a BEER question

[keet]

....believe it or not, i havent ever had more than a couple Guinness beers ....i picked up a 12pack the other night and cracked one open....it had a nice foamy head, decent flavor, but was quite "flat"...is that the norm?....also...what is the nitrogen gas capsule all about?...someone told me that you are supposed to shake it up....??...lemmie know whats up....thanks!!

ps,,,it was the draught beer

[benVFR]

That sounds about right. It has a nice thick creamy head, but when you're drinking the actual beer not much carbonation.

Great stuff. Just don't get trashed on it. Otherwise you will get to know your porcelain god really well.

Ben

[keet]

....i shook up my last brew..(drinking it now)..actually improved the taste..(by a lot)...im a happy camper!!

[bentbryan]

Don't shake it up! Open the can then pour it into a pint glass. Let the smooth and creamy beverage sit for a minute or two, then enjoy. No shaking!

[Honclfibr]

Guinness is unique stuff. I remember the first time I had it I said the same thing you did, is this stuff supposed to be flat? Thouroughly did *not* enjoy it, of course I was 19 and had no idea what real beer should taste like. Didn't try it again until a few years later and had grown a taste for porters, and it was much more pleasing to the palate. Now, it's usually the first beer I'll order at a bar and quite often the second and third too.

I don't like it in the bottle, it seems too thin, not thick and creamy like the beer milkshake it should be. The can is better but for the real experience it needs to be draught. It seems to me to be best when it's very cold, but then I'm not english

[bemused]

Originally posted by Honclfibr
It seems to me to be best when it's very cold, but then I'm not english

and... neither is Guinness

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by bemused
and... neither is Guinness

Yah I know, but many of the English do drink their brews warm, don't they?

Or is that just an old wive's tale?

[bemused]

cool... not cold. not quite as warm as most of Europe do.

BTW... they claim that the reason that we Yanks drink our beer so cold that you can't taste it... is for that very reason.

[keet]

.....the beer i got is the "draught"...and it is in the bottles....on the bottle it does say to "serve EXTRA" cold.....by the way, i have had beer served warm...when i was in the navy we were in Singapore..and we went to a British EM club...drank beer and played darts...when u start to get "dronk" u dont even notice the warm beer.....lol

[keet]

ps...maybe the beer wasnt exactly warm....but it certainly wasnt extra cold either.....

[Stoneman]

I'm not much of a beer drinker, but when I DO drink beer it's gotta be ICE cold. I've tried changing my ways in such that I acquire a taste for 'good' beers, but it just never worked. Seems the better a beer is supposed to be, the more I DON'T like it. Odd too, 'cuz I'd REALLY like to get a taste for 'good' beer. But for now, my definition of a 'good beer' is a swig of a cold Bud after a shot of Cabo or other such top end tequila and/or agave...

[bentbryan]

For cheap beer, I'm a big fan of Miller High Life in the bottles. Very smooth, doesn't taste too much like schwag brew. For cans I go with Coors Original.

I got twisted last night on Harpoon IPA (draught) at this waycool sportsbar in Portsmouth. Ice-cold in 22oz mugs, YEE HAW!

[stoinkythepig]

For quenching thirst, I like Rolling Rock. For awesome creamy flavor, Boddington's Pub Ale is the best. I think Beamish and Caffrey's stouts are superior to Guinness.

The "proper" way to drink a stout as taught to me in Northern Ireland:

1. Once pint of stout arrives, let it sit for two minutes to settle and to entice. This is an amazingly long two minutes...

2. Pick up glass, drink 1/3 of it's contents. Wipe lips dry. The idea is to drink enough on the first pull that you only have to wipe the froth off you lip once.

3. Sip until 1/2" of stout remains in glass. Order another and don't finish the 1/2" until the replacement is served to you.

4. Repeat steps 1 and 2.

5 Finish second pint at your leisure.

Stop after two pints and switch to something less likely to make you sick if drunkeness is in you eveng plans. Getting drunk on stout is not a good idea. Can't say I know that from experience though.

[twrayinma]

Originally posted by stoinkythepig
Stop after two pints and switch to something less likely to make you sick if drunkeness is in you eveng plans. Getting drunk on stout is not a good idea. Can't say I know that from experience though.

i can.
jayzus, i puked black...

shit black for two days...

was drinking with buddies at Sunset Grill... i was already highly blitzed when someone ordered a yard of something or other, but they misheard, and brought out a yard of beamish.

well...

i couldn't let it go to waste, could i?
i think i gained 20 pounds that night.

[oreo_n2]

i only drink diet beer now.

michelob ultra.

taste reminds me very much of ... hmmm what is that substance....
oh yea, water.

but on the bright side, i am now a cheap date!

[twrayinma]

[Honclfibr]

BTW... they claim that the reason that we Yanks drink our beer so cold that you can't taste it... is for that very reason.

I can understand their frustration, I say the same thing about red wine.

[bentbryan]

nah...red wine is GREAT. But the hang-over is nasty. Basically, the darker/ and or sweeter something is, the worse the hangover. Wierd, huh?

[Honclfibr]

Sounds like you may suffer from the infamous Red Wine Headache. A lot of people do. They're not sure if it's the sulfites, the tannins, or something else, but a good many people end up with quite the splitting head if they drink more than a glass or two of red wine.

I think you misunderstood me before, btw. I enjoy red wine very much. So much, in fact, that I am constantly befuddled by most restaurants insistence that it be served at refrigerator temperature. Really does a disservice to the flavor to serve it so cold. I usually end up warming the glass in my hands for 5-10 minutes before drinking. My wine professor in school suggested microwaving the glass if you inadvertently chilled it a bit too much at home. I found that to be true, though the wine should be stirred afterwards to even out the hot spots.

[stoinkythepig]

Originally posted by Honclfibr
Yah I know, but many of the English do drink their brews warm, don't they?

Or is that just an old wive's tale?

The English drink warm beer because Lucas makes refrigerators.

[bemused]

Originally posted by stoinkythepig
The English drink warm beer because Lucas makes refrigerators.

THAT was a cheap shot!

[stoinkythepig]

Originally posted by bemused
THAT was a cheap shot!

Some of the younger folks here are reading this and thinking To help them understand...

Lucas made most of the electrical parts for British bikes and cars in the past. They were notoriously unreliable to the point that the founder, Joseph Lucas, was nicknamed the "Prince of Darkness".

See: http://afu.com/rolls/lucas.html

[Honclfibr]

*And* granted the patent for the Dark Emitting Diode

Lucas was definitely before my time, but my roommate in college was helping his father restore an old Austin-Healey, so I got to hear a lot of Lucas jokes...

[stoinkythepig]

Originally posted by Honclfibr
*And* granted the patent for the Dark Emitting Diode

Lucas was definitely before my time, but my roommate in college was helping his father restore an old Austin-Healey, so I got to hear a lot of Lucas jokes...

I knew you'd know about Lucas. You are an old soul.

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by stoinkythepig
I knew you'd know about Lucas. You are an old soul.

Nah I just hang around with old folks

Lucas was a great inspiration to me throughout my engineering coursework. His esteemed history of spectacular failures always made me feel much better about my own, much less spectacular, mistakes