Comments for Mark Dredge

Comment on A London Drinker by Reluctant Scooper

Reluctant Scooper — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:36:14 +0000

Next time, start with the De Molen, write the name down, and keep drinking it. I’d even foresake Jaipur for the chance of drinking more De Molen.

And if you think Kings Cross is beautiful, we need to get you onto an architectural appreciation course.

Comment on A London Drinker by tdtm82

tdtm82 — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:55:33 +0000

If you ever find yourself in the vacinity of Chelmsford I’l take you to the Queens Head where you can sample a good range of Crouch Vale on draught.

This brewery is my local brewery and I’m very proud of its recent rise on the Rate Beer stats. Infact I have been neglecting that pub of late and need to go back.

De Molen are awesome. If you want to get some of their beers give me an e-mail and I’ll send you in the right places. I have a few in the cupboard to rate.

Comment on A London Drinker by Sid Boggle

Sid Boggle — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:22:05 +0000

Are you sure it’s Kings Cross that’s “hauntingly beautiful”? St Pancras certainly is…

Comment on A London Drinker by desdemoor

desdemoor — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:17:15 +0000

Glad you enjoyed it, Mark, good to meet you there and yes, made you feel positive about London beer at the moment. By the way I think the Molen beer you were drinking was Hel en Verdoemnis (Hell and Damnation).

Comment on In Dispense by Barm

Barm — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:35:38 +0000

I think the level of carbonation is more decisive than the method of dispense. Obviously you can fizz beer up further more easily with top pressure than with cask conditioning, but that’s not really the point. In poorly managed pubs real ale is often served too flat, and it only gets worse if they try to mask the fact by pushing it through a sparkler. Conversely, here in the UK kegged beer is almost always ridiculously over-carbonated. There’s no need for that. You can go to Germany and drink kegged lager, and it’s not fizzy like it is here.

I think Punk IPA is better on cask than from the bottle, and both are far better than the kegged version, for what it’s worth.

Comment on Something Sour; Part of the Journey by K. M. Weaver

K. M. Weaver — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:33:12 +0000

I’ve definitely seen the general pattern there, from light beers to extreme beers to sour beers and then returning to session stuff… in myself and others.

You’ll be back to bitters before you know it.

Comment on Something Sour; Part of the Journey by Jason

Jason — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:10:54 +0000

I would be considered a new drinker to most people, but have found sours to be super alluring.

Comment on Something Sour; Part of the Journey by tdtm82

tdtm82 — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:50:58 +0000

Mark, having met on Friday, I know the feeling of emotions which you’ve gone through only too well. Last year for me I truely started drinking authentic lambics from Cantillon. Lambics are indeed a step up. I have been drinking stouts and ales for years but it’s when you appreciate the lambic that you really recognise your change of trend. I am currently in the process of anticipating PRE-ZBF after the Welsh beer festival @ the Rake.

This weekend in Beligum I plan to catch up on all those beers I’ve read about but struggled to acquire. I have already tried nearly all trappists. I have only a couple of retired trappists to try.

I am pretty sure Kolsch beer is on your next step to reverse swing. Then the transition could be complete. Oh black largers are a must too.

Comment on Something Sour; Part of the Journey by fata2683

fata2683 — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:33:59 +0000

Mark,

I think you nailed the progression head on, at least with me. When I started on rating on ratebeer.com I was drinking lighter lagers and wheat beers. I was living in Germany so these good lagers were readily available. One trip to Belgium changed all of that and I immediately jumped ship for the stronger Belgian ales, especially liking the Belgian interpretation of an Imperial Stout. Flash forward to now living again in the United States, all of the wonderful IPA’s and IIPA’s are my favorite at the time. Sours are a hard style to get into for me. It’s like I want to like them, but I have only had a handfull that I would drink again. I tend to favor the Oude Brun style to the lambics, but I have had some that I enjoyed. Last year at the Pre Zythos beer fest, Alex from Brasserie 420 in Rome sat down with me and explained the entire process of making a gueuze and we sampled a bottle of Vintage Drie Fonteinen from 2003. I could not believe that I had been neglecting these beers that were readily available to me right over the border. I love having someone knowlegable in the process and style explaining things to me as I sample, I think it really helped me pick up the nuances of the beer. Sorry for the rant, your article was spot on with how I have tackled different styles. Please keep the great articles coming.

Comment on Something Sour; Part of the Journey by saazhopper

saazhopper — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:43:34 +0000

Can’t say I have noticed the progression you suggest but I sure appreciate all of the styles especially the sours (Rodenbach Grand Cru), big IPA’s and stouts. A fine Pils is my go to beer so maybe I’m just out of sync.