What you drinking? The beer and booze thread

Jupiler first. Yep, read in the instructions about always opening the tap fully. I’m expecting a bit of a learning curve.

Had a moment of frustration when inserting the tubing into the tap, and it wouldn’t go far enough through to lock in the white lever. Then I realised the lower spout is removable.

Definitely want it chilled as much as possible for a lager

As with anything new I think you are always extra careful at first, don't want to break anything, but it'll soon become second nature.

I put the tap on the keg, then feed the pipe in while opening the tap, then put the "plug" bit into the tap/leg.

Little tip for the wine connoisseurs.

I’m totally won over by the Jupiler. Bloody marvellous stuff, and almost certainly going to be in the regular rotation for me.

I installed the pre-chilled Shelby this afternoon, and it’s ready now. With great relief I can say that I really like this one too. There are many IPAs that I don’t get on with - usually those where the brewer thinks that more hops = better, but goes too far. And I don’t want to be drinking soap. I was considering ordering a keg of Goose Island, but managed to buy a small pack of cans (Midway) to try first. Thank god I did. I won’t be buying it again, and I’d hate to have ended up with ten pints of it to get through.

But I was more confident with the Shelby, as it was described as being styled on the kind of ale that would have been available in the era that Peaky Blinders is set, so it wasn’t going to be hops-overload. Bear in mind that for many years, Midlands-brewed bitter was my drink of choice. Also, one review said it was a very English take on an IPA. And I’m not disappointed. I’ve got a can of Jaipur to try, to compare it to the Shelby. Then, when it’s in stock, I can consider getting a keg of that.

Got my next order in, using the 10% off selection. Two kegs of Lowenbrau, which I’m expecting to give me a nostalgia trip, as I drank it a lot on two teenage holidays in Greece. And one of the Hoegaarden Rosee - the weather is meant to be hot next week, so its fruitiness and lower alcohol should make it ideal for knocking back in large quantities for refreshment.

Oh, and the machine - incredibly good. Value for money isn’t the right discussion, as it’s entirely a luxury. But damn, I’m pleased I’ve got it, and would recommend it to anyone who can justify the cost.

Really glad to see you like it. If you had been disappointed I'd have felt a little responsible!

We also agree on the Jupiler, perfect lager in that it's light, refreshing and very easy to drink.

The Goose midway is quite bland compared to the main IPA so you definitely won't want that.

I think you'll like the Jaipur based on what you've said. I think it's just a more flavoursome version. Bit like what I think the Lowenbrau is like compared to Jupiler.

Based on what you've said you might want to give the Goose Island lager a go.

I'm waiting to see what the mutlibuy offer is tomorrow. Got £30 worth of credit. If I can get 1 Magic Rock (High Wire), 1 Thornbridge and 1 Goose or Tiny Rebel I won't be able to resist.

Would be interested to know what you think of the Hoegaarden rosee as I've not tried that but thought about getting it for the reasons you've said.

How would you say it compares to cans/bottles and draft from a pub.

You might want to watch a few Big Bald Reviews on YouTube. He's not too serious and I think he's mildly entertaining (you might think he's a cretin!)

Really looking forward to trying the Lowenbrau and Hoegaarden Rosee. I might swap out the kegs before the Shelby is finished, but I don’t want to get into that habit. One question - the instruction manual says the kegs aren’t stackable, but they seem entirely designed to be stacked. Do you stack yours? I would think it would be OK, at least for the empties.

I’ll add Goose Island lager to the list. I noticed the multi-buy offer was changing, so I got in an order first, because I really wanted the two I got. I’ll check out that reviewer - he seems like quite a fan!

I would say that the results are pretty indistinguishable from pub quality - with none of the downsides of being in a pub. And on a whole other level from cans. Being perfectly chilled makes a great difference, and I’ve tended to have a half at a time, so the second is equally cool and fresh. I like being able to drink exactly as much as I want, rather than it having to be a multiple of 330ml etc.

I've not stacked mine. I just keep them in the box in a cupboard under the stairs. I've stacked the boxes, think I had 4 boxes of 3 stacked at one point! I'll also have a box outside that I'm putting the empties in ready to return.

I normally start with a pint or 2 at first when it goes down extra quick then switch to halves so I'm not ending up with a less fresh warmer bit at the end because I've slowed down.

It's fine to switch the kegs, but because I had the same keg after another a few times and didn't bother changing the pipe, just moved the tap straight from the empty one to the new one, I ended up with a few spare pipes which I used when putting a keg back that had been in before.

You might want to consider getting a mini fridge from sub cold.

Beer hawk are doing 24 cans of different beers for £1 a can at the moment.. for new customers (just use "+new" on the end of your Gmail address innit

)

https://www.beerhawk.co.uk/megapack-off ... zCK6g74kS0

Cheers needed to stock up. Beerhawk seem to do this offer every few weeks.

Thanks Lewis, think I'll pick up on that. Huge fan of that Life & Death from Vocation at the front of the picture.

Finished off the keg of Shelby - that’s a definite regular for me now - and had a can of Jaipur for comparison. Good flavour, but I’m not so keen on its extra bitterness. Maybe I’ll buy it if the Shelby is out of stock.

Now, the Hoegaarden Rosee. It was initially a little disappointing. A very distinct raspberry flavour, rather than just a hint, and they didn’t overdo the sweetness, so that’s all good. But on my first taste, I thought, you can hardly even tell it’s a beer. I think the problem was that I’d been finishing off the Shelby and Jaipur, so of course it was going to taste weak in comparison. A couple of days later, and it’s grown on me somewhat. It’s got a slightly sour (in a good way) aftertaste that reminds you what you’re drinking. Another problem is that we haven’t had the hot weather in which I expected it to excel. So I wouldn’t entirely recommend it, but it’s not terrible. I might buy it again, but not in the immediate future. Maybe one to get to round off the three-keg offer. And whatever they added to give it fruitiness, makes one hell of a sticky mess of the drip tray!

Half way through the keg, and I’ve just swapped it out for the Lowenbrau, which I’m greatly looking forward to. I’ll have the other half of the Rosee once that’s gone - maybe it’ll be sunny days by then.

strawberry floating gooseberry fool day at work today, and saw this reduced to £20.

That'll do pig.

Well, this Lowenbrau on Perfect Draft is bloody fantastic. Close call between this and the Jupiler. Very glad I bought two kegs of this one.

They'll be doing an Oktoberfest version of Lowenbrau (and Spaten) soon. I think you'll want to pick up a Keg or 2 of that.

It was actually available this week but I think that was a mistake.

Last year they did a pack with Lowenbrau stein glasses.

Ive held off buying anything for a few weeks now. Actually packed my machine away last weekend, first time in months. I've got £45 of credit waiting to be used. Think I'll make an order this week in time for the bank holiday.

LewisD wrote:strawberry floating gooseberry fool day at work today, and saw this reduced to £20.

That'll do pig.

good choice

Ste wrote:They'll be doing an Oktoberfest version of Lowenbrau (and Spaten) soon. I think you'll want to pick up a Keg or 2 of that.

It was actually available this week but I think that was a mistake.

Last year they did a pack with Lowenbrau stein glasses.

Ive held off buying anything for a few weeks now. Actually packed my machine away last weekend, first time in months. I've got £45 of credit waiting to be used. Think I'll make an order this week in time for the bank holiday.

Yeah, I definitely want to try the Oktoberfest editions.

Good news on the new mix & match offer - nine to choose from now, and they include Jupiler and Lowenbrau! Gone for one each, plus a Stella, just to see how the genuine stuff compares in the PD.

Finishing off the second half of the Rosee keg now, and my opinion has improved slightly from what I posted before. Having it straight after the IPAs did it no favours, but after the milder flavour of the Lowenbrau, it seems much more palatable, and the beery aftertaste is quite delightful. Still generally a bit weak, but a nice diversion while I wait for more Jupiler to arrive.

The machines are in stock again, if anyone else is tempted to treat themselves this bank holiday. Apparently pubs are expected to run dry, so you can avoid that disappointment…

https://www.beerhawk.co.uk/perfectdraft-keg-machine

rinks wrote:
Good news on the new mix & match offer - nine to choose from now, and they include Jupiler and Lowenbrau! Gone for one each, plus a Stella, just to see how the genuine stuff compares in the PD.

I caved and ordered some a few days ago using last week's multi buy selection.

Went for 6 this time around and think I'll try and do that from now on. The higher 15% off, with the extra outlay, means one keg is effectively free, I used my credit, so another keg was free. Ended up spending £137 on 6 kegs. Going off 11 pints in a keg it works out about £2 per pint. That order brought me about another £10 worth of credit and returning the 6 kegs are worth £30 so that'll be £40 off my next order. As you said, having one is not really about value for money but if you like the idea of having one and are happy to spend you get a fair amount back.

I ordered 1 Lowenbrau, 2 Clwb Tropica, 2 Shelby and a regular Hoegaarden for the first time - the Hoegaarden pint glasses are enormous!

I think the Stella is pretty good on it. If you don't mind Stella anyway I'm sure you'll like it.

What you drinking? The beer and booze thread

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