And the alcohol for tonight is....?

Primarily a Friday and Saturday night thread for people to discuss their favourite tipples. Their latest Gin or Whisky collection or maybe the local ale.

 

Staying on the Scottish theme I have some Innis & Gunn for later.

 

Popped into the local shop earlier, and saw that they had 4 packs of 1 Pint Budweiser. (the US stuff) Having been reading about beers (which I posted about in the 'What are you reading now?' -

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Beer by Roger Protz - 1995

This was bought for my 32nd birthday by my Parents (it's signed in the front), but other than looking up various beers, I've not got around to reading it until now. It's utterly fascinating. I had no idea, how much more complex brewing was compared to wine making. Every aspect of the ingredients is critical to the type of beer you want to produce. For instance, soft water and cold fermentation is essential for Lagers, while hard water and warm fermentation is required for Ales. Not to mention yeast type, malting and how much hops to add.) Then, there are a whole range of beers in-between, from dark Lagers (dunkel beer), via Pale Ales to Porters and Stouts.
By comparison, the book states that the grape contains everything required to make wine - yeast, juice and sugars. They just need to be pressed and then left alone to ferment.
Beer (of some variety or another), is also the oldest known fermented drink and can be traced back to 3000BC.

I thought I would give it a go - OH DEAR!!! It has the strangest smell and taste. Almost like an artificial peach (in the same way that artificial banana flavour tastes weird). 'The King of Beers'? Definitely not!
Incidently, the book I refer to above, states that the Czech Budweiser (the 'good Bud', as I now think of it), was served to Royalty and had the slogan 'The Beer of Kings'.

 

M&S Special Reserve Port, very nice it is too

 

Stone's Green Ginger Wine

A few days ago, a man in front of me in the local shop bought a bottle of this. When my parents were alive, we always had a bottle at Christmas. In fact it wasn't Christmas until I'd had a glass. So I decided to treat myself to a bottle. It's quite sweet (but, I have a sweet tooth) and is very warming due to the ginger. Great for cold nights like these.

 

I must admit that I've never heard of ginger wine although it was not unknown for our house to have a ginger beer at Christmas when I was younger.

Bottle of Malbec for me tonight, maybe a shot of The Aardmore just before bed.

 

Same Caminada Malbec from Sainsbury's tonight. Cheap as chips, taste great.

 

It's always nice to read wine reviews on here!

 

Kylie Minogue Rosé Wine

Not a regular Rosé drinker but it's acceptable.

 

Kylie Minogue Rosé Wine

I didn't know Kylie was a wine maker. Did she tread the grapes herself?
Some years back, AC/DC entered the wine market, but they seemed to have missed a trick, by not producing 'A Whole Lotta Rose'.

AC/DC launches wine range - Decanter

They’ve sold more than 200 million albums worldwide and now rock band AC/DC is moving into the wine industry.

www.decanter.com