Ninjas that know about beer

[defoxster]

Where are you guys trying all these beers? Sounds like there is a distaste for Brewdog... I know a few decent places in london dotted about, Euston Tap, Crown & Anchor (Oval) & the various "Craft beer companies" about but would like to know some more.

Tried Jaipur the other day really enjoyed it


If you dont really like stout but have a sweet tooth left hand milk stout is good

[slothrop]

Euston Tap and Craft Beer Co are good, as are the Southampton Arms at Gospel Oak and the Rake at London Bridge. People who actually live in London will be able to come up with some more bleeding edge options as well. Dunno about bottle shops down in the smoke apart from Utobeer on Borough Market. Oh and Kris Wines. And that place opposite Jai Krishna on Stroud Green Road.

FWIW, I think Brewdog still produce some great beers, it's just that so do a load of other people who aren't really annoying.

Jaipur is class.

[gwa]

i've noticed quite a lot of snobbery at times in brew dog and so have my friends.

they've been known to say to my friends that they don't sell lager or cider here before letting them ask what they want when they probably know more about beer than the bartender.

quite annoying.


+1 on jaipur. can usually be found in supermarkets for very cheap too.

[esfandyar]

yes gwa. if you mean punk as in they some punk ass bitches then i agree. overpriced, arrogant, and honestly a lot of their output is muddy, and lacks in flavor and complexity. ive had their tactical nuclear penguin, tokyo, and sink the bismarck, and a majority of their regular line beers. its mediocre. they decided to make some eisbocks with really high alcohol percentages to get recognized, but its garbage. that tactic is garbage. their collab with 3 floyds making a scotch barrel aged barleywine called bitch please was the only thing nice ive had from them.

by the way, last month i got my cicerone certification here in arizona.

[mks]

by the way, last month i got my cicerone certification here in arizona.

I had not heard of that before, but looked it up. Congratulations!

[lloydnoise]

yes gwa. if you mean punk as in they some punk ass bitches then i agree. overpriced, arrogant, and honestly a lot of their output is muddy, and lacks in flavor and complexity. ive been lucky enough to have tactical nuclear penguin, tokyo, and sink the bismarck, and a majority of their regular line beers. its mediocre. they decided to make some eisbocks with really high alcohol percentages to get recognized, but its garbage. that tactic is garbage. their collab with 3 floyds making a scotch barrel aged barleywine called bitch please was the only thing nice ive had from them.

by the way, last month i got my cicerone certification here in arizona.

congratulations, that's a cool job man

I think Brewdog make some great beers, Punk and Hardcore IPA, Dead Pony Club are all excellent, Tokyo was pricey but interesting and it got them press. They are arrogant and I guess that rubs people up the wrong way, but I don't get the hate.

Quick plug for my brother's brewery, London Fields, their Hackney Hopster pale ale is one of my favourite pales, really fruity and clean. Visit if you're down Hackney way, they've got a few bars around

[gwa]

will do llyod! that pub is directly opposite my mates flat.

pub down the road by the overground is good. stocks some staple breweries

[gwa]

think it might be called the cock tavern

[alphacat]

think it might be called the cock tavern

You sure that's just a regular ol' pub dude?

[slothrop]

I think Brewdog make some great beers, Punk and Hardcore IPA, Dead Pony Club are all excellent, Tokyo was pricey but interesting and it got them press. They are arrogant and I guess that rubs people up the wrong way, but I don't get the hate.

I don't mind them being arrogant or gimmicky or whatever, the thing that really winds me up about them is their constant efforts to stir up beef with CAMRA / traditionalists by blowing up a false dichotomy between craft beer and real ale and the fact that, because they're relatively newsworthy and give good quote, they can pretty much say what they want on the subject and have it taken at face value by journalists and hence a lot of the general public.

I think this is actively harmful to the scene, because it encourages people to stay in their pigeonholes and discourages them from trying stuff from the other side of the divide.

It's kind of comparable to all the "intelligent drum and bass" people in the mid nineties spending the whole time trying to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the scene that, until recently, they'd been a part of, and the press reporting it as "yeah, these guys are Serious Artists who collaborate with Courtney Pine, they're not like all the thick chavs making stupid old jungle...." </worrying too much about this sort of shit>

Quick plug for my brother's brewery, London Fields, their Hackney Hopster pale ale is one of my favourite pales, really fruity and clean. Visit if you're down Hackney way, they've got a few bars around

Wow, that's your brother? Cool! I've had a couple of theirs. The Shoreditch Triangle is dead nice too.

[defoxster]

Quick plug for my brother's brewery, London Fields, their Hackney Hopster pale ale is one of my favourite pales, really fruity and clean. Visit if you're down Hackney way, they've got a few bars around

Ive had this beer actually & it was indeed great. Was out of this infusion tap thing that had extra hops in to give it a more robust flavour. Apparently they can put what ever they want in the infusion thing & the beer will take on that flavour. Thought it was pretty interesting.



Found out about the cicerone thing last month. Apparently its quite a big thing in America but hasnt quite made its way over here yet. Isnt there 3 stages to it & by the time youve done the 3rd your basically a scientist?

Cheers for recommendations will check those places. If you didnt know you can buy bottles from the Euston tap & take em with you which is pretty cool.

[esfandyar]

^ those things are called randalls. you can put really whatever you want in em and it makes your beer taste like it, ive had certain beers randalled with habaneros, chocolate, different fruits.. pretty cool.

yea the cicerone has 3 tiers, certified beer server, certified cicerone, and master cicerone. theres only i think 8 or 9 masters here in america. i plan on taking mine by next year. i wouldnt call a master cicerone a scientist, but their knowledge of beer is.. extensive. you also must demonstrate extensive knowledge with cider, braggot, cysers, perrys, etc. that kind of revolve around the world of beer. it consists of 2 days of interviews and testing, both days are 8 hours long in length. ive heard stories of ray daniels taking you through the brewery the cicerone program is hosting the test at, and just walking through where the production facility is, through the fermentation tanks, mash tuns, whirlpools, etc and just pointing to tubes and pipes and asking what these do on the spot randomly. "where does this pipe go? what temperature is this at?" you gotta answer right on the spot.

the certified cicerone, which i am, was a 4 hour written test of roughly 200 fill in the blank questions, 4 essays, and a taste and evaluation portion. the tasting part is by far the most difficult, because you have to hone your palate and be able to differentiate between over 80 official BJCP (beer judge certification program) styles, but you are given only 12 samples. you have to be able to identify off flavors such as acetylaldehyde, diacetyl, acetic acid, trans 2 nonenal (oxidation), isopentyl mercaptan (skunking) and dimethyl sulfide. you have to identify if beer is fit for service or not. you have to identify exact styles. i got a 98% on it.

if any of you fuck with a smart phone, there is a FREE BJCP app you can download, its absolutely amazing. includes ABV ranges, SRM (color) and IBU of each style, including appropriate aroma, mouthfeel, taste, appearance, and overall impression. also it lists commercial examples. i had to study the shit out of it. if you are a beer lover, its a must.

before going into my master cicerone though, i have been wanting to rank as a BJCP beer judge, so ive been participating as a beer judge at various events. you can take the test which is much much more specific with tasting beer than the cicerone, but to rank at a higher level you need to acquire points which come from experience in judging. takes some time, but it is a great experience. the arizona society of homebrewers (ASH) just had their oktoberfest entries this year with almost 400 participants. there was some fucking damn good beer, one particular that i was super impressed with was a strawberry rhubarb berlinerweisse.