What a find ..

[Derek]

I agree with Graham .. Personally I would sooner my beers be more chilled than warm. I'm sure theres someone on X Marks that can explain why 'British Beers' should be kept at a higher temp than a lower one. For me, there is nothing worse than a 'really warm pint of bitter'. I can only guess why today, when you go into most of the pubs, they also offer 'creamflow beers', which are chilled and pumped by gas. I still prefer the hand pump one's over these (Real Ale), even if it means warmer beer, as the taste is so different and they are so much sweeter. They also offer Guniness 'ordinary', or 'extra cold' in most places too. But neither of them compare with the Guinness you get in Ireland, as I'm sure many of you have experienced. Graham, they showed some clips the other evening of old television adverts. Do you remember the 'John Smiths' .. the ones with the dog. I forget the actors name .. but they showed one or two of them. They are still brill.
Iechyd Da
Derek

[Macman]

I find that different beers/ales taste better at different temperatures, same as with wine. Most pubs here serve all their beers at the same temperature, which I find is too cold for most of the beers I like. A few places have different temperatures for their tap beers. Even the warmest, though, I would probably say is "cool", not room temperature.

[Schultz]

According to CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), the recognized authority for cask-conditioned, hand pulled bitter, the optimal temperature for real ale is 54-57 F, somewhat cooler than room temperature. Anything warmer will do just as much to ruin the experience of the ale, as the natural carbonation will suffer as well as the taste. A colder temperature will often mask the intended taste of the ale, which can be just as ruinsome as improper carbonation.

Lagers, of course, should be served cold, as this is how they are intended to be served when brewed.

Artificially carbonated ales can be served somewhat colder than real ales, but not too much, or you'll mask the flavor.

yes, my name is Mike, and I'm a beer nut.

[Macman]

Exactly, Mike. That's the temperature I'm usually shooting for. The president of our local CAMRA chapter will often ask our server to have his freshly-pulled pint nuked for 30 seconds if we're in a place that serves everything icy cold. I just cup my hands around the glass and order my second one right away so the chill comes off by the time I'm ready for it!

[davedove]

The "rules" for the temperatures to serve different beverages were developed back when "room temperature" was on average 10-15 degrees cooler than nowadays. Thus, when it says to serve at room temperature, it doesn't mean 70 degrees, it means 55-60. Just my two cents. Like a lot of things, the conditions have changes but the "rules" remain the same.;-)

[Valencian Kilted]

Spain is not a "beer country", we are a wine country and beer has not been one of our traditional drinks. When king Charles the 5th. came to rule Spain from the Netherlands in the early 16th. century, he had to carry with him his own brewers, because he was not able to find some here. Beer started to be more or less usual at the beginning of the century, but always on the lager or pilsen styles. Apart of that, we are a really warm country, so we always appreciate beer as a refreshing drink. For spaniards, a warm beer is "donkey piss"!.

Even in the late years, with the arrival of many import beers and the growing of many "beer pubs" where u can find dozens of different beers from all over the world, our knowledge of beer has increased, (I have a collection with more or less 215 bottles(empty ;)) from many places of the 5 continents, and the list never stops growing!),... but we always drink our beer chilled!

¡Chilled salud!

T O N O

[Schultz]

I also used to have a rather large collection of beer bottles from all over the world, over 1200 at last count.

Sadly, when I was forced due to financial circumstances to move rather quickly, I had to leave them all behind

Thankfully my bar towel collection survived and I can't wait until the wife and I buy a house so I can turn a section of my basement into "some depressing, dark pub" (her words).

My wife has already laid claim to the other half of the basement for her "Blue Hawaii" themed "Friki Bar".

Yes, we have varied tastes.

[davedove]

Thankfully my bar towel collection survived and I can't wait until the wife and I buy a house so I can turn a section of my basement into "some depressing, dark pub" (her words).

My wife has already laid claim to the other half of the basement for her "Blue Hawaii" themed "Friki Bar".

Yes, we have varied tastes.

I trying to imagine how those two different themes will play off against each other.:confused: