Arhus, Denmark

I recently found my first GBP5+ pint in Britain. Needless to say, it was in London (Chiswick area). "By heck" we said when told the price.

(actually, we didn't _quite_ say that).

To rub it in, the Casablanca had not got any vacant seats (although small). We had deprived ourselves of a beer all day and thought "what the heck", we need a beer and got 'sucked in'.

Well, what was it?

It was a Tuborg 'so called' special lager. I cannot remember the name. Nothing special and rather lifeless.

Grim.

So, it is just the same as all lagers then.

Dave

You could definitely say that.

What's this "all lagers" about? Are you claiming that a bland pale lager like everyday Carlsberg or Tuborg is the same thing as a small- batch Franconian Kellerbier lager? FTM, have you ever had Tuborg's Porter - which is also a lagered beer?

Not all lagers deserve to be tarred with the "nothing special and rather lifeless" brush.

Philistines!

I'll get back to you on that when I can name the lagers my real ale pub sells.

Dave

I didn't mean it that way...

My real ale landlord has 9 real ales on the bar, that he rotates regularly. The only brews that are on with any regularity are Timothy Taylor's and Coniston's.

Now let me explain my comment...

I go for a pint every lunch time to sample the bitters. One day, the landlord had just finished cleaning the gas pumped lines and was checking on the clarity of what was pulled out. When he was happy that it could be served to the public, he gave the beer to me and my companion to taste. They were Paulaner, Leffe, Carling, Starapramen, Fruli (a strawberry concoction) and Beck's Vier.

I tasted the first and didn't enjoy it one bit, but kept my face straight. Then my companion tasted, pulled a face at it quickly handed it back to the bar. This went on until we had tasted them all except the Fruli. When I tasted the pint I was drinking, the flavour came flooding through, to such an extent I was amazed.

I hope this clarifies my distaste of largers. I realize that some of the smaller makers can and do make much better ones in bottles, but I am not a bottle person.

Dave

Neither Leffe nor Früli are lagers, first of all. Leffe is a blond abbey-style ale, and Früli is a mix of witbier (very pale wheat ale) and fruit syrup.

Carling sold in the UK is also brewed in the UK, and my experience with UK-brewed versions of "continental" lagers is less than stellar, Staropramen is owned by InBev, and I believe the Staropramen sold in UK pubs is also brewed in the UK. It isn't bad.

It also sounds like the four lagers in this bunch (Paulaner, Carling, Staropramen, and Beck's Vier) are basically variations on the same theme. There's far more to lagers than pale blond Pilsner-style beers.

Doesn't tell me much, though. What was wrong with it, specifically, other than the fact that it wasn't a cc ale? Was this your universal reaction to the four lagers in the bunch?

Different strokes and all that... I consider Früli to be yet another alcopop.

If you make it to GBBF, do stop by the BSF counter. You'll find some excellent lagers on, and some of them will simply surprise you. Other- wise, consider booking a trip or tour to Germany's Franconia region, centred on the city of Bamberg. You'll be quite surprised. This region's lagers can be quite appealing to real ale fans.

Very much so. The taste was very gassy and astringent to the mouth. Over the last few years I have totally gone off gassy drinks. I don't even like to drink lemonade these days.

I have seen grown men order and come back for another pint of it :-(

Where is this?

Dave

They tell me that Guinness can cost £10 a pint in Cork?

If you don't like the level of carbonation of a typical keg lager served in a UK pub, this isn't surprising. All the more reason to discover the delights of straight-from-the-barrel lager in, say, Bamberg or Salzburg.

Some people never outgrow their tastes for sweet, cloying drink. Comes from being raised on a steady diet of Ribena or summat, perhaps?

I haven't been to GBBF since the move to Earls Court; it used to be towards the back (Biere Sans Frontieres, or BBF).

We've been at the back for the first 2 years at Earls Court but the last plan I saw for this year has us right at the front by the entrance, along with cider.

Brian

Makes it easier to keep an eye on you from above :-)

Strangely, it's also now even closer to the plans I sketched out before we ever moved to Earls Court.