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Ok, so the newcastle brown thread got me thinking again about what my own favourite beers are. You see I realised that I was wedded to the proletarian grain rather than aristocratic grape at an early age. Beer instead of wine, whisky instead of brandy etc. Don't get me wrong, I have on many occasions drank wine and brandy, and enjoyed both greatly, but then I always feel kind of unfaithful and realise that the grass actually wasn't greener after all as I return, flat cap in hand, to my local pub vowing never to step foot in a trendy wine bar again.
And so to my own personal top ten of beer. This isn't an all-time top ten, as it will almost certainly have changed by the end of the night, if not the end of this paragraph, but it is an attempt. A snapshot. A debating point for others in love with the grain. Even if you are american and unfortunately have to live with the worst beers anywhere in the world with the possible exception of Pyongyang where I believe one is made from rainwater collected in an old pair of Kim Jong-il underpants and some old tractor parts. No, on second thoughts american beer is still the worst in the world.
1. Jennings - Sneck Lifter (5.1%). It was a close run thing between this and 'standard' Jennings bitter, but this is so complex, rich and satisfying that it has to be top. It makes you want to head out for the Lake District at the earliest opportunity, or failing that pick up a Wainwright guide to read.
2. Roosters - Yankee (4.3%). Very hoppy but never bitter - a real floral taste that reminds me of when my mum used to make elderflower wine.
3. Bass - Pale Ale (5.1%). Out of nostalgia really, because it isn't what it once was, a monster of a beer with a real sulphur bite. But sometimes, just sometimes, you get a hint of what it once was.
4. Cains - Bitter (4%). A real success story even though the Liverpool brewery has been through some difficulot times. Dark, malty, moorish. Makes me long for a return to my former town, its music, people, pubs and beer.
5. Becks bier (5%). Yes, its a big commercial beer, but it deserves its success. Still brewed to the german purity law, the 1516 Reinheitsgebot, it is full of flavour for a pils style lager, although for something a little 'cleaner' in taste you can't beat Bitburger (and "Bitte Ein Bit" has to be one of the best advertising slogans ever).
6. Erdinger - Weissbier (5.3%). I love german wheat beers and could have happily had dozens of brands listed here, but Erdinger is the one I have drank most, so... Wheat beer has a unique bitter-sweet yeasty flavour that shouldn't work, but like a pancake with sugar and lemon does. One is never enough. The Belgiums do similar styles, but call it witbier and add ingredients like coriander and orange peel (the most famous being Hoegaarden) and it is similarly moorish, but as the observant amongst you will spot I am merely using this as a construct to increase my list beyond the tenth digit so I will say no more.
7. Frank Boon - Geuze Lambic (6.5%). Again, I could have subsituted multiple varieties here, including the fruit beer lambics, but this one is one of the more readily available in the UK. Lambic is a unique Belgium style of beer that relies on natural airbourne yeasts for fermentation. The result is an extremely tart taste, but not one that is 'off'. An aquired taste perhaps, but like cigars once you get it you never look back.
8. Guinness - Foreign Extra Stout (7.5%). I grew up on Guinness, but when I was a nipper it was rare outside of an Irish/catholic social club to ever see in on draught in mainland Britain. So to this day I perfer the more complex taste of bottled Guinness to the 'creamflow' version. However, even better is this 'export' version that ironically is brewed in Nigeria under license and then imported back to the UK and Ireland.
9. Budweiser Budvar (5%). Ok, I couldn't resist inclusing this one. It is a great beer in the pilsner style, bursting with flavour after long maturation, but more to the point it is miles ahead of its american namesake that is a horrible thin tasting product that is made with a load of cheap rice (rather than pure malt and hops).
10. Chimay - Triple (8%). Well no beer list would be complete without a trappist style beer would it! And not only is this one of the best, it is one of the few trappist beers still owned by monks, and while I've always been an athiest I have long believed that if you have to 'do god' then that is the way to do it. Despite its strength this top fermented beer is full of subtlety both on the tongue and the nose. Religion as it should be!
Cheers!
And so to my own personal top ten of beer. This isn't an all-time top ten, as it will almost certainly have changed by the end of the night, if not the end of this paragraph, but it is an attempt. A snapshot. A debating point for others in love with the grain. Even if you are american and unfortunately have to live with the worst beers anywhere in the world with the possible exception of Pyongyang where I believe one is made from rainwater collected in an old pair of Kim Jong-il underpants and some old tractor parts. No, on second thoughts american beer is still the worst in the world.
1. Jennings - Sneck Lifter (5.1%). It was a close run thing between this and 'standard' Jennings bitter, but this is so complex, rich and satisfying that it has to be top. It makes you want to head out for the Lake District at the earliest opportunity, or failing that pick up a Wainwright guide to read.
2. Roosters - Yankee (4.3%). Very hoppy but never bitter - a real floral taste that reminds me of when my mum used to make elderflower wine.
3. Bass - Pale Ale (5.1%). Out of nostalgia really, because it isn't what it once was, a monster of a beer with a real sulphur bite. But sometimes, just sometimes, you get a hint of what it once was.
4. Cains - Bitter (4%). A real success story even though the Liverpool brewery has been through some difficulot times. Dark, malty, moorish. Makes me long for a return to my former town, its music, people, pubs and beer.
5. Becks bier (5%). Yes, its a big commercial beer, but it deserves its success. Still brewed to the german purity law, the 1516 Reinheitsgebot, it is full of flavour for a pils style lager, although for something a little 'cleaner' in taste you can't beat Bitburger (and "Bitte Ein Bit" has to be one of the best advertising slogans ever).
6. Erdinger - Weissbier (5.3%). I love german wheat beers and could have happily had dozens of brands listed here, but Erdinger is the one I have drank most, so... Wheat beer has a unique bitter-sweet yeasty flavour that shouldn't work, but like a pancake with sugar and lemon does. One is never enough. The Belgiums do similar styles, but call it witbier and add ingredients like coriander and orange peel (the most famous being Hoegaarden) and it is similarly moorish, but as the observant amongst you will spot I am merely using this as a construct to increase my list beyond the tenth digit so I will say no more.
7. Frank Boon - Geuze Lambic (6.5%). Again, I could have subsituted multiple varieties here, including the fruit beer lambics, but this one is one of the more readily available in the UK. Lambic is a unique Belgium style of beer that relies on natural airbourne yeasts for fermentation. The result is an extremely tart taste, but not one that is 'off'. An aquired taste perhaps, but like cigars once you get it you never look back.
8. Guinness - Foreign Extra Stout (7.5%). I grew up on Guinness, but when I was a nipper it was rare outside of an Irish/catholic social club to ever see in on draught in mainland Britain. So to this day I perfer the more complex taste of bottled Guinness to the 'creamflow' version. However, even better is this 'export' version that ironically is brewed in Nigeria under license and then imported back to the UK and Ireland.
9. Budweiser Budvar (5%). Ok, I couldn't resist inclusing this one. It is a great beer in the pilsner style, bursting with flavour after long maturation, but more to the point it is miles ahead of its american namesake that is a horrible thin tasting product that is made with a load of cheap rice (rather than pure malt and hops).
10. Chimay - Triple (8%). Well no beer list would be complete without a trappist style beer would it! And not only is this one of the best, it is one of the few trappist beers still owned by monks, and while I've always been an athiest I have long believed that if you have to 'do god' then that is the way to do it. Despite its strength this top fermented beer is full of subtlety both on the tongue and the nose. Religion as it should be!
Cheers!
)
). It has a dry, roasted finish, which will always win my favour. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be a regularly brewed beer. 
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