happyhippy Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 http://www.felinfoel-brewery.com/double_dragon.html this one......will have to look into it and see if I can acquire some. Sounds interesting...and looks a mainstream brand in Wales too so must be distributed somewhere regionally.... It's good stuff, and very drinkable ....... first place I had it was in the Boulougne about 16 years ago, just before it became the Tap & Spile ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenfleece Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Rock N real Ale this weekend at the Dove? Guest Ales: AMARILLO GOLD, OLD WAGG, BARNSTORMER, GREENE KING IPA, LAST LION OF BRITAIN, CAMERONS STRONGARM, plus our usual resident ales.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecanary Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 A slogan for the future could well be REAL MEN DRINK REAL ALE...LAGER?... STRICTLY FOR THE LADIES!! I'm a lady (well, female) and love a pint of real ale! Can't stand that horrible gassy tasteless lager, cider reminds me of drunken parties when I was 15, and as for alcopops, don't even get me started! Am I eliglble to join your 'real ale for real men' drinking club? Or maybe I should start my own 'women who appreciate a proper pint' society... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I'm a lady (well, female) and love a pint of real ale! Can't stand that horrible gassy tasteless lager, cider reminds me of drunken parties when I was 15, and as for alcopops, don't even get me started! Am I eliglble to join your 'real ale for real men' drinking club? Or maybe I should start my own 'women who appreciate a proper pint' society... My best friend, also female, also appreciates a pint of real ale. Maybe she could join your WWAAPPS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHY TED Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 My best friend, also female, also appreciates a pint of real ale. Maybe she could join your WWAAPPS I fully agree. My better half also sups the real stuff. I don't know what Goldenfleece is going on about. This is not about a man/woman thing. It is about the ability to appreciate something that is better. Champagne is not for blokes and Asti Spumante for women.r Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Champagne is for me, now hand it over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopstix Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 Real Ale is certainly increasing in popularity amongst the student population, too. I have just passed over my role as president of the university Real Ale Society and I was also heavily involved in the organisation of the union beer festival a few weeks back. Our mailing list is growing year on year, with many people wanting a nice, relaxed pub atmosphere with a decent-tasting pint as opposed to crammed student bars like the Cavendish. Not only this, but the festival sold out long before we were expecting it to, with all stock sold out by about 9pm on the saturday (we were expecting to be serving till around 11-midnightish). I think the biggest change I've seen comes with the Interval, the bar within the student union stocking real ale and continental beers. When I first started working there nearly 2 years ago now, there were 4 hand-pumps, of which only one was ever in regular use for moonshine, the "house ale" if you like. Occasionally there would be a guest ale on, but there were always two redundant pumps. Now, however, there are 5 pumps and they are all flowing! There is a regular rotation on all of them (except the moonshine) with beers coming from all sorts of breweries. For the union to make this sort of change, it must be saying an awful lot about the amount being sold!! In short, I would say decent beer is coming back in a big way. Certainly from my own experience, it would seem that people are now much more adventurous and as such are after a drink that doesn't taste identical in spite of the branding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beer Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Real Ale is great as long as the pub is selling enough. I would rather go in a pub with a couple of handpumps that are really shifting the stuff, than a pub with 6 that doesn't have the business. This is what real ale is about...cellar management. Barrels can lie around in the cellar for a few weeks which isn't a problem. However once tapped the beer needs to be sold within a week. A good landlord knows his trade and will only have available beers that he knows he can sell and keep in good condition. In those circumstances real ale is a joy that makes "smooth" "creamflow" and all the other beer substitues taste like what they are; artificial fizzy drinks. The trick is to know your landlord. If you don't, then get a recomendation or the Good Beer Guide to help you. Now go out and enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DippyDore Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Is real ale a thing of the past? Short answer - yes. Of course it's a thing of the past. It has been brewed in this way for centuries. So, that's indisputable. In answer to your other question, "Why should I drink real ale?" the short answer here is, you shouldn't, if you don't want to. I do drink real ale, in fact, I'm quite knowledgable about it having pursued it as a bit of a hobby for some years. I would add that I've never been a member of CAMRA or felt the urge to drink halves and write tasting notes about it though. In the 1960's the big brewers, like Watney, Whitbread, Bass Charrington and the like, set out to kill off real ale so that they could make better profits on beer which, due it being filled with all kinds of preservatives and gases, would last longer and be easier to keep. It didn't matter that it was tasteless because, as you see on here, most folks don't have good taste anyhow so they'll eat or drink just about anything. Whitbread's in particular were very successful in killing off local breweries and nicking their recipes then changing them so they could replace with their own version of the same beer, at less cost to themselves. The infamous "Watney's Red Barrell" was one such "keg" beer that was typical of the time. Artificial beer, filled with chemicals, that stayed bright and servable with little waste (and even less taste). In recent years, and thanks largely to the efforts of groups like CAMRA, real ale has made a comeback. Some people appreciate that beer should be full of flavour and not full of nitrogen gas. Some people appreciate that beer is a natural product and should be served as such. The last 15 years have seen a renaissance. So much so that even such heathens as Whitbreads have embraced the trend. You can usually find one of the following handpumps in most pubs thesedays: Black Sheep London Pride Marstons Pedigree Timothy Taylors Landlord and the Caledonian Deuchars is also guesting fairly regularly. If you like, all the above are "beginners real ales". They are not the best examples of the art of beer making, but for folks who enjoy 2 for 1 meals and eat in chain restaurants it's a gentle start. The best real ale comes from small microbreweries, not the big breweries. You could do worse than to seek out beers from the Thornbridge brewery. A local Derbyshire microbrewer with one of the best ranges of beer in the country. Alternatively, you could stick to lager, or go tee-total altogether. If you choose lager, then even here there are the usual rubbish like Carling, Fosters, Castlemaine, etc and there are beautiful, traditional, natural products that taste a world of difference better. If you choose tee-total then I can't help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 A think of the past normally means that it's either in terminal decline or has stopped being popular all together. So, no, it's not a thing of the past, it's very much a thing of the present with a good history behind it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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