Grand Slam of Beer

Ok, with the 6 Nations heading for the final round, a bit more light hearted poll....

What is your beer of the 6 Nations....






For clarification....

Guys, lets keep in perspective....

The selected beers are synonymous with the tour to that nation, they may not be the best choice beer from that nation.

By all means suggest your preferred pint, but the choices (1 per nation), is all that is on tap behind this 6 Nations Bar. So choose one of these or go without a pint.

I selected them based on the beer most likely to be sold in the capitals of each 6 Nations on match day.

ie. Go around Cardiff on match day, its Brains SA, Dublin is Guinness, London mostly London Pride, Edinburgh its a "pint of heavy" (McEwans), Peroni in Rome, and K'berg in Paris....

As I have said, I'm not saying they are the best ales, most aren't. (Guinness being the exception in Dublin only mind), but this is a Rugby Tour theme....So that's the choice.... One of those or drink on your own

I prefer lagers myself. I'll go for a Kronenbourg... no lager icon dammit

Kronenburg probably tastes the least bad, but also tastes really refreshing straight from the Parisian taps, so that gets my vote. Brains SA is probably the worst. The Black stuff has been known to make one spew his guts out and Peroni is just too expensive for a guy like me.

gowales wrote:I prefer lagers myself. I'll go for a Kronenbourg... no lager icon dammit

Use the Cider icon.... looks the same

I assume Andy Robinson is responsible for the selection of McEwan's Heavy to represent Scotland!

I've never really liked Kronenbourg, but then I've only had the stuff we have over here, which is brewed in Scotland for some reason.

I've voted for .

Sorry Pat. Selected beers that I would drink when on tour in that country. I like to drink the "local" brew. Although in today's age, except apart from Guinness brewed in Dublin, most the other could be brewed just about anywhere....

And before I get debates on my statement above, yes I know SA is brewed in Cardiff....

I chose Guinness. It was b!oody lovely out in Dublin. But I cant stand they stuff you get here in the UK... How it is so different beggars belief.

Ill have a nice pint of ale....shame the dutch arent in it...im partial to a nice pint of Oranjeboom!

Where's the ESB! That's got to be my favourite tipple.

It all depends upon the weather - a nice hot day would be a Peroni; dark & cold day ale or stout - as Old Hooky is not here I had to go with LP

But I'm afraid Wales would get the wooden spoon every time - vile stuff!

How did I forget my cider?! I'll be flogged in the streets of Gloucester for that! Stowfords or Squeely Pig for me

Limited to one brew from each of the 6 Nations.

Beer selected as the beer most synonymous with a tour to that country....

And as I'm buying the round, those are the choices...

Some very poor selections here

Scotland - Harviestoun's Bitter 'n' Twisted (particulalry given recent results!) or Cairngorm's Tradewinds sadly they don't make Gillespies anymore as it would be a shoo-in.
Ireland - Beamish rather than just a default Guinness
England - Doom Bar or Tribute or Tim Taylor Landlord Special
Wales - Rev James

Thinking about it we could probably field a very impressive Beer Lions side (more chance of there being some Scots in it as well!). We could pack the scum with some nice heavy beers with some well balanced number sin the midfield and some real punchy ones coming through to finish things off.

Once again I think we'd struggle to find a place for Carling.

I drink the SA smooth cold in my local. Its nice, similar to John Smiths and under £3 a pint!

Guiness is Ireland is black liquid gold, kronnie is nice but pricey and rare these days on tap. To have a few Peroni's you have to take out a small mortgage!

I'm English and enjoy a decent ale but Brains and London Pride don't fall into the decent category for me so went with which is one of my favorites anyway.

Only ever tried the UK version of 1664 which I didn't rate and Peroni is tastes okay but gives me a headache after just a few for some reason

Axeman wrote:England - Doom Bar or Tribute or Tim Taylor Landlord Special

Now your talking

Breadvan wrote:I drink the SA smooth cold in my local. Its nice, similar to John Smiths and under £3 a pint!

NO!!!! Nitro keg..... yuk!!!!

Brains SA is a great pint, but you have to drink it in Cardiff pulled properly, not using a gas pump...

Brains SA Smooth, is all the dregs from the good SA, chucked in a barrel then blasted with nitro when pulled, so that it fizzes and hides the bottom of the barrell taste...

The trouble is choosing the right pint for each country.

If it were Innis and Gunn for Scotland they'd have my vote, if it was Tennents they'd never get anyone's vote!

How about a favourite from each country? In order of my preference:

England - Wylam Rocket
Scotland - Innis and Gunn
Ireland - Original Guiness
Italy - Morretti
Wales - I must admit my Welsh beer knowledge is poor, so SA or something
France - Stella Artois - can't think of a really good French beer, maybe they could nick a Belgian one instead and fly up the rankings!

B91212 wrote:

Axeman wrote:England - Doom Bar or Tribute or Tim Taylor Landlord Special

Now your talking

Now that is a good pint, as is Rev James.

The best pint I've ever had was a pint of Murphy's when I was in Cork. It was so good I had to have a few more to check it wasn't a fluke.

Aaargh so many beers so little time.

Guys, lets keep in perspective....

I selected beers, which are synonomous with the tour to that nation.

Ie, Go around Cardiff on match day, its Brains SA (well probably Guinness, but wanted a Welsh brew for Wales, etc). Dublin is Guinness (no arguments there). On match day in London mostly London Pride (althought this was a tricky one, as there are many others, but again tried to keep to home theme). In Rose Street its a "pint of heavy" and from my tours to Edinburgh McEwans Heavy is the usual beer on tap. Peroni in Rome, and K'berg in Paris....

I'm not saying they are the best ales, most arent. (Guinness being the exception in Dublin only mind).

I was sticking with a Rugby Tour theme....

So that's the choice.... One of those or drink on your own

(No more qualifying the choice.....).

MajorRoadWorks wrote:

Breadvan wrote:I drink the SA smooth cold in my local. Its nice, similar to John Smiths and under £3 a pint!

NO!!!! Nitro keg..... yuk!!!!

Brains SA is a great pint, but you have to drink it in Cardiff pulled properly, not using a gas pump...

Brains SA Smooth, is all the dregs from the good SA, chucked in a barrel then blasted with nitro when pulled, so that it fizzes and hides the bottom of the barrell taste...

Well.....I did like it. Cheers Major............NOT! looks its the Normal SA then from now on!

screamingaddabs wrote:The trouble is choosing the right pint for each country.

If it were Innis and Gunn for Scotland they'd have my vote, if it was Tennents they'd never get anyone's vote!

How about a favourite from each country? In order of my preference:

England - Wylam Rocket
Scotland - Innis and Gunn
Ireland - Original Guiness
Italy - Morretti
Wales - I must admit my Welsh beer knowledge is poor, so SA or something
France - Stella Artois - can't think of a really good French beer, maybe they could nick a Belgian one instead and fly up the rankings!

I'll have you know I drink Tennants... As it's a pound a pint near me.

MajorRoadWorks wrote:I chose Guinness. It was b!oody lovely out in Dublin. But I cant stand they stuff you get here in the UK... How it is so different beggars belief.

My personal theory is that travel isn't good for beer. So you should always try and drink the local drop* where possible (subject to preferences as to style of beer, and allowances for the local brewery being poor).



*Unless it was brewed in Auckland. Because for some reason anything brewed with Waikato river water tastes awful.

No Guiness for me, Only those posh boys in the black city drink that

I'm partial to a guinness myself.

screamingaddabs wrote:If it were Innis and Gunn for Scotland they'd have my vote,

I tried Innis & Gunn based on a recommendation on this forum as they sell the bottles here in Alberta and must say I was extremely disappointed. I hope it tastes better on pump because all I got from the bottle was a watery flowery tasting poor attempt of an ale, 2/10.

Kronenburg. In French the full name sounds like a sexual position.

MajorRoadWorks wrote:I chose Guinness. It was b!oody lovely out in Dublin. But I cant stand they stuff you get here in the UK... How it is so different beggars belief.

Guinness in my experience is quite a needy demanding drink, it requires ideal conditions, i've actually had some pretty bad ones in Dublin (admittedly in the minority). Apparently reems of theory have been published about how best to serve it - tempurature, frequency of pipes being cleaned etc and the quality varies vastly from pub to pub or even pump to pump. But after number 3 do you really care?

Glas a du wrote:Kronenburg. In French the full name sounds like a sexual position.

1664 - quite a racy position as it would involve 4 people. I think the first person is just standing there watching

MajorRoadWorks wrote:I chose Guinness. It was b!oody lovely out in Dublin. But I cant stand they stuff you get here in the UK... How it is so different beggars belief.

majorroadworks, no reason why Guinness in the UK shouldn't taste the same as the stuff we have in Ireland - all Guinness for Ireland and UK is now brewed in Dublin - Diageo shut down the Park Royal brewery in London a few years ago. If Guinness in the UK tastes crap it's probably because pubs don't keep the pipes clean - over here Guinness has a fleet of vans which clean out the Guinness pipes in the pubs

Kiwireddevil wrote:

MajorRoadWorks wrote:I chose Guinness. It was b!oody lovely out in Dublin. But I cant stand they stuff you get here in the UK... How it is so different beggars belief.

My personal theory is that travel isn't good for beer. So you should always try and drink the local drop where possible (subject to preferences as to style of beer, and allowances for the local brewery being poor).

Think you are spot on there Kiwi, Brains SA in Cardiff is a nice pint, elsewhere in Wales they sell the Nitro-Keg Smooth stuff. Think it is because they know it wont travel well. As for Guinness, in Dublin it is absolutly beautiful, anywhere else its black sh!te. Same with loads of other real beers. Exception being lagers, which is probably why they are popular world wide....

heresy alert:

Guinness ain't all its cracked up to be.

brennomac wrote:

MajorRoadWorks wrote:I chose Guinness. It was b!oody lovely out in Dublin. But I cant stand they stuff you get here in the UK... How it is so different beggars belief.

majorroadworks, no reason why Guinness in the UK shouldn't taste the same as the stuff we have in Ireland - all Guinness for Ireland and UK is now brewed in Dublin - Diageo shut down the Park Royal brewery in London a few years ago. If Guinness in the UK tastes crap it's probably because pubs don't keep the pipes clean - over here Guinness has a fleet of vans which clean out the Guinness pipes in the pubs

At the risk of sounding very dull, it's because of the average time in the barrell. In Ireland the average for a new barrell is 5/6 days whereas in the UK it's over 30 days. Basically it's fresher in Ireland. At least that's what a mate who works for Diageo told me....

Too blydi fresh by the state of my guts.

brennomac wrote:

MajorRoadWorks wrote:I chose Guinness. It was b!oody lovely out in Dublin. But I cant stand they stuff you get here in the UK... How it is so different beggars belief.

majorroadworks, no reason why Guinness in the UK shouldn't taste the same as the stuff we have in Ireland - all Guinness for Ireland and UK is now brewed in Dublin - Diageo shut down the Park Royal brewery in London a few years ago. If Guinness in the UK tastes crap it's probably because pubs don't keep the pipes clean - over here Guinness has a fleet of vans which clean out the Guinness pipes in the pubs

I've heard that said before and now and again I'll try a pint here just on the off chance. But trust me, it is absolutly vile. Not once have I found a good pint in of Guinness in the UK. Interesting about the pumps though. Didnt know that Guinness itself cleaned the pubs pints in Dublin. Shows a commitment to the product, and that could be the key...

Cardiff Taffy wrote:

brennomac wrote:

MajorRoadWorks wrote:I chose Guinness. It was b!oody lovely out in Dublin. But I cant stand they stuff you get here in the UK... How it is so different beggars belief.

majorroadworks, no reason why Guinness in the UK shouldn't taste the same as the stuff we have in Ireland - all Guinness for Ireland and UK is now brewed in Dublin - Diageo shut down the Park Royal brewery in London a few years ago. If Guinness in the UK tastes crap it's probably because pubs don't keep the pipes clean - over here Guinness has a fleet of vans which clean out the Guinness pipes in the pubs

At the risk of sounding very dull, it's because of the average time in the barrell. In Ireland the average for a new barrell is 5/6 days whereas in the UK it's over 30 days. Basically it's fresher in Ireland. At least that's what a mate who works for Diageo told me....

Makes sense as well..... simples.

Ireland needs to be broken down into the four provinces.

Munster - Pints of Stout and ham sandwiches.
Leinster - Heino and champagne for the ladies.
Ulster - Flagon of cider (easier to throw bricks at police when holding a flagon).
Connacht - Let's just smoke a joint and build a monument to Che Guevara.

What a magnificent discussion....

I wonder how they discuss this on the football threads...What's the best beer that I'm not allowed to buy at a ground because I misbehave when I'm drunk?

mr_stonelea wrote:What a magnificent discussion....

I wonder how they discuss this on the football threads...What's the best beer that I'm not allowed to buy at a ground because I misbehave when I'm drunk?

Irish lads drink down the barrels quicker (of Guinness that is). That is officially the only reason it's fresher here.

Drink it faster and more of it and it tastes better by osmosis... on the other hand you might be just too drunk to notice the finer details by then

For Wales, it has to be Felinfoel Double Dragon.

Prefer Murphys to Guiness myself.

For England, Abbot Ale.

BlueNote wrote:For England, Abbot Ale.

That's strong stuff for a matchday pint. Could be tricky when your side is playing last on the final Saturday!

I remember sampling Felinfoel when I studied in Carmarthen for a bit. My English housemates called it "Feelin' Foul."

If any of you alers ever visit the Gower via the Swansea route, stop at the Railway inn in Upper Killay. Some of the best real ales out there and camra winner on a few occaisons.

BlueNote wrote:For Wales, it has to be Felinfoel Double Dragon.

Totally agree. Most disappoint the tesco's around me don't have it, so I have been reduced to drinking either Scottish (McEwans Export - which kicks my rump big time), or English (Marstons Pedigree) as Brains SA make he heave for some reason (well before actually being intoxicated).

"Could be tricky when your side is playing last on the final Saturday" - we're on in the middle, though.

Pedigree is a good shout, Spiderman

MajorRoadWorks wrote:Sorry Pat. Selected beers that I would drink when on tour in that country. I like to drink the "local" brew. Although in today's age, except apart from Guinness brewed in Dublin, most the other could be brewed just about anywhere....

And before I get debates on my statement above, yes I know SA is brewed in Cardiff....

Actually Heavy's not that bad, was just an excuse for a dig at Robinson! Theres plenty Scottish beers that are better, if less popular. As mentioned Innis & Gunn, Harviestoun, I'm also a fan of Williams Bros, Inveralmond Brewery, Brewdog and Orkney Ales

MajorRoadWorks wrote:I chose Guinness. It was b!oody lovely out in Dublin. But I cant stand they stuff you get here in the UK... How it is so different beggars belief.

Just the keg, the pipes, poured right.