Love a good beer

Please don’t think I am an expert in beer. I’m not. But I do love a good beer. And if you do too, you will know that the Belgians do good beer, and so do the Dutch and the Germans. Before I came to England I never thought the English did good beer. And when I tried ale for the first time I couldn’t understand why anyone enjoyed this lifeless, warm liquid. As people raved about it I kept trying. And then I tried some more… with the trying came curiosity about local and seasonal ales, a bit of reading and some more tasting.

And now I don’t understand how anyone would not enjoy this comforting, smooth and creamy liquid that tastes of cereal and is served at room temperature. Ales are wonderful beers. They can be enjoyed on their own but also go well with a nice pub lunch. They won’t sit on the top of your food like most lagers do. They will flow gently down with the food and give you a satisfied feeling in the process.

I have tried many ales and loved quite a few. Here I post a selection of the some of them and some other beers (that are not ales) that I have loved in equal measure. You may disagree with my choices and that’s ok, I do have a bias towards pale ales and IPAs and am not the biggest fan of very strong, heavy, sweet or fruity beers. I tend to prefer light, malty, corn-husk tasting beers, which may not be your thing. Anyhow, here are some of my recent favourites. I thoroughly recommend them.

Brewdog Dead Pony Pale Ale – stunning American pale ale, light and fresh, grassy in flavour.

The ‘cleanest’ ale I have drank – Einstök, Icelandic White Ale. A cross between a white beer and an ale made with the purest Icelandic water (so they say!). It is so crisp, smooth and citrusy! Body is a little cloudy in the true spirit of the white beer. Love this.

Oberon Session IPA by Wharfe Bank Brewery – an earthy, easy to drink IPA tasting of cereal. Very decent IPA, enough for me to take a picture and post it here 😉

Isis Pale, Compass – a well-balanced, easy to drink ale with a malty flavour and a lovely colour (on the darker side of the typical ale colour, I guess). Really enjoyed this.

Lagerbier Hell – a lager, I know! But a really clean, malty and really well rounded beer. A light lager made in Germany that would compete for my attention with an ale on any evening (and not many do!).

If you are as excited about good ales/beers as I am and have your own favourites, please share! And I will swiftly buy a bottle or two and share my own views.

Happy drinking!