Drinking less European beers?

According to their web site's pub finder: Over 100 venues found near London

 

I mean if I remember correctly one of the major ways the pubs are operated in GB is that they're owned by certain breweries so it's kinda hard to think that they wouldn't have their own stuff. Not to mention that breweries like Fullers even own hotels that stock their stuff.

 

If I went to Brussels and didn't have Beeradvocate, I would have thought, "Wow, all there is is Chimay, Stella, and Hoegaarden."

Well, except for the Delirium Cafe, that's fairly popular.

Munich was different though, I just stopped in at any old beer or beer garden and found incredible beer. Not a Stella, Bud, Miller, Coors, Guinness...etc. to be found.

 

There is the concept of the "free house" (vs a tied house) that is free to stock any beer (theoretically - there may still be various agreements in place with specific breweries), but yes a lot of pubs are tied to specific breweries (not always by direct ownership though)

 

I actually found Bud in Munich. Ceske Budejovice.

I also found Guinness in Munich and Bamberg (go figure), at Irish themed pubs. At that time they had to brew it special to export to Germany because the Reinheitsgebot was still being enforced -- no unmalted barley in the stout and you could taste a bit of a difference.

 

I would be happy with just Chimay! I mostly found Jupiler, Stella and Hoegaarden.

 

I went to Cantillon.

 

I have never had a strong taste for German or Belgian beers so my preferences have always leaned towards US craft. I am circling back to re-try a lot of beers that I had a long time ago to see if I should given them a second chance.

While I'll always be happy with a (well poured) pint of Guinness, there are just so many new great beers to discover.

 

Back before the American craft explosion, I drank a lot of imports - they tasted better than American BMC (even if it was Euro mass produced stuff).

These days, I a lot more American craft beer, but I still get some imports - although they are usually not mass produced imports.

 

I've found myself buying more euro beers than ever before. Andechs, Mahrs, EKU, Weihenstephan

 

I like several of the Belgian styles, with special affinity for the quads and sours. I have not had an American sour close to the Belgian, but I know American craft is trying, probably soon will find one equivalent. I have had a couple American quads that were also very nice, but not equal to the better Belgians. I was never a big Euro drinker, not as available and the price points usually a bit more, but with all the amazing American crafts, it is with good reason they are finding a market in Europe and a few are building or have built breweries in Europe!

 

For that reason, I specifically and purposely only drank CamRA (Campaign for Real Ale) beers when I was in London (aka, cask ales). I did have a couple of regular draught pulls just because we stupidly went to a Fullers pub one evening because it was convenient at the time.

 

Are you suggesting you couldn't find cask Fullers? Because I sure did.

 

The Fullers pub didn't have casks. I have had Fullers cask in the states, though still not a good beer IMHO.

 

Wow. One of the best I had while in London -- great people at the brewery too.

 

Yeah I'm surprised that the Fullers pub in question had draft-only and no cask.

Having said that, a lot of the Fullers pubs can be a mixed bag. Have had some great Fullers casks and have had some dross as well.

Edit - and yeah I had London Pride on cask at a bar in NYC recently. Likely a combination of travel and lack of cask know-how, but it was a shell of its normal self.

 

Snecklifter on cask was my fav there. Went in 2010. Hope I can find it again when I get back or some other good ale.

 

I was in London a couple of months ago, and just this past Sunday got back from a trip to Somerset/Cornwall/Cotswolds/Ayrshire. Had tons of great cask on the most recent trip, with this one being one of the highlights:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9051/58084/

 

You can say that about any cask beer though. I remember trying one (Green King maybe?) at a pub on one side of the street that was terrific, but on the other side the same beer had not been kept well in another pub.

 

Pride is so-so at the moment imo

Chiswick Bitter is the better lower abv one and the others still seem solid. Their seasonals are usually a bit dull

I still really like Fullers though

Did you get bevvied up on Tennents or buckie in Glasgow rollom?