Where do you keep your beer?

[boney]

Bell's has mini kegs of Two Hearted??? I just had a friend from K-zoo bring me a 6 pack of the Two Hearted and a mini keg of the Oberon. Should have asked for it the other way around. If only I knew! Also very jelous of your Expedition Stout.

[StevenThrasher]

Bell's has mini kegs of Two Hearted??? I just had a friend from K-zoo bring me a 6 pack of the Two Hearted and a mini keg of the Oberon. Should have asked for it the other way around. If only I knew! Also very jelous of your Expedition Stout.

Picked it up at the Bells Brewery at the end of April on the way back from Three Floyd's. Fantastic deal for $18.99. Kicking myself for not getting more. To put it in context the Heineken mini-keg at the LCBO is $34.95.

The Expedition Stout is very nice. Over a year old now. Gave a bottle of it to an English friend of mine along with Victory Storm King. He said the Expedition Stout was waaay too malty for his taste, but he loved the Storm King. I don't know about that as I love them both but I'd say the Storm King is far more balanced and I go to it more often.

[James]

And in England, too, apparently.

If CAMRA=England.

Nope, nobody buying Fuller's in England! Rotten stuff, as is anything that becomes remotely popular.

You have clearly missed my point - do you think that what the bearded wonders like equates to popular in England?

CAMRA is a preservation-based organisation. Popularity is not something that is high on their lists. This is why for the better part of a decade their competition would not allow the entry of Golden Ales - the great English brewing industry innovation of the period. It is also why they are trying to save Boddington's - or were last time I looked.

They are a waste of space.

And as far as Real Ale goes, Fuller's is shit in a glass. Still, you should enjoy what you will.

If the only folks drinking good beer in England were CAMRA members, virtually no breweries there would survive.

And I am with Pete Brown of the opinion that CAMRA in its current state is having a negative effect on English (and elsewhere) brewing. They had their place in saving real ale when it was under serious threat. Those days are over, but CAMRA have not changed. As such, they are a problem more than anything else.

[Bobsy]

If CAMRA=England.

Nope, nobody buying Fuller's in England! Rotten stuff, as is anything that becomes remotely popular.

You have clearly missed my point - do you think that what the bearded wonders like equates to popular in England?

CAMRA is a preservation-based organisation. Popularity is not something that is high on their lists. This is why for the better part of a decade their competition would not allow the entry of Golden Ales - the great English brewing industry innovation of the period. It is also why they are trying to save Boddington's - or were last time I looked.

They are a waste of space.

And as far as Real Ale goes, Fuller's is shit in a glass. Still, you should enjoy what you will.

If the only folks drinking good beer in England were CAMRA members, virtually no breweries there would survive.

And I am with Pete Brown of the opinion that CAMRA in its current state is having a negative effect on English (and elsewhere) brewing. They had their place in saving real ale when it was under serious threat. Those days are over, but CAMRA have not changed. As such, they are a problem more than anything else.

Hi James,

I'm a member of CAMRA, and don't have a beard, so perhaps we can leave stereotyping at the door. Anyway, I agree with your comment that CAMRA is a preservation based organization, although I am not sure how this has had a negative effect. I cannot comment about golden ale, and if the organisation was slow to react that is something they have to answer to. However, I do not feel that they have ever impeded brewers from attempting new styles, and I think that there attempts to preserve traditional English styles, such as mild, helps to keep the English beer selection more diverse than the odd bitter and a lineup of macro lagers. CAMRA as a consumer organisation also campaigns against the high sin tax on beer, landlords ripping off drinkers by serving short pints, and for the preservation of historic pubs which have been a the center of British life for centuries. I think we can agree that this is in the interest of beer drinkers everywhere.

The real ale share of the British market is still pitifully low, and I see no harm in ecouraging more people to give it a go in the hope that it helps the industry and stops casks dissapearing from pubs. Individual brewers have practically no marketing budget compared to the big players, and the promotion from CAMRA performs a similar service to the OCB in Ontario. One of the ways CAMRA helps out is by hosting beer festivals similar to Volo's Cask Days, but on a larger scale, and its fun to turn people on to the possibility that maybe there is something they like beyond Stella and Carling. I have also not come across a member who is anti-change and modernity, as long as that change means good things for our traditional brewers.

Manchester is the city of my birth, and I've lived there for 17 of my 26 years, and I admit that although Boddingtons has never been high on my list I felt that my city had lost a large part of its brewing heritage because of some people who had no understanding or connection to what the beer means to a Mancunian. I believe most of their production is now in Wales. Fortunately (and maybe in part because of CAMRA's campaigning and local uproar) cask-conditioned Boddies was subcontracted to Hyde's Brewery not far from the city center.

I think calling the organisation and its members 'a waste of space' is somewhat offensive and doesn't recognise all the hard work that is put in on a daily basis. What experience have you drawn this insight from?

Anyways, mostly agree with you on the Fullers. Not great stuff, but the porter is good if you come across that, and of course the 1845 is awesome in the bottle.

[Belgian]

I love seeing so many of my beers in these photos. As for me, I usually store my beer in my stomach.

This is a look that is totally fashion these days... the 'perpetual beer gut.'

Hey guys I'm in Germany, lots of beer, no time for this jabbering right now. Later!!!

[old faithful]

I've always enjoyed the Fuller real ales in London, especially ESB. For some reason, except for the Porter and 1845, the beers don't translate well to the bottle IMO.

CAMRA did great work to help rescue real ale and ensure its future albeit one that always needs tending and support. I have found in past years at any rate some of the group's positions a little extreme. E.g., at one time and perhaps still they were opposed to the cask breather. I just don't buy that, but I did have to buy numerous pints in England that a cask breather might have saved! Its value to me me seems clear even though I support traditional ways of beer service (including straight from the cask on the counter).

I applaud their interest to preserve historic breweries but we have to remember too, historical breweries at one time were new and "state of the art". Nothing is forever. Creative ways can be found, if the will is there, to preserve the best of the old. The cask Boddy's I had in that big house on the square two years ago in Manchester was very good, it doesn't matter who makes it. I didn't know that CAMRA had any position on golden ales, to me the essence of cask beer is that it is top-fermented and finishes maturation in the barrel in the pub. It can be made of any kilning of malt and any hops even American gasp although English hops are particularly adapted to the style.

CAMRA will always be dear to my heart for its great devotion, sometimes stubbornly so, to the tradition of real beer. But beer is more than real ale and real ale can (within reason) be interpreted differently by different people.

Gary

[Bobsy]

CAMRA will always be dear to my heart for its great devotion, sometimes stubbornly so, to the tradition of real beer. But beer is more than real ale and real ale can (within reason) be interpreted differently by different people.

This is the big bone of contention I have with CAMRA members. The exclusive focus on cask and bottle conditioned beer overlooks so many great drinks that its ridiculous. My dad wouldn't even consider trying a non-cask or bottle conditioned beer, but in a blind taste test could he tell the difference? I don't think he always could. He's visiting in a few weeks and we're staying at Dieu du Ciel for a couple nights. He'll restrict himself to the one cask while I have the pleasure of trying out many different styles. Its a terrible wasted opportunity to try some of the greatest beers Canada has to offer. I don't think CAMRA has to change its position because I really do think an organisation promoting cask has to have that clear unity of purpose, however, I do wish some of the members realised that non-cask does not necessarily mean bland fizzy lager.

[Bytowner]

You have clearly missed my point - do you think that what the bearded wonders like equates to popular in England?

CAMRA is a preservation-based organisation. Popularity is not something that is high on their lists. This is why for the better part of a decade their competition would not allow the entry of Golden Ales - the great English brewing industry innovation of the period. It is also why they are trying to save Boddington's - or were last time I looked.

They are a waste of space.

And as far as Real Ale goes, Fuller's is shit in a glass. Still, you should enjoy what you will.

If the only folks drinking good beer in England were CAMRA members, virtually no breweries there would survive.

And I am with Pete Brown of the opinion that CAMRA in its current state is having a negative effect on English (and elsewhere) brewing. They had their place in saving real ale when it was under serious threat. Those days are over, but CAMRA have not changed. As such, they are a problem more than anything else.

And you clearly didn't even bother to read my post. You insinuate that CAMRA in no way represents the opinion of ale drinkers in Britain despite the fact that Fuller's is one of the most widely available and popular beers in the country. Are you seriously suggesting the English (aside from CAMRA) don't drink or enjoy Fuller's? In this case CAMRA recognition most certainly does mirror the popularity of the brewer in Britain, you're argument is completely counter-factual. I get that they're too mainstream for you, but to call the offerings of a well-regarded brewer "shit in a glass" takes snobbery to a rather nasty level.

[Guybrush]

There's got to be more of you with cellars like these. What's the deal? Nobody else wants to brag?

Maybe a new thread for the rest of us, "A dozen-or-so relatively expensive bottles of beer I have in the corner of my basement."?

[mjohnston]

I have pictures of Guybrush's cellar. I'm going to upload them, for all to see and make fun of, unless he brings some to a tasting, here.

[Belgian]

My dad wouldn't even consider trying a non-cask or bottle conditioned beer, but in a blind taste test could he tell the difference? I don't think he always could. He's visiting in a few weeks and we're staying at Dieu du Ciel for a couple nights. He'll restrict himself to the one cask while I have the pleasure of trying out many different styles. Its a terrible wasted opportunity to try some of the greatest beers Canada has to offer.

Yeah, must be tough always being right., LOL.

It's kind of like people being 'raw foods' eaters, and they freak out about trying anything fully-cooked. Are you going to never try ANY cuisine just because raw foods are generally considered 'better' for you?

Never mind that some foods when lightly cooked release a greater bio-availability of some nutrients (like tomatoes = lycoptene) to extend this comparison a little further. So it is with different forms of beer - they may have different benefits, applying each form in the best way to a particular beer.

[Timmy]

Some very nice collections posted. Sadly I don't have any cellar space set aside for beer but I do have a small bar fridge that I can cram almost 80 bottles into. Hopefully the next house will have some cellar space.