Real Ale

caff

caff

caff

Soldato
Joined
8 Feb 2004
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London
Right! After many years of solely drinking lagers I've got a bit bored of 'em.

So I went to the supermarket and have acquired:

1 x Spitfire
1 x Old Speckled Hen (triple something or other)
1 x Bishops Finger

What temperature should I drink these at? The bottles don't say, but I'm guessing slightly above fridge temperature. And do I need a beard to drink these?
 
Ale is normally served around the 10-12 degree mark so just leave them out side a high window if you can, too cold ruins the flavour, too warm makes them too heavy.

I'm not a real ale drinker but its normally people who are very anal who drink them, and will slate anything which isnt real ale, I say drink what you want and get on with it.

KaHn
 
caff said:
Right! After many years of solely drinking lagers I've got a bit bored of 'em.

So I went to the supermarket and have acquired:
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Good man. Welcome to the ability to actually taste and enjoy beer.

What temperature should I drink these at?
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The colder your drink is, the more flavour it loses. I like my beer at just below room temperature.

And do I need a beard to drink these?
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Absolutely. Pics required as evidence.
 
May I also recommend: Goliaths, Bishops Neame, Black Sheep, Fursty Ferret, Golden Sheep, Woodfords Werry, Abbots Ale, Everard's Tiger, Tanglefoot, Ruddles County, amongst others. :)

No beard required.
 
Once you've weaned off the baby juice you can then look at some fine european beers.

Highly recomended is Chimmay Bleu, Rochefort, Kasteel, Leffe tripple, etc.
 
Hobgoblin every time :) You'll love it. Not very keen on any of the ones you've picked, bishops finger is ok.
 
caff said:
Right! After many years of solely drinking lagers I've got a bit bored of 'em.

So I went to the supermarket and have acquired:

1 x Spitfire
1 x Old Speckled Hen (triple something or other)
1 x Bishops Finger

What temperature should I drink these at? The bottles don't say, but I'm guessing slightly above fridge temperature. And do I need a beard to drink these?
Click to expand...

I keep mine in the cupboard, and just pop them in the fridge for 10 mins before drinking.

Nice first choices, also try London Pride and Black Sheep. You can find them in most supermarkets.
 
anything from the hogs back brewery is worth a punt (if you can find it)

one thing to watch with ales is ones that are "bottle condisioned" means they have sediment in them.

and if you pour that into your glass it wil taste 'orrible.

and no beard is required.

and no people that drink ales are not all anal.
I have a couple of lagers at the weekend to make a change (and they had no ale in the pub)
 
Just below room temp. If you can't manage that (a fridge would be too cold), then don't bother, it'll ruin the beer. If you went into a pub and got a pint, it wouldn't be chilled below cellar temp (basically room temp). Chilling beer is for lager nancys ;).
 
I actually prefer my ale colder. Not super chilled like nasty lager, but I find it's much more refreshing that way. I hope you enjoy them, you've not picked anything which is going to set your world on fire, but they're pretty standard bitters. Good luck with the conversion!
 
Ok I popped a bottle of Bishops Finger in the fridge for 10 mins while dinner cooked.

Cracked open. At first it tasted a bit nutty, boring, less gassy than I'm used to, but not an unpleasant flavour. Not as refreshing as a cold lager, seemed like a good drink to go with a sunday roast.

The more I've drunk, the more it's appealing to me. Almost finished the glass now, and the flavour has really grown on me. Looking forward to trying a few other varieties. I've noticed I've also got a bottle of Breakspear tripe something or other that looks quite tasty, the Old Speckled Hen seem's to be normal variety.

D.P. - you mentioned Leffe, which I loved when I was in Belgium. Are the others (Chimmay Bleu, Rochefort, Kasteel) similar to this?
 
Quote from CAMRA:

Real ale is served at cellar temperature .... C (54-57 F), which is somewhat cooler than room temperature. If real ale is too warm it is not appetizing, it loses its natural conditioning (the liveliness of the beer due to the dissolved carbon dioxide).
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Of course it's fairly typical that CAMRA would use units that were old-fashioned a hundred years ago...


Personally I'd call that too cold - I prefer about 15-18oC. The upper end of the range given by CAMRA is about 14oC.


M
 
Since I live about 5 mins drive or 20 mins staggering time from the Badger Brewery in Blandford I have to vote for anything Badger. That being Badger Best, tanglefoot, golden glory, fursty ferret etc. Golden Glory is my favorite it has a almost fruity flavor to it. My preference is to drink ale at just less than room temp. rather room temp than chilled in the fridge or you dont get the nice bitter taste. Hobgoblin is a great one also as is Theakstons Old Peculiar. Anyone can drink larger. A real man drinks ale.

clicky clicky all you larger drinkers
 
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