Grand Slam of Beer

First topic message reminder :

Ok, with the 6 Nations heading for the final round, a bit more light hearted poll....

What is your beer of the 6 Nations....






For clarification....

Guys, lets keep in perspective....

The selected beers are synonymous with the tour to that nation, they may not be the best choice beer from that nation.

By all means suggest your preferred pint, but the choices (1 per nation), is all that is on tap behind this 6 Nations Bar. So choose one of these or go without a pint.

I selected them based on the beer most likely to be sold in the capitals of each 6 Nations on match day.

ie. Go around Cardiff on match day, its Brains SA, Dublin is Guinness, London mostly London Pride, Edinburgh its a "pint of heavy" (McEwans), Peroni in Rome, and K'berg in Paris....

As I have said, I'm not saying they are the best ales, most aren't. (Guinness being the exception in Dublin only mind), but this is a Rugby Tour theme....So that's the choice.... One of those or drink on your own

MajorRoadWorks wrote:So looks like the round is.....

Brains SA 8 pints

Guinness 26 pints

London Pride 6 pints

Kronenbourg 1664 10 pints

McEwan's Heavy 5 pints

Peroni 14 pints



Come and get them.....

... and lets all drink to the best team of the 6 Nations.....


WALES

So that will be bottled Gwynt y Ddraig, Black Dragon cider then Ruby

Hound_of_Harrow wrote:So that will be bottled Gwynt y Ddraig, Black Dragon cider then Ruby

That would be perfect Hound - No harrowing this weekend for me please

Draught cans of Guinness ice cold out the beer fridge is as close as I can get here in NZ but a casual 12 cans on a Saturday night will suffice. Can find places as cheap as $16 for four ... bloody Countdown its $27 for 6 bottles of the stuff !! Still better than Waikato swap beer, Steinlager or Lion Red, but a nice jug or 6 of Speights is just the job belch burp hic

Woodstock wrote:Draught cans of Guinness ice cold out the beer fridge is as close as I can get here in NZ but a casual 12 cans on a Saturday night will suffice. Can find places as cheap as $16 for four ... bloody Countdown its $27 for 6 bottles of the stuff !! Still better than Waikato swap beer, Steinlager or Lion Red, but a nice jug or 6 of Speights is just the job belch burp hic

Nice to see someone else following my "never drink anything made with Waikato river water" theory

Where is Guinness being brewed in NZ now? The Canterbury Brewery* was damaged beyond repair in the Christchurch earthquake.


*Guinness used to run an annual competition between it's breweries to see who's brew was closest to matching the Dublin one. Canterbury won 5 years running so were withdrawn from the competition.

In all honesty, I wont be drinking anything during the Wales game - sorry lads, I'd be back and forth the loo for 50 minutes of the 80 and that's nearly as long as it takes to set the scrum for the whole game. Champagne hopefully flowing for the Eng v Ire match

the best playing 'away' nation pints:

Guinness (stout) nuff said
Kbourg (good quality conti style lager)

Belgium don't play in 6n, but if they did, wow.
I'd have to go with Leffe Blonde draft, what a beautiful beer.

Hound_of_Harrow wrote:Wales - where to start. Apart from the delicious Dark, Brains have fallen from favour with discerning beer drinkers.

I'm worried that they might be phasing out Brains Dark. They're really pushing their new stout instead - Brains Black, is it called? - and a pint of Dark is becoming harder to find.

Try Kwak Gregortree, a lovely smooth beer. Also Delirium Tremens and Ch'ti are gorgeous.

Disney, in which country are these brewed / sold ? Will look out for tehm.

Delirium Tremens - nice name for a beer!

A sometimes fatal reaction to alcohol abuse.

Guillotine is another Belgian beer that is as good as its name

AsLong: so did you lose your head on this ?

McEwans 70' is not a patch on Belhaven Best.

Or any of the winter ales.

disneychilly wrote:Try Kwak Gregortree, a lovely smooth beer. Also Delirium Tremens and Ch'ti are gorgeous.

Kwak is lethal. Never agin...

George Carlin wrote:McEwans 70' is not a patch on Belhaven Best.

Or any of the winter ales.

Never had Belhaven, but I know there is a B&B in my town called the Belhaven after the beer, and the owner used to get the beer shipped in.

You can get them around the UK save for Ch'ti which I only found living in France. Look for the pubs that boast about having hundreds of beers you usually find them in there. I never drank them in London though but I have seen a couple about the UK. In Dublin The Bull And Castle has a few great ones. In NZ I'd hit Leuven in Wellington for them. Can any Brits help out Gregortree?

Screaming yeah you have to respect them. Disrespect them, and they will you in the morning!

kwack kwack lol- must drink out of the test tube type thing with the wooden handle

Major, great thread man, and a grand beer tour thrown in. Very rugby.

disneychilly wrote:You can get them around the UK save for Ch'ti which I only found living in France. Look for the pubs that boast about having hundreds of beers you usually find them in there. I never drank them in London though but I have seen a couple about the UK. In Dublin The Bull And Castle has a few great ones. In NZ I'd hit Leuven in Wellington for them. Can any Brits help out Gregortree?

Screaming yeah you have to respect them. Disrespect them, and they will you in the morning!

best places would be food and wine type establishments or beer circus type pubs- then there is allways online!!

Just adding a punt for Black Sheep- either the basic bitter or Riggwelter

For Ireland the Black Stuff is the obvious one but also a shout for the various independent brewers north and south that are trying to get people into real ales. Well worth trying if you get the chance.

Regarding Kwak and the "test tube" glasses a few years ago in Brussels about half a dozen of us were in a bar drinking Kwak so rather than give us a seperate stand each, the pub produced a sort of circular wagon wheel with spaces for all the glasses that sat in the middle of the table...which reminds me I've got half a dozen bottles at home....

love that eccentricity of every belgium beer having its own styled glass- and i agree with em that it adds to the pleasure.

The Kwack glass is some sweet invention. I like the idea of the circular wagon , havent seen one!

gregortree wrote:AsLong: so did you lose your head on this ?

gregor, even better - my daughter's then boyfriend was foolish enough to insist that he try one cos he liked the name, but after the evening session that we had been on, there was only ever going to be one result:

I know that this is not a debate over what's best so I'll keep this breif. Innis and Gunn is pretty damn good and I would advise all who visit Edinburgh to try this Whisky Beer, utterly awesome.

For the record a wee dram of Laphroig, The McAllan or Glenmorangie would be my tipple of choice.

glenmorange is my whisky of choice

I'd go for Laphroaig, even though I ended up with a hangover on Christmas Day last year because of it.

Balvenie DoubleWood is my habitual tipple.

Kiwireddevil wrote:Guinness used to run an annual competition between it's breweries to see who's brew was closest to matching the Dublin one. Canterbury won 5 years running so were withdrawn from the competition.

I wish they ran the same competition here in Canada. It's drinkable but not like back in the UK where I could literally poor it down my throat until I'd doubled my body weight without pausing for breath. Here it's not as smooth and the aftertaste is more bitter. And at $19.50 CAD for 8 cans it's not the cheapest either (that's about 1.55 per can in British money).

B91212 wrote:

Kiwireddevil wrote:Guinness used to run an annual competition between it's breweries to see who's brew was closest to matching the Dublin one. Canterbury won 5 years running so were withdrawn from the competition.

I wish they ran the same competition here in Canada. It's drinkable but not like back in the UK where I could literally poor it down my throat until I'd doubled my body weight without pausing for breath. Here it's not as smooth and the aftertaste is more bitter. And at $19.50 CAD for 8 cans it's not the cheapest either (that's about 1.55 per can in British money).

That was a international comp mate, so the Canadians were entered too. I'm guessing you've figured out why they weren't winning it

stlowe wrote:Balvenie DoubleWood is my habitual tipple.

I'm quite partial to Balvenie DoubleWood at the moment. Glenmorange is probably my overall favourite distillery, though I'm always willing to try a new single malt

Good article, nice to find one with no bickering! I voted for London Pride out of a sense of civic, well, pride! But I'm very much a horses for courses type of person!


Beers like that kwak stuff are a bit dangerous in my opinion, a good way to guarentee a headache the next day! A beer I've really enjoyed from around the world would be Windhoek, which is now freely available in the UK which makes it a far less exciting!

Kiwireddevil wrote:

B91212 wrote:

Kiwireddevil wrote:Guinness used to run an annual competition between it's breweries to see who's brew was closest to matching the Dublin one. Canterbury won 5 years running so were withdrawn from the competition.

I wish they ran the same competition here in Canada. It's drinkable but not like back in the UK where I could literally poor it down my throat until I'd doubled my body weight without pausing for breath. Here it's not as smooth and the aftertaste is more bitter. And at $19.50 CAD for 8 cans it's not the cheapest either (that's about 1.55 per can in British money).

That was a international comp mate, so the Canadians were entered too. I'm guessing you've figured out why they weren't winning it

Unfortunately I have. Canadians brew some okay larger and pale ale's (certainly better than the american crap that passes as beer down there) but I still miss a decent pint of Guinness and traditional ales. Last time I visited the UK I was like a kid at Christmas and lived on a diet of bacon sandwiches for breakfast, fish & chips or kebabs at lunch and a decent curry most nights, mixed with generous amounts of the aforementioned beer's. Added to the fact that I wasn't doing any exercise whatsoever due to being on holiday I returned to Canada 12 pounds heavier than when I left 10 days before. I even had to buy some fat jeans for the flight home .

B91212 wrote:

Kiwireddevil wrote:

B91212 wrote:

Kiwireddevil wrote:Guinness used to run an annual competition between it's breweries to see who's brew was closest to matching the Dublin one. Canterbury won 5 years running so were withdrawn from the competition.

I wish they ran the same competition here in Canada. It's drinkable but not like back in the UK where I could literally poor it down my throat until I'd doubled my body weight without pausing for breath. Here it's not as smooth and the aftertaste is more bitter. And at $19.50 CAD for 8 cans it's not the cheapest either (that's about 1.55 per can in British money).

That was a international comp mate, so the Canadians were entered too. I'm guessing you've figured out why they weren't winning it

Unfortunately I have. Canadians brew some okay larger and pale ale's (certainly better than the american crap that passes as beer down there) but I still miss a decent pint of Guinness and traditional ales. Last time I visited the UK I was like a kid at Christmas and lived on a diet of bacon sandwiches for breakfast, fish & chips or kebabs at lunch and a decent curry most nights, mixed with generous amounts of the aforementioned beer's. Added to the fact that I wasn't doing any exercise whatsoever due to being on holiday I returned to Canada 12 pounds heavier than when I left 10 days before. I even had to buy some fat jeans for the flight home .

lol its normally the other way round- brits putting on pounds when going to north american!!!

blimey you did overindulge abit mind !! id say good work but am currently trying to shed a stone so feel abit jealous

mystiroakey wrote:

B91212 wrote:

Kiwireddevil wrote:

B91212 wrote:

Kiwireddevil wrote:Guinness used to run an annual competition between it's breweries to see who's brew was closest to matching the Dublin one. Canterbury won 5 years running so were withdrawn from the competition.

I wish they ran the same competition here in Canada. It's drinkable but not like back in the UK where I could literally poor it down my throat until I'd doubled my body weight without pausing for breath. Here it's not as smooth and the aftertaste is more bitter. And at $19.50 CAD for 8 cans it's not the cheapest either (that's about 1.55 per can in British money).

That was a international comp mate, so the Canadians were entered too. I'm guessing you've figured out why they weren't winning it

Unfortunately I have. Canadians brew some okay larger and pale ale's (certainly better than the american crap that passes as beer down there) but I still miss a decent pint of Guinness and traditional ales. Last time I visited the UK I was like a kid at Christmas and lived on a diet of bacon sandwiches for breakfast, fish & chips or kebabs at lunch and a decent curry most nights, mixed with generous amounts of the aforementioned beer's. Added to the fact that I wasn't doing any exercise whatsoever due to being on holiday I returned to Canada 12 pounds heavier than when I left 10 days before. I even had to buy some fat jeans for the flight home .

lol its normally the other way round- brits putting on pounds when going to north american!!!

blimey you did overindulge abit mind !! id say good work but am currently trying to shed a stone so feel abit jealous

It took about 8 weeks of living like a monk to shed the weight when I got back. There is a chance I may be returning again in the summer for a week so I thought about doing more of the moderation thing next time. Either that or crash diet for a month before I leave.

Good luck loosing that stone - there is nothing worse than depriving yourself of the finer things in life

luckless_pedestrian wrote:

Hound_of_Harrow wrote:Wales - where to start. Apart from the delicious Dark, Brains have fallen from favour with discerning beer drinkers.

I'm worried that they might be phasing out Brains Dark. They're really pushing their new stout instead - Brains Black, is it called? - and a pint of Dark is becoming harder to find.

It would be a crying shame if the Dark (mild) was to go lucky. Mind you demand for it has fallen massively with much of the heavy industry in S. Wales having closed

disneychilly - where on earth did you come up with 'smooth' to describe Kwak? It's a blend of geuze beers, known for their sourness. A very acquired taste is that stuff.

Beer wise we are lucky at Wasps (well those of us travelling to Wycombe by train) because the Bootlegger opposite the station does about 8 ales, several continental lagers and beers on draught, and around 300 bottled beers; many of them Belgian.

Sorry Hound it was in comparison to the other Belgian beers, not other beer in comparison. Living 10 minutes from the Belgian border ensures you drink enough of the stuff to remove any rough edges you find when you start drinking them habitually

No worries dc

Enjoy your tipple.

I love Grand Place in Brussels. Pricey, but a superb place to sit outside a bar and have a beer (or several).



Antwerp is damn good too. Let Belgium into the 6N. They'll get thrashed, but everyone will have a great time

Hey Hound I'm hitting Bruges in May before heading to Paris to see Soundgarden. You know any nice places to enjoy said tipples in Bruges?

I will be there easter durkng the masters. anyone know a pkace to watch it

Thanks all for contributing to the thread and most importantly enjoying it without the usual bickering... Shows rugby fans get on (mostly)....

Right I bought the first round...

The round now stands at...

Brains SA 10 pints

Guinness 33 pints

London Pride 10 pints

Kronenbourg 1664 11 pints

McEwan's Heavy 6 pints

Peroni 18 pints


So come on, who's buying the next... I'm getting a thirst on here.

i see what your doing here- you get the cheaper first round!!

mystiroakey wrote:i see what your doing here- you get the cheaper first round!!

Not sure about that. An 88 pint round (and increasing), as cant see many making it to the end



.....but in true Rugby Tour tradition....


WE'RE GOING TO TRY....

ok i will get the next virtual round then. am i allowed to have a short or a leffe . I cant drink to much guiness, it makes my pee turn black