V8 wrote
X-rated Bob wrote
Aha! I had thought that Bonecrusher was bottle conditioned (secondary fermentation in the bottle) and this, I think, confirms that.
Darling beers are finding their way to some outlets in Jozi, and Slow Beer on tap may even be found.
Hmm, reckon you are correct on the bottle fermentation - they only had three taps installed and I wondered why there wasn't a fourth for the bonecrusher. I neglected to enquire further...I was thirsty! (Come to think of it, I never saw Duvel on tap in Holland/Belgium either).
The outlets are listed on the website, seems like there are more in Jozi than Cpt - I'm generally dissapointed by the draughts in the pubs/resturants though, not as fresh as it was onsite, guessing that the publican's don't clean the pipes and/or there isn't much demand for the darling stuff on tap.
There's an art to keeping beer, especially if it's not pasteurised. I don't know what that art is, but I do know that such a thing exists. You can taste this in the UK and especially in the touristy areas of London. You can have a glass of something you've enjoyed before and find it's not so good. All to do with the way they keep the pipes clean, the way they keep the barrels in the cellar and, I think, managing stock so that you've always got enough but never so much that it starts to get old. Good beer pubs are also fussy about how they wash their glasses so that there's no contaminants introduced that way.
Plus most pubs in Jo'burg only know one temperature for beer - as cold as possible - which doesn't necessarily do good things for the taste. Some pubs even go to the lengths of chilling their glasses to make sure that that first cold one is really cold. I understand that's about wanting to provide service, but it's not always best for the beer.
I was reading on some web site or other recently (possibly League of Beers) that to do it really properly you must pour the beer so that the bottle never actually makes contact with the glass - I presume this is to keep creepy crawlies, dust, fag ash and the like that the bottle may have collected out of the glass.
