Differance between beer and lager?

Guinness should be served cold!

It is in Ireland.


Victoria

guinness = stout = nectar of the gods.

and woe betide the american pseudo-irish pubs that serve it cold!   

what's the deal with that extra-cold guinness i see advertised in dublin the past few years?

It's called americanisation

25 years ago everyone here thought american beers (very few pubs had them) were complete piss and now they are 'cool'. How times have changed. Now the same mates that mocked those beers, now drink them. Go figure.

Guinness should be served cold!

It is in Ireland.


Victoria

they told us on the brewery tour that it's best served at room temperature, and it always tastes better that way to me. just a matter of personal preference, i guess. the lower temperature almost seems to numb the taste for me.

they told us on the brewery tour that it's best served at room temperature, and it always tastes better that way to me. just a matter of personal preference, i guess. the lower temperature almost seems to numb the taste for me.

Room temperature and/or cellar temperature can end up being quite chilly in some of these climes!

Hehehe!  Good point.  Room/Cellar temp in Dublin/London at the moment is about 2 degrees!


Victoria

Hehehe!  Good point.  Room/Cellar temp in Dublin/London at the moment is about 2 degrees! 

Right now, when I bring up red wine from our cellar -- I actually have to let it warm up!  The whites are pretty much ready to drink, straight from the cellar.

Room temperature and/or cellar temperature can end up being quite chilly in some of these climes!

Slight hijack, but red wine is often served much warmer than it should be. Room temp actually means cellar temp, which is quite cool. Often when you order red in a restaurant, it's been sitting in the kitchen, which is way too hot!

Over!

Slight hijack, but red wine is often served much warmer than it should be. Room temp actually means cellar temp, which is quite cool. Often when you order red in a restaurant, it's been sitting in the kitchen, which is way too hot!

Tell me about it!   But right now, our cellar is really really cold.

Mmmmm...beer. Grocery stores in the UK are like BEER DISNEYLAND.

Okay, beer experts: is there a name for the dark red ales? " Like Bass. Or Hobgoblin. I mean, other than "red ales." Those're by far my favorites, but it's so hard to tell which ones on the shelf are that color, since the bottles are colored glass. My British half doesn't touch the stuff, so he's no help.

Have a look at that link for CAMRA I posted earlier...if you are stuck, e-mail them, they rock!

Oh, and beer from the bottle is never as good as beer from a barrell!

Victoria

A beer is any of a variety of alcoholic beverages produced by the fermentation of starchy material derived from grains or other plant sources.
All beer requires yeast to produce alcohol. There are two basic categories of yeast, Larger and Ale. What is the difference? Well there are two main differences. First Larger yeast is bottom fermenting and Ale yeast is top-fermenting. Here is a basic definition of each:
Lager
A classification of beer styles made with a bottom fermenting yeast, lagers generally are smooth, elegant, crisp, and clean.
Lager Yeast
Also known as bottom-fermenting yeast, this teasy does best at temperatures between 33-50 degrees F. Has a tendency not to flocculate or form a head of yeast on the surface of the brew.


Ale
A beer style. A style made with a top-fermenting yeast. They are generally hearty, robust, and fruity.
Ale Yeast
Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Performs well at temperatures between 55-70 degrees F. Also referred to as "top-fermenting yeast". Top-fermenting yeast is anaerobic and always forms a sediment on the bottom.

So as you see the Larger is a bottom fermenting beer

chris and sonya

Then I came back here and discovered (just to confuse you further) heavy (a type of shilling).

We have shilling in Scotland. It is not lager but I don't know if it is a stout or not (it is not like Guiness), I just know it tastes so much better than lager. From what I can gather this is grouping the beer according to strength. We have 70-/ shilling which we call heavy, then there is 80-/ which is export. Someone once told me there is/was 60-/ and 90-/ and that it was called this because something to do with old tax rules.

The 'shilling' value describes the strength (cos in the old days it was priced according to strength).  'Shilling' is not a 'type' of beer; it is just ale, and the strength determines whether its called 70/- or 80/- or whatever. 

'Light' (60 shilling), which is hard to find, but the pub in the village where our family's holiday home is serves it, is 3.5% or less.
'Heavy' (70/-) is usually between 3.5% and 4.0%.
'Export' (80/-) is usually between 4.0% and 5.5%... and then you get into things that i havent seen in over 15 years, like a 'wee heavy', which was 90 shilling, and over 6.0%, which was considered really strong back in the day!  You couldnt buy it by the pint... it was only sold in offies in small bottles (less than half pint, i think).  I cant remember ever seeing it sold in a pub.

I remember when Stella was first introduced in the UK...  EVERYONE was talking about this ridiculously strong Belgian lager that would knock you on your erse!   Nowadays, 5.2% seems pretty normal... certainly not excessive! 

and then you get into things that i havent seen in over 15 years, like a 'wee heavy', which was 90 shilling, and over 6.0%, which was considered really strong back in the day!  You couldnt buy it by the pint... it was only sold in offies in small bottles (less than half pint, i think).  I cant remember ever seeing it sold in a pub. glasses. 

I am surprised someone has not re-introduced this 90-/. I would have thought these lager louts would have loved it. All my mates always went for export for the carry oots. I am sure they would have picked wee heavy if it was about.

I'm sure i've seen 90 shilling ... i think Belhaven do one... but it doesnt seem to be called 'wee heavy' any longer.   Maybe im getting confused and it was barley wine (which wasnt wine at all, but a very strong beer) that was sold in the wee bottles... in fact, the more i think about it, i think that's the case.

Probably now there's all this superlager about, even 90/- isnt considered strong anymore!

I'm sure i've seen 90 shilling ... i think Belhaven do one... but it doesnt seem to be called 'wee heavy' any longer.   Maybe im getting confused and it was barley wine (which wasnt wine at all, but a very strong beer) that was sold in the wee bottles... in fact, the more i think about it, i think that's the case.

Probably now there's all this superlager about, even 90/- isnt considered strong anymore!

Well QG your not confused   this what this glossary says:

wee heavy
very strong (6-10% ABV), malty Scottish beer, equivalent to a barley wine.


Well for all you beer drinkers here's a glossary for ya's:

http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk/glossary.asp