Well a few friends of mine have claimed that Newcastle is their favorite beer. I bought some today and must say that I am very disappointed. It tastes like beer passed through sweaty gym socks to me. Is it an aquired taste? Is it a British thing? The only British food that i find edible is curry, and I guess that’s not even really British, but I digress.
Personally my favorite beer is Killians Red ( I find it extremely tasty)
How cold was it? As a vaguely general rule, the lighter the color the colder its best serving temperature and the darker the color the warmer the best serving temperature.
It certainly can be an acquired taste. (I acquired the taste for darker ales, porters, and stouts on my first sip. YMMV) Some folks never grow to enjoy it.
However, if served too cold, it is likely to be very bitter, while served a bit warmer it will taste somewhat sweet.
Have you ever worked in foodservice? You know how the dumpsters out back smell? That’s how New Castle tastes. And that’s why I call it “Dumpster piss.” No but seriously, most of my friends swear by it too, I just can’t figure out what the appeal is. And isn’t it like 8 bucks a six-pack?
yea that’s about what I paid. I could have bought twice as much miller for the same price (which I probably would have enjoyed better believe it or not) Yea, I say the dumpster smell pretty well sums it up.
so green, where did you drink your first beer, in the US or Europe?
I had never consumed any beer before my trip to Belgium. While there I consumed quite a bit of beer (50 different types, many more than once) in three weeks.
Now that I have returned home to the US there are very few US beers that I can drink…most of them taste like water to me. I personally like Newcastle and other European beers much more than US beers. (but I hate Gunness, yech!)
I will drink Newcastle over almost any other beer in the fall/winter (the one exception being Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome). It’s not too sweet, but does have a slight caramel aftertaste. Most domestic stuff (esp Miller, Bud, and Coors) tastes like alcoholized club soda with artificial beer flavoring (and yellow dye no. 5) to me. If you grew up on that stuff, or worse, doing kegstands off of Milwaukee’s Best or Natty Lite, you’re probably not used to beer that tastes like…anything. Killian’s is a decent brew, but it’s owned by Coors, and you can taste the “Oh no, we’re really a microbrewery, REALLY! Our 5 vice-presidents of marketing assured us that this would sell!” in every sip. Sam Adams, IMHO, makes the best beers in the US.
By the way, the whole “The darker the beer, the warmer you serve it stuff” is pure rubbish. You serve Guinness and other stouts cold.
Newcastle Brown, or newki broon, or nooclea brahn, as it is affectionaly known over here should be served faril cool, not as cold as US beer.
If you chilled it to the same temperature of US beer it won’t fulfil its taste potential.
If you look on the back of the bottle you will see a blue star on the label, this is temperature sensitive and when it turns fully blue instead of a faded pale blue its right for drinking.
As for mainstream US beer, I’m afraid its terrible, its insipid, weak and fizzy, but if that is what you are used to then a change to something like Newcastle brown is something that will take some getting used to.
I admit, I mostly drink American beer (Southpaw Light being my favorite) but I don’t have any kind of aversion to foreign beers. Some of the best beer I’ve ever had in my life has been abroad; Spendrups in Sweden, Saku in Estonia, Asahi in Japan and Orion in Okinawa, all great beers. One of the best beers I’ve ever had was from a microbrewery in Germany. But Newcastle dumpster piss is absolutely undrinkable as far as I’m concerned, and this is coming from a guy who doesn’t have a problem with Guiness every once in awhile.
greenteeth, was it being served on tap or from bottles ? I ask, because anytime I’ve seen it available in the US, it’s been exported in casks, but in the UK it’s invariably in bottles. Personally, this is one of those cases where the ritual surrounding it is as much part of the appeal as the taste. Pouring it from the bottle into your half-pint glass bit-by-bit and then absentmindedly peeling off the label. That sort of thing.
Anybody know why it’s reputedly also known as “dog” ?
Newcastle Brown doesn’t have a reputation as a great beer here. I drank it at university because it was the largest bottle size you could buy in clubs, and dancing with pint glasses is murder. That pretty much indicates its reputation.
PS bonzer: peeling off bottle labels is, as every hardened drinker and believer of pub mythology knows, a sure sign of sexual frustration.
IANAG (I am not a Geordie), but the way I heard it, this comes from fatha’s excuse to nip doon the Durham Ox (or whatever) for a couple of swift ones – “I’m just takin’ the dog oot f’ra walk, pet.”
[Asterix in Britain]
"Drink your beer before it gets cold"
[/Asterix in Britain]
Newcastle Brown is better than most mainstream American beers, but is probably an acquired taste. It’s possible you got hold of a bottle/sixpack that had been sitting on a shelf for a while.
Killians Red is horse piss with food dye, one of the most overrated beers in the US. Definitely put together by a commitee of VPs of Marketing. Try something by Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, or any one of the dozens of other excellent microbrews in the US to get a taste of what they (Coors) were aiming for.
Mmmmm… Black Label… hic!
This is, of course, a matter of opinion.
So off to IMHO. I’m pretty confident Veb and Czarcasm won’t object to a beer thread too much. 
Now that this thread has found its way to the right forum, I’ll add my bit. Newcastle Brown is the secret ingredient in my chili. Since a pot of chili doesn’t require an entire bottle, I get to drink the rest!
I’ve tried many British beers (of the ones available here in the U.S.) and have to say Newcastle Brown is my least favorite. Been I while since I had one, but I’d say Theakston’s Old Peculiar is my favorite Brit beer.
Strewth, pick out a strong ale why dontcha !
Four pints of that stuff and I’m cheap, easy and available.
Hmmm. Now that you mention it I think it was my ex-girlfriend who introduced me to the stuff. 
A Doncaster lass she was.
Oh, fine, give me a great line to work with in a thread that my sweetheart is sure to read.
RickQ introduced me to dog and I quite liked it. However, I am half-German, so although I grew up in the US, I grew up tasting the adults’ German beer.