Franconia Beer Message Board
Gassy Pils |
| Posted by Barry on 2017-01-15 04:10:11 |
| Acutally Mark, my understanding of the US beer scene is largely down to you people and the discussions here. Of course I'm looking at US brewing through my British eyes, I don't have any other way, just as you look at other cultures through your American eyes, but I think that we both make every attempt to understand the different situations - I know that you do, at least! I think that the idea of climate having an effect is really just an excuse. I didn't have a cellar (i.e. an underground cave) in my pub in Bath; the beer was kept in the room next door to the bar and Bath doesn't have an all-year round climate suitable for storing beer. But the room did have a cooling system! Let's face it, the USA is virtually the birthplace of modern air conditioning and I don't think pubs in America insist that their customers freeze in winter and bake in summer, so why should the beer? The new wave micro-pubs are interesting: for example, the one in Colwyn Bay (the Bay Hop - I'm really looking forward to becoming a regular!) has no cellar and the casks are kept in the bar. But the system that they use, only ordering small quantities and a quick turnover through competitive prices (they are competing with a Wetherspoon's around the corner) means that the beer stays good. Re history, although Britain didn't experience prohibition, large swathes of it were denuded of proper beer during the 1960s/70s, when many turned to 'lager' etc. For today's young beer drinkers, real ale is as much of a discovery as it will be for American youth. CAMRA is rated as one of the most effective movements in the world and has turned the situation right around, even being, as I understand it, highly influential trough its effects in kick starting the micro brewery movement in the USA. Many pub going regulars in Britain also don't care about real ale but it still goes from strength to strengthen. I don't know about your local pub (I think that you mean all local pubs) but the same is often true in Britain. Many times I have called in on a pub new me and had to search for the real ale pump among a plethora of keg taps but the two can happily co-exist. Perhaps it is a feature of modern life that people are attracted to novelty rather than quality - flashy keg taps rather than plain, simple old pump handles with a modest clip? Personally, I would go for miles to visit a good pub, even if it had only one intersting beer: Spielbach and Witzgall are good examples but I remember driving miles out of my way to visit the old Ma Pardoe's in Netherton and the All National Tavern in Ironbridge - they only had one home-brewed beer but were unique survivals - quality not quantity. Generally, when I go to a pub, it is not to swig down copious quantities (though sometimes I have but no so much in my dotage!) but for a good experience. In my view, that is the message we should try to get across to young drinkers, for all sorts of reasons. As it appears to me, the problem for the US micro breweries is to establish some sort of tradition - develop good quality brands that become familiar to their consumers, something unique that people want to experience rather than the constant experimentation that is also common in now in the UK. Ok, try experimental new brews but run them in short runs alongside tried and tested types. Now back to packing - moving day looms! |
| Followups: |
 Gassy Pils by Mark Andersen on 2017-01-15 06:04:23 |
| Gassy Pils by Mark Andersen on 2017-01-15 06:48:25 |
| Canny Pils by Nick B. on 2017-01-15 07:37:52 |
| Cask vs Keg by Uncle Jimbo on 2017-01-15 10:03:36 |
| Cask vs Keg by Nick B. on 2017-01-15 11:05:55 |