Beer heads in Belgium and Holland?

PINT -

Obviously there's the possibility of lined oversized glasses, but in terms of the volume ratio of beer to head - Belgie & German bottled & draught beers are normally much more highly carbonated than UK cask beer, so will often pour with a bigger head, plus, I think both countries' drinkers might like the look & taste of beer with foam (as I do). You could just stick to bottled beer? ;~) cheers, MikeMcG

Thanks Brett and Mike. No these weren't oversized glasses and the head size was truly out of this world - I would say about 25% and possibly even more of the drink.

The beer price is also quite expensive in Belgium and the Netherlands. In parts of Germany the beer is very cheap but in Holland I was amazed by the fact that people - including myself - were prepared to pay for expensive beer and to receive such large quantities of foam on the drink.

I sometimes think that the UK is unfairly critical of itself. The foam beer head is almost a thing of the past in the UK although this is largely because of concerted criticism and action.

Gareth.

Not at all: tight sparklers, swan necks, all the tricks are used and quite ubiquitous. No lined glasses in most (90+%?) pubs either.

Did you notice that in the Netherlands some of the bar staff are also quite adept at watering down your (draught) beer too? By law (I think), glasses must be rinsed before use, and by a deft flick of the wrist it's possible to keep some of the water in the bottom of the glass before pouring the beer in.

Stick to bottled beer, at least that way you can empty the water out of the glass before use!

haven't you heard the beer cartel has been robbing us for years. everything is expensive here, draft beers included, and yes i'm prepared to pay. have been for years. i don't notice the large quantities of foam, just perfect, at pubs where i am a regular anyway. i was in Hong Kong last month and shrieked with delight to see any standard [German] beer on tap after 5 weeks of sock water in China. price during happy hour is the same as in NL/BE but after that it costs more.

cheers

If you want to see a glass of foam then you should come here to a busy "Izakaya" chain on a Friday or Saturday night. I was once served a mug of head with some beer in it (3 quarters head) We, of course complained and got a top-up but there are no weights and measure laws that I've noticed. One chain's large mug of beer is another's medium and so on. The only standards are on bottles and cans, I can sell you a draught beer of any size and call it what I like and put as much foam in it. Usually, I order a mug then the next one will be a bottle and just keep filling the mug :-)

Wayne

The Izakaya Pub Company here in Yorkshire, trading as Ossett Brewery, serves beer in normal English measures in its 9 pubs, i.e. you get as much foam as you want (or as little, as the case may be).

Where did you find brim measure glasses in Belgium? I've never seen them.

Mostly in Holland including Rotterdam - I could probably dig out the name of one of the bars or at least the road name if you were interested. The branded Heineken glasses I encountered were also brim measure.

In Belgium there were a few but as I stuck mostly to bottled beer it wasn't so much of a problem. The reason I stuck to bottle beer was however partly to avoid the problem!

Even the non brim measure glasses had far more than what most people would consider to be a reasonable head.

Gareth.