TOPIC:

An article in yesterday's Dublin's freebie paper The Metro had an article about the drop in lager serving temps since the 70's. Seemingly the temperature has dropped 11 C from around 13 - 14 C in the 70's to 2 or 3 C today. It was attributed to punters heading on package holidays to Spain and such and getting a taste for the tongue numbing beer serving temperatures over there and demanding it back home.

I thought that the author was of our ilk when he mentioned the temperature having little effect on the bland lagers served in Irish pubs, but then let himself down by saying that most bitter and real ale is served 'luke warm'. Oh well.I thought for a moment we had an ally there.

I read something a while ago exploring the origins of British lager, again tracing them to 1970s package holidays, so you ended up with pale lager at British temperatures (10-12 C) and British strengths (3-4% ABV).

Cheap technology would have had a lot to do with it as well. Few pubs would have had the resources to bring their draught beer down to two degrees thirty years ago.

Technology was also mentioned, but it seems they found a way to do it over time as the demand for cold beer grew. What a shame.