What are the popular Beer brand stereotypes in the UK?
Posted by Material-Sherbet-404@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 196 comments
self explanatory i guess, came across a post that said stella is basically for wifebeaters (curious to know why)- which got me wondering what are the stereotypes for popular beer brands in the UK?
Monsieur_Bananabread@reddit
Bartender here, I'll go off of what we've got at my pub:
Carlsberg: Pisswater that the experienced alcoholics and regulars drink for the sole purpose of being able to drink more beer
Fosters: Pisswater for people that think they're experienced alcoholics, but haven't worked out that Carlsberg is better at in both the metrics they're drinking it for/they won't quite lower themselves to a Carlsberg
Peroni, Birra Moretti: Solely for those who pop in for a "proper pint", its the strongest and most expensive
Madri: Already been said here, but it's sole purpose is to cater to those too stuck up their own arses to get a Carlsberg
Guinness: You've got Irish heritage somewhere along the line
San Miguel: You literally have no idea what else to drink, this is the closest to default beer that you'll ever get so you've just sort of gone with it. No matter how many of them you have, you will never stop telling us how lively it is, or you'll tell us to put it in the wrong glass then complain that it's flatter. That weren't us love
GK IPA: You're old
Icebreaker: You want an ale, but you aren't old
Strongbow/Strongbow Darkfruits: You don't like beer, and as a bonus you haven't worked out that the equivalent bottled stuff in the fridges are much nicer
That should hopefully cover it from my side of the bar at least
BeersTeddy@reddit
From the client point of view:
San Miguel: You have shitty selection, nothing is drinkable apart from this one.
mjc500@reddit
American here who worked in the liquor industry. I’m surprised to see so many international lagers… I would’ve expected you guys to be so more “pub ale” type stuff. Though I suppose that’s just my ignorance of British pubs speaking
UKRico@reddit
Nah not really, lagers really took over decades ago (being all continental brands) and real ales only made a comeback around the same time your craft beer revolution also reached these shores in the early 10's. The average bloke seems to still prefer lager and ale skews to older guys.
In an average pub you will find a few hand-pulls which are for the traditional casks. Then mostly it's draught lager, IPA's, Guinness, Cider etc.
Monsieur_Bananabread@reddit
That's probably down to the fact it's a Greene King pub, so it's not an independent landlord choosing all this as opposed to the Chinese billionaire in charge and the shareholders
BuiltInYorkshire@reddit
I'm glad I don't go in your pub. One ale, and GK IPA at that? Yikes.
Monsieur_Bananabread@reddit
It's great isn't it
Cirieno@reddit
Where would Thatchers Haze sit on this table?
Monsieur_Bananabread@reddit
In the "much better bottled stuff in the fridge than Strongbow" section
Bobbyc006@reddit
The lively San Miguel comment really got me
in2ivr@reddit
Carling is for red-faced sweaty bald men on their way to an EDL rally.
jsf7575@reddit
Nice bit of what would be xxx-ism if said about any other demographic 👏🏼
Freddies_Mercury@reddit
People get so easily offended these days ...
(\s)
jsf7575@reddit
Well, that’s certainly true.
denk2mit@reddit
If only white men weren’t both historically and currently the most powerful, unoppressed group in society, you might be on to something.
KumSnatcher@reddit
Take your meds
J_Shipley_banger@reddit
How was the rally, mate?
jsf7575@reddit
Thanks for demonstrating the point. Demographic that isn’t white men complains about xxx-ism then everyone runs to defend them. White men complain, they must be an EDL thug. Give your head a wobble, you idiot.
J_Shipley_banger@reddit
You're in a thread about stereotypes, crying about stereotypes.
imac526@reddit
I used to work behind the bar in a posh golf club - there were two old women who used to come in after playing a round, and they'd stand feeding the fruit machine - their tipple was Special Brew - they even had their own glasses. They were a riot.
smithy1abc@reddit
Stella is called wife beater where I live 😬
BlackJackKetchum@reddit
Guinness - Irish bloke sitting in the corner reading the paper.
Craft ale - hipsters with novelty facial hair.
breenizm@reddit
In London in particular, Guinness has become VERY hipster over the last year or two
UKRico@reddit
I don't understand how something so mass-market can also be hipster? Is it just youngs not knowing any better?
Oghamstoner@reddit
Real ale: Red nosed morris dancer.
DiligentCockroach700@reddit
Oy! I resemble that remark! (Ex Morris Dancer- knees gave out!) Still like a pint of bitter. My favourites are Marsden's Pedigree, Fullers London Pride and Woodfordes Nelson's Revenge
mingwraig@reddit
Don't forget Wizard's Sleeve and Large's Hadron Collider
platypuss1871@reddit
Some proper twig there
Exact-Put-6961@reddit
Marston's
Chaos there though. Bought out by Carlsberg
Accomplished-Run-375@reddit
And Fullers by Asahai
rising_then_falling@reddit
Woodfordes is a great brewery. Was up there couple of weeks ago knocking back pints of Nog.
DatabaseContent8664@reddit
Casketeers!
nemprime@reddit
Say what you will about Stella but it absolutely pisses all over the likes of carling, coors and san muigel.
Theddt2005@reddit
Nah carling and coors are proper drinks
BobBobBobBobBobDave@reddit
San Miguel used to be lovely. It was about 5.2 per cent I think and a damn good lager.
Since they lowered the percentage, it is bland and nondescript.
Wretched_Colin@reddit
I think it may have been imported from Spain in the past.
Now it’s brewed in Burton on Trent.
This guy will tell you why it’s piss
https://youtu.be/hlo7Yfhh6jM?si=jcvs-hmNHwqJ4DUC
Impressive-Dust8670@reddit
That guy is an utter wank. Very Randy Marsh justified alcoholism vibes.
FuckGiblets@reddit
They changed the recipe of Stella at some point and I actually genuinely like it now.
rogun64@reddit
Name me a beer that doesn't.
ColossusOfChoads@reddit
Natty Lite, Red Dog, Steel Reserve. But you gotta go to the States to find that next tier down.
Acceptable-Sentence@reddit
Fosters
homemdesetenta@reddit
That really, really, REALLY isn't the high bar that you think it is.
virgin_goat@reddit
It lost a lot when they lowered its alcohol content
Flat_Fault_7802@reddit
You can't get better than a pint of Nelson Mandela
Pebbles015@reddit
I'd say it vomits over the competition. Mainly because it tastes like puke.
Perite@reddit
Stella used to have a higher ABV. At that time high ABV beers weren’t so common. Problem drinking was also a really big deal at the time. Lots of lads getting pissed up on high strength Stella and then fighting.
MrCivility001@reddit
I used to drink turbo shandy, half pint of Stella with a bottle of Smirnoff Ice, in a pint pot. Now that was rocket fuel!
Dizzy_Guest8351@reddit
We used to do Super Snakebites: Strongbow Super with Special Brew. Fucking messy nights, especially if you mixed it with acid.
Beowulfensteiner2k21@reddit
Acid doing a lot of the work there I imagine.
Mesromith@reddit
We used to be a propper country!!
chris5156@reddit
Notable that there has been a pretty much continuous advertising campaign for Stella for about 25 years, always pushing the idea that it’s a classy premium drink. They have been working for decades to get rid of that nickname.
Bob_Leves@reddit
Far more than 25 years. My dad had a Stella beer mat in the mid 70s where it was branded as "reassuringly expensive".
virgin_goat@reddit
Who the fuck drinks from a chalice was newkie browns answer to stellas poncy advertising
Dizzy_Guest8351@reddit
Yeah, Stella was one of the original 'export strength" beers. That's a term you don't hear anymore.
BobBobBobBobBobDave@reddit
Yep. It is a pale shadow of its former self.
khanto0@reddit
Very popular beer now though, staple of parks and festivals by virtue of not tasting as bad as other beers when warm and flat
BobBobBobBobBobDave@reddit
Didn't that used to be Red Stripe's niche?
Whenever I have been standing at an outdoor gig drinking a can of lukewarm lager, it has tended to be Red Stripe.
beatnikstrictr@reddit
Can't go wrong with cans of Red Ste
johnmk3@reddit
Wifebeater
ImpossibleLoss1148@reddit
Stella used to be 5.2%, stronger beer, lead to people being more drunk and an increase in domestic violence...hence wifebeater, lovely.
bladefiddler@reddit
Fosters and carling are cheap piss, popular only for the low price.
Stella used to be much stronger abv (hence wifebeater) but is more tame now and generally accepted as the best of regular lagers. Scottish equivalent is Tenants.
Madri, Moretti, Peroni, Estrella etc, Either twats thinking they're too posh for Stella, Stella isn't available, or possibly reminiscing about drinking it on holiday - where there was no Stella.
Carlsberg Special / Tenants Super = tramps beer. May be interchangeable with frosty Jack and other 12+% ciders, but they're also drank by teens in parks.
All cask ales, IPAs and micro-brewery specials are the sole preserve of hipster twats, and their boomer equivalents.
Guiness is often misunderstood as something dense and calorific - like a meal in a glass, but known by aficionados to be a smooth, creamy nectar of a beer. Also drank by young women trying to prove they're one of the lads and not a girly girl.
8Ace8Ace@reddit
I had a conversation once with someone who was adamant that a pint of Guinness had more calories than a roast dinner. Ireland would be the epicentre of the global obesity crisis if that was the case.
foodie-verse73@reddit
Even funnier that Guinness is actually on the lower end of the calorie scale (probably because it's also on the lower end of the ABV scale).
summinspicy@reddit
Ales are drunk by people with taste buds - Guinness is what hipster twats drink - keep up
Dizzy_Guest8351@reddit
Did you really just call a pint of bitter, the quintessential working man's British pint, the sole preserve of hipster twats?
ilovemydog40@reddit
Stella act a twat
BobBobBobBobBobDave@reddit
Special Brew: a sophisticated food and wine connoisseur who appreciates a fuller-bodied brew with a surprisingly smooth finish.
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
I'm just going to say it: I like Special Brew. Has a terrible reputation and gets me a funny look for buying it, but if you have a can and take your time over it it's decent
ExcitementSad3079@reddit
It tastes horrendous. I've only ever seen alcoholics drink it lol
Interesting-Voice328@reddit
Yes but they started as sophisticated professionals
Ass_feldspar@reddit
It’s expensive in the US. Are we talking about the same beer?
ExcitementSad3079@reddit
Special brew in the UK is like a really strong lager, drank by the homeless and alcoholics
Ass_feldspar@reddit
Right, I got lost at Delirium Tremens, the Belgian tripple.
ultrafunkmiester@reddit
They used to do one called elephant beer. I have some merch from a pub in Germany after drinking 4L of it on a trip as a student in 93. I can confirm that I was very,very drunk. Just looked it up, still available, but its only 7.5% which was strong at the time, seems tame these days. Great memories.
Agodders@reddit
Do you mean delirium tremens? Available in most Tesco's and craft beer bar here these days.
BobBobBobBobBobDave@reddit
I am with you. I think a lot of people haven't tried it and don't realise that it is actually not a bad drink.
It will absolutely fuck you up, though. But no more than a lot of high-alcohol craft beers you can get nowadays.
One_Of_Noahs_Whales@reddit
Once on a work night out where the drinks started an hour after work so "people had time to change", me and another guy from the office who lived further away decided to just go straight into town and wait for the others, he popped into an off licence and came out with 2 cans of very cold special brew and we sat in a park and drank them, One of the best pre-drinks I have ever had.
Impressive-Dust8670@reddit
Sounds lush.
mark-smallboy@reddit
Sounds like the behaviour of a tramp
One_Of_Noahs_Whales@reddit
Sounds like it, sure, but don't knock it till you try it, those homeless are onto something.
mark-smallboy@reddit
Compliments the spice well I'd imagine
One_Of_Noahs_Whales@reddit
I prefer coke, it's a little more middle class.
Herecomestheson89@reddit
No wonder the colleague didn’t go home first, the piss ravaged alcove beneath the bridge doesn’t really fit the bill
Herecomestheson89@reddit
Hahaha
One_Of_Noahs_Whales@reddit
Honestly I was dubious at first, but some sunshine, some greenery, and a nice beer with a mate just chatting shit watching the world go by was a revelation, you don't need to go clubbing, an afternoon in the park or by the river with some special brew is a much better way to enjoy the world.
Herecomestheson89@reddit
And then you kissed
One_Of_Noahs_Whales@reddit
Actually we double teamed a stray dog, but you fantasise about whatever you like.
ThaiFoodThaiFood@reddit
Not bad? It's like drinking reflux in a can.
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
I treat myself now and then at a local proper beer shop and, for the price, Special Brew holds up decently well with some of the barley wines they sell. If you drink it like a 4% lager then, yeah, it'll hit you.
Fading-Ghost@reddit
It used to have a richer taste when it was 9%, but the government decided that a can of veer should not exceed the maximum number of daily units. So it was lowered in strength.
Impressive-Dust8670@reddit
You can still find 9% beers in polish shops but good luck finishing a can before the hangover kicks in. Weirdest sensation ever
TheyCagedNon@reddit
You can get stronger than 9% beer in Tesco
smiley6125@reddit
Tenants Super obviously has the same reputation here as special brew, but in Italy it’s viewed as an exotic high percentage beer and they drink it a bit more sensibly.
OriginalMandem@reddit
Ever tried 'Navigator'? Ithink it is brewed in Holland. It comes in a few strengths, the base one is about the same as Special Brew, but 'Maximator', the top one is a heady 11.6
I've had a few Belgian beers that were between 14-16pc
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
Don't think I have. It's not something I drink often but just now and then I can really enjoy that kind of stuff.
OriginalMandem@reddit
Nor me. But I discovered it when I was staying in a really cheap noisy hotel in Montpellier, France, two cans were enough to enable me to sleep through the racket but not so much fluid I had to get up in the night to pee 🤣
Magurndy@reddit
My Dad, a very middle class doctor from Hungary, also loved special brew haha.
IronDuke365@reddit
First had a can at 18 and it was hideous. I tried it as a joke for its reputation. A couple of decades later i bought some for my wife, again as a joke, and we both found it to be delicious.
Special Brew is a damn good beer.
themaxmethod@reddit
I can only tolerate the stuff if it's treated like Magners and poured into a pint glass full of ice
BlackJackKetchum@reddit
Kingsley Amis was a big fan.
archy_bold@reddit
Had a Special Brew night at university. Once the fourth tin was opened all hell broke loose. Vomiting, fighting, injuries. Lethal.
AssaMarra@reddit
This, but not sarcastically, is special brew in Italy.
ReasonableCourse1679@reddit
Haha. I remember getting 4 pint cans of Special Brew when I was about 19. I made the mistake of drinking it at the same speed as any other drink. Suffice to say I was on the floor shortly later.
BlackJackKetchum@reddit
First brewed to mark Churchill’s visit to Copenhagen. I am not making this up.
MaintenanceInternal@reddit
WHAT.
I just looked it up and confirmed it but WHAT.
LobsterMountain4036@reddit
It has/had cognac in it.
Intelligent_Bug_9456@reddit
My mates very middle class mum used to drink spesh on the weekends like you’d expect her to have a glass or two of Malbec. Did her no harm.
Boringoldman72@reddit
The drink? God no. The ska tune by Bad Manners, oh yeah.
Dizzy_Guest8351@reddit
My Dad used to drink it off the shelf in the pub. It got to the point where they kept more on the shelf than in the fridge.
CthulhusEvilTwin@reddit
Special Brew - Breakfast of Champions!
JimmyCrockett@reddit
Enjoyed by fragrant gentlemen
SupervillainMustache@reddit
I enjoy Sean Locke's stand up bit about Special Brew.
90210fred@reddit
From an interview with Lemmy from 1980s Fav drink: Smirnoff Fav food: Special Brew
I believe he was more Jack D in later years
virgin_goat@reddit
Particularly enjoyed by conaseurs on park benches throughout the realm
Angrypenguinwaddle96@reddit
Strongbow dark fruits is for teenagers apparently but I disagree as it’s underrated.
Goatmanification@reddit
Not beer but…
Frosty Jacks - Teenager in a park WKD - Teenager at a party Jagerbomb - Teenager starting university
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
With a bottle of blackcurrant cordial to make it palatable.
Goatmanification@reddit
I was about to ask which you meant, but the answer is probably all of them
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
Cider and black was the bus stop drink when I was a lad. At uni I used to drink snakebite and black a bit at uni(for OP that's half a pint of cider, half a pint of lager, and blackcurrant) because the beers were always a bit flat and horrible. A lot of places wouldn't even serve that because of its reputation as fighting juice.
eb675@reddit
Back in the day me and a mate went into a pub and he asked for a pint of snakebite the landlord replied with a perfect deadpan face I don't serve snakebites nor the cunts who ask gor them now fuck off somewhere else ...who's next ? Funniest thing I'd seen or heard up till that point
theresOnlyNow@reddit
I used to work in a nightclub and you'd have to order half a pint of cider and blackcurrant and half a pint of beer with an empty pint glass, then make it all yourself. It was hilarious watching really drunk people try to do this every night!
Ok_Basil1354@reddit
So true.
MOXYDOSS@reddit
Did jury service. It was a murder trial. Frosty Jacks was a main player in the whole thing.
denk2mit@reddit
A statistically significant number of police reports in Scotland involve Buckfast
Impressive-Dust8670@reddit
The majority of all crimes with alcohol as a aggravating factor in Scotland name buckfast haha
4SHURIMA@reddit
VK - Teenager at a club
MGSC_1726@reddit
Lambrini, teenager in the 00’s who stepped up from frosty jacks
Due-Presentation4344@reddit
White lightening too, with a pack of 10 embassy. Simpler times.
Dans77b@reddit
I used to work on the kiosk in B&M. Frosty Jack's was the go-to for down and out older people.
Unusual-Chocolate-71@reddit
everything in here is all stella and carlsberg related so i’ll try to touch on other stuff
K cider/frosty jacks/white star:homeless drinks you get from the off license because it’s the most alcohol you’ll get for the price. HOWEVER if any of you have ever had Karpackie from an off license(i never see it anymore) that shit is the real deal. 9% and tastes like it too, like you poured a quadruple shot of vodka into the worst beer you’ve ever tasted. You will sleep under a bridge tonight is what i assume if you drink these.
Madri/Moretti i agree is for the wannabe posh ones(still love a madri can’t explain why). Moretti will be the most expensive but as a bartender I will view you as an NPC for buying it.
Cruzcampo is the up and coming “actual” spanish lager(still brewed in england) but it is really good imo. People of great taste consume this product.
IPAs for ones who have taste. Okay maybe not but i still love a decent IPA. Still appeals largely to wankers
Brixton pale ale is only found in places you’ll pay at least 6.50 for it. Mainly talking about reliance because it’s fantastic but you’ll never find it for a good price. Only the truly gentrified among us even know of a place that has it.
Red stripe. Great beer. A significant amount of time if you find this on tap it will be the cheapest, and it better stay that way because it’s pretty good. I will assume you have some taste, went for the cheapest beer, or attended carnival once and found out it was jamaican and never let go of it.
Asahi. Great choice as well, but you have to buy it by the bottle from spoons or are in the know and go to a place that has it on tap(only one I can think of is O’Neills sports bars). I’m assuming you are like me and dislike the tap selection at spoons, or at least in London that is, and opted for the bottle. Good choice, but still can be viewed as pretentious.
Overall what I would assume with any of these are…you have your own personal taste and adhere to that
KumSnatcher@reddit
Staroprammen - if you know you know
FreddyDeus@reddit
Stella isn’t FOR wife-beaters. It has that nickname because it makes people aggressive.
OG-Brass-Monkey@reddit
I'm halfway down the comments and haven't seen anyone mention brewdog yet. The drink of pretentious, hipster twats who are prepared to pay four times the normal price of beer for something that tastes like cats piss.
summinspicy@reddit
Hipsters drink small brewery craft ale, not this mass produced bollocks.
OG-Brass-Monkey@reddit
It's a craft beer. It's aimed at hipsters and drunk by hipsters.
summinspicy@reddit
No it isn't 😂 it's mass produced, do you really think they're making enough beer to sell in every supermarket and half the pubs in the country on a craft scale?
That's like saying Greene King or San Miguel are Craft Beer.
OG-Brass-Monkey@reddit
It's literally marketed as a craft beer. It may produce a lot but it calls itself a craft beer. That's why the gullible hipsters buy into it.
summinspicy@reddit
They can call themselves that til they're blue in the face, by absolutely no definition or metric are they in any way a craft brewer and therefore do not produce craft beer.
I see far more normos drinking it than hipsters, it's top promoter is Peter Crouch ffs and his podcast for oiks.
Infamous_Biscotti798@reddit
Brew dog is pish tosh. Pricey pints of overhopped nonsense. Some pints taste like drinking glue.
4500x@reddit
Brewdog is the McDonald’s of craft beer with a somehow more problematic owner.
Don’t get me started on that “equity for punks” nonsense. A Clubcard that costs £99 for people too cool to read anything about it.
OG-Brass-Monkey@reddit
I didn't know about any of that. I just hated everything about the beer anyway. This has made me hate it even more. Haha
trombones_for_legs@reddit
I work with a fella looking down the barrel of 70, and he purchased a significant amount of equity from them as part of his retirement plan. He occasionally brings in cans to share with us, and they are all diabolical
4500x@reddit
I remember when they were pushing their third or fourth round of it, reading through the paperwork for it. I can’t remember the exact numbers but they’d mentioned the total value of shares sold and the number of people who’d bought them, which averaged £750-ish each. I couldn’t see any real benefits to having 15+ shares vs 2, you still got the same 10% off at their pubs, still got the same invite to their AGM party.
Fair play to the sellout predator, he’s done well to persuade so many people to throw a disproportionate amount of money at his nothing special beer.
SpecificAssistance63@reddit
I know it’s cider but Henry Westons is nuts
PracticalAd4401@reddit
Any cider = you’re a farmer/inbred 😆
ExcitementSad3079@reddit
Buckfast gets you fucked fast.
IcySadness24@reddit
Budweiser Dirty water cos you're not allowed alcohol
Sea_Fuel_2138@reddit
Carling. Council estate chavs, apparently
Digidigdig@reddit
And now we have Madri for posh twats that are too privileged to drink Carling and are happy to pay twice the price
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
The trend in what's the "fancy" lager is fascinating. I remember when it was all about drinking Corona and telling everyone how great it was to pay more and visit the bar twice as often for you tiny bottle.
Responsible_Blood789@reddit
I quite like it, warm sunny day in the pub garden or even my garden and a cold corona or sol goes down well.
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
It's fine. It's a standard lager. It was just that it was all the rage for a while.
Impressive-Dust8670@reddit
It’s god awful in cans
Sea_Fuel_2138@reddit
Too true how things change. I mean when I was a teen it was Concorde and Thunderbirds. Good times for us common folk. 😁😁
Busy_Mortgage4556@reddit
Thunderbird. Red or Blue?
Digidigdig@reddit
Don’t forget MD 20/20!
90210fred@reddit
Not beer but.... Buckfast "Wreck to hoose joose"
UniquePotato@reddit
Unofficial slogan “F*ucks you up fast”
Ochib@reddit
Or a pint of “What the hell are you looking at?
90210fred@reddit
daviedots1983@reddit
I’m in Scotland and when I was younger Tennents Super was seen as the worst drink you could buy. A few years ago I ended up working in Milan for 6 months and realised that the locals love to order Tennents Super in glass bottles while out at bars and it cost around €6 per bottle. When I told them I drink Peroni and Morretti at home they were actually laughing because they said in Italy those were absolutely awful beers.
WoahGoose1978@reddit
If Stella is “wifebeater” surely San Miguel should be “senoritabeater”
dread1961@reddit
When Stella Artois brought out a cider the slogan should have been, "At last the wife can fight back".
rachelvs1@reddit
Tennents- homeless person in the park
Tamzaghi9@reddit
Worth noting that Tennents has two very different products.
Tennents Lager - known as Tennents - biggest selling lager in Scottish pubs. Equivalent to Carling in some respects, only it's a much nicer pint.
Tennents Super Lager - known as Tennents Super - the strong stuff in dark blue cans that is a favourite of the down and out. Also, weirdly very popular in Italy.
IntraVnusDemilo@reddit
Drank Tennents most recently at the Last Stop in Paisley when I visited The Open at Troon.
It was oreyt, I thought - a nice supper!
Runtzgrower@reddit
Carling is drunk by football hooligans
raquetracket@reddit
Lager in general is the wifebeaters choice
MaintenanceInternal@reddit
K cider, the K stands for Kilometer, thus the term 'the 8 K challenge'.
It's a sports cider for athletes, only drank by those most serious about sports.
anonymouslyyoursxxx@reddit
When Stella hit the market beers were generally 3%ish and along came a mainstream beer that was 4%. Basically you got more drunk on less.
I gave up drinking for 10 years and when I returned to drinking looking for a nice Best or something and discovered that Stella had become a relatively weak beer and everything was an IPA
jonrosling@reddit
Stella earns it's nickname in a two fold way - a reference to Tenessee Williams' play called A Streetcar Named Desire, where the wife of the abusive husband is called Stella; and due to the likelihood that people go home and beat up their wives while absolutely leathered on it.
plasticface2@reddit
Mad Dog 20/20 was great when I was a lad.
Lazy-Contribution789@reddit
I'm not a fan of Stella but I find people parroting that old stereotype so boring. Years ago I was working in a petrol station and some basic lad asked what beer he should buy, I suggested Stella and he replied "wife beaters drink mate." I responded that I didn't think it was compulsory and he just looked confused.
pinknbluebanana@reddit
No 😂 Stella is called “wifebeater”, “ i’ll have a pint of wifebeater”
jck_am@reddit
Anything with a CAMRA badge is going to involve a conversation about whippets, morris dancing or mandolins.
bx14twypt@reddit
Tenants, ironically drunk by homeless people. I saw a couple of smack heads walking down the street drinking Desperados the other day, it made me chuckle it the irony.
Robmeu@reddit
I particularly liked the fact that Stephen King, not being over familiar with British drinking habits had his alcoholic policeman knocking back Harp.
You’d split your bladder before you drank enough to get ruined.
MrCivility001@reddit
I remember buying a crate of Skandia Green (I think it was called) from Aldi (or Kwiksave) about 35 years ago, for me and my mates to do a bit of prinking, and didn’t look at the abv. We were pissing all night without even a buzz on. For info, the abv was in the low 1’s.
IndelibleIguana@reddit
In the 90s, Stella was the go to beer for council estate dwellers. The flat roof pub in the middle of my estate used to sell cans of Stella from under the counter for a quid.
SupervillainMustache@reddit
Fosters is basically flavoured water.
DefiantTillTheEn6@reddit
Stella has the "wife beater" low life stereotype due to classism
PleasantMongoose5127@reddit
Re, Wife beater Stella rep comes from when it was stronger than most back in the day and domestic violence was generally alcohol fuelled , now the vast majority is piss water so Stella just followed suit.
Charley-Says@reddit
Skol...
You can drink 10 cans of that and STILL drive...
I shit you not...
josh5676543@reddit
Well the nickname for Stella is wife beater if you ask for that in a pub that's what they give you. Some beers are common that they don't have those connotations Carling is the biggest selling lager and is seen as the cheap no trills beer although maybe with a slight working class assumption to it with jokes about it being cheap piss, tennents would be this but in Scotland (note not the super stretch stuff will come to this later) John smiths Tetley Boddingtons are this but with bitter although probably drunk by slightly older people, Guinness can sort of fall into that category but also be something people make a big deal out of drinking it. For cask ale we'll look up the real ale twats from Viz that would be the stereotype there (link for what cask ale is for those unfamiliar with the term https://youtu.be/DuWQMUecYBM?si=0xTkB4QusH3L7ji9 ) for trendier craft beer think the same but 15 years younger and more tattoos. Cider strongbow is the Carling of cider with strongbow dark fruits being for kids, cloudy flat scrumpy is assisted with the west country farmhouse and the countryside the closest you can get nationally would be Weston's vintage and old Rosey, strong cider in 3lt bottles like frosty jacks, white ace and all that are associated with hardcore alcoholics and kids drinking in the park what can also fall in with these are strong lagers like tennents super and special brew. Within all this other stereotypes and assumption exists things like flat roofed pubs (https://youtu.be/lrs59cdofSw?si=mzM9XiJ-C6YF4vUi some good examples) Buckfast is a rabbit hole to go down. They are lots of things in the UKs drinking culture that I suspect could be fascinating to an outsider
Exact-Put-6961@reddit
Boddingtons Cask has been killed off. Around 2012 as i recall
josh5676543@reddit
On cask yes but it's still available in cans
Exact-Put-6961@reddit
I SAID Cask, explicitly.
Boddingtons Brewery closed.
Just a marketing brand now.
MisterrTickle@reddit
You're a little bit out of date. Stella has over taken as tbe best selling lager by liters sold both on and off trade. But surprisingly Birra Moretti is now the best selling draft lager.
Digidigdig@reddit
Frost jacks ✊🏼 tho more likely 👊🏼 after a bottle
IcemanGeneMalenko@reddit
Fosters or Carling - you’re a chav or dosser
Madri - you think you’re cool but you’re not (this was probably more relevant 5 years ago)
Leffe - you think you’re rich
Exact-Put-6961@reddit
Madri is British. A marketeers beer. The idiots who pay a premium price will not know that.
thxrpy@reddit
Where I’m from, I’d say Stella - domestic violence / footy Madri, corona, peroni - loves the coke❄️ Special brew - smackheads fav Fosters / carling - middle aged dads watching footy or chain smoking mums with feral kids running round the beer garden Frosty jacks / lambrini / white lightening or fucking echo falls - teenagers in a park Craft beer - pretentious twats
stiperstone@reddit
Lowenbrau on draft. Gods own lager the old Laughing Brew!
Scottbarrett15@reddit
If they drink Fosters or Stella, you're most likely going to see missing carpet and holes in doors at home.
anabsentfriend@reddit
Stella is cooking lager
foxhill_matt@reddit
In a pub but drinking a small can of colourful beer? Young dad with their hair in a bun who really really needs to stop wearing skinny jeans.