10 good reasons not to drink beer

It is if you've never tasted a decent beer - I guess you haven't :-(

Silly boy/girl. That is like saying you a runners legs are a reason to cut of his legs! Variety is the spice of life.

On a glorious hot day there is nothing as refreshing as a light, golden and hoppy bitter.

Anything from Islay personally.

Just what is your problem. This is going to come as a surprise to you but....

Shock horror - whisky is fermented beer! So what are you going to do now?

With your anti-beer attitude I think not.

Cheers (with a beer)

U¿ytkownik "Brett..." napisa³:

Apparently so. I have just returned from Scotland, where - apart from tasting a great number of different whiskies - I indulged myself in generous pints of local beer. Didn't like the Islay ales that much, but there were some I would really hesitate what to choose if the choice was a decent pint and a crappy dram (e.g. Tomatin, Glen Moray or their likes)...

Well, it's _distilled_ beer, not just fermented. Without fermentation you wouldn't have much of a beer. Actually, while on Islay, at Ardbeg, I had an opportunity to taste the completely fermented wash, just before distillation, which indeed tasted very much like beer.

Cheers (with a glass of French Cabernet Sauvignon, to be precise), Rajmund

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Of course Rajmund and I hang my head in shame for typing that!

There is now a cask brewery on the island (Islay Brewery), I was hoping to have for our beer festival but sadly we were unable to get hold of it. Last time I was on the island the only two pubs serving cask were the Lochindaal and the Port Charlotte Hotel. Both worth a visit.

Characterizing French wine by grape variety is not "precise," actually

Cheers (purified water), John

Although there are cases where it is -- we had a bottle labelled "Sauvignon -- Bordeaux" the other night. And French wine growers are right now desperatly entreating the French government to allow them to label wines by varietal, rather than AOC.

-- Larry

Uzytkownik "J Derby" napisal:

Absolutely right. I guess I'll have to cut down on French wine. To what levels of imprecision mere two glasses can lead you... ;-)))

Cheers, Rajmund

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U¿ytkownik "Brett..." napisa³:

Yes, when on Islay about a week ago, I had a pint of their brew (actually two pints of two different varieties), but they left me unimpressed. Even McEwan's was more appealing.

Cheers, Rajmund

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As you know they are VERY new so give them a month or two to get themselves settled. As most of the locals only drink Tennants's they are going to be dependent on tourist trade.

cheers

The first time i tried the Finlaggan ale at The Old Kiln during the festival i was well impressed , very fruity .The same trip i tried the Black Rock at the PC hotel and was far from impressed ! The first week in August we returned for our annual summer holiday and got to indulge in a bit more of the ale tasting as well as visiting the brewery and i was so impressed i came back with 6 bottles of each of the 3 brews (Finlaggan , Black Rock and Saligo ) . While there i had a good natter with Paul Capper and things are going so well they can't keep up with demand ! They are now in most of the pubs/hotels on Islay , they've had requests and sent barrels to various Real ale festivals and are talking about doing a Porter Ale this winter ! Give me Islay Ales over McEwans any time ;-) They have a website at

Slainté Gordon

Capturing in this missive, in the sparing prose of Rambaud, , and displaying the suave and sophisticated disposition of Archibald Leach, Rajmund M sgrìobh,

Bloody hell they must be bad if you prefer the McEwan's!

X-posted to the real ale news group

X-posted to alt.drinks.scotch-whisky

I didn't remember their names but now you've mentioned them, the first one was Finlaggan, and it was quite OK, but far from impressive - by that time I'd had some fantastic beers from the Black Isle and from the Orkneys, so my expectations were very high. Mind you, the weather in Scotland at the time was for beer drinking rather than whisky drinking (i.e. it was sunny and even hot at times). The other one, tasted a few days later, was Black Rock and that was an utter disappointment. Didn't have Saligo, so can't comment on that one.

I'll have to make notes the next time (no name lingers in my memory again), but I remember there was a fantastic ale on tap at the White Hart Hotel bar in Port Ellen. That one was not made on Islay, though it was definitely Scottish. Blew my mind away. And blew the Islay Ales to the background, I'm sorry to say.

Cheers, Rajmund

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That sounds like Houston which is a frequent visitor the Port Charlotte Hotel. Great beers IMHO. The last time I visited the Island only the PCH and the Lochindaal served cask ale so it sounds as though things are certainly looking up.

Hi Brett , The Port Charlotte hotel has (or had at the start of August) Black sheep on tap and very popular it was too...

The licensee used to run a Hardy and Hansons pub in Derbyshire and said to me he couldn't imagine running a pub without cask ale. He was the first Islay pub to sell it. Now that the brewery has started it is good to see others are giving it a go though I guess most of it is for the visitors. Great food and a good selection of reasonably priced malts to boot!

cheers