What a find ..

[Derek]

Whilst clearing out the pantry yesterday I found a bottle of 'Sporran Warmer' real ale. It was way out of date, but nonetheless I stuck it in the fridge for a while and then opened it. It tastes really good. Its brewed by the Bidge of Allen Brewery, but I cannot find it in the new 2006 Beer Guide. I think I posted a piccy a long time ago about it but heres some from yesterday.
Iechyd Da
Derek

[davedove]

That's a great name for a beer!

[Graham]

I have my brother in law here right now from Norwich, he's complaining about how cold the beer is here.

Why do the British like warm beer?
Aussie beer would COOL the sporran, not warm it!!

[GMan]

Great find Derek. Glad that it sttill tastes good either warm or cold.

[Derek]

I agree with Graham .. Personally I would sooner my beers be more chilled than warm. I'm sure theres someone on X Marks that can explain why 'British Beers' should be kept at a higher temp than a lower one. For me, there is nothing worse than a 'really warm pint of bitter'. I can only guess why today, when you go into most of the pubs, they also offer 'creamflow beers', which are chilled and pumped by gas. I still prefer the hand pump one's over these (Real Ale), even if it means warmer beer, as the taste is so different and they are so much sweeter. They also offer Guniness 'ordinary', or 'extra cold' in most places too. But neither of them compare with the Guinness you get in Ireland, as I'm sure many of you have experienced. Graham, they showed some clips the other evening of old television adverts. Do you remember the 'John Smiths' .. the ones with the dog. I forget the actors name .. but they showed one or two of them. They are still brill.
Iechyd Da
Derek

[Macman]

I find that different beers/ales taste better at different temperatures, same as with wine. Most pubs here serve all their beers at the same temperature, which I find is too cold for most of the beers I like. A few places have different temperatures for their tap beers. Even the warmest, though, I would probably say is "cool", not room temperature.

[GlassMan]

I have my brother in law here right now from Norwich, he's complaining about how cold the beer is here.

Why do the British like warm beer?
Aussie beer would COOL the sporran, not warm it!!

There's actually a very good reason for the British to like their beer warm, or at least their Bitter served warm.

Most beers on the market, such as Pilsners, Lagers, etc., are cask fermented, meaning that they complete the fermentation in the brewery prior to being placed in either bottles or kegs.

Bitters are a rather unique beer in that they are bottle fermented. The yeast is added to the beer at the brewery, but the yeast are allowed to remain alive and are bottled with the beer to continue the fermentation process. It is this bottle fermentation that creates the characteristic bitter flavor and is also the reason that bitter improves with age like a wine.

So how do the makers of non-Bitter kill the yeast before bottling? They chill it! Yes, by taking beer down to what the rest of the world considers the proper serving temperature the yeast is killed and all fermentation stops. So if you chill a bottle or keg of bitter you immediately destroy it. It has to remain at room temperature until the moment it is poured from the draft or the bottle is opened. Hence it is served warm.

So the characteristic British pint of Bitter wouldn't be Bitter if they chilled it.

So the answer is not that it's any problem with the British palate, it's simply a requirement of the beer.

Yes, I've spent way too much time studying the history of beermaking too. But it's a very interesting thing.

[freddie]

[QUOTE=GlassMan;198986]There's actually a very good reason for the British to like their beer warm, or at least their Bitter served warm.

Well put GlassMan -You beat me to it. Why do so many people like their beer ice cold ?. When I was in Canada (Edmonton) for Xmas a couple of years ago it was about 20 degrees below zero and they were not only serving ice cold lager but pouring it into ice coated glasses straight from the freezer (BBRRRRR!!!). They seemed to think I was mad when I asked for a 'warm' glass off the shelf. I can understand people in really hot climates prefering cold beer, but not in the middle of a cold winter. Give me a pint of unchilled real ale in front of a roaring log fire any day. It shouldn't be warm but cool, but certainly not chilled. Real Ale is a living beer and when chilled it looses all it's character and flavour. The mark of a really good 'Landlord' is to serve his real ale cool in the hight of summer. Not many can achieve it without resorting to pulling it through a 'chiller' (which ruins the beer).
P.S. I replied to GlassMan's post without reading the following ones and having just read the previous post by SnakeEyes I hope he doesn't think that my posting is in direct response to his. I loved everything about Canada and had a really good time there, and if the beer was too cold I drank whisky (no ice) !!!! Also the beer in 'The British Pub' situated in The West Edmonton Mall, although not 'Real Ale', was as good as anything back home. The 'cold' experience was in Hooters in the same shopping mall. Mind you after seeing the waitresses in there I needed something to cool me down!!!!!

[Raptor]

Well, there goes my theory! I reckon that it's not so much that the British serve their beer warm, it's just that room temperature over there is about the same as our fridges

[SnakeEyes]

Warm beer makes me rather ill, actually. I think we Canadians are just raised to like cold beer.