h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Okay, I must admit that yes I am from the big brown land down-under, but I cannot allow cold beer to be sentenced to Room101.

It may be acceptable in miserably cold places like northern Europe and England to drink beer at room temperature, but down here it HAS to be served cold.

I a do agree with the other 2 nominations however.

Pond_Rat

It's a point of view.
But which bits of Oz?
If your talking of silly places like Qld, then maybe you need fever-cooler.
And I did say ice-cold, note. Cool is OK-ish, in its climate anyway.
But honestly, if it induces condensation on glass or bottle, it might as well be water, because you can no longer taste anything.
Pin (betting they drink it lukewarm in Tasmania, in the lovely cold rain)

Well Pinniped you must have some fairly ordinary beers to choose from, cause the one I drink (VB by Carlton United Breweries) tastes great, especially when it's cold enough to form condensation on the schooner.


And no I'm not silly enough to live in a place that when it's not simply Too Damn Hot - it's raining, and still hot (ah Queensland, beautiful one-day, sold the next). For now I'm quite happy being a Sydneysider, although I'd seceretly prefer to be a Melbournite...

I'm sorry but ice-cold beer must NOT go in Room 101. Being from Southern Climes (Melbourne) and now living in the East Midlands I have experience of both room temp and ice cold beer. Having had experience of English beer ice-cold I can see Pin's point. English beers (lagers or otherwise) are repulsive served ice-cold. However, in England I do like the French and Belgian beers (which incidently are weaker than gnats urine so may as well be water) like Stella Artois ice-cold from the fridge after a hard day at work or on a hot day. I also love having an ice-cold VB or Tooheys Red after a hard day at work or on a hot day, but Australian beers are designed for taste and for drinking ice-cold (and incidently have a much stronger taste than most european lagers). European beers aren't. Ice-cold Boddingtons? Ice-cold Caffreys? Ice-cold Spitfire Ale? Who are the morons who drink these beers from the freezer? Yes, there's subtle differences in beers to be drunk, but beer from the fridge should NOT go into Room 101. Perhaps 'people who don't appreciate beer' should though
PGHF

I appreciate beer. I appreciate it as something people have a completely unaccountable taste for.

All beer straight into Room 101 .

oh NO! Beer is a most excellent drink! Invented by the Ancient Egyptians and they built the pyramids and the sphinx and made papyrus and developed civilisation (more fool them)!! There are so many different varieties with so many different tastes! I think beer is as diverse if not more so than wine! Sure yes, it is alcoholic. Which is bad, and addictive and can create all kinds of chaos, it's true too much lemonade is hardly likely to make you drive into a tree or beat up some bloke you never met until he looked at your sister the wrong way, BUT, as with any alcoholic drink, if drunk in moderation and appreciated for its taste and its refreshing abilities, Beer is akin to ichor! I don't drink beer to get drunk, I drink beer to enjoy it. The same way I drink Guiness, or Mango Juice and, shock of all shocks, spring water! I'd argue more strongly for the horrid alcopops of today and even coca-cola etc. to be put into Room 101 than Beer. Wine is fine, but ale is beyond the pale!
PGHF

Hey, this is great!
The only bits of Australia I've actually visited are NSW (Wollongong+Sydney) and Vic (Mornington Peninsula).
The beer wasn't too bad, but it wasn't that cold either. The rain in Victoria was lovely.
Beer is good. English is beer is best. Lager is not actually beer IMHO. I only put milk in the fridge. (Even that tastes better if you leave it out, but it makes you ill)

Milk goes lumpy and green if you leave it out, byuk. The only green beer I ever had was on St Patrick's Day I'm no Irishman, but hell, it was a good reason to have a !!! (Other good Oz beers include Coopers, Melbourne Bitter, Redback and Hahn Ice.)
PGHF

Beer goes way back, I'll grant you that. But it was only an early alternative to chlorination. Now the water's safe to drink and there's wine in every supermarket it's an anachronism from the Dark Ages. The only explanation for liking it is that it's an illusion of indoctrination, a piece of macho conditioning. Generations of mothers told their kids they liked it to stop them drinking the water. Now it's ingrained. Like a migration route.

Into Room 101 with the LOT! (Closely followed by alcopops, coca-cola and green milk.)

(that's cider btw) Waz

(Actually a beer, provided it was all that was available, to wash away the taste of a guiness, particularly the stand-a-spoon-in-it variety you get in Dublin, would be a very good reason to have a . Provided it was all there was. And that's the only good reason.)

no, no, no....you might as well banish wine or any other fermented nectar. as for warm or cold, it depends on the brand and the situation. if i'm settling down at the nearby pub after a hot, sweaty afternoon, the comfort and relief of a cold glass against the forehead and temples renders taste moot, at least for the first two.
certainly, some brands of oat, barley and hops-flavoured water (lite or light beer is an abomination and deserves every inch of space it can get in Room 101)have zero taste, warm or cold.
but a decent brew can be enjoyed, even savored as it starts chilled (not near-frozen !) and 'breathes' as in the case of many wines.
refrigeration when beer is above 25 degrees celsius not only can preserve the taste for a longer period of time, but provide interesting flavour changes.
my beer stays in the cooler, but not an icebox, thank you. !

Well Pin, you've managed to visit the parts of Oz I've lived in...

And it seems I have a few supporters of the "Cold Beer" fan club. have a few on me

(I will conceded that 'near-frozen' beer is a bit too cold even for my tastes, but most Aussie beers are best served from the fridge)

Yeah. I'm starting to think I might lose the beer one.
Tell you what, do me a favour and go slag off opera, will you?
Surely no self-respecting Aussie's going to tolerate opera.
Pin
(Though I did see a theatrical production when in 'Ngong, come to think of it. It was called "Brideshead Regurgitated"...)

I already agreed to Opera and Salesmen/Lawyers going to R101.

Surprised you found such culture in the 'gong - I was born and breed down there so I know it well. not that it's a really strange place, just different...

Cultural capital, mate.
Some charming young ladies wore evening dress in a wet T-shirt competition too.

I say keep cold beer out- I like a nice ice cold lager from time to time. Anyone who serves their ale or bitter at that temperature should be shot, but the thought of no cold lager is unbearable.

And I must agree that VB is the prime example.

where would baseball and all the forms of football be without beer ?
never frozen, but cold nonetheless !