lansbury

Been back in the UK 12 days and warm beer still tastes horrible. How did I ever drink the stuff when I lived here. Now resort to asking if the beer is on a chiller before I order.

Mummy in the foothills

Bloody hell where do you go drinking, 1950?

AmerLisa

Are you finding all the beers served this way?

Just asking my husband about this (I'm not a beer drinker, he is) and he says the only room temp beers he ever had in the UK was because they were meant to be served that way.

tonrob

Cask conditioned beer is meant to be served at "cellar temperature" (50-55F), although many pubs chill it further (especially in summer), which starts to kill off the flavour.

All other (keg) beers are normally served properly chilled, as - in the UK - it's best that you don't get to taste them to their full "extent". (Key beer in the UK is nasty, with the few exceptions of US ans US-style "craft" beers that have made inroads into some establishments over the last few years).

robin1234

I was just in the UK for a month and had a few pints, all refreshingly cool.. If the air temperature was (say) 65 degrees and the beer was about 50 or 55, it definitely didn't taste warm.

When Americans try ribbing me about "warm beer" or "it always rains in England" I usually smile tolerantly and agree, that way we get over it quickly..

scrubbedexpat027

I'd never even heard of the stereotype until I got here. Beer was always chilled where I'm from.

steveq

Beer or lager ? Lager is supposed to be actively chilled.

scrubbedexpat027

Ah yeah, lager. That'll be it.

Pulaski

Yeah, all the beer I remember drinking in the UK, including real ales and the beers I sampled once at the CAMRA festival in London were all cool, though not necessarily as icy cold as most American beers. If I was drinking fast enough and the beer had reached room temperature before I finished it, it always tasted unpleasant no matter what style of beer it was.

lansbury

No the local cask beers seem to be warm, beers like John Smith's or Tetley are served slighly chilled, but not much. However I am persevering and do my best to put on a brave face.

Pulaski

Jams or pickles?

lansbury

me in a pickle jar

Manc

If it isn't cold enough to crack the enamel on your teeth then it must be warm. defacto reasoning.

Hiro11

Almost every beer tastes best at 55 degrees or higher, IMO. It's particularly true of Belgian-style yeast-forward and c-hopped American-style ales. Of you serve those styles too cold, they taste weirdly unbalanced. I typically drink both of those styes in the ~65 degree range.

Malty German styles and porters are good slightly colder. Quality pilsners and other lagers are probably the beer I like coldest. Shitty lagers are undrinkable warmer which is why they're served ice-cold.

I keep stuff in the fridge but allow it to warm up a bit before drinking it. I've found most any quality beer bar in the US will serve stuff at cellar temp. If it's too cold, the place typically isn't that serious about beer.

Sheepdip

Looking forward to some 'warm' beer in a couple of months