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It seems to me it's becoming harder and harder to find bottled beers which aren't hopped to the max and with citrus blah, blah, blah. I am scunnered with hops and citrus, I want malty, caramel sweetness, a proper pint of Scottish Heavy or 80/. For heaven's sake I went into my new local (just moved house) last Friday night and the wee lassie at the bar didn't even know what heavy or 80/ was, I had to get a pint of "best" which in my mind is a term for English beer (not that I'm knocking English beer, used to drink sublime Tetley's at the Black Bull opposite Leeds City Station in the early 80s). Had some of Alchemy Brewing's Ten Storey Malt Bomb last year and it was super yummy but can't find it anywhere now. So what is out there and easily available which fits my description.
Brewdog 5am Saint is one, an American Red Ale lots of malt profile there, just look for something more red ale malt driven,
You sound like you'd be better with 4 cans of mcewans export and stay in the hoose! 🤣
Fashion innit.
Im not a fan of malty beers, more a fan of hoppy citrusy beers 👍🍺
Real ale though, not syrup.
https://honestbrew.co.uk/flavours/maltytoffee/
Thoroughly recommend HB as a beer club, they have different subscription models but the one I'm in you start by putting in what you think you like, they send you a case around that theme including a couple that are on the edge of what THEY think you MIGHT like. You then rate them as you drink them and based on what you like / don't like they create a profile for you around their 6 flavours:
Tailored Box
Our expert team use your flavour profile and beer ratings to put together a unique selection of beers that match your tastes. Every beer you rate gives us a better understanding of what you like and don’t like. Everyone’s different – we don’t do generic. Generic is boring.
Flavours:
Light/crisp
citrus/fuity
malty/toffee
roasted/ chocolatey
wild/interesting
earthy/spicy
Make your own. It's easy.
http://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/charles-wells-sticky-toffee-pudding-ale
You might like this, it is surprising.
Nothing wrong with Export nobeer, though somehow it tastes better from a bottle than a can. That Sticky Toffee stuff is a bit too much, even for me.
Quite often go for Stouts but even they are getting Hopped and citrused, got some of Ska Brewing's Steel Toe Stout from the Brewdog bottle shop last year it was stunning but again now seems to be impossible to find.
Over hopped beers do seem to be getting more common. They are nice enough for a sip or two but by the time I'm half way in I've had enough. It used to be that you could buy a pint of beer and while some are better than others almost all would drinkable. Not so much these days, much more of a gamble. I find myself drinking more cider and even lager rather than take a chance. My neighbour is a brewer and he calls them alchohops.
Lager, I never thought I'd go there but I've found that Innis & Gunn lager beer is very palatable.
Lia Fail
Red Kite Ale
Stag
Theres 3 off top of my head that I drink. All good beers but yes hop bombs are the flavour du jour.
8 Ace?
Moorhouse Black Cat as a more serious suggestion.
Yep, Lia Fail and Red Kite like them, don't know Stag, is it the lager type one? That Moorehouses Black Cat sounds lovely I'll have to get my southern cousins to procure some for me. Thanks for all suggestions.
I like hoppy beer.
I also really like good 80'. However, it's harder and harder to find a good one. "Back in the day", Belhaven used to do a fantastic hand pulled 80'. God knows what that stuff is they sell now. Awful, nitrogen filled shite.
Historically, in Scotland and the North of England, the beer was made with less hops and more malt as the hops were hard to grow and barley was easier in the colder climate.
Over hopped beers do seem to be getting more common. They are nice enough for a sip or two but by the time I’m half way in I’ve had enough. It used to be that you could buy a pint of beer and while some are better than others almost all would drinkable. Not so much these days, much more of a gamble.
It's called choice, once upon a time most beer basically was a variant on a theme with little or no adventure. Most places with a decent selection of different beers will give you a taste or at least guide you.
It's been a long time since I've had something undrinkable, just a couple not to my tastes and anything too abstract I've tried first.
It's also where not sticking to a pint is a great idea, some things are better in small doses so a schooner or 1/2 is perfect to try some different stuff and not be over powered by it.
yeah this has been getting on my wick for 2 or 3 years now. I think it's slowly starting to get less bad now though. Slowly.
But even so, i went into a pub the other month, it had about 14 or 15 guest ales, and they were all hoppy, hoppier, hoppiest. No stout, no porter, nothing vaguely dark, just one or two best bitter style things.
It's weird - very much a fashion thing, and inevitably brewed/sold by people who claim to be 'craftsmen' and 'passionate about great beer (so long as it's only one very specific style of beer)'. But surely if you love beer so much you'd want give people a decent selection, and wouldn't be such a slave to fashion?
I'm in the South West so maybe not all of these would be easily available up North, but some of the beers you might see (and like) could be
Abbot Ale
Bath Ales - Gem (Tesco stock this quite widely)
St Austell - Tribute (Aldi stock this)
some of the big ones like Hobgoblin, Spitfire, Old Speckled Hen
And here's me thinking coffee drinkers were fussy with our choice of beans
But even so, i went into a pub the other month, it had about 14 or 15 guest ales, and they were all hoppy, hoppier, hoppiest. No stout, no porter, nothing vaguely dark, just one or two best bitter style things.
Cask or Keg?
Some great selections up here in Manchester
https://www.portstreetbeerhouse.co.uk/beer-list
Landlord in the Golden Lion in Southwick explained to me last year that they generally get the hoppier stuff in summer as it sells better than darker, malty beers which sell better in the cold dark wet months when the fire is roaring and the curtains are closed.
Cask or Keg?
about half and half - or maybe leaning slightly towards kegged. But it's not the only place I've been to in the last year that has had that kind of selection!
Haven't been drinking in Manchester in a while, but the Sandbar always used to be a pretty safe bet 🙂
+1 for Manchester, love visiting family there in Chorlton CH and visiting the Marble there. Great beers, huge choice and knowledgeable staff.
Add in Track under the arches of Piccadilly and Cloudwater though they can be a bit more out there, lots of other good spots, the Knott at deansgate has a great selection. I'd also echo above the summery beers sell better this time of year, some black IPA's and sours give you a good balance to the hops too
Used to love Belhaven but they’ve killed it. Watered down lower ABV And tasteless these days.
Pint of Gillespies was an Edinburgh pub stop special in my 20s but never saw it anywhere else or in the years since.
If you want a pint of heavy or light, go to an auld mans pub, there's still plenty of them about.
Belhaven is utter horse piss.
I had a Cloudwater brown ale earlier this year. Very good it was too. If they're moving to malt focused beers then I expect others to follow.
If they’re moving to malt focused beers then I expect others to follow.
Not sure everybody ever left, lots of people still doing that all over the place. I've had heaps this year
had a nice normal pint of bitter today, something called Bread and Butter.
but i prefer a nice hoppy blonde beer any day.
saltaire blonde, ilkley mary jane, ossett blonde..........i could go on
Not sure everybody ever left, lots of people still doing that all over the place. I’ve had heaps this year
Oh sure, but I was talking about the fashionable craft ale brands.
If you can find it, Sharp's Special is lovely.
Most of what I've been drinking this year since I got back from Oz, prefer the hoppy stuff mostly but lots of malty stuff going too
Though it's been a hard landing after hanging out with these guys
https://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/the-winston-brewing/27189/
https://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/hobart-brewing-company/23342/
Oh sure, but I was talking about the fashionable craft ale brands.
yeah that's what i was getting at. I might be imagining it, but I'm sure I've been seeing a few more crop up this last year or so.
+1 for Manchester, love visiting family there in Chorlton CH and visiting the Marble
their Ginger ale (whatever it's called) is a cracking, Sunday afternoon, post-curry pint 🙂 quite partial to 'Pint' as well - simple but good. I used to live about 100 yards away from the Marble. Unfortunately, I left Manchester before it opened! ha
Old Crafty Hen or Abbot Reserve FTW
Bread and Butter is by Vocation, Tony.
Old Crafty Hen or Abbot Reserve FTW
Well probably for a start....
Quite partial to a grapefruit IPA to be honest
There's always spoons green king IPA if you want to drink dish water.
Quite partial to a grapefruit IPA to be honest
Ah the day one brewer took his spare grapefruit down to the others ones brewhouse, that was a fun beer 😉 Imagine just being limited to old beer
I want malty, caramel sweetness
We're selling Grainstore's Nip at the moment which should be up your street, but at 7.3% it's probably too strong for someone old enough to insist on referring to a beer as "80/", eh Grandad? 🙂
No such thing as 'over' hopped beer. There are many different recipes for beer and you choose the ones that you like. I know of a few mates and my brother who have stopped drinking crap trendy lagers like Peroni and the like and started drinking proper beer by transitioning on strongly hopped beers. they seem to be easier to transition lager drinker over to than a heavier style. Each to their own.
The reality is that in alot of pubs that sell decent beers alongside the usual stock crap Carlings and overpriced 'premium' beers (which are really just the crap beers but stronger and in nicer glasses drawn out of a flashy pump), it's the usual stock crap that are the bigger sellers, so if they want to sell more proper beer they've got to choose ones that are more likely to appeal to the lager drinkers. And don't forget the ladies too. I've managed to get my mrs off Prosseco and onto the lighter hoppier beers when we manage to get out. there is no way I'd get her onto something more malty and caramel'y.
Clockwork Tangerine is my new favourite beer (for the summer at least), I wouldn’t class it as over hopped but is obviously citrussy.
For a “normal” pint,
Tribute - becoming more widely available, much like Doom Bar a few years ago.
Timmy Taylor’s Landlord, haven’t had any for a while but also good.
If you’re down that London way or can get hold of a bottle, Twickenham Ales Redhead is a nice drop.
Had a few in Magic Rock Tap last night. It’s amazing, even some of the clientele in there will point and laugh at the 8.2% or 10% beers they have there.
You don’t have to drink a pint of them.
There was a very good 10% De Molen colab in there last night which was dark and strong and amazing.
There is also a great 8.2% Verdant double dry hopped IPA WHICH WAS AMAZING but super hoppy and dirty art and you’d hate it. Which is ok as there’s more for me.
If you can get past the block of thinking you have to drink pints, or looking at beer in some sort of value scale of cost per pint, then there’s a lot to go at out there.
A single can of my favourite Verdant from Drink? in Hebden Bridge is £4.95. It’s delicious. But that’s more than a cheap bottle of red from the CoOp or a four pack of gash bitter or lager. I know what I’d rather drink.
So I’d say, try some of the craft dark beers. There are amazing things out there.
Nothing wrong with a bit of tradition sbob, a pint of £4 just sounds crap.
Ooh, Mann's Brown Ale, an easy introduction to alcohol.
Timothy Taylor's Landlord should be used as an industry standard all other beers should be gauged against, perfection. I have sadly always missed it when it's appeared as a guest ale locally and have only had it in vitro, I can only imagine the joy of having it on tap.
Badger brewery do a full range of beers with a maltiness rating on the back. I enjoy a hoppy number but often drink Fursty Ferret which has a very nice malt taste.
In most supermarkets and under £2 a bottle. 👍🏻
Hogs Back T.E.A. might tickle your wotsits, OP.
£5 a can LOL I wonder what Hebden Bridge is like WTF
Bath Ales Barnsey (used to be called Barnstormer) is a very nice dark beer / brown ale.
I'm too a bit sick of the mega-hopped beers and tend to prefer malty ones.
£5 a can LOL I wonder what Hebden Bridge is like WTF
Prices can vary, some people spend 10x that on a glass of wine
@mucker- King Goblin is malty with caramel notes although not that sweet. Also Old Crafty Hen is nice and malty. It mentions toffee on the bottle but I cant taste it, sweetish taste as well.
I’d pay £8 for a bottle or can of something amazing. Seems to be a reverse snobbery about craft ale.
Someone mentioned badger, in MY opinion they don’t make a decent beer, all old world maltiness, no decent porter or stout and nothing hoppy enough. But others like them so that’s cool and that’s what the OP was after, so good shout for him. Otter is local to me and would probably be something the OP would like.
I’d rather try a load of weird ones - normally drink 1/3rd pints - and see if I can find something that stays with me for a long time. I like heavy hops, Jaipur is great and in supermarkets, Cannonball by Magic Rock another great one quite easy to find.
As as others have said, a four pack of horrendous lager is what £5? I’d rather half a pint or a bottle of something others think is prententious expensive rubbish.
Loads of great beer around, and as various people have said, there’s something to suit everyone. I’ve got a bit bored with over-hopped beer, but that trend does appear to be dropping off a bit, to a more balanced flavour in blonde/pale brews. I’ve had several recently by different brewers which have been very drinkable, one in particular was Three Daggers Blonde, actually at the Three Daggers pub in Edington near Westbury, but all their other brews are top notch. I’m spoilt by the fact my regular pub in Corsham constantly changes what it has on the pumps, with three out of four changing each week.
Go to California. It's gone completely stupid there.
Everything is undrinkable hipster IPA.
It starts at 7% and goes up from there.
It starts at around $6-8 for a half-pint (or whatever passes for a half-pint).
All of the IPAs are so wildly over-hopped as to be borderline undrinkable.
I went to one place where they had made it with some kind of crazy grapefruit hops that was just too chewy to drink. I gave up half-way through my half-pint.
Fortunately there's a place over the road from the office I work at that sells Lagunitas and California Pale Ale, by the pitcher, which is a lot more sensible, but anywhere else, it's just nasty.
If Trump wants to make America great again, he needs to do something about the beer.
I drink Tim Taylor's when at home, best of a bad bunch. When I'm in Manchester I wouldn't dream of it. Today I had a pint in The Smithfield, Port St Beerhouse and the City Arms, all vastly superior to Landlord, despite what Madonna says. And that's without mentioning the Marble Arch with it's listed interior and ace beer and food. I'm almost beginning to think that a prerequisite to commenting on serious beer can only come after an extended exploration of the bars of Manchester, followed by an intense scrutiny of its architecture.
black sheep riggwelter
bishops finger
black wych
fullers black cab
poachers choice (might be a bit plumby)
morrisons is the best beer supermarket!
Acorn Brewery Barnsley Bitter or if you prefer a dark beer Gorlovka or old moor porter
i'll be honest it's a mate brewery but they've won numerous awards including National at GBBF recently
I'm getting somewhere now. I went to the Dougie MacLean gig at the weekend in my new local. Behind the bar is a little bottle fridge and in it the Bellhaven Scottish Ale caught my eye and yeeeeesssss, it's flippin' lovely. Turns out on later googling Bellhaven do some other interesting sounding bottled offerings, including a Robert Burns brown ale, an 80/ and a 90/ Wee Heavy, that's a £4.05 to you sbob. I will do as much research as I can in the coming weeks and report back with my findings, happy daze.