Blog Tracker
16-01-2017, 09:25
Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/the-a-team/)
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/a_team.jpg?resize=650%2C412Without quite meaning to we’ve acquired some habits — a line-up of bottled beers that we always have in the cupboard or fridge.What follows is probably as near as you’ll ever get from us to an*X Beers Before You Y*list.
Bitter (pale ale) or pale and hoppy session beers we tend to drink in the pub. We’re spoiled for choice, really, even in Penzance, and even more so if we take the bus out to the Star at Crowlas. Still, it’s worth saying that St Austell Proper Job is our default pub drink these days. It’s for the more unusual styles that we resort to bottles.
Anchor Porter*from the US which goes at around £2-3 per 355ml bottle in the UK is our go-to*beer in the stout family. We arrived at this decision after proper testing (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/11/porter-taste-grand-final/). When the urge for a dark beer that really tastes dark overcomes us, this is the one we reach for, knowing it will be great every time.
There are lots of great Belgian beers but one that never gets boring, because it’s the best beer in the world (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/11/100-words-and-thats-final/), is Westmalle Tripel. There are always a couple of bottles of this in every order we place.
Orval is our favourite example of… Orval. We went from being sceptical to puzzled to devotees over the course of a couple of years. We love it in its own right — it’s always different, yet somehow the same — but we also like to play with it (http://boakandbailey.com/tag/orval-blending/). It’s our house*stock ale if you like.
We don’t often need a stout more robust than Anchor Porter but when we do it’s*Harvey’s Imperial Extra Double Stout.*It tastes its strength, coats the tongue, and comes with a tractor-trailer*of funky weirdness that really does ensure a single glass can last all evening. One case every other year seems to do the job, though.
This is both our most boring choice and likely to be most controversial: we’ve yet to find a flowery, aromatic American-style IPA that is better value or more reliably enjoyable than*BrewDog Punk. Every time we open a bottle or can we say,*‘Wow!’ which is exactly what we want from this kind of beer. Nine times out of ten Proper Job at the Yacht Inn is all the hops we need but this is the one we keep at home when our blood-humulone levels drop to dangerously low levels.
When we want something sour and refreshing we consistently turn to*Magic Rock Salty Kiss. It’s not overly strong, not overly acidic, and is just the right kind of acidic for us, too. (But we won’t say too much — it’s coming up in the current round of Magical Mystery Pour.)
But there are still vacancies*— styles where we play the field. When it comes to lager, we currently cycle through St Austell Korev (great value, easy to find), Thornbridge Tzara (yes, we know, not technically a lager, but technically brilliant) and Schlenkerla Helles (the smoke is just enough of a twist to keep us excited). Even though we tasted a load of them (http://boakandbailey.com/2016/01/the-best-bottled-milds-are/) we still don’t have a bottled*mild we feel the need to have permanently at hand — it’s a pub beer, really. We*tend to buy Saison Dupont or BrewDog Electric India but that’s not a lock — we’re still actively auditioning others and saison isn’t something we drink every week. When we get the urge to drink wheat beer, we’re still happy with Hoegaarden, and most German brands do what they need to do, so we just pop to the shops.
So, that’s us. A tendency to conservatism, to the safe option, and to the familiar. (Which is, of course, what Magical Mystery Pour is intended to counter.)
But what about you — do you have any go-to beers? What are they? Or does the whole idea of drinking the same beers over and again just bore you to death?
The A-Team (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/the-a-team/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/the-a-team/)
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/a_team.jpg?resize=650%2C412Without quite meaning to we’ve acquired some habits — a line-up of bottled beers that we always have in the cupboard or fridge.What follows is probably as near as you’ll ever get from us to an*X Beers Before You Y*list.
Bitter (pale ale) or pale and hoppy session beers we tend to drink in the pub. We’re spoiled for choice, really, even in Penzance, and even more so if we take the bus out to the Star at Crowlas. Still, it’s worth saying that St Austell Proper Job is our default pub drink these days. It’s for the more unusual styles that we resort to bottles.
Anchor Porter*from the US which goes at around £2-3 per 355ml bottle in the UK is our go-to*beer in the stout family. We arrived at this decision after proper testing (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/11/porter-taste-grand-final/). When the urge for a dark beer that really tastes dark overcomes us, this is the one we reach for, knowing it will be great every time.
There are lots of great Belgian beers but one that never gets boring, because it’s the best beer in the world (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/11/100-words-and-thats-final/), is Westmalle Tripel. There are always a couple of bottles of this in every order we place.
Orval is our favourite example of… Orval. We went from being sceptical to puzzled to devotees over the course of a couple of years. We love it in its own right — it’s always different, yet somehow the same — but we also like to play with it (http://boakandbailey.com/tag/orval-blending/). It’s our house*stock ale if you like.
We don’t often need a stout more robust than Anchor Porter but when we do it’s*Harvey’s Imperial Extra Double Stout.*It tastes its strength, coats the tongue, and comes with a tractor-trailer*of funky weirdness that really does ensure a single glass can last all evening. One case every other year seems to do the job, though.
This is both our most boring choice and likely to be most controversial: we’ve yet to find a flowery, aromatic American-style IPA that is better value or more reliably enjoyable than*BrewDog Punk. Every time we open a bottle or can we say,*‘Wow!’ which is exactly what we want from this kind of beer. Nine times out of ten Proper Job at the Yacht Inn is all the hops we need but this is the one we keep at home when our blood-humulone levels drop to dangerously low levels.
When we want something sour and refreshing we consistently turn to*Magic Rock Salty Kiss. It’s not overly strong, not overly acidic, and is just the right kind of acidic for us, too. (But we won’t say too much — it’s coming up in the current round of Magical Mystery Pour.)
But there are still vacancies*— styles where we play the field. When it comes to lager, we currently cycle through St Austell Korev (great value, easy to find), Thornbridge Tzara (yes, we know, not technically a lager, but technically brilliant) and Schlenkerla Helles (the smoke is just enough of a twist to keep us excited). Even though we tasted a load of them (http://boakandbailey.com/2016/01/the-best-bottled-milds-are/) we still don’t have a bottled*mild we feel the need to have permanently at hand — it’s a pub beer, really. We*tend to buy Saison Dupont or BrewDog Electric India but that’s not a lock — we’re still actively auditioning others and saison isn’t something we drink every week. When we get the urge to drink wheat beer, we’re still happy with Hoegaarden, and most German brands do what they need to do, so we just pop to the shops.
So, that’s us. A tendency to conservatism, to the safe option, and to the familiar. (Which is, of course, what Magical Mystery Pour is intended to counter.)
But what about you — do you have any go-to beers? What are they? Or does the whole idea of drinking the same beers over and again just bore you to death?
The A-Team (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/the-a-team/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/01/the-a-team/)