Smithwicks Pale Ale

Technocentral

Tasted it for the first time yesterday, shocking amount of carbonation, apart from that average taste, I won't be giving up Galway Hooker for it anyway.

adamski8

norrie rugger wrote: »

I wonder how many of the negative comments that are here are because of the smithwick's name?

Someone here do a blind taste, with the group and report back

I've tasted many craft beers and some taste shiite to me and don't mins saying it. SPA is just shiite. I like many others here i actually wanted it to be good so I could drink it in pubs so I think a blind test is isn't needed.

norrie rugger

I have tasted hundreds of cask ales, pale ales, lagers, etc and it is average.
Plenty better but not widely available.

PLENTY worse that people wax lyrical about. It is far from a bad beer TBH

johnnyskeleton

norrie rugger wrote: »

I have tasted hundreds of cask ales, pale ales, lagers, etc and it is average.
Plenty better but not widely available.

PLENTY worse that people wax lyrical about. It is far from a bad beer TBH

+1.

I suspect that some people judge beers not because of how pleasant they are to drink but how strong or unusual a taste they have. Lighter (or more subtle) flavours have no place for many people.

It's similar with whisk(e)y - some people like the strong peaty islay whiskeys, others prefer more subtle flavours of good Irish blends. Each to their own but it annoys me that islay drinkers deride Irish whiskey a bland, or that Irish whiskey drinkers think peat is only used to cover a poor quality of whisky.

I've had some horrible beers in my time, but I'd never equate them with faeces. Moreover, I'd be willing to try them again at some future point when my tastes might differ.

Technocentral

norrie rugger wrote: »

I have tasted hundreds of cask ales, pale ales, lagers, etc and it is average.
Plenty better but not widely available.

PLENTY worse that people wax lyrical about. It is far from a bad beer TBH

Thats funny, only remember you going on about Budweiser on this forum. I have posted about horrible craft beers on here too, but at the end of the day the industrial beer makers are never going to create many (or any) great tasting beers as blandness unfortunately is the way to mass appeal.

norrie rugger

Oh so I have to post on this forum, before I am allowed to drink cask ales throughout England and Ireland?
My trips around Belgium/Luxembourg and Germany have been wastes aslo it seems

Not allowed to use my experience of my cork local, when I lived at home, to help? Must tell the lads in the Well that they lovely beers that they served me were wasted as I did not immediately run home and post on the boards beer forum.
I must also tell my off licences to not sell me bottles of non mass market beer. As I am not allowed experience them, as I do not tell the world about each texture, flavour, dissolved gas content.
Please sir, don't make me stop experimenting with new flavours :-(

Make assumptions much?

norrie rugger

Oh and I do not think that I ever praised Bud ever TBH
might have mentioned the Index app, as it was a good idea and that there is somehow a market for Bud.

super_furry

Well I didn't even know it existed until yesterday when I was in Sinnotts. They have it on tap and it's great. Sure it's not the best pale ale I've ever had but when you're in a pub and it's that or the usual Carlsberg/Heinken/Guinness choices, it's great.

norrie rugger

super_furry wrote: »

Well I didn't even know it existed until yesterday when I was in Sinnotts. They have it on tap and it's great. Sure it's not the best pale ale I've ever had but when you're in a pub and it's that or the usual Carlsberg/Heinken/Guinness choices, it's great.

I was home, in Cork, for the weekend and had several in the Long Valley. Was great, pity the second pub consigned me to Carlsberg

johnnyskeleton

Technocentral wrote: »

Thats funny, only remember you going on about Budweiser on this forum. I have posted about horrible craft beers on here too, but at the end of the day the industrial beer makers are never going to create many (or any) great tasting beers as blandness unfortunately is the way to mass appeal.

Or maybe some people are prejudiced against the possibility that a large brewery can produce a good beer.

Technocentral wrote:

I won't be giving up Galway Hooker for it anyway.

Do you not see that having a brand loyalty to Galway Hooker might be tainting your view, just as those who have a brand loyalty to, say Heniken, might be prejudiced against trying Galway Hooker etc?

It's funny that this beer has generated such a large thread, seeing as no one is saying that it is a brilliant or even exceptional beer, but just a good, gentle pale ale without the sometimes overpowering taste of hopps.

Technocentral

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Or maybe some people are prejudiced against the possibility that a large brewery can produce a good beer.



Do you not see that having a brand loyalty to Galway Hooker might be tainting your view, just as those who have a brand loyalty to, say Heniken, might be prejudiced against trying Galway Hooker etc?

It's funny that this beer has generated such a large thread, seeing as no one is saying that it is a brilliant or even exceptional beer, but just a good, gentle pale ale without the sometimes overpowering taste of hopps.

I drink way more than Galway Hooker just threw it in as an example, I like to try 3 or 4 new beers a month.

Technocentral

norrie rugger wrote: »

Oh so I have to post on this forum, before I am allowed to drink cask ales throughout England and Ireland?
My trips around Belgium/Luxembourg and Germany have been wastes aslo it seems

Not allowed to use my experience of my cork local, when I lived at home, to help? Must tell the lads in the Well that they lovely beers that they served me were wasted as I did not immediately run home and post on the boards beer forum.
I must also tell my off licences to not sell me bottles of non mass market beer. As I am not allowed experience them, as I do not tell the world about each texture, flavour, dissolved gas content.
Please sir, don't make me stop experimenting with new flavours :-(

Make assumptions much?

Just think its unusual that someone would bother posting on forums about things that their not passionate about, anyway I hope your enjoying all those craft beers.:)

paddyandy

....Goes back to the days before they started drinking the Advertising.Before sound effects could disguise a bad voice and sauce for tasteless food.Put Alcohol in Lukozade and they won't complain and call it by any name.. providing the advertising is working nothing much else matters.The Pale Ale was Real Ale...... then others moved in Then the days of beer were at an end.

norrie rugger

Technocentral wrote: »

Just think its unusual that someone would bother posting on forums about things that their not passionate about, anyway I hope your enjoying all those craft beers.:)

Too many threads here decend into guinness/heino/carlsberg bashing. That is why I do not post here, I enjoy beers to drink and not to fight with people over

Technocentral

paddyandy wrote: »

....Goes back to the days before they started drinking the Advertising.Before sound effects could disguise a bad voice and sauce for tasteless food.Put Alcohol in Lukozade and they won't complain and call it by any name.. providing the advertising is working nothing much else matters.The Pale Ale was Real Ale...... then others moved in Then the days of beer were at an end.

I would.

Technocentral

norrie rugger wrote: »

Too many threads here decend into guinness/heino/carlsberg bashing. That is why I do not post here, I enjoy beers to drink and not to fight with people over

To each their own mate, I guess someone has to support the big multinationals, it ain't gonna be old Techno though.

wandatowell

Had a few of these last night, gotta say its a very nice mellow hangover

Krusty_Clown

The problem with this forum, is that there are too many unfinshed

slayerking

I dont see why all the defence is needed for Smithwicks here..
Its not getting bashed at all, some people have just said that its a little bland, if anything the reviews are mixed.
People are comparing it to the likes of Galway Hooker, O'Haras, Dungarvan etc as its an Irish Pale Ale so in the same category and probably was inspired by the success of the above.
If anything, It could be considered a good thing that the big guys are looking at the thrends of many irish drinkers who have taken to the craft beer scene.

and there are some great beers made by multinationals aswell...

I've yet to try it but I look forward to!

BaZmO*

slayerking wrote: »

I dont see why all the defence is needed for Smithwicks here..
Its not getting bashed at all, some people have just said that its a little bland, if anything the reviews are mixed.
People are comparing it to the likes of Galway Hooker, O'Haras, Dungarvan etc as its an Irish Pale Ale so in the same category and probably was inspired by the success of the above.
If anything, It could be considered a good thing that the big guys are looking at the thrends of many irish drinkers who have taken to the craft beer scene.

and there are some great beers made by multinationals aswell...

I've yet to try it but I look forward to!

Probably? I'd say it's more like "definitely"

Had a pint of it tonight on draught, and apart from it being waaaay too cold (which is the norm in most Irish pubs) I really liked it. Compares favourably to the bottled version. Although the barman did seem surprised that I actually wanted a pint of it which doesn't bode well for it's future.

Both versions are nothing mind blowing but they certainly make a good alternative of an easy to drink session beer with a bit of flavour. Only thing going against it is the cost when it comes to bottles, bit too expensive for a homegrown macro.

BeerNut

BaZmO* wrote: »

Only thing going against it is the cost when it comes to bottles, bit too expensive for a homegrown macro.

Really? How does it compare to the others?

BaZmO*

BeerNut wrote: »

Really? How does it compare to the others?

Think it was 4 x €10 so €2.50 for a 500ml bottle of beer.

oblivious

BaZmO* wrote: »

Only thing going against it is the cost when it comes to bottles, bit too expensive for a homegrown macro.

BaZmO* wrote: »

Think it was 4 x €10 so €2.50 for a 500ml bottle of beer.

But it's all the Amarillo hop use in it

BaZmO*

I was thinking about that the other day actually. I'd say on a commercial basis, hoppier beers would cost a good bit extra than standard ales.

But that said, lagers should cost a bit more too, due to the lagering process.

BeerNut

I was reading the other day that Tennant's gets a whole two days of lagering. I'd say that's fairly typical for industrial lager.

I'd have thought €2.50 was about normal for a half-litre bottle of Irish macro beer. What does Guinness normally cost, for instance?

oblivious

BeerNut wrote: »

I was reading the other day that Tennant's gets a whole two days of lagering. I'd say that's fairly typical for industrial lager.

They will also high pressure ferment, which will reduce ester profile and reduce the time to cold condition, that two day may just be there to justify calling it a lager

I drank a bottle of this tonight, I was determined to hate it but it was surprisingly ok. Not the worst beer I've ever tried by a long shot. Very carbonated though.

vicecreamsundae

i tried it a few weeks back on draught, didn't really like it. might give it another shot.

SnoopyGunner

Technocentral wrote: »

To each their own mate, I guess someone has to support the big multinationals, it ain't gonna be old Techno though.

Yeah, because it's so easy to avoid "supporting" the multi-nationals in every-day life :rolleyes:

Most pubs have a very limited range so it's nice to see a growing market in micro beers... My local has improved their stock so much in the last two years and I'm glad about that. It's great to have Galway Hooker and some other craft beers on draught. If, however, I'm in a pub that only stocks the usual lagers and stouts, but has Smithwicks Pale Ale then I'd rather buy that. It has a smooth and slightly hoppy taste that isn't the worst in my opinion. As other posters have said, it's a matter of taste and we all have our own tastes

Technocentral

SnoopyGunner wrote: »

Yeah, because it's so easy to avoid "supporting" the multi-nationals in every-day life :rolleyes:

Most pubs have a very limited range so it's nice to see a growing market in micro beers... My local has improved their stock so much in the last two years and I'm glad about that. It's great to have Galway Hooker and some other craft beers on draught. If, however, I'm in a pub that only stocks the usual lagers and stouts, but has Smithwicks Pale Ale then I'd rather buy that. It has a smooth and slightly hoppy taste that isn't the worst in my opinion. As other posters have said, it's a matter of taste and we all have our own tastes

Its difficult but not impossible to avoid been a corporate whore.:D