Due to living in Africa, I've not had the opportunity to enjoy the various types of beers, especially sours, because I got to understand that sours pose a great risk of bulging and explosion when exposed to ambient temperatures several days in transit.

I thought about this quite a while, including asking opinions on various subreddits.

Ultimately, I took it upon myself last week to buy a couple of sours and other stout-adjacent beers and have them shipped, and if they exploded in transit, then they exploded.

I am happy to report that my Trembling Madness order of six sours from Vault City, Azvex, and Makemake have arrived in Africa safely, with no explosions and no bulging cans. They left the UK last Friday and arrived today.

They have been safely relocated to my beer fridge, and I'm hopeful I will crack open the Azvex tomorrow and have that with lunch.

Pleased that I took it upon myself to take the risk, and pleased that the risk did not result in loss of alcohol and shipping costs.

It's typical as soon as I check this in Everton conceded but **** it, nothing will spoil my weekend

Feels cold tonight, coldest in a while. I've had this Festmarzen in the fridge for a couple of days and enjoying it by the fire. But have just picked up a bottle of Old Peculiar and a Dartmoor Jail Ale for afterwards as they feel like nice, darker autumnal beers.

What are you drinking tonight?

Good selection at Morrisons too

Stumbled across this is in my local petrol station, looked interesting and I do love a milk stout.

From the black sheep brewery in Yorkshire. Never had a beer from them.

Very strong opening flavour of coffee but an oddly watery tasting followed by a tort after taste. I hate to say this not a fan at all. Obviously I didn't waste it just in case it grew on me.

Any recommendations from the gang for other good stouts??

I used to love a pint of Brooklyn lager but that was when the US stuff was still shipped over here, now all the uk brewed stuff like the Pilsner is just terrible imo yet when I visit NewYork it’s still the beer I remember.

How they are launching this lager in the uk, it’s going to be terrible isn’t it ?

Might drink some beers later 🤓 🍻

Past two years i've got the DankSanta, it was £120, then £140 and now £150 this year. Not sure i want to pay that much so considering the tiny tim at £85 - is it worth it?

Any others i should be looking at?

Edit : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iXh-u5OtwBQr5KG9Fq7ESR40PHQ1W0s4SP-guKcgs0Y/edit?usp=drivesdk

Added the google sheet of previous calendars for reference. Given fuss have traditionally put a lot of stouts in I’m not sure about that now :|

Albeit uk brewed at utopian

I just finished off the 10 bottles from Lidl, tremendous stuff and great value. I got another one ready for the rainy day...(Probably this weekend 😶) - finished those bottles last Friday and Saturday, I think I had the one left Sunday.

I can imagine the guys doing the rubbish collection here saying this drunkard again..

Just read the can - it’s a fucking toblerone tribute - more Alan partridge than agent cooper then….

On the train to London St Pancras at the moment. Just bored so decided to get the train and do some exploring in London.

Any good suggestions for pups or unique / local beers I can try out? I'm generally a huge fan of European beers, Belgium will always hold a special place in my heart (& liver).

I like almost all beers, for the taste not just the alcohol. Sour beers and IPAs I have to be in a good mood for. And stout isnt on my list of regulars either, but not against trying some if it comes recommended.

If anyone is in London and bored today, then drop me a message. My only goal is to find a nice place with a nice beer. Everyone knows beer is always enjoyed better with others!

Delete if it goes against any rule Mods, hopefully not. You can sign the petition linked to help lift some costs for the hospitality industry. Its not a huge change, but it'll potentially help keep some places open! Currently at 400k signatures.

I'm going to be in central London a few times over the next couple of months. Does anyone know of a pub that regularly stocks Harvey's Old Ale?

Had it on cask when I visited Lewes and loved it but it's not the same in bottles.

Thanks.

I keep reading about how Gen Z are more likely to be interested in cask ale and craft brewers are excited about cask - but the figures continue to show decline.

Cask ale volumes have more than halved in less than a decade. Down 19.7% year-on-year to Aug 2026. Last week Carlsberg announced the closure of the Marston’s Brewery. And CAMRA membership is declining.

Cask Ale is one of the most unique things about our pub culture. We’re one of the few countries in the world alongside Germany, Belgium and Czechia where its native beer culture still exists. Letting it fade away is depressing.

So how do we reverse the decline?

Too often pubs serve pints that are past their best and this is enough to turn off people from cask for good. I was in a pub last month in the Cotswolds that was very busy - two of the cask options had gone sour, and the third was 6X that is a weird flat thing thing that I wouldn’t order again.

Also, speaking as someone with an interest in beer - I didn’t know the difference between cask ale and keg ale for an embarrassingly long time. We don’t do a particularly good job of explaining the story behind cask.

People say Cask Ale is an old man beer - but they said the same thing about Guinness. But influencers and young people made Guinness cool again and did so because of its heritage, unique pour, supposed differences from pub to pub. Cask ale has all of these ingredients, potentially in a more interesting form. A hand-pulled pint, the soft carbonation, the temperature, the aroma, the beer settling into the glass, the local brewery and the condition of the cellar all contribute to the experience. Yet much of the industry has marketed cask as a category of beer rather than an experience worth seeking out.

How about removing the duty on cask ale sold in pubs? It would reduce the price by 30-40p and give cask ale an additional competitive advantage over kegged alternatives. And might make breweries compelled to brew and promote it more.

What would you do?

A splendid selection in an establishment that’s in my “never to be missed when I’m in town” category

£4 in Morrisons but part of their 4 for 3 deal. Small 330ml can. Very very sweet and you can definitely taste the cinnamon. I enjoyed it! 🍻👍🏻

A new one for me! Extremely sweet but luckily I have a sweet tooth lol.

A wheat beer I picked up from Aldi UK

Pretty good creamy wheat beer.