I went out last week. That might not sound comment-worthy, but I don't get out nearly as much as you might think. A double-handful of us went to the local Aagrah for curry and birthday celebrations. It was pretty decent, although I'm no expert - for all I know, it may be the Nando's of the Indian subcontinent, although I actually don't mind Nando's either.
The pre-dinner drink was a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, not at Aagrah, but across the road at a more hip bar. Did I want a glass? Actually no, I'll skip it - what the hell, I know what it tastes like, and it'll stay colder longer in the bottle. We go to Aagrah, and the person doing the ordering at the bar makes the "sorry, I dont think their beer selection is up to much" face - it's a face I see quite often. I find myself saying "Whatever - Cobra I guess".
The Cobra comes in big bottles, with a pint glass. We sit down, start drinking, chatting and catching up. The beer is totally incidental, but also paradoxically integral to what we're doing. Lager and curry, a cliché, but then we're not trying to prove anything. The table has gravitated to guys at one end, women at the other, but the only real difference is that the women are swearing less, and are drinking Cobra from wine glasses. It's not about the beer.
I end up eating Lahore machli - spiced fried fish - and fashioning myself a kebab for the main course - basically a double portion of seekh kebab, two chappatis and a bowl of special raita. I'm sat in a nice restaurant, with a tablecloth and a cloth napkin, eating kebabs and drinking lager. And it's totally brilliant.
Is it really necessary to live the craft beer cliché every time you fancy a beer? There are some things that I try not to compromise on, like free-range meat, for example, although ironically, I'm sure that the meat I ate that night was as industrially produced as the beer. But then the myth of free-range, organic food for everyone is just that - a myth, a pipedream, an ideal. As we see American breweries pulling out of not just the UK market, but even inter-state distribution deals, you have to ask yourself if the 'craft' beer market, although in rapid expansion at present, is actually going to become harder to access by virtue of its success.
But back to the point. I had a load of ordinary lager, a couple of kebabs, and the company of friends for a few hours, and it was the most fun night out I'd had in ages. Would it have been a better night if we'd had better beer to talk about?
Wonderful. If you had Saison Dupont instead and the company was crappy, nothing is gained and much is lost... unless there was a mid-evening argument, they all storm off and you are left with a bucket of Dupont to console or congratulate yourself, depending on the incident.
ReplyDeleteYes, obviously. If you'd had the same mates and the same food but decent beer of course it would have been better.
ReplyDeleteyou have to ask yourself if the 'craft' beer market, although in rapid expansion at present, is actually going to become harder to access by virtue of its success.
ReplyDeleteOnly if you decide, a priori, that the hundreds of UK breweries hand-crafting small batches of beer are somehow not "craft". Which would be silly.
Specific beers may be hard to access; craft beer generally: I very much doubt it.
ALan - you have a point there, and had Aagrrah had Saison Dupont on, I'd have been (a) much drunker and (b) much more interested int he beer and less interested in shooting the breeze
ReplyDeleteEd - but maybe I'd have been horribly distracted by the beer?
TBN - I guess that rests on how you view 'craft' beer. While I support your 'more choice is better' point of view, I'm not sure that there is any correlation between that and the idea that small is beautiful (or big is bad, for that matter).
"...much more interested int he beer and less interested in shooting the breeze..." Very good point. Does great beer distract?
ReplyDeleteHi Zak; sounds like a good night (the lamb chops at Aagrah are amazing, if you go back, btw) but you're right, the beer doesn't have to be amazing for a good night - that's more to do with friends and conversation. As for alan's point, I think not; great beer would warrant some topic of conversation, sure, but if it's the be-all-and-end-all of your conversation with mates then you're in trouble. You don't want to end up being 'one of those guys' who is only interested in going out to craft beer bars, at the detriment of maybe spending time with mates who want to drink lager.
ReplyDeletePS - it would be nice if more places had *choice* but the world doesn't work like that.
ReplyDeleteGood beer may not be a necessary condition for a good time, but it is a sufficient condition.
ReplyDelete"Would it have been a better night if we'd had better beer to talk about?"
ReplyDeleteIt would've been a better night if you had better beer. I think critical bit is the talking about bit. You can take the focus off beer and put it on friends and having a good time, whilst still keeping something decent in your glass. I agree though, beer is only a drink at the end of the day, what's wrong with catching up with mates and just drinking whatever is on offer?
BeerBirraBier.
Alan - you've cut straight to the nub of it there.
ReplyDeleteLeigh - you've cut straight to the nub of it there.
Anon - are you saying that good beer is enough?
Mark - quite - it's a bonus, sometimes, and a reason at others, but not always the only reason.
Surely 75ml bottles of Cobra are bottle conditioned with re-fermentation taking place at Rodenbach. Sounds pretty much like a craft beer to me.
ReplyDeleteBirkonian - it wasn't the big guys, it was the 66cl bottles of regular Cobra
ReplyDeleteThere's a better beer than Cobra?!
ReplyDelete