Happy St. Patrick's Day

[Uncle Al]

This is a bit late but ~ ~ ~ ~

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014-03-17.jpg

Uncle Al

[dillon]

LOL, Al!

[rick401r]

I donned My Black Watch Stillwater kilt yesterday in honour of St. Patrick's Day and went out in search of a party. Most of the bars held their celebrations on Saturday but I did find one serving up $3.00 pints of Guinness, corned beef and cabbage, and what they called Irish stew. It was a bit cool for a kilt but after a few pints I didn't feel the cold. I spent the evening answering the usual questions of "What's under the kilt?" Got a lot of compliments on my attire and even attempted to dance a Jig!

[Kirbstone]

Well done Rick.
Mind you, pints of Guinness for $3 a shot aren't to be had over here! Pubs here usually charge Eur 4.50 for a pint. I was down at our holiday bolthole with two grandchildren & no pub visit was on the cards, so I contented myself with a pack of cans of Draught Guinness at approx. Eur 1.60 each 500cl, which is just a whisker short of a pint.

Tom.

[Jack Williams]

Happy St. Pats gang! I'd forgotten it was the day as we motored back from WOMAD down in Taranaki. We just missed the CYCLONE! which dismembered one of my trees here a bit.
Bit of wind noise therefore in this video of a great American band. I'm still uploading more of their songs, but here's a goodie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFdzWI6 ... Z6Ly5S-iIQ

I don't in fact have an actual kilt, but did have the khaki skirt on all weekend.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44894889@N ... otostream/

[Sinned]

Actually krbstn, 500ml is slightly OVER a pint as 1 pint = 473.2ml.

[Milfmog]

Actually krbstn, 500ml is slightly OVER a pint as 1 pint = 473.2ml.

Errmmm... No. Tom was absolutely correct.

Sorry, but anyone who has poured a 500ml bottle of beer into a pint glass knows that the beer all goes in and leaves plenty of slop space. That is because 1 pint is 568.26ml (roughly ) I guess you were looking at one of those short measure, foreign pints the American's choose to suffer from. As a resident of the Sceptred Isle (should that be sceptic?) I'm sure you did not mean to look at those dodgy US measures

Have fun,


Ian.

[Kirbstone]

Thanks Ian for the clarification. I knew that a pint was somewhere about 0.56 of a litre. I reckon those Yorkies' measurements are all a bit of a Shambles. The Americans sell short gallons too.
All canned/bottled beer nowadays seems to be sold in litre measures, while thankfully pubs still pull pints. On our 213-mile return journey yesterday, Tuesday we stopped off at a particularly pleasant roadhouse in Co. Limerick. Dennis will be delighted with the name, unchanged since his lot ran things here......The Devon Inn, Templegallantine, where with my lunch I enjoyed a seriously delicious pint of the Black Stuff....I wasn't driving.

Tom.

[Milfmog]

What I have failed to understand is why beer has moved to 500ml bottles, but the two biggest brands of cider (Bulmers and Magners) still sell pints, although they label the bottles 567ml.

As a home brewer, I tend to favour cider bottles over beer bottles for their size; by the time a little has been lost to the sediment that is inevitable in a bottle conditioned beer, a 500ml bottle leaves a very sadly short looking drink in my pint glass (almost like an American pint ) A further benefit of the cider bottles is that they tend to have conical or near conical necks so there is less tendency for bubbling, as air sucks back into the bottle, to disturb any light sediment. I've spent a few happy hours over the past few years rummaging through pub bottle bins looking for the best bottles.

Sorry, going waaaaayyyy off topic now, so I'll shut up.

Have fun (or "happy brewing" as I sign off on another forum),


Ian.

[Kirbstone]

Stretching the thread to breaking point, in a previous Hampshire incarnation I got into the home beer-brewing thing for a time, investing in a carboy-type big flask with a fitting for a sparklet bulb in the top to fill the vessel with inert gas as the beer was drawn off through a tap near the bottom. Facts are A/ I never got my home brew to taste even remotely to my liking (Jim's Beer kit wasn't around!) and B/ I don't drink nearly enough nowadays to warrant other than the occasional purchase of a few cans.

I have a whole dresser-top of pewter tankards, a reminder of my serious boat-shoving days. They enhance the taste of real ale, with which they are rarely filled now.
We have a pre-Easter trip to Englandshire (Plymouth, Wells, Brum) planned for April, where I'll seek out a few decent draught brews. I'm being chauffeured, so Pub lunches can be enjoyed.

Tom

[Big and Bashful]

I heard that the big problem with home brew is that if all the sugar ferments out the beer tastes pretty poor. Brewers stop the fermentation once the sugar/alcohol proportions are right to give a tasty brew. I think home brew can be helped with none fermenting sugar to get the appropriate sweetness into the mix, never tried brewing beer myself, only wine. It was easier to get wine right when I lived in a caravan, the temperature fluctuated too much to get beer to work.

[Milfmog]

I heard that the big problem with home brew is that if all the sugar ferments out the beer tastes pretty poor. Brewers stop the fermentation once the sugar/alcohol proportions are right to give a tasty brew. I think home brew can be helped with none fermenting sugar to get the appropriate sweetness into the mix...

The general rule is never to use brewing sugar alone, even though that is what the kit instructions usually recommend. Spray malt (either dried or liquid) adds body to the pint and does not fully ferment out as some components of it will always be unfermentable. (Lager may be the exception to that rule as it is generally meant to be pretty flavour free. I don't drink the mass produced lagers and would certainly not waste my time trying to make the stuff.)

The other part of the instructions to ignore is the time to make the brew. Typically the instructions imply you can be drinking it two weeks from starting the fermentation. I guess you can but it will taste awful; real ales (and even lagers) need to condition for a while. A stronger brew will take months to reach its' best. Sadly marketeers write the instructions and the one missing ingredient in the kit is patience.

Have fun,


Ian.