Beer

'Well' says the Aussie in the ad '...you wouldn't want a warm beer now would you?'

No Bruce. We wouldn't. You simply don't understand.

Bottled lagers of the Becks, Carlsberg, Fosters type are ice-brewed. For a fuller flavour, they say.

But have you ever noticed when drinking say, a pint of Stella, that about half-way down it starts to taste worse? This is because, as it warms up, nothing happens to the taste. It is no longer cold but has no new complexity of flavour developing.

Whereas a real ale, stored at the correct cellar-cold temperature, will continue to develop in the bottle and when exposed to air (being opened) the full flavour comes to the fore.

So the bottom of a pint of, say, Butcombe will taste as nice, if not nicer, than the first sip. The first gulp of ice-cold beer is magic, often, but that is as good as it gets. Bottles of that sort of lager should be very, very small. A whole pint of cellar-cold real ale will develop and become more magic as you drink it.

'Well' I reply '...you wouldn't want a dead beer now would you?'