Correct temperature for real ale?

Subject: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Jane of' ull
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 12:43 PM

What temperature is real ale meant to be drunk at? I had a bottle of old speckled hen the other night instead of my usual glass of wine, it was in the fridge only for a little while but I enjoyed it immensely and it helped me sleep!

Am I right in thinking it's not meant to be completely chilled, unlike lager or white wine?

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Les from Hull
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 12:47 PM

Cellar temperature, 10-14 degrees C.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 12:48 PM

Yes, you are. It should be served at 'cellar temperature' - cooler than room temperature* but not chilled. Glad you enjoyed the Hen - there are plenty more beers where that came from!

*Unless you're in a cellar.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 12:48 PM

The paler the colder? The darker the nearer room temp?

L in C

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Will Fly
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 02:52 PM

The paler the colder? The darker the nearer room temp?

I've often wondered why pubs have felt the need to stock and serve Guinness Extra Cold. There seems to be a modern trend that everything has to be served either ice cold or on ice. Real ale should be at a nice, even temerature - as said above - between 10-14 C.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 04:07 PM

Agreed (after a session with the calculator coverting centigrade to fahrenheit). A smidgeon (but only a smidgeon) cooler than red wine.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Peace
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 04:54 PM

98.6 degrees F.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 05:15 PM

Too many vampire moves. And English vampires require 98.4.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 05:32 PM

I drink it regardless of the temperature Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and in any weather - as long as the beer is good :)

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Sttaw Legend
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 06:01 PM

Jane I'll take you for a pint or 2, there's a new real ale pub in town well worth a visit!!

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 06:07 PM

Chilled but not cold. As has been said here, stickomh the bottle in the fridge a bit gets the right kind of cellar temperature.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 06:25 PM

Any really decent beer needs to not be over chilled in order to get full flavor.

Budweiser needs to be frozen....

I since it is hard to keep beer at 'cellar' temps, I will often chill it, then pour it into a mug and sip gently till it's 'right'.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 08:01 PM

Doom Bar is intended to be served at 12 degrees. Pubs seldom seem to achieve this. Bottle-conditioned beers are often best a few degrees lower, depending on the style of beer. You can't ruin the flavour of a lot of the mass-produced commercial beers by over-chilling because they hawe no flavour to begin with.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 08:02 PM

have

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 03:15 AM

37 degrees farenheit.

DAve H

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 05:02 PM

Budweiser needs to be frozen....

Frozen solid, preferably, if you mean the American version.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 05:35 PM

I'll drink to that, Sttaw :)

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 07:29 PM

Will Fly, the reason Guinness is sometimes chilled is to make life easier for the publican. Chilling makes it more tolerant of deviation from optimum storage conditions and it can be poured much faster.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 08:12 PM

I clicked on this thread with the intention of making a tasteless joke, only to find that 17% of the previous posters had already done so.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 08:35 PM

And cider too: none of that glass from the fridge, a ton of ice-cubes, bottle from the fridge rubbish too!
Give me a nice pint of Thatcher's at room temp! You can taste it then!

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 22 Aug 09 - 02:54 AM

Most lagers are served well chilled so you can't tell what tasteless shite it is.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Jane of' ull
Date: 22 Aug 09 - 10:26 AM

I lost this thread, and had to reset my cookie! Wheres this new pub in 'ull then? Nice to hear something good happening here!

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: folk1e
Date: 22 Aug 09 - 02:19 PM

Guinness Extra Cold is just normal Guinness run through the chiller twice! (there's a marketing plan for you!)
Marstons (of the Pedigree fame) suggest their cellars are cooled to 7 degrees!
With modern cellars it is not as important as the beer lines are individually cooled to a preset temperature, this is called a Python!

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: alanabit
Date: 22 Aug 09 - 03:35 PM

I had always thought that lager was rubbish until learned that Budweiser (that is the real stuff from Ceske Budejovice - not the US swill) is a lager. What we call lager in the UK is just about fit for rinsing the mud off your boots, but little else.
Getting back to the subject, I would agree with the posters earlier, who said cellar temperature. I always find that if real ale is a few degrees cooler than room temperature, it tastes just about right.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 22 Aug 09 - 04:02 PM

I do like a chilled wife beater... It's like unsweet lemonade. I also like lots of other alcohol too, much too much of it.

Recently been enjoying Westons 'Old Rosie' Cider - sooo appley with a light tangy sourness, which I had on tap with simply the best ploughmans I've ever eaten. Perfect!

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 22 Aug 09 - 04:23 PM

As an ex brewing chemist, back in the days when the only NON real ale was Watneys Red Barrel, I can confirm much of what has been said here.

All real ales are meant to be cellared at what is the natural year round temperature of underground rooms, and caves.

That is 52 degrees fahrenheit, give or take a degree.

All mass produced American beers should be frozen in the top of a glacier, and allowed to work their way to the bottom, by which time they will certainly be well past their use by date, so no poor unfortunate will be forced to imbibe them.

LOLOL
Don T

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: alanabit
Date: 23 Aug 09 - 04:25 AM

Off subject a bit here, but I thought I would mention our beer culture here in the Rhineland. In Köln we drink Kölsch, but the Düsseldorfer have to make do with Alt Bier. Now Cologne is a few miles upstream... We take water from the river to brew and after we have drunk it we return it to the river, which flows north east. Now you know why we drink Kölsch and the Düsseldorfer drink Alt...

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Paul Burke
Date: 23 Aug 09 - 12:48 PM

They do all sorts of awful things in modern cellars. Watch out for "gas assisted" beerpumps- these look like normal ones till the barperson just gives them a little twitch to let the beer out. Carbon dioxide powered. The temperature at which the beer is kept is just as important as that at which it's served, as the yeast in the beer is still live. Real real ales should be kept at the right temperature, if necessary the barrels jacketed and cold finger coolers used.

Had a nice pint of Wirksworth (a dark one- not sure what they call it) at the Crich tramway museum today!

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: GUEST,bobpit59
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 05:56 PM

There are some lovely people up there with taste - when I was a cellarman - 55-61 Degrees F was the range - and with clean pipes,
minimally disturbed casks - and a competent brewer - it was always
a touch of heaven-on-earth - and please don't say stupid things like "get a life" - real ale is part of earthly paradise - but only
part of it!!

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 08:59 PM

55-61 seems on the high side to me, That's about 13-16 Celsius. I think that a decent real ale at 16 degrees is bordering on the obnoxious-to-totally-flabby, and it's only going to warm up even more as it sits in front of you. You pay a lot of good money for a pint. Better that its temperature should be slightly on the low side, say 10-11 degrees, than too much the other way. It'll warm up a bit on the table anyway as long as you don't drink too fast (heaven forfend ;-)). At Sharps we do the tasting at 12 degrees.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: michaelr
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 09:21 PM

Cellar temp is 55-60 for German beers. Here in California, in the winter I don't chill my beer at all, just store it on the kitchen floor. It may get a little too warm for American tastes, but I don't buy American beer (Guinness last week, Carlsberg Elephant normally.)

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 07:13 AM

Drinking with a thermometer in my hand - I don't think I could ever do that.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 07:20 AM

You've got a built-in thermometer in your brain that tells you whether it's right or not.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 08:32 AM

Certainly for real ale not over chilled but stored in a cool place like a larder type pantry or on a cool stone floor, these days I'm not so keen on icy lagers or white wines that are over chilled I tend to let them rest before drinking them. It seems to make the food taste better if it's not too cold and isn't such a shock to the system in the winter.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: GUEST,Rijkstra
Date: 21 May 11 - 04:06 PM

I just bought a new wine cellar/cooler and am drinking ale at the upper limit of red wine cellar temperature, about 58°F. It's a compromise between cellar temperature and drinking temperature of everything in the cooler which is higher for reds, lower for whites. BTW, 10°C - 14°C = 50°F - 57.2°F. I Just drank a Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Double IPA. It tasted much better than the last one I drank at an uncontrolled temp.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 21 May 11 - 04:09 PM

Wet.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 21 May 11 - 05:15 PM

I just put my real ales in the kitchen and I just drink em. They deffo do not go in the fridge.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: gnu
Date: 21 May 11 - 06:33 PM

Wet.... hahahahahahahaaaaaaaa

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 May 11 - 03:47 PM

If it much less than 0 degrees C or much more than 100 degrees C you have a real problem...

DtG

Just back from the local Holts pub where the mild was a perfect temperature, whatever it was:-)

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 23 May 11 - 03:34 AM

When I was an apprentice plumber in the early 1960s we had a contract with a local brewery to fit cellar heaters in it's pubs to maintain them at the correct temperature, they were set at 37 degrees farenheit.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: JHW
Date: 23 May 11 - 05:57 AM

The Campaign for Real Ale Cellarmanship booklet recommends 56degF or 13.5C for the cellar ie real ale should be KEPT at that temperature until serving. Once the beer is lukewarm it has had it so its no use chilling to serve a beer that has languished warm.
Casks on the bar with no temperature control, a feature of some festivals are disservice to real ale and the customer. Beer lines to the pump are commonly chilled now but where not equally a pint that has sat getting warm in the line will provide no pleasure.
Best of all is a cool pint taken outdoors in summer to drink surrounded by fresh air, releasing its flavour as it warms.
But don't leave it too long.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 23 May 11 - 06:42 AM

Over most of the world's surface (excluding the North and South Ice Caps), unheated underground spaces such as caves and cellars naturally achieve a constant year round temperature of approximately 52 degrees Fahrenheit.

So anything stored underground will normally be at that temperature.

Hence, cask conditioned ales are ready for drinking when dispensed through a hand operated atmospheric beer pump.

Gas pumps will apply a certain amount of chilling, but are only normally used for rubbish like John Smiths Smooth.

Don T.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 May 11 - 08:46 PM

But don't leave it too long.

This problem has traditionally been overcome by ensuring that beer is served only in tiny quantities, a mere pint at a time.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: GUEST,rallyhybrid
Date: 22 Jan 13 - 03:20 PM

My drinking buddies and I are always bemoaning that our ale is spoiled by being too cold especially in winter. We've been thinking that it could be warmed up as it comes through the pipes to reach its optimum temperature so that its flavours can be fully enjoyed.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 22 Jan 13 - 03:46 PM

The best temperature is 98.6 degrees. All the rest is commentary.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jan 13 - 04:07 PM

So we're all agreed then. 12C, 54F it is.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: GUEST,Blandiver
Date: 22 Jan 13 - 04:12 PM

Too many vampire moves.

Pure poetry, Richard - however so unwitting!

Otherwise - beer temperature correctness? As a matter of taste most stuff I drink comes straight from the fridge - mostly Hopping Hare (£1.30 from ALDI) the beer of choice for us urban dwelling wyrdfolk types who through the medium of Ritual & Supernatural Folk Song dream of a rural / ritual landscape that no longer exists.

My old Gran wouldn't drink a Guinness without having quenched a red hot poker in it.

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 22 Jan 13 - 05:04 PM

In the Earle Arms in Heydon, deepest Norfolk (before it became a nasty foodie pub) they served real ale from a keg on a bench behind the bar. So it was at room temperature, and as there was a wood fire in winter, it was quite a warm room. The ale was something to die for, and not in the least cold, so the flavour was very 'up front'. They had Reepham XXX, a local brew, and a few others I can't remember (perhaps Woodforde, although that is rather too sweet for my taste). The great thing was that like all true real ales, the kegs varied, and the flavour couldn't be predicted exactly. But if you left it too long in front of you it went flat of course. Now the place is full of wealthy types ordering fine wines and nouvelle cuisine poncy sort of food. The farm men and local 'old boys' have vanished. Sigh...

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Jan 13 - 05:34 PM

In the warmer months, I keep good ales in a refrigerator until I want one, then, as I noted several years ago, allow it to reach a sensible temp before doing more than tasting.

In Winter, I have an entryway downstairs that I curtain off from the rest of the house... so when the living areas are maybe 68F, that one little room is 45-50F, and a great place to just leave beer & ale.

(I do sometime drink porter & stout and barleywines...etc... which often just taste 'better' at different temps... beer varies.)

Subject: RE: Correct temperature for real ale?
From: gnomad
Date: 22 Jan 13 - 05:54 PM

James Joyce's Dubliners includes a description of some blokes opening bottles of stout by placing them on the hob so that the pressure blows out the cork, they having no corkscrew to hand.
You wouldn't do that these days for several reasons, but I have wondered how it must have tasted, not like extra-cold Guinness, I'm sure.