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2012-10-17 3:55 PM

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Subject: Beers of the UK
I'm headed to England tomorrow and plan on trying some of the local beer while I'm there. What beers can I not leave the country without trying?


2012-10-17 4:48 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Pretty much every pub you go to will have a different selection. Just keep trying the stuff you haven't seen before.
2012-10-17 5:01 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Try the London Pride. And ciders are always a popular choice.
2012-10-17 5:02 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK

ratherbeswimming - 2012-10-17 2:48 PM Pretty much every pub you go to will have a different selection. Just keep trying the stuff you haven't seen before.

Thanks, my wife went last year and she came back talking about Strongbow so I bought it here and was underwhelmed. She did say it tastes better there fresher. To me it tasted like Martinelli's in a can.  

2012-10-17 5:20 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
As mentioned the pubs will all have different brews since the way I understand it is most of them are owned by the breweries.  My wife and I went earlier this year and I had so many different beers I can't remember.  I had to have "badger" brew since everyone knows badgers are bad a$$.  Old Speckled Hen was pretty good. Hobgoblin is good and you can get it here in the US if you find a specialty shop that happens to carry it.  Guinness was slightly different compared to here in the US but maybe I was already drunk.

Edited by csharp1171 2012-10-17 5:21 PM
2012-10-17 5:30 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
I'm looking forward to trying Guinness there. We're going to be in a few different areas so I'll be going to a number of pubs. Lakenheath, Bath, Warwick, London and Bury St. Edmonds or Cambridge.


2012-10-17 7:08 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK

I thought I was crazy when I thought that the Guinness tasted better over there, but then a few people I knew confirmed it.

Actually then confirmed them.  The Guinness does taste better the closer you get to Ireland, and I'm crazy.

2012-10-17 7:34 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Fokker416 - 2012-10-17 7:08 PM

I thought I was crazy when I thought that the Guinness tasted better over there, but then a few people I knew confirmed it.

Actually then confirmed them.  The Guinness does taste better the closer you get to Ireland, and I'm crazy.

 

X2  The Guinness is amazing!!! 

2012-10-17 8:00 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
You'll see a lot of continental European beers on tap. Kronenbourg, Perroni, Stella seem to predominate. The Strongbow and Fullers ciders are also available. In Newcastle (where I work and visit occasionally), Newcastle Brown Ale is considered backwash swill for broken down, low class drunks or cheap beer for college students. Also, the wine selection is quite different than in the US. Largely French wines (no surprise). And don't try to get anything beyond a basic cocktail.
2012-10-18 5:14 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Magners from a bottle poured into a pint glass over ice.  Liquid summer.
2012-10-18 6:07 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Cafrees. Smooth as it gets.


2012-10-18 7:13 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Theakstons old peculiar. Tetleys. Aim for a local pub that sells "real Ales" that are hand pumped. That is proper English beer but be warned it wont be ice cold.
2012-10-18 7:16 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
London Pride, Timothy Taylor's Landlord Bitter, Theakston Best Bitter.  Go to several pubs and each will have a neat selection.  Ask the locals and you can't go wrong.
2012-10-18 7:25 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK

You’ve been given some good advice on what beers to drink.

More importantly is where to drink them.  If you know whereabouts in London you are staying, let me know and I can point you (literally) in the right direction.

Enjoy London, Americans are well liked over here even if we do like to take the mickey out of you.

2012-10-18 11:00 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Boddingtons
2012-10-18 5:05 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK

Every region/sub-region has it's own brewers, and believe it or not, but many UK beers do not travel well, so you'll often find that beers are local.  I'm not a big fan of the large brewers (e.g., Tetley, Bass, John Smith, Wells, Youngs, Fullers, and Theakstons since they got taken over) as I find the beers very watery and tasteless. I tend to prefer small breweries as I think the flavours are much better developed.  There are so many different types of beers - bitters, stouts, porters, IPAs, milds, lagers etc, so it all depends on what you like.

If you can, find a CAMRA listed pub (Campaign for Real Ale) http://www.camra.org.uk/ or better still a local beer festival.  If you can find a pub that serves non-pressurized cask ales, then try one, because you'll either absolutely love it or loathe it.  I happen to love it - slightly warm, not much fizz, but the flavours come charging through and it's a truly amazing experience.  Cambridge has a fair few pubs serving these types of beers.

My favourite UK beers include:

Timothy Taylor Landlord (gorgeous).

Adnams Broadside.

Woodfordes Norfolk Wherry (a multiple award winning bitter, and rightly so) and their dark ale, Nelsons Revenge, is pretty good too.

Hall and Woodhouse Badgers Golden Champion (I've never found it on tap, but it's good in the bottles).

Greene King Abbott Ale.

I love ciders, but I find most of the US "hard ciders" are just way way too sweet, and I hate Strongbow for the very same reason.  I like Symonds Scrumpy Jack, a sparkling cider that is fairly dry but has a big hit of apples and is available in many pubs.  I've fairly recently discovered Crispin cider imported into the US - the stuff in the cans is pretty good, but the bottled ones are way too sweet for me.  You can also try real scrumpy cider, flat, slightly cloudy with an amazing taste.  However, I will not be held responsible for any hangovers you may incur - you have been warned 

Have fun and I'm very jealous.  I was hoping to get back to the UK for Christmas/New Year this year to visit family and friends (and pubs too!), but alas the boss and work has got in the way (again)

 

 



2012-10-18 7:16 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
wartho - 2012-10-18 5:05 PM

My favourite UK beers include:

Timothy Taylor Landlord (gorgeous).

TRUTH!

I have been to London once, for work, 4 days/3 nights and I did some damage.  Tried a lot of beers, but my last night there, I was in the Wellington Pub on the Strand and drank my fill of this. 

2012-10-18 7:25 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
I enjoyed Carling Extra Cold when I visited there.
My wife ordered a margarita in a pub. I don't recommend doing that.
2012-10-19 8:21 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Samual Smith's (any type) and Mackeson's Stout are two of my favorites.
2012-10-19 11:13 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Harder to find but I really like Donnington's. Brewed in the Cotswolds.
2012-10-19 11:24 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
Got to get a Heineken. Official beer of the London Olympics!


2012-10-23 6:05 PM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK

 

Well its has been an eventful few days. Our flight cancelled in San Francisco after spending 4 1/2 hours on the plane a couple at the gate the rest on the taxi and runways. So with a layover and a hotel room we caught the flight the next day. That flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours waiting for crew and getting the baggage identity checked. Well the identity check was nearly successful our baggage was not on our flight and was delivered Sunday afternoon.

Saturday (Suffolk)  at my Granddaughters birthday party I tried my first Stella, enjoyed it along with my kids friends.

Sunday (Suffolk) night I went to my English pub and enjoyed a Guinness with my first pub meal both were delicious. I ordered my wife, not a big beer fan, a Greene King IPA. I was fortunate enough to be able to finish the bottom half of her pint for her. Laughing

Monday we drove down to Bath and went to the Boathouse on the river Avon and had a pint of bitters with dinner. I don't remember the name I think it started with a C but it was tasty too. My daughter liked it better then the Greene King IPA.

Tuesday  we had lunch at Sally Lunn's and had a bottle of Wodworth 6x. I haven't had a beer I didn't like here so far.  I'm looking forward to what I get to try next.



Edited by ckallpoints 2012-10-23 6:17 PM
2012-10-25 6:13 AM
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Subject: RE: Beers of the UK
ckallpoints - 2012-10-17 11:02 PM

ratherbeswimming - 2012-10-17 2:48 PM Pretty much every pub you go to will have a different selection. Just keep trying the stuff you haven't seen before.

Thanks, my wife went last year and she came back talking about Strongbow so I bought it here and was underwhelmed. She did say it tastes better there fresher. To me it tasted like Martinelli's in a can.  

Strongbow is rats . Not much more to say! If you come accross either Stowford Press, Old Rosie, Aspalls, or possibly some westons, try those. They are proper Ciders (all completely different)

Try to avoid Magners and Bulmers, they are very much watered down and not much better than Strongbow.

Beer wise, I would say pretty much anything on the tradition "pull lever " type pumps is almost certainly going to be good/proper beer. Greene King IPA is one of the most widely known you will see, its not bad, not great. 

I'm looking forward to trying Guinness there. We're going to be in a few different areas so I'll be going to a number of pubs. Lakenheath, Bath, Warwick, London and Bury St. Edmonds or Cambridge. 

I'm in /from Cambridge, Tourist attracting pub in cambridge is The Eagle just off the market square  (has signitures from hundreds of airmen on the cieling) or for real beer, go to the free press (attracts a lot of the academics in the city, but it is a bit hard to find and very british in style, lots of small seats, very cramped, good food. )

Apart from that, the post by wartho says a lot 
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