How should ale be drunk?

[norrahe]

Nick has it spot on....it's the secondary conditioning that's the important bit. About 11 degrees in my book, but a couple of degrees does not make a sausage bit of difference.

However, since your real ale is likely to be pastuerised, filtered, filtered again, nuked and filtered then just drink it how you want as you are not wanting to drop the yeast or supsended protein out of suspension as in cask or bottle conditioned real-real ale.

Yep, normally cellar temp especially if it's decent.

[RichardCranium]

Shouldn't it be out of a glass?

Or a tankard.

One of my early batches of home brew wouldn't clear. Every few days I was opening a bottle, pouring it out, seeing it cloudy and pouring it away.

So I took a couple of bottles to the man in the home brew shop for advice and he despaired of me: "You drink with your mouth, not your eyes. Beer always used to be cloudy, it's only this nasty filtered factory-produced stuff that made people think beer should be clear. Just buy a tankard and drink it from that."

He was right - cloudy beer from a tankard tastes fine, but from a glass is not so appetising.

[d000hg]

Shouldn't it be out of a glass?

Who are you replying to?

I do have a nice metal tankard though I'm not sure it improves things and is anything other than pretentiousness... and doesn't break if you drop it.

[Wodewick]

I personally prefer them cold.

I tell you what I do miss though is the cracking beers you could get at Firkin pubs when they still had their own breweries. I do miss a good pint of Dark Demon

Ahhhhhhh Bruce's Best. Nom nom nom.
Double Ahhhh Dog Bolter. Nom nom nom.

Phoenix my pint I'll firkin hit 'im
For fox sake buy me a firkin pint

[SupremeSpod]

How should ale be drunk?

Erm, where's the "In Obscene quantities" option?

[Lockhouse]

For me it definitely musn't be too cold as I find it kills the taste. I also don't like beer with too much alcohol - I prefer "session" beers of 4-4.5%.

[shaunbhoy]

It is a "how long is a piece of string" question really. Depends on a whole load of things like the beer itself, the weather (ale slightly colder if the weather slightly hotter kind of thing), but most importantly your own personal preference.
I would say there is a reasonable range at which you will be fine, that stretches from somewhere below warm to a bit above too cold.
The best bit is experimenting to find this info out for yourself.
The beauty of it is that it is something that is quite difficult to get wrong.

[EternalOptimist]

For me it definitely musn't be too cold as I find it kills the taste. I also don't like beer with too much alcohol - I prefer "session" beers of 4-4.5%.

Beer should be gulped, not drank like tea or something or sipped.
Its the aftertaste that you savour.

at least thats what I was always told

[SupremeSpod]

Beer should be gulped, not drank like tea or something or sipped.
Its the aftertaste that you savour.

at least thats what I was always told

What my little Scouse friend said.

[EternalOptimist]

What my little Scouse friend said.

i take exception to that. I declare a beer drinking competion, me vs spod
who wants to come along to referee?