craft beer

[Draft House LL]

Afternoon Ladies and Gents

Having a little gathering at Draft House tonight to get views and feedback its kicking off at 7 P.M and would be lovely to see you there. I will be giving away some beer and food from our new menu this evening as well. . . . .

Cheers

David

[simonethebeaver]

Resuscitating for help. A staple of 'im indoors' Christmas stocking has been a bottle of Durham Brewery Temptation from Green and Blue. Does anyone know of other local stockists now G&B are no more? I'd forgotten about it till now. Online delivery prices are punishing for a single bottle.

[david_carnell]

Two new local craft breweries:

http://www.brickbrewery.co.uk/

http://www.clarkshaws.co.uk/

[ellieaness]

I don't know if they stock this particular brand but Mr Lawrence nr Crofton Park station has an smacking selection of genuine small scale London breweries (and further afield).

You can order online and collect from the bar now that the shop is closed.

[MrBen]

Just to say...I found some excellent imported rarer US ales/beers in Bambuni on Saturday. I can see me going back in there with beard and a big bobbly woollen jumper to buy more....

Edit to add: didn't discuss laptops whilst I was there.

[malumbu]

Emperor's new clothes, that is capitalism for you, sell you product that you never knew you needed at a premium

First it was Watneys Red Barrel

Then it was Skol/Carling whatever

Then Oirish red ale

Then SE Australian Shiraz (zzz)

Then alcopops

Then bottled beer with a lime it it (we used to call in lager and lime)

And then Belgium/Swedish/Oirish cider, cider and some sort of rasberry jam and worse still perry relabeled as pear cider for some of you morons!

Always thought 'real ale' was an odd name but wtf doew 'craft ale' mean, apart from an exucse to brew over-flavoured ales that make American beers appear subtle, and Belgium beers weak.

And I do read and take note of the argument.

And Mr Lawrences was superb even before talk of this nonsense.

Lecture over, you have been told, now sort yourselves out. I anticipate a rush of PMs thanking me for helping you see the light. Try the Oakham Ales, and if you can't manage the Market Porter because it is too trendy nowadays, go over to the White Horse at Parsons Green. And of course the best pub in SE London/London/England/the UK/the world, the Blythe.

[Jeremy]

I'm not sure malumbu... I really like the intense hoppy American-style ales, which seem to be the predominant style in this whole craft beer thing. I don't recall ever tasting anything similar until around 10 years ago, so not sure how it's "emperor's new clothes".

Incidentally, Oakham produce bottle-conditioned and keg craft beer as well as real ale...

[BrandNewGuy]

Nipped into Flying Pig for a couple of pints last night. Late Knights' lovely Great Exhibition ale for ?3.50 a pint. And a strong, amazingly tasty ginger black saison from By The Horns for ?2.50 a half. Money well spent IMHO and for two beers of a style (and possibly quality) almost unheard of before a few years ago.

[numbers]

what did you find in bambini mr ben?

have you finished reading through all those thank-you PM's yet malumbu?

what a shame about the demise of draft house on LL. what with the fabulous gowlett and il mirto pizzas, I can't see much to celebrate about it becoming a pizza place.

[Jah Lush]

Can someone please tell me the difference between craft beer and real ale?

Before you even think about it 50p is not the correct answer by the way.

[StraferJack]

Gowlett doing just fine since a pub opened next door. I wouldn't worry about it and Franco manca

Draft house idea is alive and well in flying pig. Beer wise it's doing MUCH better than draft house ever did

The location won't work as a pub/bar so a pizza joint will be just fine and dandy

Have a pint of team ale, the try a pint if craft ale (joker is my favourite). You'll see the difference. Bluntly and somewhat immaculately, craft ale is like a half way house between lager and ales

[Jah Lush]

Hmmmmmmm. Gimme real ale over the crafty stuff then.

[titch juicy]

Real Ale- mostly traditional British style beers.

Craft Ale- coverall term used in relation to small, sometimes tiny independent breweries producing artisan beers in many different styles

Or summink

[Jeremy]

StraferJack Wrote:

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

> Bluntly and somewhat immaculately,

> craft ale is like a half way house between lager

> and ales

I think that's a fair comment... the main difference seems to be that craft beer tends to be from kegs (like lager), real ale is cask. Craft beers tend to have more strong/distinctive flavour than real ale, and you'll find a much wider variety of styles.

[Jah Lush]

Keg is shit. End of.

[StraferJack]

Not true Jah, not true at all

I also just realised my phone auto corrected an earlier post. Where it says "immaculately" it should say "innacurately"

Doh

[El Pibe]

I think my brain autocorrected that anyway.

Anyone who forswears craft ale (or lager) on any principle other than taste is not exposing the emperor's new clothes, more cutting their nose to spite their face.

I'm bored of saying this, but all it is is about breaking the old rules and traditions and trying new things.

Some work some don't, some are shit, some are mind blowingly delicious.

To draw a parallel, it's done for beer what new world producers have done for wine in the face of much resistance from the fusty old world producers (most of whom have adopted many of their techniques, Rioja has improved dramatically over the last decade) and most particularly, snobs!!!

[StraferJack]

good points well made EP

spoken like a man who hasn't seen anything but Carslberg/Bud/heneken/Guiness in a month mind you, but no less right for that ;-)

[El Pibe]

Having just moved to a place where beer is about 20 years behind, i can tell you how lucky you all are!!!

I just had an attractively presented bottle of irish pale ale, it was like having a can of Bass in the 80s. Yeuch.

My remaining options are a couple of stouts, flourescent ciders or heineken/carlsberg/budweiser.

I .. am ...... in .. beer .... hell!!!!

[El Pibe]

ha ha x post!!!!

[El Pibe]

Aparently there is a nascent craft beer movement here, though sadly nothing nearby. I better get my microbrewery up and running fast so I can get in there at the start.

But roll on saturation!!!

[StraferJack]

I was regular Red Stripe man in London, but the move to craft beers had already started (no small part due to Draft House and Flying Pig)

But now I can barely touch the stuff (or any other mass-market canned lager)

for price and convenience I'll sometimes stick a few stripes in the fridge but they tend to just sit there

[StraferJack]

Down in Cork, quite a few pubs stocked a range of beers from Franciscan Well Brewery and they were not a bad change of pace

I think I read somewhere about them teaming up with/being bought by a conglomerate tho - no idea if that happened

[StraferJack]

wiki has this to say

"Irish craft beer and real ale[edit]

Beginning in the 1990s brewpubs and microbreweries began to emerge. While some, such as the Biddy Early Brewery, Dublin Brewing Company and Dwan's, have since ceased production, the Franciscan Well Brewpub in Cork and Dublin's Porterhouse have both celebrated 10 years in business, while the Hilden Brewery in Lisburn is Ireland's oldest independent brewer, having been established in 1981.[10] Carlow Brewing Company, makers of the O'Hara's range, is another survivor of the first wave of Irish craft brewing.

The second wave began in the mid-2000s and has included the Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne brewery in County Kerry, Hooker brewery, based in Roscommon, Dungarvan Brewing Company, Clanconnel Brewery, Trouble Brewing, Metalman Brewing,[11] The Dingle Brewing Company in County Kerry, Bo Bristle (formerly Breweyed) and Eight Degrees Brewing.

The third wave of Irish craft brewing began in 2013.[12] The surge of new breweries is largely a result of changes in excise requirements, access to LEADER funding,[13] and an increase in brewing education courses run by the government-funded Taste4Success Skillnet.[14] Many third wave brewers are also involved in a professional brewers' association called Beer Ireland which has provided members with networking opportunities and provided information on setting up a brewery.

Going into 2014 there are approximately 50 Irish craft brewing businesses which are either in production or in planning.

The British-based pub chain "J D Wetherspoon" has about 9 outlets in Northern Ireland selling real ale. They plan to open pubs in Cork and Dublin in early 2014"

[El Pibe]

Cheers for that.

O'Hara was the aforementioned ale, so safe to say the first wave was not the best.

I might have to get in touch with Beer Ireland then and make it 51!!