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malumbu

malumbu

Posted
Posted

OK so I don't know what craft beer is. And I have discussed this and read up on the subject.


If I go to Belgium I can have wonderful Trappist beer, K?lsch in Cologne, Weisse beer in Munchen, blonde beer in the Alsace. And Czech Pilsner. All very enjoyable. And I love my English ales too. Not all of them, but many of them. English brewers helped set-up many of the continental breweries, so it is not a simple bottom-up, bottom down, fermenation divide.


What I have detested for 30 years is the derrivative mass market rubbish that the majority of us drink. But hey that is what capitalism is about. Selling a product. And so onto my original post, if they can persuade the masses that there is a high quality product/brand, which they can charge more for, so much the better for the share holders.


So back to craft ale. I think people are referring to a strong American style IPA that is sold by the bottle or as a fizzy keg. Certainly not what I define as ale, but probably OK on the odd occasion. I was drinking Meantime donkey's years ago before 'craft ale' was invented. And some of the small regional brewers may say 'yep I'll have produce some of that product and have a share in the profits'.


But from the discussion you are also using craft ale to describe the real live cask ale that some of the small brewers produce. And certainly if it comes out of the barrel it will be as such.


Well at no one isn't championing pear raspberry Swedish zyder.


PS Sainsbury's are doing reduced bottled beer at the moment including the lovely St Peters.

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El Pibe

El Pibe

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Yuo're right, I think their is a conflation with craft ale (which was the movement started in the US in the 70s) and real ale (or at leaast micro breweries of any ilk), but that's in part due to the influence of the experimental approach to many of the traditional brewers (see analogy above).


Even St Peter's (lovely stuff) who go to great pains to dissosciate themselves from craftiness, admit they like to mess about with smoked hops, whiskey and sucjlike from time to time.


"What I have detested for 30 years is the derrivative mass market rubbish that the majority of us drink. But hey that is what capitalism is about." The McDonalds effect or Sturgeon's Law!!!

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????

????

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Proper (real) Ale is a live product - craft ale is not by and large. I like them on average but on average they don't have the complexity of a proper ale and so to my oh so sophisticated palate are ultimately not as good, though they largely crap on most shitty lagers
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DaveR

DaveR

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So I thought I'd seriously explore the real ale/craft beer situation by going back to the Rake last Friday, and, as it turned out, drinking far too much. It was all great. Hopstar Lancashire, Brooklyn IPA, some Belgian stuff, and chili plum porter. And various others, and some pork pies. And loads of blokes with beards (ironic and non-ironic) getting on famously, and even some women who didn't look as if they were desperate to escape. Perfect, although I was a little tired and pensive for much of Saturday.
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Jeremy

Jeremy

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"Many of these new ales are CAMRA-approved"... therefore he is mainly talking about real ale, surely? He just comes across as a guy who knows what he likes and likes what he knows. Which is fine, until you try to pass it off as journalism...
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  • 7 months later...
maxxi

maxxi

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Posted

???? Wrote:

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> Old barley wine was very strong and pretty rank



Not if you drank it with blackcurrant (I was in my teens) - it just erased parts of your evening and gave you a vomitous hangover that put you off ribena for life.

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copleston_charlie

copleston_charlie

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Anyone been to the Brick Brewery in Peckham yet? Open on Friday and nights and Saturday from lunchtime. They're own bottled beers, and usually a decent selection of house and guest beers on tap. Had a wonderful porter on last Friday. Right under Peckham Rye station, worth a visit. It's a small local brewer, not sure if this qualifies under the catch-all title of 'craft' though.
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Jeremy

Jeremy

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copleston_charlie Wrote:

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> not sure if this qualifies under the catch-all title of 'craft' though.


It's as good a description as anyway, some of their beers are clearly influenced by that whole scene.


The brewery itself was more of a "destination" back in the summer though - sun shining, pop-up food in the front yard, etc. Not sure I fancy it so much in the winter.

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