PDA

View Full Version : a swift one - Do they brew some beers to wind me up ?



Blog Tracker
26-03-2011, 09:13
Visit the a swift one site (http://www.aswiftone.com/2011/03/do-they-brew-some-beers-to-wind-me-up.html)

As most regular readers of a 'Swift One' will know, I am a beer 'enthusiast', a posh word for a 'beer ticker', and in this capacity I like to try new beers, or beers that are new to me. Often these fit into the category of average, but just occasionally I come across something really good, and often share this experience with you, the reader, should you find the same beer. Unfortunately, yesterday I had the opposite experience.

I thought a trip over the Pennines was in order to try to catch some of the more elusive beer on the Wetherspoons festival list. In and amongst I also visited some of my regular pubs to sample what they had to offer and it was in one of those that I came across a beer that had everything I dislike in a beer all rolled into one.


My preference is for light, hoppy beer as you will probably have realised but this was darker. A quick sniff confirmed my concerns, it was a smoked beer. There has always been something in the style that has put me off, I find the smoking of the malt detracts from the subtle flavours often imparted by the hops and the whole thing seems unbalanced. No doubt people will berate me for criticizing the German 'Rauch' beer style, but I just don't like it.


Oh well, time to actually taste it. Things did not get any better. Through the smokiness I did manage to taste the hops, and I am fairly sure they were 'Green Bullet' another of my bete noire.
So there I was, with a beer made of two of the things I dislike most in a brew. I tried another mouthfull, it just confirmed my fears.


This made me think a bit. Does everyone dislike the beer or it is just my tastes that are different to other peoples ? Did the brewer actually expect to get the flavours in the glass that ended up there, or was this a brewing mistake ? And more to the point, why had I wasted £1.50 to buy a beer I knew I would not enjoy ? The things we do for our hobby !


Anyway, now I have got that off my chest, I can confirm that I did find other beer that was more to my liking, so the day was not wasted. And the beer ? Well, I dare not name it it, but should have been in the 'Angel' in Manchester yesterday, then it should be fairly obvious from the pump clip. I will be more careful next time.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5761264498865183675-7796395300350201213?l=www.aswiftone.com


More... (http://www.aswiftone.com/2011/03/do-they-brew-some-beers-to-wind-me-up.html)