So as I'd touched on briefly in an earlier entry, some labels contain sensory information about the beer that is more reminiscent of wines. The Badger brewery does this quite effectively. Here is their Golden Champion Ale. Very decent, but not mind-blowing. I do like how the label describes this beer as "summer in a glass" -- small consolation to those of us consuming this in October. Also, this beer is apparently the "perfect compliment to BBQs and salads" -- wait, is this an American beer?
The Butcombe label is pretty popular here, as it is made locally in Bristol (this is the first local beer, to my knowlegde, that I've had). It can be found on tap in many places, and it consists of two varieties: Gold, and Blond. This Gold was very good. The label is great -- there's a hot-air ballon on the front (Bristol is famous for its Balloon Fiesta), and on the back, it touts itself as "the perfect beer for drinkers and diners alike". Nice. Also, the instructions say to SERVE COOL NOT COLD. Interesting. Anyways, this was rich and great tasting. So I'll have to try the Blond soon.
I've had Bombardier at home once (although I can't recall where or when), as it was not completely unfamiliar to me. I even remember liking it. This stuff did not disappoint. I think I liked the premium bitter (brown bottle) better than the burning gold, but they were both memorable. This stuff ranks up there with the Spitfire and the Bishop's Finger as the best I've tried over here. Made by Wells, brewers since 1876, the label proclaims the contents of the bottle to be the "drink of England".
Followed up Brahma with this Portuguese beer. I liked this one even better. Dark, cold, and bitter, it was a great way to wrap up the meal. Will get back to British beers soon!
I had this one at lunch at a place called Nando's. It's a chain of Portuguese chicken restaurants that remind me of Cha Cha Chicken back home. They make their own hot sauce called Peri-Peri, which is very spicy and delicious. It's a very American-friendly place, as they have a self-serve soda fountain complete with an ice machine, which is unheard of at pretty much every other restaurant in England. Nobody gives free refills (are you crazy??), and ice is very hard to come by. Anyways, this beer was very cold and tasty -- a perfect lunchtime brew. It reminded me a little of MGD, which I mean in a good way. Sometimes you don't want your beer to get in the way of your food. From Brazil; I believe I have a can or two of this in my collection.
This is what bangers and mash looks like. It's essentially Cumberland Sausage and mashed potatoes. The Yorkshire Pudding is like a bready crust which is extremely good. Hot, crunchy, and flaky without being bisquity or greasy, if someone can figure out how to make pizza crust out of this, they'd be rich. Of course, most British meals are served with peas. This picture may not look that appetizing, but it was amazingly good.
The night after Dennis and I went out, his Aardman coworkers (including me) decided to take him to lunch for his last day at work. Still reeling from the awesome meal we'd had the night before, we sought to recreate it by repeating it. Yes, we all went back to the Llandoger Trow and had the bangers and mash in the Yorkshire Pudding (kinda like getting the clam chowder at the Fisherman's Wharf in SanFran in the sourdough bowl). Everything was the same as it had been the night before, except . . . the Spitfire Ale was unavailable. Apparently, as I understood it from the barely over 20 barkeep, the keg had run out last night and had to be changed, and once a keg is changed, it has to 'settle' for 36 hours (can that be right??) before being served. Anyways, we had to opt for the Tetley pure flow, which was served cold from the pull tap. I've had Tetley at home, and had wanted to give it a try over here, but I'll have to devote more time to focus on this one. For now, it was good and did the job. Above, a thirsty Dennis holds up his pint-o-gold, and dreams of returning home, while an equally thirsty Dave Satchwell looks on.
I'm typically not a big fan of beer in cans. It's a pretty good way to take a great beer and make it suck. I generally love Carlsberg from the green bottle: mellow, rich, with that wonderful skunky aroma when you pass that long neck under your nose. From the can, it's nothing like that. So why did I buy it, you ask. Well the answer is complicated. In England, the good English beers are generally sold warm on the shelves of grocery stores. Kinda reminds me of Canada that way -- you have to take it home and chill it to enjoy it -- probably prevents certain types of obnoxious public behavior. (Speaking of which, check this guy out if you haven't already seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKeooubslwk ). On the other hand, there are certain stores that sell cold beer, but they generally sell beer in cans, and it's typically from outside the UK (hence Carlsberg). So if you're throwing a party (or are in the middle of a party), and you need to get cold beer in a hurry, it probably won't be something very good. Perhaps this is also done so as not to compete with the many pubs (that sell local brews) which dot the city landscape. At any rate, in my quest to try everything beer-related (both good and bad), and because I hadn't planned ahead to have any British beers chillin' in my fridge, I decided to give Carlsberg in cans a try. I could taste the good, familiar beer that I've liked for 2 decades trying to break free from its aluminum shackles, but it just wasn't working. Better than Meister-Brau, but hey, what isn't?
Here is another from Marston's (there may be a dozen or so varieties). The great thing about bottled beer here in England is that for the most part, they're sold as singles (the six-pack exists somewhat for cans, but bottles are generally sold loose), which means that random sampling is easily facilitated. This one was OK, but it did not leave a lasting impression.
Another selection from the Marston family, this was a pretty decent stout. I'm typically reluctant to try a stout these days that doesn't have a draughtflow widget in it, but this one was very smooth. It says on the back of the label that it goes well with oysters, but my friend and fellow beer appreciator Jeff Dillinger may have told me that some of these stouts are actually made with ground oyster shells. Jeff, can you weigh in on this?
So I saw this cute little bottle of Bud (had to be around 8oz.) and knowing I had to try it sooner or later, I went for it. It's definitely better than the Bud at home. My comments are roughly the same as what I said about the Heineken -- dryer, less sweet, a little more alcohol taste. In the end, there was still that Budweiser undertaste, so it was not a great beer, but we're definitely showing a better side of America to Europe. Incidentally, notice the white caulk line in the background of this pic (where the shelf meets the wall). The Brits love caulk! Every corner and seam of both of the flats we've stayed in are coated in caulk.
I don't recall being too impressed by this one, but it wasn't that bad, either. It's one from the Badger family. It's another brand, like Marston's (see previous entry), which has many different varieties under its umbrella -- some great, some just OK. I was attracted to the description on the label, which says "delicate floral peach & melon aroma", in the hopes that it would be reminiscent of my precious Racer5. While these notes were detectable, I wasn't blown away.
This poufy little beer is for milquetoasts. With an alcohol content of 3.8%, it ranks only slightly higher than Diet Coke. Imagine 6oz. of your favorite beer . . . now add 6 oz. of water -- you get the picture. I wanted to pour this one out, too, but I didn't want to waste water. It is made by Marston's, however -- a respectable name that will come up again in the future.
This Innis & Gunn is a Scottish beer, and I should have remembered from my early beer-drinking years, where my motto was "the harder it is to drink, the better", that Scottish beers can be among the toughest to take. This one tasted like an inverse boiler-maker, that is, a pint of bourbon into which a shotglass of beer was dropped. Totally unexpected, and too hard to take. I poured the last half of it down the drain. Yeesh.
There's really no incentive for me to drink Heineken at home, as it reminds me of every bad wedding reception or airport lounge I've been to: "Oh sure, we have imports -- Heineken, Amstel Light, and Corona . . . " But after the good experience I had with the Stella, I thought I'd give this one a shot and see if it, too, was better abroad. Yep. It just has a more European taste -- dryer, less sweet, a little more alcoholy. A decent brew.
So I had the Guinness Extra Cold, and it was pretty much the same as the pint I had back at my first pub lunch. I'm beginning to think maybe I was mistaken, and that all Guinness is served extra cold, which basically means normal cold by American standards. It was a great pint, but again, roughly the same as what we get on tap back home.
So I tried this one in the draughtflow can. It's indistinguishable from the Guinness in cans back home (although I do like the creamy head indicated at the top -- not sure if we have that on our cans). I keep hearing about how good the Guinness is in Ireland (apparently they keep the best for themselves -- we'll definitely plan a trip there), but so far in England, it's basically the same as what we've got.
This one is definietely just as blah as the Newcastle back home. This has always been a disappointing beer for me. Considering its dark, rich color, it has none of the complexity you'd expect. Such a disappointing finish. Well, it's no different over here. Skip this one.