What beer are you having for Christmas?

[CommuteTooFar]

70   

Lervig ain't Belge thobut.

I know.

[Mrs Pingu]

A mini keg of Brewtoon Mango Unchained

[sg37409]

How long will a mini-keg last you ?   I fancy one, but it'd be open for about 4 or 5 days I think.  Is this too long to be open ?

Ive got some vocation life and death and a hazy pale, some brew dog elvis juice and a guava hazy that I really like, and some beaverton IPA.

[Mrs Pingu]

3 days max probably. It'll probably keep a bit longer but we don't usually have that issue being as we're both drinking it.

[SteveC]

I am collecting two 5 litre bag-in-boxes from our local brewery next Friday, which is really a little early for Christmas.
I will have a look at what our Tesco is offering as well. We usually do a tour of the local supermarkets to see what's available, but I'm not sure we'll bother this year.

As the brewery closed in the spring, I am having to make do with stuff I can find in our local horriblemarkets.
However, I have been given a rather nice looking bottle of port, so things are not all bad.

[HectoJ]

Don't know yet.. on Friday am going to venture to a French supermarket and see what they have... I am particular to Karmeliet, but might do some local Microbrews instead!

[Wowbagger]

My beer of choice was Fuller's 1845 - a naturally conditioned bottled ale at >6% that Mr. Waitrose was selling for £1.60 per 500ml bottle. Then a friend of mine gave me three bottles of something else: Proper Job (St. Austell), Bishop's Finger (Shepherd Neame) and some Old Speckled Hen (formerly Morland, now Greene King). I had the Proper Job as a preprandial. I'll not have any more beer today because I've been supping chianti with lunch, and I might be forced to have some port with cheese later on. I didn't bother to buy any special cheese as it's only My Dear Wife and me for the entirety of the festive season, and she doesn't eat real cheese on account of migraines.

[CommuteTooFar]

I have bought a lot again for this year.  Some of it will be given away as gifts.

6  33cl Deranke Pere Noel
6  33cl St Bernardus Christmas
6  33cl Tongerlo Christmas
6  33cl Bush Noel
6  33cl Tete de Mort
6  33cl Winterbinske
6  33cl Troubadour Winter
6  33cl Corsondonk Christmas
6  33cl Leffe Winter
6  33cl Grimbergan Winter
14 33cl De Bie Winterbie
24 33cl Chouffe Nice
30 33cl Delirium Christmas
4  75cl St Bernardus Christmas

[Snakehips]

Nice, but I think I'll stick with Proper Job and McEwans Champion. Maybe I'll reconsider in the new year.

[Hot Flatus]

Is it time for me to start my rant about export lagers that aren't? Asahi, Cobra, even Statopramen have turned to shit. Budvar is still OK.

[Pingu]

I have bought a lot again for this year.  Some of it will be given away as gifts.

6  33cl Deranke Pere Noel
6  33cl St Bernardus Christmas
6  33cl Tongerlo Christmas
6  33cl Bush Noel
6  33cl Tete de Mort
6  33cl Winterbinske
6  33cl Troubadour Winter
6  33cl Corsondonk Christmas
6  33cl Leffe Winter
6  33cl Grimbergan Winter
14 33cl De Bie Winterbie
24 33cl Chouffe Nice
30 33cl Delirium Christmas
4  75cl St Bernardus Christmas

I'd give the De Ranke a go, the rest you can probly keep.

[CommuteTooFar]

Is it time for me to start my rant about export lagers that aren't? Asahi, Cobra, even Statopramen have turned to shit. Budvar is still OK.

This is one of the sad things of the modern world.  So many beers have been changed on the altar of spurious health reasons.  Its not just the "foreign" stuff.  Almost everything brewed in Britain has been changed.  I used to think people who imported Stella Artois as idiots.  It used to be the same stuff.  Now it is in a "healthy" lower alcohol version.  If you reduce the malt to reduce the alcohol level you change the taste.  Ok that is a mass market beer, despite starting as a Christmas beer a century ago.   Leffe Blonde,  the first abbey beer, was based on a recipe from the Norburton Abbey de Leffe. Why has this been changed to a lower alcohol version? Just silly, this is far from popular drink.     

[ian]

Most mass-market beer isn't worth the hangover, it's more industrial chemistry experiment than brewing.


We have cases in the porch from all the (semi)-local breweries from 360 Degree, Missing Link, Abyss and Beak. May need a few more, plus there's a new taproom up on the hill.

[Hot Flatus]

I don't know what I'll be drinking. I overdosed for about 4 years on pine-heavy craft IPA (mostly Vocation), to the point where I now view it as alcopops.

The local craft brewery (Fresh Standard) is very good and is a half-way house between oldskool and hipster. He uses 4 ingredients only, and generally it doesn't give you a hangover. But, you can have too much of a good thing.

I had a few bottles of ale from Lidl, Aldi and Waitrose last week. Enjoyed the Exmoor Ale, the Proper Job and especially Woodefords Wherry, which I first sampled in Norfolk in 1995.

Bought the wife one of those Guinness Nitrosurge things and 8 cans of Nitrosurge Guinness.

I like Guinness too.

[ian]

Though I like the occasional DIPA, I can't face too many 7% + cans, so we're pushing for <4-5% abv cans this year.

[chopstick]

I will most likely be drinking whatever cask conditioned ale takes my fancy in the pub but if I do buy some in for the house, it'll probably be something relatively cheap (Tribute in cans) and/or some Old Peculier.

Normally if I want beer in for Xmas and I can get my arse into gear, I brew a cheap bitter kit and condition it in 500ml bottles - I much prefer it to most of the bottled/canned stuff on offer and it's cheap (unless your benchmark is Carling etc.)

As I get older, I find that beer agrees with me less and less and so in the house, I am turning to ciders and red wines more.  I particularly like Westons ciders - especially Vintage and Old Rosie - I might well buy some of those in.  I know this is a beer thread but being as I've digressed already, I'll add that for me, whisky is obligatory at Xmas/New Year.

[Hot Flatus]

Though I like the occasional DIPA, I can't face too many 7% + cans, so we're pushing for <4-5% abv cans this year.

I went mad for it, a few years back. But effectively it doubles your alcohol intake.

The local micro-brewery only does one strong beer, called Pothering, which is about 6.5%. He does a really nice 2.8% summery table beer but the biggest seller is a hazy IPA he calls 'Soft', which is about 5.3%.

Me and the Friday night gang, who I met down there, have pretty much stopped drinking it because we suspect he filters mushrooms through it  It does send you loopy. Just one pint and I can really feel the narcotic effect.

[CommuteTooFar]

I found out this week that the 4 75cl St Bernadus beers had been substituted with 4 75cl Straffe Hendrick II Xmas Blend.

Very annoying. Straffe Hendrick II is on my do not buy list. Not a fan high alcohol beers (unless I really like the taste).  10% is okay for a 33cl Christmas/Winter beer but 11% 75cl is not for me.

 

[Pingu]

We've bought a minikeg of Windswept Poseidon an a case of Brew Toon M'ango Unchained.

[TheLurker]

What I drink all year round - hmm, that came out wrong, never mind - Shepherd Neame's Whitstable Bay Pale Ale

[robgul]

One of our local breweries, North Cotswold, supplies a range of beers - and delivers each week to our street's "beer club" - options menu is issued on Tuesdays, place your order with the neighbour who organises, brewery delivers to him on Fridays - £11 for a 4 pint plastic bottle (£12 for 4 pints of a "special" beer each week) . . . and they supply 500ml glass bottles too.

Beer of choice for me was a special called Blitzen (Christmassy, geddit?) - a dark almost porter . . .  hopefully it'll be available this coming week when I'll have another, plus an IPA.