Real Ale Drinkers -- a must have

That's my liver / kidneys gone for sure 

I had this Dublin Porter on Saturday night, really delicious. I was in Dublin, in nice surroundings and stumbled across this. My only problem was drinking 3 pints of it before I jumped on the bus to Belfast that had no toilet. I was in severe pain when I got off the bus :)

http://i62.tinypic.com/jax6w0.jpg

Ovalman - you can buy the Guiness Dublin Porter in the supermarket now (at least you can in our local Tesco).

They also do a West Indian Porter too which is very nice (quite strong at 6%).

HIC

That's a bit of a trip ovalman for a couple of pints!!

I've been brewing my own beer lately and getting well into real ale. I've heard about the style of beer but never had a Porter so it was a real treat as I love Guinness and darker beers. It was also on draft, icy cold and came in a special glass with nice surroundings. Yes I know about Tesco's, I'll buy a few next time I'm up. I think it's in the 3 for a fiver offer. I'll definitely try that West Indian and I'm going to brew my own this weekend.

Thanks for the link Scissors, when I seen "Caskfinder" I thought it was a type of beer. Just 2 pubs in Belfast although I know of others so the Apps not that great for me. There's plenty of info on the site though, I'll use it when I travel.

I was playing Poker in the North of the city and had 90 minutes to wait for my bus. 3 pints without a pee on a 2.5 hour bus journey was not good planning - next time I'll bring a bucket

Perhaps someone else may be able to help better on the history but I think Porter was originally supposed to be a higher class of stout back in the 1800's. I can definitely recommend the West Indies Porter. A fine drop despite being out of a bottle.

I believe Truman were the first people to brew Porter - for the porters at one of London's markets. I'll google it and confirm.

Not as cut and dried as that - interesting article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_(beer)

I think I've read something about that in the past jed but if I'm right it was one of several possible explanations for its origins.

You beat me to it.

The West Indies porter is included in Asda's rather marvellous four for £5 offer. I would buy it but I keep just getting sackfuls of Theakston's Old Peculier instead.

Another fine one. I've availed myself of the Porter a few times now. Just when I think I'm out. They pull me back in.

I've only really been drinking after cricket this summer, and I'm not much of a fan of hoppy beer so tend to just have a few San Miguels to rehydrate post-match. Two pubs in my village, both Real Ale pubs, so winter's a good time to have a drink in them.

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http://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=Porter

you lot need to download the cask finder app

I love stout & porter and my current fave is Fuller's Black Cab. 4.5% and a lovely smooth pint - normally get 4 for a fiver in morrisons.

congrats on ya 500th kit-kat-dan!

Woohoo, thanks Delta I didn't realise.  Only taken 8.5 years.  Think I'll have a beer to celebrate.

Have a try of O'Hanlon's Port Stout KKD, nice drop of beer.

Cheers jed I'll give it a go.  The best I ever had was pearl necklace oyster stout from flying dog brewery in the states. Hard to find but well worth the effort.

Not so keen on the Oyster Stouts myself, had a couple but can't remember who made them.

I've had real ale every day for the last 20 years, almost.

You'll rarely go wrong with anything from The Saltaire Brewery.

Saltaire Challenger, that's a proper beer.

Saltaire beer fest on 11th September, might try a visit.

Bit of a trek for me Bradford to be honest. Went to a couple over the weekend in my area, celebrated cricket team getting promoted at one on Saturday night, got very messy, then hair of the dog at another one on Sunday. Yesterday more of a Blank Holiday than Bank Holiday.

Cheers ovalman !!
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The app will be like my Sat Nav now when i am in
Parts unknown 

If you like the Blonde / Golden Real Ales
You cannot go wrong with Wainwrights brews.
Manchester Pale Ale is a nice brew.

Several drinking friends have told me the Oyster on tap
Is a lovely porter/ stout type beer -- but i don't drink the dark
Ones anymore --- i grew up on Theakston 's Old Peculiar =
4 pints after work -- thought i would end up doolallee ..
I certainly couldn't see after them ..

Bruce's Brewery in London  used to brew the stuff on the premises.  Dogbolter was a lovely dark strong beer.  Don't know if it still exists.

The best beer I've ever had was in a Pub called http://en.ufleku.cz/ in Prague. They only sell the one type of beer, a dark lager that they brew themselves. It's the reason I've got into home brewing as I found a recipe for it online. It's very dark in colour, much like the Dublin Porter but it tasted much more like a lager. Really easy to drink and again the city and surroundings made it special.

From my home brew experience, it's amazing how subtle differences can change the appearance and taste of a beer. A blond and a Stout both use the same base grains but a Stout has 30% Roasted Malt and Crystal added to give the dark colour. Additions of hops and yeast also affect the flavour, sometimes greatly.

Titanic Cherry Dark 4.5%

tastes like cherries

Not sure if it qualifies as real ale but I like Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It have a subtle aftertaste and its more like an ale than a lager.

Been finding out about the man - Samuel Adams-
On the tv series prog --Sons of liberty  --
He basically led the Boston Tea Party uprising
That led to the formation of the USA..

The landlord in my local has got a thing about Dark Star beers dukeofpuke, sometimes he'll have three or four of them on at once. Not really found one I get on with yet, although several of my beer-drinking buddies swear by them. Fortunately he's always got some Abbot Ale on so I just drink that when the Dark Star quotient is high, only problem being of course that evenings tend to get messy, and mornings less than pleasant.

Not much a real ale drinker expert but I think the black sheep bottled ale is very nice to drink.

I had haverlee lager on tap recently for the first time and I would recommend it to anyone.

Used get Black Sheep Riggwelter in my local Morrison's. Heavy stuff, but absolutely lovely. Couple of them, couple of Ringwood Old Thumper, £5. Guaranteed oblivion.

jed - not sure where you're based; but the Dark Star Brewery is just up the road from me in Partridge Green. For anyone in Sussex, the brewery shop is brilliant, it is open till 4pm on a Saturday and you can get nearly all their beers (in bright) in any quantity, from a pint upwards.
My favourite is Festival or the Dark Star Original, both 5%. 

Seen stout mentioned on here - Dark Stars Imperial Stout is 10.5% (only available in bottles!!!)

Worth a trip to Partridge Green which also happens to have one of the finest butchers in Sussex (Sean Hutchings - Grazier and Butcher)
You'll sometimes queue outside the shop mind, even on a Wednesday!!

Riggwelter is a nice pint, a few local pubs have it on draught.
I recently had a lovely couple of pints of espresso stout which was guest ale but I can't remember which brewery it came from. Addled brain cells I imagine.

My Stout I brewed, it had a better head than the photo taken. Slightly chocolatey with no strong smell or aftertaste, you could honestly sell this in a pub. It's a Guinness clone although tastes like the bottle, not the draught.

http://i62.tinypic.com/2r53j9d.jpg

I've never understood how Guinness survive, there are dozens of better beers.

A triumph for the marketing boys....style over substance.

......a poncy attitude towards proper beers like Fosters and Calsberg.

Guinness is 70% base grains, 20% Crystal and 10% Roasted Barley. My Stout is better imo.

Most of the top beers are simplified recipes.

It shocks me to know how indifferent the ingredients are considering how different the tastes are. Remove the 20% Crystal and 10% Barley and you have a blonde beer. Add one or the other and it's a porter but the taste and smell have changed so much.

Lagers are a bit diferent as I'm finding out and much more dependant on temperature.

And Guinness surivie because they make it special. Ask your server to pour it to the neck next time you order one and it will wnd up the same as a "perfect" pint they think you should have

Guinness is nectar for morons.

I love a good stout, darker beers have far more flavour than lagers and pilsners. I brewed 40 pints of a Chocolate Brown Porter yesterday, it'll take about 3 weeks to brew then a few weeks to settle.

If Stouts are for morons, what tipple should we be drinking?

Can confirm the West Indian Guinness porter is a brilliant sup 10/10...4 for a fiver at Asda...GET SOME.

Went to Tesco's on Friday looking to buy some Dublin and West Indian Porter but they didn't have any

I bought 3 bottles of Grolsch for a fiver as the bottles are good for home brew - I put different hops in each to taste how hops affect a beer and ended up throwing all 3 bottles down the drain as I spoiled the beer

I've still got the bottles for my own beer

Ovalman, I quite fancy having a go at home brewing, can you recommend a good place to buy the required kit?

I started with a Coopers Kit http://www.tesco.com/direct/coopers-diy-beer-starter-kit/213-7435.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=213-7435

It may be cheaper elsewhere but it gave me everything I needed to start when I didn't have a clue. The beer is horrible BTW but it will get you started.

If you fancy the full route (I wish I did) then follow this guide: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51779

I post a lot on that forum but I also get some great feedback.

You'll need a few extra's like a Syphon, Thermometer and sterilising solution but it's not that much more difficult but the results are like cahlk and cheese.

It needn't be that expensive although I'm now kegging my beer with a CO2 bottle and prodicing stuff that surpasses anything I've bought in a pub.

Cheers that's very helpful. I brewed some stuff about 25 years ago but I'm sure the kits available nowadays will be superior.

Will let you know how I get on, many thanks.

Loved the look of the Stella Artois bottles they took out last Christmas. They were the old style long necked bottle with a cork. They would look great for home brewing once you have uased them.