I met a genuine Russian today!

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

However, the american honor is well defended by the Bostonians (Again!) who are making a very good beer (Samuel Adams) and by a number of pub and breweries that are making some wonderful brand.

Else, as I was born in Belgium, I love very strong beer and my favourite remain the "Rochefort 10" a 12° brown beer. Concerning the blond beer, the Australian Castlemaine remain (IMO) the best (I haven't drink one of these in 15 years) along with the japanese Kirin and the Mamba of Ivory Coast.

Okay so maybe I was engaging in some sweeping generalisations. I do like Kirin. I haven't tasted this Samuel Adams brew of which you speak but I shall keep an eye out for it and hopefully if I can find some I will have cause to take back what I said about American "beers".

[kato13]

Originally Posted by Targan

Okay so maybe I was engaging in some sweeping generalisations. I do like Kirin. I haven't tasted this Samuel Adams brew of which you speak but I shall keep an eye out for it and hopefully if I can find some I will have cause to take back what I said about American "beers".

I have only drunk beer once (A horrible Korean concoction called Hite) so I cannot express personal knowledge, yet the whole concept of Sam Adams beer intrigues me. The owner of the company, Jim Koch (Sam Adams was an American Patriot and Brewer), seems to have a single minded determination to make the best beer possible. He even went to European glass makers to have them construct a beer glass which keeps the beer cooler and maximizes the effervesce. Even though I am not a fan of the product category, I do respect that this guy really puts maximum effort into his craft.

[TiggerCCW UK]

Before I stopped drinking I had the good fortune to visit the Sam Adams brewhouse in Boston. Lovely bar with great friendly staff (although this was back in '96, so they're probably different staff now). Sam Adams beer is one of the nicest I've ever had, especially their then fall beer, Hazlenut Brown. The normal Boston Beer, their standard brew, is pretty good too. When I was in Boston they used to do a free tour of the brewery starting and finishing at the bar with a few free drinks. By the fifth day they knew myself and my friends by name and were just giving us the free drink tokens without having to go to the tour

[Cdnwolf]

Us Canadians know all about weak US beer. Now I could use a cold Labatts Blue anytime.

[Caradhras]

This concept of Britains and warm beer I have had many a discussion with European 'online friends' (if there is a such thing ).

Simply, British ALE is not the sparkling pale yellow lager that is best served cold, but a dark heavy brew more suited to our cooler climes. There is a huge variety of types and flavours which are monitored by the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA).

Dont knock it till you tried it! We still drink the sparkly pale yellow lager stuff cold (although I avoid it like the plague...strangely unless in a hot country where I find it pleasant!).

My favourite real ales are McEwans No.1 Champion Ale, Theakston's Old Peculiar or Pendle Witch.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ale#Real_ale

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by Caradhras

Simply, British ALE is not the sparkling pale yellow lager that is best served cold, but a dark heavy brew more suited to our cooler climes. There is a huge variety of types and flavours which are monitored by the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA).

I can't abide lager, and if people didn't insist on calling it beer we wouldn't have this sort of misunderstanding.

Originally Posted by Caradhras

My favourite real ales are McEwans No.1 Champion Ale, Theakston's Old Peculiar or Pendle Witch.

OP! Mmm, now you're talking.

To get back to the original subject, a friend of mine is Russian. We were discussing yesterday how we should mention her next time we're talking to my wife's grandmother (who is something of a right-winger) to wind her up

[Caradhras]

I forgot my other beers....I do keep in stock some Aussie ?Stubbies of Coopers, and a nice Czech beer called Nachod both pale and dark. Sometimes it gets warm in the north of England, maybe its global warming...

My preference is red wine but I dont mind the odd beer.

Nice for me to be able to speak on a subject I am well-versed rather than ask all you lot about weapons/vehicles etc etc !!

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Caradhras

I forgot my other beers....I do keep in stock some Aussie ?Stubbies of Coopers, and a nice Czech beer called Nachod both pale and dark.

Mmm, Coopers.

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by avantman42

To get back to the original subject, a friend of mine is Russian. We were discussing yesterday how we should mention her next time we're talking to my wife's grandmother (who is something of a right-winger) to wind her up

Try to made her up some common ancestry with the Czar.

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Then, I see two weak points about these heavy dark brew:
- If you don't pay enough attention you can confuse them for your meal.

Pfft! It is the meal. To quote Chez Geek: "It's the meal you drink"

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Try to made her up some common ancestry with the Czar.

She was telling me about how the then-czar tried to woo Elizabeth I. Apparently he sent her some poetry, and when she rebuffed him, he started sending insulting/threatening letters instead. Apparently that's romance, Russian style

[Mohoender]

That should come from jet lag but I find you slow to come in defense of your beers and they are some great ones indeed. For my part, I enjoy the Hobgoblin.

Originally Posted by Caradhras

Simply, British ALE is not the sparkling pale yellow lager that is best served cold, but a dark heavy brew more suited to our cooler climes. There is a huge variety of types and flavours which are monitored by the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ale#Real_ale

Now I understand why there are so many british around my place between july 28th and august 12th (they can't enjoy their beer at home during the 15 days long british summer). Then, I see two weak points about these heavy dark brew:
- If you don't pay enough attention you can confuse them for your meal.
- You get a stomach ache long before you even start to get dizzy.

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

about these heavy dark brew:
- If you don't pay enough attention you can confuse them for your meal.

One of my favorite memories of Greenweek (Ger:Grunwache?)-- a Berlin agricultural show that I attended in Feb. '91-- was of stopping at the Great Britain exhibit. I had a super-moist, perfectly seasoned, roast beef sandwich in one hand and a Guinness in the other. Mighty nice!

Nearly every country in Western Europe was there, advertising their food & drink products. I sampled a lot. At the France booth with Calvados, there was a fellow yelling "I'm buying" in English. Seems he had been a French PW of the Germans in WW2, and most of the English-speakers there were US servicemen from the Berlin Brigade. So, he wanted to reward the GIs.

After that, my memory is pretty fuzzy.

On the subject of Russians, I met some selling their helmets and Guards badges to the tourists near the Brandenburg Gate.

[Marc]

I remember when my father come back to Catalunya after a short business trip to the Soviet Union. It was in 1982, the year of the Moscow Olympic Games. He brought back with him a few films in Super 8mm format, some of them shot in places where he was not supposed to film. I only remember the images of soviet soldiers marching at "goose step" in the red square and some images from a museum devoted to the Soviet space race. But taking into account that I was only seven years old and I still remember them, I suppose those images impressed me very much!

The next time I saw a russian soldier was in machinegun nest near a bridge in Pristina. This time, the russian (not soviet) soldier impressed me very much, too. But in a very different way. He seems too much young and, though dressed in his combat fatigues and fully equiped, the uniform seemed enourmos for him. He was standing at the side of the road, surrounded by mud, but wearing trainers instead of boots. I don't know if this is representative of the state of the russian army at that moment, but it was difficult not to feel sad for him.

BTW, amazing anecdote Littlearmies!