Beer

[french frank]

I was introduced to Bristol Beer Factory's Seven (aka Toga Man) this lunchtime. Very nice warm, malty flavour.

[gurnemanz]

Some members of our choir meet for a drink on a Monday night even during the Summer break when there hasn't been a practice. It was a lovely balmy evening down here in Wilts and I very much enjoyed a pint each of Otter Ale and Bath Gem.

[kernelbogey]

I'm switching more to beer as I increasingly find that ordinary supermarket-purchased wine, especially red, leaves me with poor sleep and/or unpleasant after-effects - and I'm not talking about drinking large quantities.

I believe these after-effects to be due to both the relentless increase in alcohol content to mostly 13-14%, and the effect of sulfites used in production.

Buying more expensive wine - i.e. more than £10/bottle - is one solution. But another is to switch to beer, which seems to leave me with a clearer head.

[teamsaint]

I'm switching more to beer as I increasingly find that ordinary supermarket-purchased wine, especially red, leaves me with poor sleep and/or unpleasant after-effects - and I'm not talking about drinking large quantities.

I believe these after-effects to be due to both the relentless increase in alcohol content to mostly 13-14%, and the effect of sulfites used in production.

Buying more expensive wine - i.e. more than £10/bottle - is one solution. But another is to switch to beer, which seems to leave me with a clearer head.

i agree on both counts KB. There is, I am sure lots of undesirable stuff in cheaper end wine. (throat irritation is another side effect). Wish you could buy decent bottled beer(other than lagers) in 250cl bottles though.

[mangerton]

Wish you could buy decent bottled beer(other than lagers) in 250cl bottles though.

Almost four and half pints? That's a big bottle.

[kernelbogey]

Almost four and half pints? That's a big bottle.

I agree with TS's earlier and, er, metrically more correct post about smaller bottles. Although I have a favourite local, it's about two miles away and I don't always want to make that trek. The standard supermarket beer bottle size seems (as you said, TS) to be 500ml , i.e. about a pint, and that's generally more than I want with a meal at home.

[Keraulophone]

Although my favourite of all has to be Skinners, based in Truro, just down the road from their magnificent Cathedral

...whose choir are to be found imbibing it after Evensong in The Old Ale House. Betty Stoggs is a regular session beer, though Skinners brew Kiddlywink uniquely for the Ale House. A seasonal favourite: Jingle Knockers, a heady brew of Knocker.

After a Prom last week, I was delighted to find many pints of Doom Bar (from Sharp's of Rock, N. Cornwall) being pulled in the Queen's Arms, Kensington: home from home.

[AmpH]

Wish you could buy decent bottled beer(other than lagers) in 250cl bottles though.

Whats this predilection for little 250ml bottles of beer ts ? At less than half a pint thats not enough to wet anyone's whistle surely , let alone appreciate the finer points of a good bottle of beer. I've always thought 500ml ( just under 1 pint ) to be perfect, especially if its a good bottle conditioned ale.

[gurnemanz]

I remember seeing litre bottles of beer on sale at kiosks in Argentina. In Bavaria, of course, you can order, "eine Maß" to get a litre mug.

[teamsaint]

my metric measurements duly corrected (!) I just sometimes want a swig of something on a work night, and don't really want a pint of something strong. (especially at £1.50 a bottle, times being as the are). You can always have 2 or more, and this is usually a good thing....its just me age I suppose !
The lager drinkers seem happy with 250ml bottles !!
Cheers !!

[teamsaint]

I remember seeing litre bottles of beer on sale at kiosks in Argentina. In Bavaria, of course, you can order, "eine Maß" to get a litre mug.

Yup, those litres are fun...need to be on your hols, though....deffo not for school nights !!

[kernelbogey]

my metric measurements duly corrected (!) I just sometimes want a swig of something on a work night, and don't really want a pint of something strong. (especially at £1.50 a bottle, times being as the are). You can always have 2 or more, and this is usually a good thing....its just me age I suppose !
The lager drinkers seem happy with 250ml bottles !!
Cheers !!

As pretty much a direct result of your earlier post, ts, I bought at Sainsbury's yesterday 10x250ml own brand Biere des Flandres, 2.6% ABV. That seems perfect to go with a meal and it worked out at 35p a bottle - equivalent of 70p/pint!

[BBMmk2]

I am not too sure if have mentioned this before but www.onlinebeerfestival.com is a rather good site!!

[teamsaint]

As pretty much a direct result of your earlier post, ts, I bought at Sainsbury's yesterday 10x250ml own brand Biere des Flandres, 2.6% ABV. That seems perfect to go with a meal and it worked out at 35p a bottle - equivalent of 70p/pint!

Oh dear..helping folks down the slippery slope !!Decent quality lagers at about £10 for 10 x 250ml bottles are easy to find in Tesco and Asda too. They do fine, I would just like to buy decent bitter in this format, even for a bit more money.

[Dave2002]

Oh dear..helping folks down the slippery slope !!Decent quality lagers at about £10 for 10 x 250ml bottles are easy to find in Tesco and Asda too. They do fine, I would just like to buy decent bitter in this format, even for a bit more money.

Trouble with the 250ml bottles is that one is often not enough! 330ml is quite a convenient size. Actually we don't drink too much, just a few (250 or330) bottles of beer and maybe one bottle of wine a week. Sometimes we think that the wine bottles are smaller than they used to be!

I agree that smaller bottles of English type beer could be useful, though I doubt that many serious beer drinkers would see it that way.