European Tribune - Comments - Friday Open Thread

Full beer list Read 'em and weep Drew.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 11:45:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

How come events like this always happen on St Giros eve?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 11:47:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

there's several beer fests up your way.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:31:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Ceebs is really requesting that they don't occur on the patron's day of St Benefit ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:38:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yea, I appreciate that, but there are loads of beer fests occuring at other times Some of them will not be in that awkward gap between aspiration and cash.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:43:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

the change over to a bank based system has resulted in the banks getting hold of your benefit for three days, and so what was a Friday paymeny becomes a monday payment. Not good for the social life.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:48:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Then go out with the restaurant staff. In Finland, monday night is infested with waiters with sculptured hair and argumentative chefs who are handy with knives: it's their night off.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:58:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Oh no, nights out with chefs always end messily. and try getting a surly waiter to get a pint, they look most disappointed when theres no tip when they get back from the bar

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 02:31:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Erm, hate to break it to you, but I've had most of those, and they're mostly shit. You'd do better sitting in a generic pub drinking Sam.

Even the Dogfish. C'mon, the 75-minute? The 90-minute is the only one worth the powder to blow to Hell. They do make a wicked-good brown/IPA mix, but apparently it isn't being served.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 12:35:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Actually, one exception: Stone. Never had it.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 12:52:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hee, I realise you're trying to tweak my tail. It's okay, I'll just chuckle into my beer (preferably a Stone smoked Porter) and know you are gnawing your knuckles in jealousy.

'Sides it's only a warm up for the Great British Beer Fest where US beers will be consumed in abundance.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:27:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

In abundance (none / 0)

..because these US beers are proverbially carnally proximate to water?

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:41:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Nah, being pedantic quite the opposite. My major complaint about US Craft beers is that they tend to be too strong for a session.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:45:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: In abundance (4.00 / 2)

Well, as you know, I know nothing at all about beer except what you explained to me. I've yet to sip my second bottle in 2009; though the coming days of steamingness might see me with a foppish lime in the Corona-type beverage on the patio.

I am now officially on holiday - except for my duties as Social Secretary, station shuttle service, barman, and brunchmaker, to my daughters

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:51:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

As for what I recall of your excellent seminar, in the wilds of Essex, there was something to do with beer candy, though what it had to do with is just on the tip of my cerebrum ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:54:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: In abundance (none / 1)

It's cheaper to fool people into thinking they are drinking a full bodied beer by making it stronger than by making it more flavoursome. So they use "Brewing candy" as a fermentable sugar. Thus the average "lager" in the UK is 5% ABV, as opposed to the average bitter being 4 - 4.4%. It's cheaper to make 5% nonsense than a decent tasting weaker brew.

However, please note, I am not saying that the US make lousy beers that are strong. Their beers are good, but imo, they are stronger than they need to be to encourage me to drink a lot of them.

I suspect that this is because, until recently, I am fairly sure they were prohibited from saying what the strength of the beer was and so, given that they don't have beer duty (ie a tax related directly to strength) so there was nothing to be gained by making a flavoursome beer that was weak.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 02:17:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

You're mocking American beer and then talking about Corona-type beverages -- Corona, of course, being the usual German garbage popular in the states mixed with Mexican-quality water? ;)

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 03:43:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

All beer is about bladder-envy imho ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 03:46:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'm not really. They're mostly shit. You can get nearly all of those at any local grocery store, and they're pretty bland, even compared with the mediocre local stuff.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 03:35:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

If I have the spare rand, I'm coming over in October for the GABF in denver and you are gonna show me round DC. Then we talk beer.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 03:54:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Plus, c'mon, why hold it in some snooty Westminster pub? You get much better stuff out in the dingy bars.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 12:43:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yea, I know, but ya gotta go where the beers are. The WH is a good pub with a great range of beer, but manages to do so largely because it can charge top dollar in one of the most well-heeled places in Britain.

I almost never go there unless i'm right on top of it cos the prices can be steep, there's a fab Timmie Taylors pub just over the bridge in Putney where I much prefer to go.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 01:30:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I would like a case of Levitation ale. Perhaps it would take some pressure off my left knee and lower back? Or at least I might think so, until I fell over.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 at 02:40:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]