Donāt drink beer too often these days, but when I do I prefer a good ale to a lager (though a decent lager can go down very nicely on a hot sunny day). Red wineās what I drink most of, and my spirit of choice is gin - has to be a decent gin, and mixed with a proper tonic such as Fever Tree. Iām quite partial to whisky but I rarely actually drink it; I think I actually prefer a really good Bourbon to a Scotch malt. I love short coktails such as a Sidecar, Manhattan or Martini, but canāt be arsed with those things that are mostly juice.
2 Likes
Donāt drink that often these days. But when I do itāll be ale and significant amounts of it. Harveys Best would be my ideal.
Also quite partial to these new overhopped pale ales that seem to be everywhere these days.
Well it depends if at home or work.
At work nothing from the time I arrive to the time I leave minimum 28 days later.
At Home on a good day.
Coffee with a rum livener in it.
Followed by an Orange juice with a vodka and Galianno (spelling here)
Next a few San Miguel Pale Pilsenās as has more flavour than San Mig.
This will be then assisted with either a Rum and Coke Philippine Tanduay Rum or a Vodka and Coke Gilbeys Vodka.
The occaisional bottle of white or red wine with a meal then a couple more drinks of the day to finish with.
Today I am at the San Miguel Pale Pilsen stage 
Originally posted by @Fowllyd
Donāt buy beer too often these daysā¦
Changed it for you
I think that in the holy trinity of beer, wine and spirits the UK is top in two out of the three. Nothing beats a decent real ale or a smoky Islay single malt.
The two pubs I frequent most both have an excellent staple ale, on all the time (Harveyās and Courage Best) and five or six guest ales. I donāt think thereās ever been a wider range of beers available.
Fowllyd and I were virtually weaned on Galeās HSB, and I think that remains my favourite, although sadly no longer brewed in Horndean, or by Galeās
Lager-type beers in other countries seem a bit samey. Iām not sure that Iād pass a taste test with Singa, Tiger and Tsingtao for example. However, Peroni is lovely, and I can tell Mahou (Madrid) from Estrella (Barcelona).
I remain to be entirely convinced that French wine is the best in the world. For reds, certainly, I prefer a Montepuliciano or a Rioja. Whites - ok, nothing beats a good flinty Chablis
I love a G&T made with a Bombay Sapphire or Plymouth, but no spirit comes close to an Islay malt - Laphroig, Lagavullin or an Ardbeg, which is like Godās tears
1 Like
Oh yeah, I drink a bottle of red wine on my Friday TV night with Mrs Sfcsim! Suppose that counts!
Originally posted by @SO5-4BW
Originally posted by @Fowllyd
Donāt buy beer too often these daysā¦
Changed it for you
I think that in the holy trinity of beer, wine and spirits the UK is top in two out of the three. Nothing beats a decent real ale or a smoky Islay single malt.
The two pubs I frequent most both have an excellent staple ale, on all the time (Harveyās and Courage Best) and five or six guest ales. I donāt think thereās ever been a wider range of beers available.
Fowllyd and I were virtually weaned on Galeās HSB, and I think that remains my favourite, although sadly no longer brewed in Horndean, or by Galeās
Lager-type beers in other countries seem a bit samey. Iām not sure that Iād pass a taste test with Singa, Tiger and Tsingtao for example. However, Peroni is lovely, and I can tell Mahou (Madrid) from Estrella (Barcelona).
I remain to be entirely convinced that French wine is the best in the world. For reds, certainly, I prefer a Montepuliciano or a Rioja. Whites - ok, nothing beats a good flinty Chablis
I love a G&T made with a Bombay Sapphire or Plymouth, but no spirit comes close to an Islay malt - Laphroig, Lagavullin or an Ardbeg, which is like Godās tears
A friend of mineās spirit of choice is gin when not drinking wine, and theyāve just discovered Bombay Sapphire and love itā¦going back to the real ale though, some years ago Iād occassionally go to the Flower Pots at Cheriton and enjoy a pint of Diggers Goldā¦havenāt been there for a long time though so not sure if they do it anymore.
Usually beer on the rare occasion Iām drinking. Iām quite lucky where I live as itās about a 4 minute walk from a small brewer, which is nice. If Iām wanting a lager, which is what Iād drink in the summer, my favourite is called St Mungoās. Brewed in Glasgow, donāt know if you can get it down south but waitrose sell it.
Cask Bitter or English IPA for me, itās an overwhelming preference for me.
Iāve mentioned it before on the other site, so a couple of you might already know that I brew my own. Too cheap to buy imported ale, and fed up with American craft brew having too much of everything in it because of the bigger is better mentality, I found that home brewing is the only way around it all. It also means I can make a lower ABV and drink a shedload without getting shitfaced too quickly.
My garage always has at the very least a 55lb sack of imported malt in itā¦Even grew my own hops for a few years until the price came back down.
After ale, then itās bourbon for me. That is one area where I have embraced my limited metamorphosis into becoming American. I used to like scotch, but bourbon is so much more throat and taste bud friendly. Love the stuff.
2 Likes
Originally posted by @saintbletch
Haha! Nope, Iām not that kind of brewer. I use 1 litre bottles and donāt make labels for something that I will be throwing down my neck while everyone around me wonders what that dark stuff is, and say 55 degrees? WTF! ā¦Itās all for me, and me alone. 
10 gallons per brew is too much trouble for all that pissing about.
Hmmm, when I first started drinking I started on Lager, strangely (as I was in Blandford) it was Badgerās lager that I started on , Hofbrau I think. Never really like the taste of it but it was what everyone drunk, Uni tought me the joys of bitter and looking after properly (I was cellarmaster at the Student Union for 4 years and we used to sell gallons of āliveā ales and used to have to look after them). The Uniās beer festival was legendary in the ales we procured.
I like most āliveā ales these days but do miss HSB, had a session on ESB once that gave me the hangover from hell. Sitting in a pub in Richmond watching football on my own (was on a course) and didnāt get up from my barstool until after the 5th pint. I practically hit the floor straight away, oh well. Ringwood ales are my mainstay these days due to them being in my locals. Ringwood Best when Iām driving 49er when Iām sessioning, Old Thumper when I really donāt care.
I will keep away from the pasteurised crap that they sell these days, John Smiths. etc and if there is no real ale in a pub I will have a cider.
Spent some time in the offices in Seattle and the beer out there was fantastic, craft and micros breweries all over. Still managed to drink the Yanks under the table though AND shocked them with downing an American pint in 8 seconds and not falling over.
After Ale whiskey please, a nice decent Whiskey will have me purringā¦
4 Likes
I love BTripz, and plan to make him my bitch one day
Grew up in a Courage pub so it was always Directors for me. So difficult to find a pub round here that knows how to keep an ale these days but will always go for an ale, really canāt take lager. Cider has got a lot better than the 2 old favourites from my youth ( Strongbow + Dry Blackthorne) but if i thereās no ale then it would be Rum and coke.
Is that a good or bad thing?
Really must try the Poole Brewhouse and Kitchen one day, all my friends have given it good reviews.
Sorry, I just canāt get past your user name. Your entire post just sounds like something a Gerry Anderson puppet hero would never actually say.
Originally posted by @Coxford_lou
Saturday night, know itās gonna be a late one and too lame to stay awake - JD and coke
Yes, Iām a big fan of the coke but if Iām short of cash and itās just about staying up then Iāll just have speed.
Got to be ale. Doombar or Ringwood best if on a session. The beauty of ale though is that itās all a bit different so when you see something youāve never had before you never know what youāre gonna get. Lager and spirits aināt like that.
I had a few Guinness West indies porterās last night. Lovely drop, highly recommended.
Aha, saw this thread when it was originally posted and meant to reply then.
My first introduction to decent beer was at uni - in our SU they sold real ale, which Iād never really encountered until then. They regularly had Ringwood Best and Fortyniner on, with one or two others rotating.
From then on Iād always pick real ale, given the choice. Gradually came to realise that I was much more into stouts and porters than anything else. My staple was a Shepherd Neame-brewed porter branded as a Sainsburyās special (which I believe they sell to this day - itās a solid choice).
However the true revelation came when I discovered Brewdog. It must have been circa 2008, when I found their Punk IPA, Dead Pony Ale and 5AM Saint beers in the Portswood branch of Waitrose. It seems relatively tame now, but at the time Punk IPAās flavour seemed huge - the likes of which Iād never really encountered before. Although thereās a huge buzz about the company now, they were relative nobodies back then.
My interest in the craft side of beer bubbled along for a while. Went to a couple of local beer fests, popped into Bitter Virtue (a magnificent, all-encompassing beer shop in Southampton) now and againā¦
Then last year, some friends of mine discovered an app called Untappd. The premise is pretty simple - you log beers you drink, give them a score out of 5, maybe add a comment and photo if you feel like it. Plus you can add your friends so you can see what theyāre drinking and thereās the usual gamification features (you earn ābadgesā for trying different types etc.)
Iām not quite sure why the culture has enveloped me to quite the extent that it has; perhaps itās more because of the rise of the craft brewery than anything. Craft beer fests are ten-a-penny now and even most Wetherspoons sell a decent range. Brewdogās bars are generally excellent (and have been a feature of my away days this season!) The Craft Beer Co. bars have more taps than you could possibly get through in an evening. The Leopold Tavern in Southsea is the sole reason Iām happy to ever set foot in Portsmouth.
My top beer styles are now the absolutely extreme ones. 10% (or higher stouts) and sour beers (a style I didnāt even realise existed until 18 months ago) tend to be my favourites. I know Ohio said above that heās fed up of that more-is-better attitude to brewing but it just suits my palate. Soz!
In fact, hereās some of my fave āextremeā types of beer that people rarely seem to know about:
Imperial Russian stouts - a style originally brewed for Russian czars, no less. Regularly above 10% ABV (I have some on my beer shelves that are 16%!) Black as night with roasted, malty and often coffee or chocolatey flavours. Sometimes come barrel-aged (whiskey casks or the like). Unbelievable depths of flavour.
**Sour beers ** - typically Belgian, the most common styles are lambics, gueuzes and Flanders red ales (the latter being almost vinegary). Very much an acquired taste but if you āgetā one or more of the styles, youāll wonder how you lived without them.
**Black IPA ** - American porters can be quite hoppy anyway, so a black IPA is like the halfway house between one of those and your traditional British IPA. Except with everything turned up to 11. An inspired half-breed.
**Smoked beers ** - often harking back to the German rauchbier style, these carry super-roasted flavours. Again, very distinctive but can also be very addictive. At last yearās GB Beer Festival I had a smoked stout that nearly blew my head off.
Hereās my Untappd profile: https://untappd.com/user/amplifiedAnt
Nearly 800 unique beers in under 2 years sounds a bit mad now that I take stock, but hey. The numbers are somewhat inflated by drinking halves or thirds of pints at beer fests. Plus yāknow, Iāve stayed in relatively decent shape and could have been spending the money on worse things Iām sure.
TL;DR, I know a pointless amount about (and drink too much) beer.
1 Like
Not a big drinker as Iām always the driver, (the missus hasnāt driven for 35 years for medical reasons) but do like bitter. If Iām driving I limit myself to 1 pint, depending on the watering-hole, either Ringwood Best or HSB. Sadly nowadays even if Iām not driving I just donāt have the āstomachā for more than a couple of pintsā¦you have to get in training for serious consumption.
However I am particularly partial to a good Cognac and can down large quantities of it without suffering a serious hang-over. Favourites are Remi Martin VSOP and Martel VSOP.
Hot summer afternoons in the gardenā¦wtfā¦cheap fizzy lager stuff from the fridge.
Liar, you were on the pints mid-week with me.
Trying to impress?
2 Likes