here, a good glass of wine is going to cost you double that and will be about the same liquid content so why shouldn't you pay a higher price for the best beer.

Some things aren't worth that kind of cash for 2/3rds of a pint mind you.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Hmmm - so I am getting a third more of a perfectly acceptable product in a Bathams in the Western for half the price and I am the one who needs my bumps felt? Really?

Why do you feel the urge to go for high ABV anyway? Never understood that obsession, and never will. Might as well drink Special Brew.

 

[Nando]

I can see where you're coming from here, a good glass of wine is going to cost you double that and will be about the same liquid content so why shouldn't you pay a higher price for the best beer.

Some things aren't worth that kind of cash for 2/3rds of a pint mind you.

This is how I approach it now too. I'll pay that price for something that I know is going to be a little bit special.

A place has just opened down from work that is selling Wild Beer - Bibble for £3 a half or £4 a 2/3. Now that is fucking ludicrous. £6 a pint for something I can get elsewhere for £3.40 a pint.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I can see where you're coming from here, a good glass of wine is going to cost you double that and will be about the same liquid content so why shouldn't you pay a higher price for the best beer.

Some things aren't worth that kind of cash for 2/3rds of a pint mind you.

A good bottle of Jack Daniels is only twice as much and would keep me arseholed for about a month.

It is a ridiculous price point. Great, if you are the type that wants to sample the "best" and pay through the nose, go for it. However, that price point is just going to deter a lot of potential customers who take one look and laugh.

 

[machin05]

I had number seven on this list:

I mean it was alright, but it was just....ordinary. Nothing special about it whatsoever.

I don't care enough about beer to pay £4.50 for 2/3 of a pint I'm afraid. Nothing is that good, it's stupid money in my book.

It would have been a hell of a lot nicer for an extra £1

 

[machin05]

Hmmm - so I am getting a third more of a perfectly acceptable product in a Bathams in the Western for half the price and I am the one who needs my bumps felt? Really?

Why do you feel the urge to go for high ABV anyway? Never understood that obsession, and never will. Might as well drink Special Brew.

Higher ABV beers tend to have more body and can carry the extra bitterness and hop flavours in a balanced way. A hopped up session IPA at <4% will feel a bit watery by the end of the drink. It's not about consuming more alcohol (as I've already stated) as you drink it in smaller measures, generally. It's about drinking better beer. I don't drink to get pissed anymore, but I mostly enjoy stuff that's 6% and above.

To coin a popular TWF phrase, the Bathams comparison is a bit apples and oranges. They're completely different animals.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It would have been a hell of a lot nicer for an extra £1

And 1/3 less of the product

For a kick off, I've had near on 20 years of being conditioned to drinking pints in pubs, there isn't any way I'm ever going to wrap my head around a measure that much smaller (it was a pain in the arse dealing with 0,5l glasses in Germany). Stands to reason that I'm not going to slow my normal pace down by 33% so I'm going to end up spending loads more along the way and as I say, I just don't care that much, I actually don't think I would have enjoyed it exponentionally that much more. If this scene had been around in my early 20s then maybe, but not now. Of course I'm limited from getting into it by not liking bitters/IPAs any more, they just make me feel ill. Rules out at least 80% of what's on offer.

 

[machin05]

A good bottle of Jack Daniels is only twice as much and would keep me arseholed for about a month.

It is a ridiculous price point. Great, if you are the type that wants to sample the "best" and pay through the nose, go for it. However, that price point is just going to deter a lot of potential customers who take one look and laugh.

You're a wine lover aren't you? How is it different that the cost of wine varies so wildly, but that's ok?

 

[leedswolf]

I'm a volume drinker and as a result tend to go for the session ABVs which are generally reasonably priced. However it is nice to have the occassional self-indulgence.

 

[Doctor Doog]

I had number seven on this list:

I mean it was alright, but it was just....ordinary. Nothing special about it whatsoever.

I don't care enough about beer to pay £4.50 for 2/3 of a pint I'm afraid. Nothing is that good, it's stupid money in my book.

That is brewed in my village. Not the best of Milton's dark beers but not the worst either. You wouldn't pay more than £3.50 a pint for it in pricey Cambridge though.

 

[machin05]

And 1/3 less of the product

For a kick off, I've had near on 20 years of being conditioned to drinking pints in pubs, there isn't any way I'm ever going to wrap my head around a measure that much smaller (it was a pain in the arse dealing with 0,5l glasses in Germany). Stands to reason that I'm not going to slow my normal pace down by 33% so I'm going to end up spending loads more along the way and as I say, I just don't care that much, I actually don't think I would have enjoyed it exponentionally that much more. If this scene had been around in my early 20s then maybe, but not now. Of course I'm limited from getting into it by not liking bitters/IPAs any more, they just make me feel ill. Rules out at least 80% of what's on offer.

1/3 less liquid, yes, but at 7.5% it'd be more satisfying and the all round experiance of that one drink would be worth the extra £1. What does more liquid give you apart from a fuller bladder?

Drinking pace is an interesting point. I wouldn't be able to hack a full-on session on high abv craft beer - 4 or 5 in a night maybe, so I'm not sure it's a viable comparison to make. I think I've said in this thread before that drinking culture would need to change in Wolves before craft beer takes over!

I would urge you to try a few keg IPAs - they are hugely a different drink to cask bitters. Also, as a cider man you'd probably like some of the sour beers and saisons knocking around too

 

[Johnny75]

A good bottle of Jack Daniels is only twice as much and would keep me arseholed for about a month.

It is a ridiculous price point. Great, if you are the type that wants to sample the "best" and pay through the nose, go for it. However, that price point is just going to deter a lot of potential customers who take one look and laugh.

But JD isn't the best Bourbon, you'd pay an awful lot more than that I'd guess. And it's not really about being arseholed for me it's more about the taste (It can't be at those prices!)

And I don't particularly prescribe to the theory that a high ABV is more tasty and I think the real skill is finding a brew that has masks a high ABV with flavour. But then I'm no expert and I do think that some folks do go overboard with their tasting notes. A bit like wine bore's.

Edit: I'm a bit like Leeds and yourself in that I enjoy a pint of session ale but I do subscribe to buying a craft ale if the taste takes me.

 

[Langers]

I like a pub where there are plenty of guests and the friendly bar staff let you sample before you buy - I've discovered some absolute gems by doing that. Maybe I've just been unlucky but in my experience bars that specialise in craft ales don't tend to allow that.

I've no problem with paying a bit more for a quality beer but at the end of the day, I've never had a beer that can match the likes of Bathams, Holdens, Dark Star etc etc. Which are much cheaper.

 

[Johnny75]

I think you may have been unlucky Langers, all the bars up here let you do just that and the bars I have visited in Chester too. One of the bars in Chester let you sample some right exotic stuff and I'm glad they did as I didn't buy half of it as it tasted awful!

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I've been offered samples in Brewdog in Birmingham before, probably the only really crafty beer place I've been.

 

[leedswolf]

I generally haven't had problems with sampling. Quite the opposite in fact.