The Wine & Whisky Thread

[Beechwoods]

I will keep an eye out for that. There's one other Czech black lager I like - by the Pivovar Herold Březnice brewery. Tesco sell it. Nice when I fancy something dark and smooth...

[Steve Toy]

I doubt you'll find the Martinsky pivo in the UK. I lived in Slovakia back in '94 and this was when I tried it - in Martin. It wasn't even widely available elsewhere in the Czech/Slovak republics.

Herold black is rather nice, come to think of it, and used to be on sale in Wetherspooons. The pilsner version is also rather refreshing.

Don't be put off decent pils type beers - with your eyes closed they taste like proper beer, unlike Stella Fartois. The Czech pilsners have a very distinct tangy hop aroma, all of them. In a blind sniff test I can definitely tell if a beer is Czech.

German beers vary widely despite the fact they are all brewed to reinheitsgebot purity (water, malt, yeast and hops only). Some are dry and crisp, some are quite bland (Karlsberg Urpils from Saarland being a prime example), some are distinctly yeasty - Bitburger. The very best to my tastes are malty with a bitter/sweet aftertaste like Bischoff from Winweiler in Reinland Pfalz or the southern beers in general from the Stuttgart and Munich areas.

Spaten Pils from Munich available from all Aldi stores is rather good too at £1.19 a 500ml bottle. The East German Wernesgruner also available from Aldi is also distinctive although such bottled versions do er on the side of being overly rich. Occasionally the 5 litre kegs for a tenner are to be snapped up.

Then there are the wheat beers. All are pleasnt with the exception of Erdinger - the most widely available which is overly smooth, sweet and slightly sickly. The better ones have more bite with a citrus/bitter finish. Franziskaner is probably my favourite.

[Filterlab]

It never fails to amaze me that when I state that my favourite lager is Stella, everyone assumes I've never drunk anything else! I've been right across Europe, from Czechoslovakia to Germany and sampled more beers and lagers than I care to remember, I've sampled so many ales that I'm surprised my urine isn't brown (I grew up in Norfolk remember) and I've sunk many odd concoctions that only barely resemble something fit for human consumption.

But, with all that drinking and sampling, I like nothing more than a cold bottle of Stella or ten. Just my preference.

[Steve Toy]

Fair enough. Have you also tried Maas, Jupiler and Loburg from Belgium? They are all on a par with Stella although my preference leans towards Jupiler.

[Marco]

I think that whilst Rob obviously knows what he likes and has sampled many examples of the breed at some stage in his beer drinking life, Steve is ultimately the lager/beer connoisseur amongst us

There's nothing wrong with enjoying Stella, though, if that's what hits the spot!

Marco.

[Beechwoods]

Steve definitely knows his beer, you're right there. So where's the best ever pub for real ale, or the most interesting, at least

[anthonyTD]

Steve definitely knows his beer, you're right there. So where's the best ever pub for real ale, or the most interesting, at least

beechy,
how's your head after that strong ale you were sampling earlier on in this thread!

[Beechwoods]

Oooh I've had practice enough so I don't get headaches at least I like to pace myself

[anthonyTD]

Oooh I've had practice enough so I don't get headaches at least I like to pace myself

[shuggz]

Beers to try

Punk IPA - brewdog company - tescos
Helter skelter - Oakham brewery
Atiila - Okham brewery (I think, couldn't focus)
Jaipur - Thornbridge Brewery
Supreme - Nottingham brewery
Nirvana - no idea if someone finds out let me know
Timothy Taylors Landlord
Blue Monkey - some mob in the wilds of Derbyshire
Bishops farewell - Oakham Brewery

Ciders

Moonshine - some crazy hick in Cornwall