Favorite UK beer

The flagship beer from Yards is their ESA (Extra Special Ale). It is readily available on cask in the Philly area. I truly delicious US craft brewed ESB!

“Extra Special Ale

Our First Brewed

Crafted from the finest ingredients and originally intended for the cask-ale connoisseur, Extra Special Ale is a traditional English-style ale with notes of chocolate and hop spiciness throughout. We consider this our flagship beer, appreciated by Yards aficionados for more than 15 years.

How special is Extra Special Ale? Well, it won the Bronze medal at the 2010 World Beer Cup.

ABV 6%

Available year-round.

Feasting:

ESA's seamless and complex blend of malts and earthy hops align perfectly with grilled and braised meats, hard cheeses, and roasted veggies.”

Cheers!

 

Chiswick is imported here? I've never seen it. How does it hold up?

 

It does not travel well. Had some at the 2000 Real Ale festival in Chicago from a firkin, and it was badly oxidized. In London it is a fine bitter if you can locate it.

 

And when he does I want him to say more often than Steve Forbes says 'flat tax'.

 

Craft

 

How long had the firkin been open? It probably oxidized in Chicago. It will be oxidized in London too, if you are unlucky enough to find a cask that's been on sale for a week.

 

Every.Day.Of.The.Week.

 

You are sorely missing out. Having a fresh pint at either The Ship & Mitre, The Lion, Rigby's etc etc just can't be beaten!

 

Woo-Hoo! 2012 is definitely a breakout year for the UK!

Cheers!

 

How about using some good ol' American innovation/creativity and call it kraft beer?

 

The British spelling is craught, actually.

 

It was a 2 day festival, I was there on the second day, in the afternoon.

Fullers brews the Pride and ESB to higher gravity for bottles and export. Chiswick is not sent to the US, unless it is brought in for a festival.

 

Not mine. Top is without doubt Pretty Things XXXX Mild. One of the best beers I've ever had.

 

Many UK beers are brewed to a higher gravity for bottling/canning.Bluebird Bitter, London Pride as mentioned and in particular Adnam's Broadside which goes up from 4.7 to 6.3% ABV. These are beers originally designed for cask and are beefed up in an attempt to compensate for the dumbing down of flavours when served from bottles.

 

The Bluebird Bitter was good. But you can never go wrong with SS Oatmeal or Taddy Porter. And JW Lees Harvest Ale is great

 

Not comparing like with like though. Beauty of Coniston Bluebird is that you can drink pint after pint after pint of it and it never palls. Neither do you fall over afterwards! I know because I've been to the Black Bull at Coniston and had some wonderful times there

 

Not strictly relevant to the thread, but I happen to be drinking the Pretty Things 1945 X Mild Ale that I know Ron had a hand in, and I have to say, I wish more American brewers would make beers like this. Not that I don't enjoy my IPAs, Stouts and Belgians as much as the next American beer geek, but there really is a place for something on the lighter side that isn't generic piss lager, nor is extra-hoppy, sour or in some other way "making up for" the lack of strength.

 

The 1945 X Ale is a great low-gravity beer. I was amazed Dann brewed it, because I didn't expect there to be much of a market for a sub-23% ABV Mild in the US.

 

Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Fullers ESB

 

Fuller's London Pride
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
and particularly, Old Speckled Hen


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