Many lagers sold in the UK have names associated with very good beer, but are in fact made and bottled here under licence, and have none of the finer characteristics of the original brew.

Examples of this would be Lowenbrau, and Tuborg, which are generally awful in UK pubs, but try them in their country of origin and they are delightful.

The term "real ale" has become a way of distinguishing between cask conditioned live beer and keg beer which has been killed by fermentation, and is delivered by CO2 pressure which gives it a fizzy head and makes it a sort of beer flavoured lemonade. This also chills it and partially hides the inferior flavour.

Real ale is delivered by the internal pressure produced by the conditioning, and comes up at cellar temperature, which allows the drinker to get the full complexity of flavour.

I don't consider myself superior to anyone, but I do reserve the right to choose to spend my money on those products that my taste buds best appreciate.

I think most people feel the same about their own choices, and good luck to them. It would be a dull world if everyone liked the same things.

Don T.