Is it true that the English like warm, flat beer?

[ShiftingGears]

Or is this just a baseless stereotype? I cannot understand what the appeal in it could possibly be.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Not really. The most popular beers in pubs are lagers such Fosters, Carlsberg, Heineken, Budweiser, Carling etc But we also have traditional English Ale or Bitter which I love. Typically they aren't served as chilled as lager is, but they certainly aren't warm, and they aren't as fizzy or gassy as lager. If anything they are more like Guinness.

[Donney]

I have to say I love Ales and there's nothing flat or especially warm about them.

[MrJan]

We drink ale which can be extremely varied and tastes nothing like beer. Some types of ale are flat but any others aren't, and almost all of them make VB taste like pish.

Personally I prefer cold beer with a bit of fizz but you can taste the flavour more if it's not chilled (when people say warm beer that doesn't mean that we heat it up, just that the cask isn't chilled like with lager).

[Sonic]

Mmmmm, warm beer!

Not really - can't think of much worse!

I think a lot of the stereotype developed in WWII when the US troops came over and found a Britain on rationing and unable to provide chilled beers the Stateside troops were used to. At least that's what I was told - strangely enough, in a pub!

[Dave B]

If we're talking sterotypes then teenagers have a tendancy to drink tasteless Australian or American p---water, while your older flat-capped type prefers a real ale.

I, as an in-betweener, have moved on to wine :D

[Eki]

It must be true, because it was in an Asterix book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_in_Britain

[Brown, Jon Brow]

If we're talking sterotypes then teenagers have a tendancy to drink tasteless Australian or American p---water, while your older flat-capped type prefers a real ale.

I, as an in-betweener, have moved on to wine :D

I'm a flat capped old type? :( That said I don't end a night without a barrel full of Tequila Slammers, Jagemeister and Alcopops.

Wine doesn't agree with me because I just think it tastes of vinegar and it gives you a crushing headache the next morning.

[Eki]

I'm a flat capped old type? :(

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/12/19/article-1097919-02D94D0D000005DC-580_224x376.jpg

[Brown, Jon Brow]

It must be true, because it was in an Asterix book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_in_Britain

My experience with Scandinavians in Britain is that they love the traditional English Ales. (I'm including Finland in Scandinavia ;) )

[Eki]

My experience with Scandinavians in Britain is that they love the traditional English Ales. (I'm including Finland in Scandinavia ;) )
I for one do, but I also like stout, bitter, port, pilsner and lager.

[MrJan]

I for one do, but I also like stout, bitter, port, pilsner and lager.

As do most Finns, you're all a bunch of pissheads really :p : :D

[Dave B]

Wine doesn't agree with me because I just think it tastes of vinegar and it gives you a crushing headache the next morning.
Bad wine does, but good wine doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. I'm quite happily sitting here getting sloshed on some rather splendid Chilean Syrah which was under a fiver from Tesco online.

[MrJan]

Bad wine does, but good wine doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. I'm quite happily sitting here getting sloshed on some rather splendid Chilean Syrah which was under a fiver from Tesco online.

Depends on what you like. I've had supposedly good wines and just thought that they tasted awful.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Bad wine does, but good wine doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. I'm quite happily sitting here getting sloshed on some rather splendid Chilean Syrah which was under a fiver from Tesco online.
I found since I started drinking wine on occasion, the trick has always been to drink good quality wine.

As for the taste, the trick to drinking wine and appeciating the flavour is to sip and let the front of the tongue taste it first. Don't take a mouth full and swish it about. Let the palate greet the wine (or some such rot I was told).

I don't mind it, but as for beer..well I love a pint of Guinness, and I do tend to jump back and forth between lagers and ales depending on my mood, and if I am out side in the sun, or in a pub with plate of buffalo wings or a meal. I usually don't have beer WITH most food except the wings or just an appetizer, but that is me.

Warm beer? Isn't that because the English had Lucas refridgerators? That was the running joke among sportscar racing types who had to deal with Lucas electrics on old Sprites, MG's and the like....

[edv]

I recall when I lived in Bogota, you could go to the Burger King and get a beer with your Whopper...a warm Clausen...ugh. They'd offer a glass with ice if you figured you'd need it.

[Blancvino]

I like English style ales over all other beers. I do not drink the crap brewed by Budweiser, Miller, Coors, Etc. Samuel Adams, New Belgan, and some local brew pubs put out some fine malted beverages!

I am so glad that good beer has come to America.

[ShiftingGears]

We drink ale which can be extremely varied and tastes nothing like beer. Some types of ale are flat but any others aren't, and almost all of them make VB taste like pish.

VB is awful stuff.

[Valve Bounce]

In episode 10, first season of The Wire, Kema drinks Fosters beer.

[Eki]

VB is awful stuff.
Valve Bounce, theugsquirrel just insulted you.

[Rollo]

The average temperature at which most tap beer in Australia is served at is 4°C, whereas in the UK it is 8°C. Also, England tends tp produce more ales, and bitters as opposed to the most popular beers in Australia being Toohey's New, XXXX, Swan and Victoria Bitter which are technically all lagers (yes, Victoria Bitter is not actually a bitter); consequently Australian beers are fizzier and on the whole because they are served at a lower temperature are able to contain more dissolved gas.

So in answer to your question:

Or is this just a baseless stereotype?

Compared to Australian beer, then yes on the whole the English do like warm, flat beer. Also, on average English beer takes 11 weeks to go from inception to sale, whereas in the major breweries in Australia do it in about 6.
Compared to the English, Australians buy colder, fizzier, and most importantly worse quality beer.

[raybak]

Do people still drink VB? Should be drinking a Blue Tongue or maybe even a Crackenback :) Although now that Coke have taken over Blue Tongue will just stick with the Crackenback.

Ray

[Camelopard]

If I have to drink Australian beer it will be Coopers, otherwise it's all Czech and German for me.

[harvick#1]

I've almost stopped with beer,

if I have any its Budweiser or Sam Adams.


I mainly drink Whiskey, nothing like some Crown Royal on the rocks with a splash of coke :facelick:

[Valve Bounce]

I prefer wine these days. Just bought some Gotham Shiraz - it is superb. Another Shiraz I like is Viking - the grapes come from vines that used to be sourced for The Grange.

[Mark in Oshawa]

It is amazing, most countries take great pride in their beer...and like to cut up the beer of other nations. It is a national pride thing I guess. Here, we love to pick on American beers, but about 20 years ago Budweiser and Coor's Light became brewed in Canada under license and all the sudden were a big deal. Of course, they were brewed as Canadian beers with the marginallly higher punch, and after drinking the original's in the US, I realized very quickly there were NOT the same.

If I go outside of the Canadian beers I drink (Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale, or Keith's Red Amber, Moosehead Lager) then I will drink Guinness, Harp lager, Stella Artois, or if I am in the US, I enjoy Sam Adams Ale, or a Rolling Rock. It is my hope though that one day I go to Europe and drink up some good German stuff like St. Pauli Girl, or some of the wheat beers I have found on occasion from Bavaria. Really, I haven't seen a nation yet that cannot produce a good beer, although I put Red Stripe down as one I wont try again.....

[MrJan]

It is amazing, most countries take great pride in their beer...and like to cut up the beer of other nations. It is a national pride thing I guess. Here, we love to pick on American beers, but about 20 years ago Budweiser and Coor's Light became brewed in Canada under license and all the sudden were a big deal. Of course, they were brewed as Canadian beers with the marginallly higher punch, and after drinking the original's in the US, I realized very quickly there were NOT the same.

I guess you stick with what you're used to. Although I'll pretty much drink anything except Coors or Bud, not because they're American but because they lack any real taste.

When I was in Canada I quite enjoyed Lakeport Honey (even if it is bottom of the range, cheap stuff)

[AndyRAC]

What's so good about weak, fizzy lager? As far as I'm concerned, beer is real ale - you can't beat it. And going to a 'proper pub' were they serve real ale - as recommended by CAMRA - they're normally good places to go without the 'lager louts' - just people who enjoy a proper drink. And I still class myself as a youngster.....

[Mark in Oshawa]

I guess you stick with what you're used to. Although I'll pretty much drink anything except Coors or Bud, not because they're American but because they lack any real taste.

When I was in Canada I quite enjoyed Lakeport Honey (even if it is bottom of the range, cheap stuff)

When I was a dues paying Teamster, I used to drink more Lakeport product since my local looked after the Lakeport brewery in Hamilton ON. They were later sold to the Labatt's/Interbrew monster and some of the independent spirit that created beers like the Lakeport Honey is lost. My dad still drinks Lakeport. I don't mind it, but have always loved the beers of the Maritimes and Newfoundland for whatever reason, and when Keith's and Moosehead products became available here, I started drinking them more often.

Regional brews such as Kokanee from BC and Keith's from NS have been around a long time, but it is only recently they became national brands as mergers have caused most of the independents to end up as part of larger brewing groups, and the laws on transporting from region to region (protectionist nonsense that didnt' help our brewers in the long run) were changed.

[schmenke]

... Kokanee...

Not much better than Budweiser IMO :s

For Canadian beers I'll usually stick with either Moosehead, Alexander Keiths or lately Rickards Red.

For imports, I enjoy Kilkenny (not too chilled), Stell Artois, Harps, etc.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Not much better than Budweiser IMO :s

For Canadian beers I'll usually stick with either Moosehead, Alexander Keiths or lately Rickards Red.

For imports, I enjoy Kilkenny (not too chilled), Stell Artois, Harps, etc.

I agree with your Kokanee assessment but then I would talk to guys from BC and they swear by it. I don't get it either Schmenke.

As for your Rickards choice, I find it is ok, but it isn't in the same class as the Amber Red from Keith's...

[Mark]

if you walked into a pub in Glasgow they'd punch your lights out

I've fixed your post for you :D

[Mark in Oshawa]

Sadly they sell Budweiser over here too.. :p Too gassy for me and lacks taste. Reminds me abit of Castlemaine XXXX.

I fear if you walked into a pub in Glasgow and asked for a Crown Royal with coke, they'd probably look out you like you had two heads, and then punch your lights out once they realised you ruined whisky by putting coke in it.. :laugh:

Henner, Crown and coke is common in North America. It isn't Scotch, it is a Rye whiskey so it is accepted, but not always tolerated...lol.