One of the first things my now brother-in-law offered when we first met was to warm up a beer for me as all his were ‘unfortunately’ chilled.

I naturally declined because, opposed to popular myth, the English do not, and never have had, any kind of a penchant for warm beer! When I say ‘declined’, I mean I declined the warming, not the beer of course…I am British after all! :)

Now, how this cultural myth became so widespread is anyone’s guess but to set the record straight, the British and European’s in general, have no interest in drinking their beer warm and so far as I can tell, never have done.

The mistake probably comes through the misunderstanding of the term ‘room temperature’ which is the degree to which many of the best British beers are served.

Room temperature beers are the norm in many British pubs but only where the beer in question is best served at that temperature. Budweiser or any other lager is not going to be served at room temperature anywhere in the British isles, whereas a real Britsh ale or bitter might be because that’s where the flavour is best…there’s a difference.

But isn’t ‘room temperature’ just another way of saying ‘warm’? Umm, well no, because you see, the ‘room’ in this case is a decidely cool beer cellar which typically keeps beer cooled to around 55 Fahrenheit. Cellar temperature beer is not warm by any standards.

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