Wednesday 19 August 2009

Fantasy Pub Week! 3: The Draught Beer

You obviously have to have draught beer in your fantasy pub. That goes without saying. Maybe your dream pub has 25 ever-rotating pumps with beers from all over the world, maybe there are just two draught beers which could see you through, but for the benefit of this there are some limitations…

You can have five handpumps. Four handpumps are permanent and one is ever-changing from ONE brewery of your choice. Pick from any brewery, anywhere, still brewing or now closed. And it you’d like one or more of the taps to be kegged then go for it. But bear in mind that this isn't necessarily a list of your favourite ever beers; these are the beers which you'd most like to be able to drink whenever you go to your pub, whether is roasting hot outside or whether it's snowing. (Tomorrow it's bottled beer and I ask for a similar selection - three permanents, one full range - so bear that in mind!).

Four permanent casks (or kegs if you prefer)
One ever-changing cask but from just one brewery


Four permanents: Right now I would choose Marble Pint, Thornbridge Jaipur, Hobgoblin (or a really good mild, around 4%, but something a little bit fruity and hoppy as well as dark and roasty - any suggestions?) and, because it's my fantasy, I’d get Sam Smith’s Oatmeal Stout put in the cask.

My ever-changing handpump: would have beers from Dogfish Head (so I can work my way through their full range).

And if you haven’t done so yet then check out this post to choose Where you want it and this post to choose the People you want in there.

13 comments:

  1. What about my brew pub it doesn't have hand pumps all the beer is tank conditioned and served

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stu, that sounds great and for you I will make the exception, but which of your own beers do you have on?!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm...will need a bit of variety so

    Permanent - Innis and Gunn (do they offer anything on tap?), Meantime IPA, Brewdog Paradox, Arrogant Bastard Ale

    Guest - Dogfish Head is a great choice, but I'll go with D'Achouffre and get some crazy Belgians in there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cheers Mark, right then the beers would all be new nothing I brew now, some would be similar to the ones I have brewed in the past I want to cover different styles so I would have.

    Wheat Beer, similar to the one I did earlier this year with coriander & citrus peel around 5% abv
    Pale Ale, this would be well hopped American or New Zealand good citrus grapefruit character 5%
    Mild, this would be very dark brown 3.8% ish
    Stout, black very dark and heavy
    Pilsner, 4.5% golden traditional Bavarian character
    Strong Ale 6% light brown malty

    There would also be one more beer on this would be seasonal what ever I feel like brewing it could be an IPA, an Imperial Stout, a Pale ale at 3.8%, a Triple, Bock, dark Wheat Beer, black lager the list is endless.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i think this is the hardest one as there are so many good beers out

    My 4 permanent ones would be Hambleton Stallion, Dark horse's hetton pale ale,
    Mikkeller Stateside IPA, and Theakstons Old Perculiar.

    My ever changing one would probably be from wychwood or jennings as they both do some amazing seasonal ales, or maybe even brewdog its a tough choice.

    in addition i would like to choose a chilli beer made with my own fair hands and home grown chillis ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't like this game. Four that are NEVER allowed to change? You forgot, I'm a beer explorer!

    OK, guess I'd better toe the line...

    1. My Final Frontier 5.1% (I'd make it stronger if it weren't for the punters) Centennial and Cascade hops 4 drops in the boil and dry hopped with them too. Crystal, caramalt and Munich malts. Uses a Belgian yeast. Some probably think the esters fight with the hoppiness, but I love it.

    2. Westmalle Dubbel

    3. Old Peculiar

    4. My hoppiest beer I've not made yet. USA style IPA.

    The ever changing beer from one brewery? Mine, silly. That way I get to experiment all I like.

    But next week the list will be different.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bryan, that's some strong beers! I'm sure I remember reading that I&G was served on cask once at a beer festival but that was years ago. I'd love to try it from the cask, especially if it's straight from the oak cask it's aged in. And I've had cask Paradox Isle of Arran - very nice.

    Stu, you will need one helluva pub!!

    Moggy, I've never had a chilli beer I like. I've got an Italian Imperial Stout with chilli in that I'm looking forward to.

    Dave, cask Old Peculiar is a treat! And having you and Stu saying these answers makes me want to change my Dogfish Head answer to My Own Brewery so that I can always drink exactly what I fancy!! And yes, my list and this whole exercise will probably be filled with different answers if I do it again next week!!

    I'm getting thirsty for all these beers.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My four regulars would be:

    Primator Weizen - one of the best wheat beers out there, it is a shame they don't export it from the Czech Republic much.

    O'Hara's Stout - the best Irish stout out there, I would have it on cask rather than through a nitro pour.

    Kout na Sumave 10 - you need to have a pilsner style lager, and what better than the best that the Czech Republic has to offer?

    Shepherd Neame Bishop's Finger - one of my favourite strong ales and on draught better than from the bottle.

    Rotating tap:

    This is really difficult, so many breweries whose ranges are consistently excellent, options are BrewDog, Fuller's, Sierra Nevada and Everard's. The winner though is Fuller's and their extensive range of superb beers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Forgot to say - Westmalle aren't supplying the UK with draft Dubbel any more, apparently. It's nicer on draft than in bottles, even if it is Proper Real Keg, or perhaps because it is.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mark, I really enjoyed Amber Ales' chilli beer, the only chilli beer I've liked. They managed to get a load of chilli flavour into it without the heat.

    As an orthodox Pattinsonite I'd have to go for mild, bitter, stout and Burton as my draught beers. Made by a fantasy brewery which is brilliant at all of them.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, this is a tough one!

    I'd have to have a Midnight Bell on tap, and perhaps a Roosters too, great for most pub visits.

    Hmm, a Timmy Taylor would be a fairly boring but safe option.

    As for the 5th ever-changing pump, it would be a tough call between Hook Norton, Hogsback or Leeds Brewery.

    And for the 4th permanent option, I'd like the IPA Pete Brown sailed to India!

    Wish I'd been to the GBBF, that would have helped here, don't really have a local anymore so I'm almost 100% reliant on bottles at the moment!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Right, a toughie this but here we go:

    Permanents:

    Dark Star Hophead, Goacher's Original, Marble Dobber and i'm with you on the Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout as my token dark beer.

    Ever Changing Handpump:

    After having cask Zeitgeist and Punk at the Bull i'd be tempted to say BrewDog but my vote goes to Thornbridge.

    ReplyDelete
  13. mark, i know what you mean, i have only found one i like so far, hoping to find more soon!

    ReplyDelete