Beers/Ales in English pubs!

Well now that's a real man's topic to discuss!

If anyone has moved around in the U.K and visited good old English pubs, they would realize what I am talking about. The English Ale's are simply out of this world

I can take so many names of famous beers from the U.K

Timothy Taylor's landlord, Greene King's IPA, Abbot Ale, Guiness
They all are magnificent beers/ale's

For beer novices...

Beers are either lagers or an ales. Ales are brewed with top-fermenting yeast and Lagers are brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast

Lagers allows the malt and hops to assert their fine flavours. Lager tends to be paler, drier and less alcoholic than ales. They are refreshing drinks.

Think a hot summers day and a lager goes well

Lager variations exist. Pilsener originated in Bohemia (Yes from the 'Pilzen' town from Czech republic)

What an experience I had drinking Pilsener in Prague, Czech republic. Sat in the middle of a beautiful square in Prague, drinking pilsener, watching people...

Prague is such a beautiful city and it is full of beautiful people. It is an absolute jewel.

And then there are famous German lagers (with typical german high quality controls) wheat beers and so on...all to be had with German sausages and mustard:)

But this blog is really about Ales and specifically the ones from the U.K.

Ales are further categorized into porters, stouts

Porter is a heavy beer of strong bitterness, reddish-brown to chocolate dark brown, but is usually lighter in body and malt character than stout) to pale ales and wheat beer. Ales are higher in alcohol, and complex than lagers.

An IPA (India Pale Ale) is an ale created by the British. Regular beer would spoil on the 6 month trip to India, so brewers created a beer with more alcohol and more hops, each of which helped to preserve the beer on the long hot journey.

Yup when I think of happy days, I think of an English pub with hearty English food (with very English names...take "Bangers & Mash", some really good club sandwiches,... ) and a glass of pure, fresh English ale poured at room temperature in the pint glass from a hand drawn pump

Nothing compares to this experience.

The list of great beers is infinite...I can talk about Belgium beers, German beers, Czech beers, American beers,...and so on...

In India, most people are not aware of anything but lager. Most people associate beer with 'Kingfisher' lager which isn't bad at all. But for someone like me who has tasted much more, its a pain because I can't get anything except lager in India.

What a shame. I am confident however things will change with time. The world of wine has gone an incredible change with so many varieties of wine from all over the world available in India. But beer market continues to be conservative.

I could make trips to Europe to just experience the wonderful beers. Well unofficially I have already done that! Just never thought my trip would be to experience just beer...Every corner of Europe has such a great tradition of beer making.

To sit in a typical European square with 500 year old cobble stone streets and ornate architecture, all beautifully maintained is an experience. To sit with a beer glass in hand and experience is heaven.

I am hoping the Indian market and tastes mature and we start getting different varieties.

Lager market is definitely improving. We are now getting 'Carlberg' (The Danish beer).

Till then, I just need to keep visiting Europe, U.K!