Twilightpeaks.net
TP.net => The Great Beyond (OOC) => : X-Roesone/ARR (Robert) February 10, 2009, 06:00:09 PM
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Hi everyone. I'm in Venice this month, doing research in the archives and even though I thought I'd have regular net access this isn't the case. Apparently, the mindset of the locals here is to strip the non-residents of all the money they have in their pockets by overcharging for food, lodging, booze (beer is 5 Euros!!), transportation (6.5 Euros single ticket for the bloody public transportation boats/1.1 for residents), and of course internet (2.5 Euros for 10 minutes, half for residents). I can access the net at the public library but since I'm spending 8-10 hours a day in the archives deciphering 16th century Venetian dialect scribbles I'm not all that keen on crossing half the city to get to the internet, especially since we're in the middle of the flood season in this stinking sinking city with half the streets covered in 3-4 inches of sewage water for several hours a day.
So, basically, until the end of the month I'll be living medievally :(
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Venice, the pearl of the the Mediterranean...
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When your bedroom is inch deep in salty sewage you don't really get to appreciate the "pearls."
Besides, everyone knows that our Croatian side of the Adriatic is immeasurably superior hehe.
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They just don't get water like yours on the other side.
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Besides, everyone knows that our Croatian side of the Adriatic is immeasurably superior hehe.
Indeed, and not only the water quality. More the fool for leaving ;D
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Lucky man. Venice at this season must be great.
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booze (beer is 5 Euros!!)
Beer is around 8 euros in Norway ::)
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booze (beer is 5 Euros!!)
Beer is around 8 euros in Norway ::)
That's because you insist on going to posh places with overpriced drinks. There are always places where it is substantially cheaper. Join me in the grotty dungeon of a watering hole 8)
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That's because you insist on going to posh places with overpriced drinks. There are always places where it is substantially cheaper. Join me in the grotty dungeon of a watering hole 8)
Pfff... I just want to be served proper beer, and not piss water! That said, just get your butt back here and I'll join you.
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Rune IS posh...but a very nice chap nonetheless ::)
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Pish... Everyone knows Norwegians can afford it... What with the oil you stole from Denmark. ;)
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That's because you insist on going to posh places with overpriced drinks. There are always places where it is substantially cheaper. Join me in the grotty dungeon of a watering hole 8)
Pfff... I just want to be served proper beer, and not piss water! That said, just get your butt back here and I'll join you.
Fair enough, considering almost all beer made in Norway is utter pish. No excuse for going to some swanky bar just to pay more for said pish.
How about you get your lazy ass over here and we can have some proper beer. A large portion of which would be from Belgium, but served in a suitably grotty atmosphere.
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That's because you insist on going to posh places with overpriced drinks. There are always places where it is substantially cheaper. Join me in the grotty dungeon of a watering hole 8)
Pfff... I just want to be served proper beer, and not piss water! That said, just get your butt back here and I'll join you.
Fair enough, considering almost all beer made in Norway is utter pish. No excuse for going to some swanky bar just to pay more for said pish.
How about you get your lazy ass over here and we can have some proper beer. A large portion of which would be from Belgium, but served in a suitably grotty atmosphere.
OK, I'll bite. What specifically do you guys consider good beer?
Personally, I prefer Guinness, which costs about $1.50 US per pint to drink in my own comfortable dungeon, but might cost $4-$5 at a "reputable" drinking establishment. I tell my wife that I am saving our family $3 every time I drink one at home, but for some reason she just looks at me funny... ;)
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Hmm, a good beer to me is dark, sweet and with a bit of bubbles. The British ones are ok, but too flat.
A stout with a fuzz, that'd be good.
Newcastle Brown Ale is a sturdy good brew. - Easy to get too, so often my beer of choice.
Erdinger Dunkel is very good.
A number of dark, typically christmas inspired, beers are supreme.
I'm told that my taste in beer favors the traditional Czech beers, where one of the tests to see if it was ready, was to take on an apron backwards and sit in a chair where the beer had been poured over. If the beer was sticky enough that the chair lifted with the apron, then it was ready. :)
If not really partial to the Danish pilsners like Tuborg and Carlsberg, although Carlsberg have, in recent years, made several other kinds of beer some of which are fairly good.
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Newcastle Brown Ale is a sturdy good brew. - Easy to get too, so often my beer of choice.
I first had my first Newcastle Brown Ale when I visited England several years ago. It was GREAT! Tried several different ale's when I was there, but "Newkie" was my favorite draft beverage.
Then, to my astonishment, I found "Newcastle Brown Ale" at a local store (bottled) and snapped it right up! However, I was somewhat disappointed when I got home - yes it was still good, but the distinctive taste and texture of the beverage somehow got seriously watered down traveling across the Atlantic (I live in California). It's like a light beer compared to what I had in England - weird. I still drink it from time to time, but I guess I'll never forget my first "Newkie", and look forward to enjoying it when I travel overseas!
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American beers are brewed a lot lighter than British ones generally - they probably 'localised' the Newkie. Our brewers use Bud as a base beer for testing new flavours on the grounds it is the closest thing to unflavoured they can get hold of without specially brewing the stuff tasteless.
I seriously considered putting Guinness as a beer type when I made a br-wiki page for alcohol...
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Over here in the US, My wife and I find we drink a lot of Sam Adams. (And so conversely most traditional domestics like Bud or Miller seem watery by comparison, But I will say a 48oz schooner of Miller Lite goes really well with Hot Wings with Celery and Ranch Dip, and Loaded Potato Wedges.)
When we were across the pond, We've enjoyed a lot of what we had in the Czech Republic and Germany. That being said though, in England we found our selves shying away from anything that was dark enough to be confused for coffee, tar, or used motor oil. (e.g. guinness) ::)
But if you want to talk about a really good time, I enjoy all of your different country's takes on liquor the best ;D
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Venice is a terrible city.
For residents but expecially for foreigners and tourists.
pubs/restaurants/shops increase a lot charges, fees and bills, when dealing with tourists, trying to maximize as much as possibiòe their earnings.
Unfortunately this happens not only in Venice but in almost every touristic place in italy (and there's plenty a lot of such places).
Just another wrong thing of my country..
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FINALLY! I'm back in civilized lands :)
Hehe, kidding. Venice is great for a historian, but I'd be just as happy if they moved the State Archives to the mainland so I don't have to tolerate all that tourist hype/*rap :) I've endured one weekend of the carnival which amounted to a gazillion of tourists clogging the narrow streets for no apparent reason making travel in the city a herculean feat for those not interested in traveling at the speed of vegetation. I'd have no problems with this if the whole city were clogged at the same time, I'd curse my luck and endure it but it so happens that a narrow street is stuffed with people and the wider ones on both ends are almost empty, making me want to fireball the stupid tourists. At least I sympathize somewhat with the residents now (though the prices and fees still make me want to nuke the restaurant/internet cafe proprietors :D).
Anywho, I've got my 15,000 pages of 15-16th century documents all photographed now and I believe I'm set for the next decade or so :)
I'll be getting Roesone back to action starting this evening.
Oh, btw in RL I'm running for mayor of my little town. Not very optimistic but my little independent party will try to score a few points in the upcoming local elections and I'm going to wrestling with the big boys in May and try to get into the "oval office" :)
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Newcastle Brown Ale is a sturdy good brew. - Easy to get too, so often my beer of choice.
I first had my first Newcastle Brown Ale when I visited England several years ago. It was GREAT! Tried several different ale's when I was there, but "Newkie" was my favorite draft beverage.
Then, to my astonishment, I found "Newcastle Brown Ale" at a local store (bottled) and snapped it right up! However, I was somewhat disappointed when I got home - yes it was still good, but the distinctive taste and texture of the beverage somehow got seriously watered down traveling across the Atlantic (I live in California). It's like a light beer compared to what I had in England - weird. I still drink it from time to time, but I guess I'll never forget my first "Newkie", and look forward to enjoying it when I travel overseas!
In all seriousness have a look round the web - there are a number of companies that specialise in the import of european ales and ciders.
I have a particular fondness for St Peter's, a local brewery to my family home and excellent beers to boot.
http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/
They also do a great line in more unusual flavours if you visit the brewery shop, which I have a number of times.
I am also particularly fond of a good cider, preferring Frome Valley or Weston's from my native Herefordshire or Aspalls from Suffolk where I live now.
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OK, I'll bite. What specifically do you guys consider good beer?
Personally, I prefer Guinness, which costs about $1.50 US per pint to drink in my own comfortable dungeon, but might cost $4-$5 at a "reputable" drinking establishment. I tell my wife that I am saving our family $3 every time I drink one at home, but for some reason she just looks at me funny... ;)
Hmmm, I could say that any beer I enjoy drinking is a good beer :P
I like my beers with quite a bit of taste. Guinness is fine, but it is to a proper porter what Fosters is to a good lager. Perfectly quaff able, but not greatly inspiring. I know it's a controversial statement for some, but the sad fact is that there are so many good porters and stouts out there languishing in the shadows.
I'm a big fan of dark, well matured beers. The Belgians are top of the class for this, with excellent beers such as Westmale or Grimbergen. In general most of the Belgian 'Dubbel' beers are highly enjoyable, if possibly a bit intoxicating. The 'Trippel' beers are not for the feint hearted.
Another interesting group of beers is the Czech dark lagers. My current staple is Krusovice, which is readily available in many places. I think this is due to Heineken having bought the Czech brewery resently, so I fear what will happen to the quality. :'( (shudder)
You can also check out the German beers called 'Schwarzbier'. Very similar, and very tasty. Can't remember any brands at the moment, but there's quite a few breweries that make them.
When it comes to lagers I'm not too fuzzy. Most places have at least one passable brand on sale. I've come to realise that Scandinavia is severely suffering from inferior beer. Perhaps because I grew up with that stuff I'm still able to drink it. The special Christmas beers are a notable exception, with lots of interesting flavours running riot.
One thing that still amazes me is how the UK, birthplace if the industrial revolution and lowers of all things processed and flavourless, still have a decent tradition for some artisan products. The most notable examples are ales and cheese, both of which I greatly appreciate. Newcastle was probably one of the first 'exotic' beers I encountered during my formative years, mostly thanks to a dodgy basement bar selling it (yes Rune, you know you really love 3B!). There are too many brands or breweries to mention, but the bast part is that a lot of pubs change their ales depending on what they get from the breweries. Nothing like a bit of variation to keep it interesting.
My current favourite is Innis & Gunn (http://www.innisandgunn.com/). Finally somebody over here realised that if the continental Europeans can create truly great beer, why should the British? It's a dark and very sweet ale, matured in whiskey (or rum) casks for some truly interesting flavours. Anybody who hasn't tried it yet should immediately run out and try it. Another brewery to consistently deliver good drinks is Brew Dog (http://www.brewdog.com/).
Honourable mention goes to Rogue Ales (http://www.rogue.com/index.php) from Oregon. These guys (and possibly gals) have finally shown that good beer can be had from the US. I've heard there are lots of other good beer over there, so why do you keep sending us all the pish?!? >:(
Enough ramblings from me. A bit early for a beer though. ;D
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Hmmm, I could say that any beer I enjoy drinking is a good beer.
Well put. I don't really have anything useful to add, after the wall-of-text from Even, my (apparently) limited experience with beers seems pityful to say the least. I do agree with a lot of what Even says here, although 3B could be burned to the ground, rebuilt into a nice establishment where I would be paid to drink beer served by beautiful women, and I still wouldn't go there. If I made a list of things I'd rather not do, going to 3B would be up there right next to being ass-penetrated with a large cactus or... well let's just leave it there.
Calling norwegian beer piss water would be an insult to pee (and water), but if you didn't know, a brewery called "Nøgne Ø" has started to make some decent (or even good) beers. Quite expensive, but still good. Maybe not as extravagant as some of the christmas beers but still worth a try. Let's have some when you're back in Norway.
But damn, I feel like having a beer now... guess I'd better start looking at weekend flights to Edinburgh...
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What, you mean you don't appreciate a good Dhal's over all these foreign beers? Thank god for that! Its a sad fact, but Norway is the home of an endless number of 'beers' that resemble piss as much as it does anything else. You have been warned: stay the hell away from Norwegian beers!
Anyway, my brother as altogether too much experience with anything containing alcohol...
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*Considers going on a beer shop and providing Bjorn with some proper British beers*
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*Considers going on a beer shop and providing Bjorn with some proper British beers*
That giant sucking sound, is it quaffing a beer, or sucking up to the DM? ;)
Actually Matt, I wish I thought of that first! Good thinking! Hey, maybe if I actually SEND it... ???
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I considered it, I never said I was actually going to do it! ;)