Friday 15 June 2007

Chilly Reception

Right, this 'serve everything over ice' shit has got to stop!

It was bad enough when I was at an event recently that the first thing I got greeted with was a red 'bowl' of Piper Heidsieck champagne, with rapidly melting ice sloshing around in it, and the legend 'piscine' around the outside (wtf?) - but now one of my favourite breweries is at it as well!

I love Fuller's - I think Discovery is a cracking summer beer, the Vintage Ale is a work of art, the Porter is dark delight and the Golden Ale is a beer I can sit and savour for hours - but what the hell are their marketing people thinking by suggesting Honey Dew should be served over ice with lime?!

Unlike some of the fundamentalists out there I think it's a good thing ales are being served a little bit more chilled these days - because at the end of the day that's what consumers want and, if that's what they want, it's no use bitching and moaning it's not how it should be served - but this is just taking the so-called Magner's effect waaaaay to far.

In fact, I'm thinking about hunting down the bastard who started this 'over ice' business and having a word in their shell-like - who's with me?!

4 comments:

  1. re the post before - "did you know that a packet of peanuts contains over three times the calories of a pint of beer". No, I didn't. But I bet the fat bastards are having beer AND peanuts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I once met the man who invented ice and asked him what he thought of the various uses to which other people put his beloved invention to. he said he was cool about the use of ice in cold places like the north and Antarctica. He was also OK about ice being present in things like freezers. But when we started discussing drinks he got rather upset and started crying and rambling madly about the "Bastards keep ruining my lovely ice!" and how he had never intended certain drinks to have ice put in them, that it was an afront to the Old Evil Ones to whom he devoted his life, and that there would be hell to pay once the use of ice in certain alcoholic drinks reached 'critical mass'.

    He then ran off into a nearby forest and was never seen again. He is occasionally heard screaming something that sounds like "Fecking Magners...damn you post-modern real ale brewers...ice is for SOFT DRINKS!" and other such nonsense.

    Well, that's my tuppence worth!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know who would want to continue brewing good beer when some idiot with braces and red-framed specs decides that 'the kids' want your carefully-crafted labour of love adulterated with frozen London tap that's been through somebody's gut at least 6 times...

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Unlike some of the fundamentalists out there I think it's a good thing ales are being served a little bit more chilled these days - because at the end of the day that's what consumers want"

    By the same token, if consumers want to add ice to beer then where is the problem?

    Both chilling beer to "Ice Cold" levels and serving over ice have been used by the marketing departments to push sales.

    I don't like either but you can't just use "consunmer choice" when it suits....

    ReplyDelete