Beer - Would you like to taste it Sir?

[Mick Mac]

I have a friend who has taken to asking to taste the choice of beers, before ordering a pint.....

Amazingly all ED barstaff seem to be up for giving him tasters of several beers.

I mean really. I mean, just buy a pint and if you don't like it, then drink it and try a different one next time.

When did people start getting snobby about a pint of beer? Jeez.

[Jah Lush]

What's wrong with that? Nothing snobby about it at all. Why waste your money on something you don't like? It's quite common in a free house, pubs that sell real ale and change their selections every week. Hoopers, The Plough and The Dog lets you do this and it's nice to be able to taste before you buy and not get something you won't enjoy. Who wants to drink something they don't like? Now, does that make sense or what? Next!

[Mick Mac]

"Beer Hedging" I'll call it from now on.

[felt-tip]

Especially with real ale when there may be peculiar, seasonal tipples on offer - and alot rides on how the beer is kept. It would be a bit weird if your mate was asking to test the Fosters.

[Annette Curtain]

Oh Mic Mac, you've outed yourself now ( as a lager/stout swilling oaf )

Back to school, this practice is eons old.

3/10 (td)A.

[Jeremy]

If someone asked to taste the Fosters or Stella, I'd find it rather strange. But ales which you might not have tried before... seems fair enough. The cost to the pub is negligible, especially if it's a quiet evening.

[Emerson Crane]

This is common practice for ale drinkers and has been going on for a few years. Its not snobbery, why should you waste money on a pint you might dislike? Makes sense to me.

[Narnia]

Does one spit or swallow?

[Mick Mac]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> What's wrong with that? Nothing snobby about it at

> all. Why waste your money on something you don't

> like? It's quite common in a free house, pubs that

> sell real ale and change their selections every

> week. Hoopers, The Plough and The Dog lets you do

> this and it's nice to be able to taste before you

> buy and not get something you won't enjoy. Who

> wants to drink something they don't like? Now,

> does that make sense or what? Next!

Thats makes perfect sense Jah. But of course I knew all of that already.

[Emerson Crane]

Narnia Wrote:

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> Does one spit or swallow?

We have no wish to know about your private peccadillos thank you.

['bout now]

I'm guessing by the scattergun arrival of three new threads within 30 or so minutes that MM had eschewed the taster in favour of a more headfirst approach.

[steveo]

My uncle Withnail always boasted that by this method he could get half cut before parting with a shilling

[Brendan]

Will they let me taste the wiskeys though?

Will they buggery.

[????]

No. Buggery isn't allowed in most pubs.

[felt-tip]

most good places would probably let you sniff the whiskey though

[louisiana]

Common practice in old country pubs more than in urban trendy ones. Try before you buy. Ales do taste very different from each other.

[Emerson Crane]

???? Wrote:

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> No. Buggery isn't allowed in most pubs.

:)

[Brendan]

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> No. Buggery isn't allowed in most pubs.

Really? I've never seen any signs.

[Emerson Crane]

Brendan Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> ???? Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > No. Buggery isn't allowed in most pubs.

>

> Really? I've never seen any signs.

Does that mean you've seen people actively engaged in such acts, as a result of an absence of signs prohibiting such behaviour?

[Mick Mac]

'bout now Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm guessing by the scattergun arrival of three

> new threads within 30 or so minutes that MM had

> eschewed the taster in favour of a more headfirst

> approach.

My wife was out and I wanted someone to talk to me.

[????]

Why weren't you cooking?

[Brendan]

Emerson Crane Wrote:

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> Does that mean you've seen people actively engaged

> in such acts, as a result of an absence of signs

> prohibiting such behaviour?

No, not as such. Only that any prohibition, if indeed there is any, is not explicitly communicated so a reasonable person could be forgiven for assuming it is acceptable.

I mean the least they could do is hang a sign behind the bar saying ?Buggery is verboten!? or somesuch so that if there is a bit of a kerfuffle and the landlord does have to employ his stout stick and a bucket of water he can point to it and say, ?you were asked nicely.?

Bastards!

[KidKruger]

I think given that beer can be around the ?4 mark it's not cheeky or snobby at all.

[Emerson Crane]

Brendan Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Emerson Crane Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Does that mean you've seen people actively

> engaged

> > in such acts, as a result of an absence of

> signs

> > prohibiting such behaviour?

>

> No, not as such. Only that any prohibition, if

> indeed there is any, is not explicitly

> communicated so a reasonable person could be

> forgiven for assuming it is acceptable.

>

> I mean the least they could do is hang a sign

> behind the bar saying ?Buggery is verboten!? or

> somesuch so that if there is a bit of a kerfuffle

> and the landlord does have to employ his stout

> stick and a bucket of water he can point to it and

> say, ?you were asked nicely.?

>

> Bastards!

See what you're saying, but you wouldn't be stupid enough to poke yourself in the eye with a snooker cue and then claim you did so because there wasn't notice provided when you purchased it saying not to.

[Brendan]

Yeah but you are allowed to poke yourself in the eye with a snooker cue in most pubs. It isn't very sensible I grant you but it isn't against the rules.

Or is it?

What sort of snooker cue we talking here anyway. Have you brought your own in a little leather bag which you screw together or is it the one you had to leave a fiver deposit for behind the bar? And very few pubs have snooker tables anyway. It's pool or nowt mostly. Are you in the Gowlett. Did you put chilli oil on your diablo?

All in all, as you can see, it really isn't such a cut and dried issue.