For lager drinkers, Fosters is what they call a 'session beer' in that you can drink quite a lot of it before you get drunk!!! Brewdog is OK once in a while, but I much prefer a proper real ale and there are several pubs in Norwich (as there are in other towns/cities) where you can get an excellent selection of various brews.
Me too. I don't drink anywhere near as much as I used to, so it's all about quality (i.e taste and decent ABV) for me these days. And with that in mind, how can you possibly pay less for a 5% premium real ale than an overly-marketed-and-hyped pisswater lager like Carlsberg, Hofmeister or Fosters (UK brewed, Aussie brewed is delicious) where you need to drink a gallon to feel anything - other than the constant need to empty your bladder But not only can you pay less, but you do in most pubs? Curious.
Fosters is like making love in a canoe! I do like lager in general (And in the General!) There is a huge range out there, but I genuinely think that Fosters (And XXXX before it) are the very worst and have no really flavour to actualy appreciate. Give me a Budvar, San Miguel, Holsten Pils or Peroni any day. They are however all premium beers. Of the training/session lagers, I think Becks Vier and Stella four are both better than the usual suspects that are; Fosters, Carling and Carlsberg. If I'm driving and want a pint then I will usually go for Carlesberg of the three, as there is a hint more hop to the flavour. Carling at a push but I can't remember the last time I violated my taste buds with Fosters! I tend to drink more lager in the summer and more bitter in the winter, lager is just that smidge more refreshing on a hot day. Bah!
And in most foreign countries, of course, where a typical local beer tends to be lager type. But they tend to be more towards the premium styles you mentioned above, all circa 5% abv. I quite got the taste for Union and Laško, the two big brands in Slovenia. Likewise, Karlovačko and Ožujsko when in Croatia. Having said that, there is a massive move towards brewing craft beers and microbreweries, but I'm not sold on these as they tend to be expensive and flavoured with all manner of things that, in my mind, have no place in beer/ale. But good to see them making an effort to break away from the corporate mainstream Slovenian beer list (or a part of it) -: please log in to view this image
Stella Artois used to be the King of Lager beers when brewed to it's traditional 5.2%ABV and it had the best taste and advertising slogan I've ever known, which was quite simply "reassuringly expensive". However, they have pissed around with the brew so much firstly reducing it to 5.0%ABV and then to the current 4.8%ABV. The taste has definitely suffered for it, why oh why mess around with a product that was reknowned as being the best of it's kind? To be honest it was probably due to the fact that the original alcohol content meant they would have had to charge a lot more for it due to new tax regulations. So what, I would have still paid a premium for what was THE premium lager beer. The writing was on the wall when a gnat's piddle 4.0% version was introduced and they now even produce different flavoured ciders FFS
I remember the advert in the Sunday glossy magazines featuring a row of spirit bottles all up on optics and halfway down the line was a 330 ml bottle of Stella - then the caption "reassuringly expensive"
Having said that, there is a massive move towards brewing craft beers and microbreweries, but I'm not sold on these as they tend to be expensive and flavoured with all manner of things that, in my mind, have no place in beer/ale. Have you tried any of the Innes and Gunn ones? i don't even like rum and the rum cask one is lovely as is the original that has vanilla in it! I know they sound horrid, but they really are good in my opinion. Anyone been to a Belgoes? They have a great selection of beers. Bah!
I used to drink it all the time 20 odd years ago, but it definitely lost the quality of its flavour and I haven't touched it for ages. It just got a taste that I didn't like. What was that expresion "If it ain't broke..." Bah!
I don't mind Belgian fruit beers, Dubbels, Trippels, etc but some of the modern stuff brewed over here which is £5,6,7,£8 a pint are a total rip, in my personal opinion. I also tried one which tasted like alcoholic mango juice at the Mash Tun, alias Hog in Armour, on St Benedict's St. Bloody expensive, not refreshing in any way and I gave half of mine to a mate as I couldn't drink it. Guess I've been too quick to judge them all based on one poor experience.
Hence why I volunteer to work in the Foreign Beers bar at the Beer Festival, though obviously you can't drink too much, but I can at least try some fo the beers which in the Belgian Monk would cost £3 and upwards for half a pint!! Hog in Armour - you mean'The Pig in Tin!!!' Edit - I can't stand Abbott, give me Ghost Ship any day.
I have a lot of Aussie friends out here, and none of them will touch Fosters back home and say that few outlets now sell it.
What the F is this Clown Craze!? I heard about it a little about it a few months ago. Think it was in America or something. Saw last night it's all over the UK, including Norwich and Kings Lynn! Some of those photos or stories are horrific! Scaring and chasing kids, or a woman on her own in a park at night. There is one photo of 2 Really scary looking clowns looking through a widscreen, at night, when a woman with her kids in the back. They got on her bonnet. It's disgusting! Where has this come from? Is it because "IT" is getting a re-make.
It was discussed on the Jeremy Vine show on radio 2 yesterday and I saw this article on the EDP website - http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/n...rs_to_stop_before_someone_gets_hurt_1_4731848. As usual, it does seem to have started in the States and some teenagers get their kicks from scaring others. Edit - why is it that people seem to think that 'keep left' signs on roundabouts should be flattened, especially the ones on the entry to the Harts Farm estate in Wymondham. You live in Wymondham don't you FML?????
