What is the best readily available bottled ale?

[tiermat]

Gun Dog by Wall's County Brewery.
Fursty Ferret by Badger.
Golden Pippin by Copper Dragon, these are all good, bottled, beers(good on draught, too)

At the risk of sounding like a heathen, I also like the odd bottle of Estrella Damm and Bock Damm, but the temperature needs to be on the up for them.

[Basil]

If I had a wish I'd wish for some oldy goldies that have been ruined by being mainstreamed.


Both Worthington's and Tetley were fine ales before the smoothflow revolution blanded them into beers I can't stand.


I just scanned through this thread and saw no mention of Old Speckled Hen.  A bit strong for general purposes but a fine brew still.

I thought I had.  But I haven't.  Yes OSH is my favourite bottled beer.  Perfect for those of us who are not keen on hoppy beers.  The bottled version is far superior to the pub draught version although a little stronger.
£1.25 in Lidl.    But even the three for a fiver in most other supermarkets isn't too bad.
I'm not too keen on all the variants that have started appearing.
Although the original variant Crafty Old Hen is OK as long as you don't intend to drive any time in the next 24 hours.

[caerau]

By stunning coincidence one of our neighbours has bought us some fine bottled ales to 'cheer us up' as one of our cats died at the weekend.  I am now toasting little Jack with a nice bottle of Black Sheep.
Not sure getting pissed is going to help but wth.

[madcow]

You can get a cycling jersey to show your appreciation of that fine ale.

  http://www.blacksheepbrewery.com/shop/black-sheep-brewery-team-jersey.html

[contango]

I'd have to go for "the one that's chilling in the fridge right now."

I don't know what it is, and it'll probably be something different the next time I fancy a beer, but it's definitely the best. 

... which is great, until you go to the fridge and find there are six different beers chilling in the fridge right now. Then you're right back to square one, trying to determine which is the best. Because, you know, at that point they are all readily available.

[Efrogwr]

This thread is a pleasant discussion; but it can never be resolved… I agree about many of the beers mentioned. I any totally incapable of picking one and sticking to it!

My beer choice is partly season/weather dependent. In summer, a current favourite is Thwaite's Wainwright. Right now, Chimay Bleu is the one for me; A bottle between me and Mrs E is plenty!

[ian]

Hmm, I have a couple of cans of Fourpure Northern Latitude IPA, some Partizan Lemon & Thyme Saison, Brewdog Cocoa Psycho, some homebrewed lager, Kemosabe IPA, and probably a few others resting in my fridge (still have to crack open that £13 bottle of cherry sour).

Sadly, other than the occasional medicinal glass of vin rouge or evening soiree, I only drink at the weekend and Friday is still a long way away...

[citoyen]

Partizan Lemon & Thyme Saison

I had one of those at Sourced Market at St Pancras recently. Quite interesting. The thyme flavour is surprisingly pronounced. I wouldn't say I didn't like it but I didn't rush to get another either (especially not at Sourced prices).

[ian]

It sounded like a novelty – saisons tend to be hit and miss but Partizan do some interesting ones. Mango and Black Pepper sounded like a miss but was actually very morish. Grabbed on recent Bermondsey Beer Mile adventure. Pretty sure we had a saison sat outside their brewery, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I think it's the penultimate stop before Fourpure though so my memory was getting a bit soggy...

[caerau]

Real Ales in the fridge?   

[madcow]

This thread is a pleasant discussion; but it can never be resolved…

But it's great fun trying , hic , pardon.

[DDCyclist]

I'd have to go for "the one that's chilling in the fridge right now."

I don't know what it is, and it'll probably be something different the next time I fancy a beer, but it's definitely the best. 

... which is great, until you go to the fridge and find there are six different beers chilling in the fridge right now. Then you're right back to square one, trying to determine which is the best. Because, you know, at that point they are all readily available.

Nope. I don't often drink. I grab a bottle from the wine/beer cellar (cupboard the stairs) and stick it in the fridge. Doesn't matter what the label is on the bottle. It'll be one somebody bought me for Christmas a year or two ago. Another thing that makes it a quality brew - I didn't pay silly any money for it.

[contango]

Real Ales in the fridge?   

In the absence of a cellar or beer chiller the fridge is the next best option. It means you can let the beer warm to cellar temperature rather than drinking it at whatever room temperature happens to be. Or you can drink it cold, or at whatever point between cold and room temperature takes your fancy. Or drink it slowly as it warms and figure out the temperature that causes it to taste best.

Of course if a beer is best drunk at room temperature (and some most definitely are) then you can just take one from the cupboard. But you won't know that until you've drunk it at every stage from cold to warm.

[Efrogwr]

This thread is a pleasant discussion; but it can never be resolved…

But it's great fun trying , hic , pardon.

It is indeed. I must go to the Welsh beer shop in Caernarfon to find a couple of new ones.

[mrcharly-YHT]

OSH and the crafty alternative are pretty good. Or Golden hen, chilled, on a summer day.

Brewdog is becoming readily available, massively overrated.
Bought one for MrsC (she likes IPA hoppy beers). Ugh - it was like something made from hibiscus blossom.

[Mr Larrington]

Reminds me, I've a got a bottle of that Brewdog 40 per cent stuff somewhere.

My grate frend Uncle Marvo, the celebrated Aqua-Pikey, reported the sampling of Tactical Nuclear Penguin.  Even though someone else had bought it, he said it was not something he cared to repeat in a hurry.  But I think he had his taste buds shot off in the war, because he usually drinks Stella.

[ian]

Reminds me, I've a got a bottle of that Brewdog 40 per cent stuff somewhere.

My grate frend Uncle Marvo, the celebrated Aqua-Pikey, reported the sampling of Tactical Nuclear Penguin.  Even though someone else had bought it, he said it was not something he cared to repeat in a hurry.  But I think he had his taste buds shot off in the war, because he usually drinks Stella.

It's a novelty, someone bought it me as a present, and I've yet to have the kind of day that requires me to down a bottle of 40% beer at the end of it (though it's sure to happen eventually). I had a tot of Sink the Bismarck the other year which was actually quite nice. I wouldn't drink a pint though.

[jsabine]

I think those sorts of beverages call for the resurrection of ancient terms: think of them as barley wines rather than as beers, and suddenly sipping a couple of glasses over the course of an evening feels more natural than downing a couple of pints.

[jamesld8]

Just stumbled (hic) on pleasures of Old Crafty Hen---at £5 for 3 bottles 

[citoyen]

My local Tesco currently has Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at 4 for £6, which is a pretty decent offer for an excellent beer.

I took a punt on a King Goblin yesterday, also from Tesco, also on offer at 4 for £6. I prefer it to standard Hobgoblin - the higher alcohol content gives it more oomph - but it's still too sweet for my liking.

I quite like Shipyard American IPA (yep, another that's 4 for £6 at Tesco) but it does something evil to my insides.

[SteveC]

You do realise you can mix and match those 4 for £6 offers?

[citoyen]

You do realise you can mix and match those 4 for £6 offers?

Yep. I would never have bought four of the Goblins but being able to sample one along with three other beers I already knew I liked meant it was less of a risk.

[contango]

Just stumbled (hic) on pleasures of Old Crafty Hen---at £5 for 3 bottles 

I liked Speckled Hen, Golden Hen and Crafty Hen. A fiver for three Crafty Hens is a steal.

My local Tesco currently has Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at 4 for £6, which is a pretty decent offer for an excellent beer.

I took a punt on a King Goblin yesterday, also from Tesco, also on offer at 4 for £6. I prefer it to standard Hobgoblin - the higher alcohol content gives it more oomph - but it's still too sweet for my liking.

I quite like Shipyard American IPA (yep, another that's 4 for £6 at Tesco) but it does something evil to my insides.

I liked the King Goblin too. If you like Sierra Nevada and you like IPAs, see if you can find Torpedo or Hop Hunter. Don't know if they're available in the UK. Torpedo is a fairly strong IPA, Hop Hunter is enhanced with hop oils. It's pretty intense but if you like IPAs it's worth a shot.

I recently opened a bottle of Stone's Sorry Not Sorry IPA made with peaches. That was unusual.

[citoyen]

If you like Sierra Nevada and you like IPAs, see if you can find Torpedo or Hop Hunter. Don't know if they're available in the UK. Torpedo is a fairly strong IPA, Hop Hunter is enhanced with hop oils. It's pretty intense but if you like IPAs it's worth a shot.

I think I've had Torpedo before but you don't see it very often. Never seen Hop Hunter on sale in the UK, to my knowledge, but it sounds interesting.

I recently opened a bottle of Stone's Sorry Not Sorry IPA made with peaches. That was unusual.

As a rule, the only fruit addition I will tolerate in beer is cherries in a good oude kriek. Nothing good can come of adding peaches to an alcoholic beverage (I had a bad experience with Archers as a teen).

[ian]

Torpedo is available in Waitrose.

I once bumped into the Sierra Nevada sales team in a hotel bar in Philadelphia and we ended up spending the evening working through samples of everything they were selling.

Peaches might work in a sour. Sweet though is definitely Archers territory and we all had a bad experience with Archers. It's another of those drinks that inevitability has decided you'll taste twice. Once on the way down, once on the way back up. It's a drink that comes with its own return ticket.

I'm quite enjoying Wild Beer's offerings at the moment, they have some good sours. Oh, and some Thornbridge Rhubarb Saison, which is more sour than saison, but immensely quaffable, I may have to buy some more for summer. I might have bought some Bakewell Tart too. So some fruit can work.