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[quote:3jly96a3]But could you really open a bottle of Aventinus and pour it into a pan? I'd need to have about four unopened standing by to take the edge off the horror.[/quote:3jly96a3]

Mmm Used to use cheap beer in food but the good stuff really does taste better and while I wouldn't use a €15 bottle of wine in a dish, a bottle of good beer won't cost more than €4.

It's one of the things I love about beer - the finest beers in the world are only about twice the price of the crap stuff - it's in everybody's reach if they want it.Whereas a fine wine can be vast multiples of the price of cheap wine.
Although I do like good wine too!

And while I'm here -

Beef in Guinness is just too bitter (although I am partial to a pint bottle off the shelf), beef in Beamish is much nicer.

Reminds me, need a new post about Beamish

"The Kid":1eapdii5 wrote: [quote:1eapdii5]

It's one of the things I love about beer - the finest beers in the world are only about twice the price of the crap stuff - it's in everybody's reach if they want it.Whereas a fine wine can be vast multiples of the price of cheap wine.
Although I do like good wine too![/quote:1eapdii5][/quote:1eapdii5]
Stop me if vearing too far off topic here, but I fully agree with you. It's fantastic that you can get an absolutely superb bottle of beer for 4 or 5 euro. I can't help but think that if some beer makers invenested (and charged) the amounts that top end wine producers do, the results could be stunning. Not for everyday drinking but then neither are top Burgundies.

"Wobbler":3fdmbgx5 wrote: I can't help but think that if some beer makers invenested (and charged) the amounts that top end wine producers do, the results could be stunning.[/quote:3fdmbgx5](Veering further off topic...) Well, you've got your Deus or Fuller's Vintage if you want to go that way. [i:3fdmbgx5]I[/i:3fdmbgx5] think that craft brewers should be trying to lower production costs (while maintaining quality, of course) and compete with the over-priced rubbish. We see it in the on-trade (Messrs Maguire in particular); it'd be great to have in offies and supermarkets too.

"TheBeerNut":3s7nb2ok wrote:

"Wobbler":3s7nb2ok wrote: I can't help but think that if some beer makers invenested (and charged) the amounts that top end wine producers do, the results could be stunning.[/quote:3s7nb2ok](Veering further off topic...) Well, you've got your Deus or Fuller's Vintage if you want to go that way. [i:3s7nb2ok]I[/i:3s7nb2ok] think that craft brewers should be trying to lower production costs (while maintaining quality, of course) and compete with the over-priced rubbish. We see it in the on-trade (Messrs Maguire in particular); it'd be great to have in offies and supermarkets too.[/quote:3s7nb2ok]
Maybe this deserves it's own thread. I will say that Fullers Vintage and especially Deus are exactly what I was talking about. I'd love to see much more stuff like that.

I'm not sure if I agree with you about reducing the costs to compete with the mainstream muck. Obviously, I'm not out to pay as much as possible for beer but I'd rather pay for a superior product rather than pay less for muck.

I think Portherhouse's and Messrs' main lagers are almost indistinguishable from the mainstream muck. It might be true to say that they are slightly nicer, but it's splitting hairs and people will nearly always go for the better advertised piss. The best hope craft beer has of thriving is by producing quality interesting beers aimed at a wider audience (ie more like Hooker and less like Chiller. Just my opinion of course.

"Wobbler":bzpu23qz wrote: I think Portherhouse's and Messrs' main lagers are almost indistinguishable from the mainstream muck. [/quote:bzpu23qz]

That may have been the intentention.