Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

[Corwin]

Jedi Drinking Song (clickme to listen) (http://www.soundclick.com/util/streamm3u.m3u?id=3406385&q=lo) (from thebards.net (http://www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/Jedi_Drinking_Test.shtml))

:sing: I had one pint of beer, and one shot of scotch, :sing:
I had one bottle of wine, and bourbon on the rocks
I had one lassie on me right, another on the left,
I looked that puppet in the eye and said give me the test
:ahoy: :clap: :boogie:



Actually, in Australia, VB is a popular brand of Beer!! :)

[Sir Markus]

Actually, in Australia, VB is a popular brand of Beer!! :)

Victoria Bitter, yum. That's what my friends and I drank when we spent 3 weeks there touring the outback.

[Corwin]

Actually, I think it's an inferior beer, though not as bad as anything with Gold in its title!! Perhaps we need a thread discussing beer!! :)

[titus]

why bother? belgian beer is the best Cristal and Jupiler

[Bartacus]

This one also passed at the NFG and I will respond in the same manner. Brittish people don't know how to brew beer so they get you some dirty dishwater instead. The most different kinds(and I mean a real difference and not some other kind of pils) of beer you will still find in Belgium. The US is a very good second and will take over if they haven't already. This due to the fact that many family brewers closed sadly enough. A compagny needs to make a profit, but in most cases it was rather not enough profit then no profit.

[Corwin]

Sorry, but American beer is the second WORST in the world, after Italian and I've drunk beer all over Europe, North America, and Australia!! :) Austrian is the best, followed very closely by most German beers. Belgian was a cut above French, but the last lot I had was quite mediocre. We get a great deal of imported beer here, and I've tried a lot of it as well. I find the Dutch beer very enjoyable too!! :)

[Bartacus]

Corwin there are 150 different kinds of beer in Belgium and I'm talking about a real difference. And yeah I know Fosters and 'Bitte ein Bit'. It's not because you've tasted one beer that you got them all, neither in Belgium, nor in the USA.
Your last sentence says it all -> If you like that Heineken pee, well, you can't possibly know what beer is. If you mean there's another Dutch beer you've tasted and liked, it can be ok. The problem with the Belgian beer is that we're not nearly as good as our neighbours at marketing.

also a joke (it's a translated one):

A 60y old woman stands just before bedtime in front of the mirror. She sees many rimples and weak skin, her breasts practicly on her belly and that she has a huge ass. She turns around to her husband and speaks: "I'm feeling very old. Please say something positive about me, so I'll feel better."
The husband looks at her and thinks for a few seconds. Then he answers: "Your eyesight is still very good!"

[Jaz]

My favorite Belgian Gueuze is Morte Subite. Fine stuff. Delirium Tremens is a nice brew, too. I also like Singha, this Thai beer is one of my more recent favorites. My favorite British bitter used to be Bombardier, my favorite American beer Miller's, but hey... you can drink both like water, without any effect whatsoever, great when it's sunny. The beer I drink most of the time is, of course, our local Karlsberg Urpils. And if there's a beer I can't stand at all, then that's Guinness.

Joke:
Patient: "Doctor, I have diarrhoea. Can I take a bath with this?"
Doctor: "If it's enough to fill a tub..."

[Pladio]

You forgot Stella Artois... :D

[Bartacus]

Stella is indeed a Belgian beer, but it has only a good commercial. Jaz got to the good stuff, but I can imagine that you don't get this beer cheap in Australia.

[titus]

Stella is awfull
the best belgian normal beers are Jupiler and Cristal
I know I live there ;)

[titus]

stella artois is just afwfull beer, I rather drink primus than stella

[Gorath]

You amateurs should leave the discussion about good beer to people from Germany or the Czech Republic. :mwahaha: :gorath: :greengrin:

[Danicek]

Germany or the Czech Republic. :mwahaha: :gorath: :greengrin:

Yeah, Actually I like wine in which I'm different from most Czech People who like beer (I think we are closely followed or closely following Germany in beers per head competetion).

[Moriendor]

You amateurs should leave the discussion about good beer to people from Germany or the Czech Republic. :mwahaha: :gorath: :greengrin:

Agree with Gorath. Belgian beer = horse piss with sugar :biggrin: .

[titus]

then you have never tasted jupiler or cristal, Have you?

[Khass]

I just can't get the thought out of my mind that you prefer lesser known beers because the others are more mediatised (sp?), so you're supporting the underdog and loudly mocking the alpha wolf, regardless of the actual quality of the beer... Sorry if I offended anyone in any way. :)

[Corwin]

Why, do they leave out the sugar!! :biggrin:

[Bartacus]

I just can't get the thought out of my mind that you prefer lesser known beers because the others are more mediatised (sp?), so you're supporting the underdog and loudly mocking the alpha wolf, regardless of the actual quality of the beer... Sorry if I offended anyone in any way. :)

Nope Khass, Jupiler, is the alpha wolf of inbev. Our soccer competition is called Jupiler league. Stella is in this case the smaler one, though you're correct when you say that Heineken is the real alpha wolf. The beers that Jaz mentioned are the more stronger beers (higher level of alcohol). These are the beers you can enjoy, pils (jupiler, cristal, bitt, Karlsberg,) are the beers you drink either to go out on or when you're thirsty.

Btw, Pils comes from Pilzen, a town in Czechia. So a large part of the credit for beer should go to that country too.

[Arhu]

I drank one glass of beer in my whole life and I didn't like it. :kitty:

[xSamhainx]

I like my beer like I like my coffee - just as long as it's really dark, bitter, and potent, I'm in. The name of it doesnt mean much

[Wulf]

It's true, beer in one country has different taste relations to another country due to lifestyles and traditions etc'

In Britain before the keg lager boom (1970) most popular beers were *ale* types traditionally linking back to *mead* type ales from a couple of centuries ago and beyond to medievil times.

Traditionally, ale drinkers were working class folks, there were pubs, taverns, hotels corner shops "out-doors" (licenced to sell shops) on almost every street corner, it was a way of life. Hard working men such as steel workers and miners (like my old man) would look forward to have their fill of ale at the end of a working day. As these working trades phased-out the newer lager types became commonplace. My preference is the *dark mild* types, dark and full bodied (hic)... :beer:

As the real ales are facing extinction, "CAMRA" has done a great job in public awareness about what could be lost.
http://www.camra.org.uk/home.aspx?o=home :beer:

[magerette]

You amateurs should leave the discussion about good beer to people from Germany or the Czech Republic. :mwahaha: :gorath: :greengrin:

This reminds me of a Mark Knopfler lyric:

(Disclaimer: please excuse German misspellings in advance-thank you ;) )

"There's plenty of deutschmarks here to earn
and German tarts are wunderschoen
German beer is chemical free
Germany's all right with me. " :)

[Corwin]

Sadly, we only seem to get a couple of brands of German beer locally; the big L from Munich and I think Dortmunder??!! There may be others, but they're difficult to find.

[txa1265]

We get plenty of import beer from everywhere, and until about 15 or so years ago that was almost my entire source of consumption ... the 'microbrew revolution' here has produced good local beer!

[fatBastard()]

I drank one glass of beer in my whole life and I didn't like it. :kitty:
Phew, I was afraid I was the only one. I actually tried to LEARN how to drink beer but the only thing I learned is that if you divide a standard beer into 3 slurps, then the first one tastes awful, the second tastes just as bad and my belly starts to rumble and the third slurp triggers the lot of them to come back up at high speed :uncool:

[Gorath]

Sadly, we only seem to get a couple of brands of German beer locally; the big L from Munich and I think Dortmunder??!! There may be others, but they're difficult to find.

Yes, they´re two of the usual suspects. Other major brands are Beck´s, Warsteiner, Krombacher or Erdinger.

Generally speaking German beer is like computer games though - the mainstream is okay but the indies have more character. ;) There are 1284 breweries, many with more than 100 years of experience. At least two still active ones can celebrate their 1000th anniversary in a couple of years.
More often than not it´s a good idea to simply order the local beer and avoid the industry stuff. The taste may have a little spread but the quality is always high, thanks to the beer purity law.

A few years ago a friend of mine made a tour through a dozen Bavarian cloisters. They all had their own brewery. He enjoyed his holidays quite a bit. :party: :greengrin:

[txa1265]

More often than not it´s a good idea to simply order the local beer and avoid the industry stuff. The taste may have a little spread but the quality is always high, thanks to the beer purity law.

Years ago in my first job, the parent company was based in Karlsruhe and I had to take a trip for some collaborative work we were doing, and my host would just take me to local pubs on a nightly basis, where we'd have a beer or two with dinner ... nice stuff :)

[Arhu]

Phew, I was afraid I was the only one. I actually tried to LEARN how to drink beer but the only thing I learned is that if you divide a standard beer into 3 slurps, then the first one tastes awful, the second tastes just as bad and my belly starts to rumble and the third slurp triggers the lot of them to come back up at high speed :uncool:
:giggle:
Peer pressure: The things you do for friends. It seems like we are two outcasts in a sea of bitter beverages. But I have a second virtue - I like coffee even less!
(Or is that a vice?)

I mean, I don't drink beer because I don't really feel like it, and of course because don't care for the taste, but with coffee I can't even stand the smell. There can be the tiniest hint of a coffee bean in something and it would make me grimace like Rimmer and Lister after nipping on two cans of very strong alcohol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0GgGTMekxE) (start watching at 1:50 if you want).

[Jaz]

A few years ago a friend of mine made a tour through a dozen Bavarian cloisters. They all had their own brewery. He enjoyed his holidays quite a bit. :party: :greengrin:Now that's a nice way to spend your vacations. I did pretty much the same thing back in 2003...
http://www.schuhmacher-net.de/~nicole/jaz_andechs.jpg

[Fenris]

My favourite Stuff is "Weltenburger Kloster", they are brewing since 1050 A.D. :) ... though I'm the only one I know who likes it, I can only descripe the taste as bittersweet... so I have often some "Warsteiner" for visitors at home, every one likes Warsteiner ;)

Hmm... "Castle of the Worlds" ... strange ... even sounds like a Roleplaying Game - become the Avatar of Alcohol or something, or a place where some Monks can travel to other Worlds thanks to the use of beer - sounds more fun than the crystal in UU 2 :)

Though the way language functions over the centurys the Place was possibly owned by some Guy called Welten or Woltan or something 1000 years ago... hmm.. now I'm thirsty... *walks to the fridge*

[Jaz]

Is it a bock beer? Bock is often bitter-sweet. Most of my friends like bock and doppelbock... personally, I'm not really into the dark sorts. Of beer.

[Corwin]

Gorath, I didn't realise Beck's was German; for some reason I thought it British. It's not a bad brew. Whenever I've been in either Germany or Austria (my favourite European country) I just order a stein (or 2) of the local offering. I've never been disappointed!! :)

[Moriendor]

Gorath, I didn't realise Beck's was German; for some reason I thought it British.

Nah, that British Becks is the soccer dude :biggrin: .

[Fenris]

Is it a bock beer? Bock is often bitter-sweet. Most of my friends like bock and doppelbock... personally, I'm not really into the dark sorts. Of beer.

It is a dark beer, but no Bock-Beer - at least they are marketing it as "Barock Dunkel", from the taste I would say it's somewhere between normal beer and Bock ^^

[Gorath]

Nah, that British Becks is the soccer dude :biggrin: .

Hey, I bet he earns more money than the brewery - and that for kicking balls!:lol:

[Bartacus]

You amateurs should leave the discussion about good beer to people from Germany or the Czech Republic. :mwahaha: :gorath: :greengrin:

Yeah, that must be why Westvleteren has been chosen as the best beer of the world.(by beerexperts from over the globe) This beer is very hard to come by -> Made in an abbey by the monks and they do not want to industralise anything. Chances are pretty high most of you will never drink it.

Btw, as I said earlier, we're talking about real diffferent kind of beers -> it's more like you do with Schnapps; we also put different fruit in it. Most known is 'Ne Kriek' (Cherries)

[curious]

this beer rocks my socks off
http://www.lagunitas.com/beers/censored.html

even though its supposedly only 5.9% 1 is usually enough for a suffiecient buzz and with 2 i'm a rockstar all over again

[Cm]

OK, must I assume this is strictly a beer bar, or can I get nice chardonnay if I want one?:party: :ahoy:

[Corwin]

Sorry, beer only. Anyway, nice chardonnay is an oxymoron!! :)

[Cm]

:party: :plotting: Well, just because you only like reds! ;p

[Fenris]

Well, like my old Military-Instructor said... as long as its liquid and makes stupid :)

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I usually don't drink beer at all - no alcohol normally - but the only beer-like thing I like is the so-called "Radler", which might come from the German word for bycicvle : the "(Fahr)rad". So people who want to go by bike can drink this. It consists of lemonade and beer.

There are several mixtures available. The Wikipedia article lists some of them : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandy
The German-language one lists some more : http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biermischgetränk

[Jaz]

Well, like my old Military-Instructor said... as long as its liquid and makes stupid :)
Local saying: 'Besser Alkohol wie kenn geholl.'
Now translate THIS.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Uh, indeed difficult to translate. Had to understand this in the first place myself ...

[Jaz]

Well, yes, it's difficult to get unless you read it out loud...
Rhinefranconian innuendo :jester:.

[Gorath]

I still don´t get it.

[Jaz]

Hmmm... okay, let's try to translate it into proper German:
'Besser Alkohol wie kenn geholl' = 'Besser alle geholt als keine geholt'; 'Alkohol' is pronounced like 'all geholl', and 'geholl'/ 'geholt' = 'taken' in the sense of 'sexual intercourse'.
Of course, the relationship to alcohol is lost in translation.

[Bleh]

I couldn't resist taking part in this discussion as I am a Zythologist from Belgium.

Let me explain something about Belgian beers.
First of all, when you say that Cristal, Stella or Jupiler are the best Belgian beers then I wonder in which category of people you fall. There are two categories of people, in my opinion, who say such things.
Category A: you compared different kinds of beers and you concluded that Cristal, Stella or Jupiler are the best beers in Belgium.
Category B: you only drink Cristal, Stella or Jupiler and/or maybe a couple of other beers.

If you fall into category A, then I respect your opinion although I don't share it.
If you fall into category B, then I strongly suggest to try out some new beers from Belgium. A whole world of greatness will open up for you.

Now for some facts about Belgium and its beers.
There are over 350 different beers spread over a massive variety of styles, such as blond beer, brown beer, tripels, special beers, luxury beers, trappists(more about that will follow), abbatial beers, champagnebeers, fruitbeers, gueze beers, lambiek beers, ... And those beers are only part of the commercial lineup of beers. We also have amateurbrewers who don't even sell their own beer but only share it with friends. I once had the privilege to drink one of these amateurbrewerbeers and sometimes they are better then what's on the market in that style of beer.

What's so special about Belgium and their beers? Sir Isaac Newton once said "The size of Belgium is inverse to the proportion of the greatness of its beer." That's what makes Belgium stand out in the beerworld. We are a very small part of the world but have the most diverse variety of different beers and styles.

There's one style where Belgians have the monopoly on. Those would be the Trappistes. These beers are brewed by the order of the trappistes, a group of monks, for their own maintenance. The Trappistes just brew enough to maintain their order and to be able to repair their abbeys or to help the unfortunate. In the entire world there are 7 Trappistes beers, 6 of them are located in Belgium and one in the Netherlands.
Those 6 Belgian Trappistes are:
Achel Blond, Bruin(=Brown) and Achel 8°
Chimay Rood(=Red; brown beer), Wit(=White; triple beer) and Blauw(=Blue; brown beer)
Orval
Rochefort 6°, 8° and 10°(which actually is 11,3° of alcohol)
Westmalle Blond, Bruin and Tripel(=triple)
Westvleteren Extra, 8° and 12°(which actually is +/- 10,7°)
Any sane person would say that any of these beers are better than Cristal, Jupiler or Stella.
The only Dutch Trappiste is La Trappe Wit(white beer), Blond, Bruin, Tripel, Quadrupel and La Trappe Bockbeer.
Only these 7 brands of beer are allowed to carry the name of Trappistes.

Now another type of Belgian beer are the champagnebeers, or the bière brut. These beers undergo the same treatment as the champagnes from France. The brew actually undergoes transport to the Champagne region in France to undergo a "dégorgement" and "rémuage" and then they are allowed to carry the name "bière brut". A few examples of these beers are Deus, Malheur Brut Réservé, Malheur Dark Brut and Malheur Cuvée Royale.
Also all of these beers are a lot better than Cristal, Jupiler or Stella.

Now about pilsbeers, the most commercial beers are those of Alken-Maes and inbev, which result in Cristal, Jupiler, Stella, Primus and Bockpils, ... But these aren't the best pilsbeers of Belgium. Did you ever try Golden Hop from brewery Bavik? Or a similar to pilsbeer is Vedett from Duvel-Moortgat. This one is also in my opinion a lot better than the commercial pilsbeers of Belgium.

I could write some more about Belgian beer but at the moment I don't have the time to do it. Maybe I'll write somemore in the near future.

For the Belgians amongst us, in Temse in the province of East-Flanders, on the 28the of April there will be a beerday from my beerclub, De Objectieve Kaaischuimers. If you want to taste great beers at low prices, then we're the place to be. For more information, visit our website www.kaaischuimers.be (http://www.kaaischuimers.be)

To the people from outside Belgium, if you want to make the trip, you're welcome.

[Arhu]

Bleh, even though I said I don't like beer, being a total beer wuss, I found your recap of the Belgian beer world quite interesting!
One problem I see is that those special beers you mentioned aren't widely available, as opposed to commercial beers. Kinda comes with the whole commerciality thing I guess, which means that most people probably fall under category B.

[Corwin]

Thanks for all the details. I tried a Belgium Brown beer once and didn't like it. If I ever get back there again, I'll certainly make the effort to try a few more styles!!

[Bartacus]

For the Belgians amongst us, in Temse in the province of East-Flanders, on the 28the of April there will be a beerday from my beerclub, De Objectieve Kaaischuimers. If you want to taste great beers at low prices, then we're the place to be. For more information, visit our website www.kaaischuimers.be (http://www.kaaischuimers.be)

To the people from outside Belgium, if you want to make the trip, you're welcome.

Very unfortunate the site in only in Dutch, so for the people who are not familiar with this language ... Perhaps you can suggest this in your club, Bleh. Making your club more internationally isn't always a bad thing.

[Bleh]

@Arhu: I don’t know the situation in other countrys like Germany or France, but in Belgium the special beers I mentioned can be found rather easily. I’m not saying they can be found in any supermarket in Belgium but the supermarkets I tend to visit have a decent collection of good Belgian beers. At least they probably have one or two Trappistes probably Westmalle and Chimay because those two Trappistes are the most widespread Trappistes in Belgium.
In Belgium we have beerstores, these are stores that sell mostly beers, wines, liquors and other alcoholic beverages. I assume that in your country there are also such stores. Maybe some even specialize in beer from all over the globe. If you’re interested in Belgian beer, or want to try one or two, then I suggest you try to find such stores in Germany. I think that you’ll find such stores in mayor cities.

@Corwin: Don’t generalise a type of beer if you had only one example of that type. There is a lot of difference between two brown beers. For example, a Rochefort 10° compared to Leffe Brown. Between those two is a whole universe of difference. I don’t know what brown beer you tasted, but it doesn’t mean that because you didn’t like that brown beer that you don’t like any brown beer. That’s the beauty off Belgian beer, the diversity in types and beers of that type. Ofcourse you’re free to taste different styles of Belgian beer, in fact I encouraged it. But don’t give up on a brown Belgian beer. If you haven’t tasted the rochefort 10° yet, I strongly recommend it. But beware, it’s quite strong. It’s in the same category of Westvleteren 12, but that one is very difficult to obtain.

@Bartacus: There is a couple of reasons why it’s only posted in Dutch on our site. Firstly we’re not a big club and we like to stay that way. Secondly we assume that we won’t get any visitations from abroad on our beerday because our beerday is quite small compared to other clubs who have more money than us. So what’s the point in translating our site in other languages. But I’ll probably suggest the idea anyway. We have to argue about something during our meetings. But if a majority agrees about this, I could translate it without problems.

If any of you like to have some more information about the upcoming beerday on April 28th, then pm me and I’ll give the details in English.


Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one very special beer from Belgium in my prior post. The beer is called “Bush Prestige” and is THE strongest beer from Belgium and probably one of the strongest beers in the entire world. It contains 13% alcoholvolume and when I drank it for the very first time - I drank it in Brussels on a Belgian beerday and it came in 12,5cl tastingglasses - there was only one word that popped in my mind. And it was “WOW”. This beer is a different category alltogether in the entire Belgian beercatalogue. It tastes like sherry and white porto. With a touch of oak. If you find that beer in a store near you, I suggest you buy it, try it and enjoy it with some friends. But don’t open the bottle(75cl) alone, because it’s not meant to be drinked that way. One or two glasses(12,5cl) is really enough when you drink this beer. It’s so full of body and flavor that it easily saturates you. And one advice, take your time tasting it, it’s well worth it.

[Bartacus]

Never heard of that beer, Bleh, but I'll give it a shot when I find it. I thought Fosters(Australian) was the strongest beer -> I believe it has a 12.5 %, but I could be mistaken. Delirium Tremens isn't exactly a light beer too, but I don't know the percentage of it. The drawings however say it all -> pink elephants.

[curious]

in regards to fosters its barely over 5%, i've never know a lager even in the range of 10%. found this list rather quickly. i'd almost rather drink a cheap domestic than a fosters though , since they all taste like swill and at least i'd be being patriotic.
http://www.brewery.org/library/AlClbinger.html

[Icefire]

After the first few all beers taste the same.:drunk:

[curious]

i rarely even have more than the first few these days though...
ironicly enough this morning was my first hangover in ~a year and half.
also for those not familar with kimya dawson here is a nice (and vulgar) live track "the beer"
http://www.kimyadawson.com/audio/10_Kimya_Dawson_-_The_Beer6.mp3
(explicit lyrics)

[Corwin]

I wouldn't touch Fosters either, and I live here. The best thing I can say about it, is it's better than any American brew!! I see next, we'll have a thread for drinking songs!!!! :)

[Ammon777]

Sorry, but American beer is the second WORST in the world, after Italian and I've drunk beer all over Europe, North America, and Australia!! :) Austrian is the best, followed very closely by most German beers. Belgian was a cut above French, but the last lot I had was quite mediocre. We get a great deal of imported beer here, and I've tried a lot of it as well. I find the Dutch beer very enjoyable too!! :)
Woah. Are you drunk all the time?

OH and my absolute favorite is Rum. Thats why I clicked on this thread.

I think beer tastes kinda like rotten yeast or something.

[Corwin]

If you want to discuss RUM, you'll need to begin another thread!! :)

[Corwin]

Bart (primarily) Found these Belgian Beers in my local shop. What can you tell me about them!!
Leffe, Chimay, Duvel, Bush, Delirium Tremens, and Gouden Carolus. Some had different types under the same 'company' label.

[Ammon777]

I drink grog. :D Its orc beer.