EURO 2024 Thread

[capitanus]

Ticket Sales are delayed:

 

Due to a technical error, UEFA EURO 2024 codes have been sent out to Scotland Supporters Club members who are not eligible to buy tickets at this stage.

As a result of this error, the sale scheduled for 12 noon will be delayed until further notice while we liaise with UEFA to resolve the issue.

The Scottish FA would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to supporters at this time. We will communicate further information on the sales schedule as soon it is available.

[capitanus]

We go again tomorrow.  I wonder what the next debacle will be.

 

Incidentally, what is everyone's thoughts on the draw?  The choice of venues?  Munich is the ideal place for the opening tie, albeit they know how to milk the fans with the prices, however Cologne and Stuttgart are too far apart creating a lot of needless journeys.  I cant help but think that this could have been organised better.

[BishopBrennan]

On 12/7/2023 at 12:13 AM, capitanus said:

We go again tomorrow.  I wonder what the next debacle will be.

 

Incidentally, what is everyone's thoughts on the draw?  The choice of venues?  Munich is the ideal place for the opening tie, albeit they know how to milk the fans with the prices, however Cologne and Stuttgart are too far apart creating a lot of needless journeys.  I cant help but think that this could have been organised better.

Having to travel across a country with great transport and great beer, with your mates, in the height of summer, watching Scotland? I'm struggling to think of a downside. 

[capitanus]

2 hours ago, BishopBrennan said:

Having to travel across a country with great transport and great beer, with your mates, in the height of summer, watching Scotland? I'm struggling to think of a downside. 

Well, when you put it like that I could think of worse. 

Things that are pissing me off:  Pundits who have England already in the final, and pundits who are talking about Wales as if they are actually going to qualify too.

 

[capitanus]

9 hours ago, BishopBrennan said:

Having to travel across a country with great transport and great beer, with your mates, in the height of summer, watching Scotland? I'm struggling to think of a downside. 

Irony is that Deutsche Bahn's Drivers have been on strike the past couple of days over Currywurst vouchers.  I hope they get their shit together when we're over there.

[TRVMP]

DB's service and reliability is actually really poor by Western European standards. Just because the network coverage is great doesn't mean the service is. It's really coasting on its reputation with foreigners (locals know it sucks.)

[capitanus]

11 hours ago, TRVMP said:

DB's service and reliability is actually really poor by Western European standards. Just because the network coverage is great doesn't mean the service is. It's really coasting on its reputation with foreigners (locals know it sucks.)

I've been let down by DB a few times over the years.  Mostly on Train>Airport connections.

[BishopBrennan]

I've been to Germany four times and never had an issue, I can only imagine they will be pulling out all the stops during the Euros to ensure public transport runs without a hitch. 

[capitanus]

22 minutes ago, BishopBrennan said:

I've been to Germany four times and never had an issue, I can only imagine they will be pulling out all the stops during the Euros to ensure public transport runs without a hitch. 

Here's hoping.  Where it is head and shoulders above the railways in the UK is the quality of their rolling stock.  

 

ETA: did you get tickets okay?

[capitanus]

Seen this news story today:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scotland-fans-warned-german-beer-32461857

Since when have Scottish Football supporters needed a 'warning' about the strength of Beer, wherever it is, most of which are already readily available in a Wetherspoons or a UK supermarket.

[TRVMP]

3 hours ago, capitanus said:

Seen this news story today:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scotland-fans-warned-german-beer-32461857

Since when have Scottish Football supporters needed a 'warning' about the strength of Beer, wherever it is, most of which are already readily available in a Wetherspoons or a UK supermarket.

The strength of average Lager in the UK started off very low in the 70s and 80s then peaked in the late 90s - Stella was 5.2% and has been decreasing ever since. Tennents is 4% and I want to say Carling is 4.2%.

In the US light beers are generally 4.2% and normal lager is 5%. In Germany it tends not to go lower than 4.8% and even session beers can be north of 5.1%. In Poland you just can't find lager under 5.

It's worth noting the same beers can be different by country. Stella is 5% in the USA. 

 

[capitanus]

2 hours ago, TRVMP said:

The strength of average Lager in the UK started off very low in the 70s and 80s then peaked in the late 90s - Stella was 5.2% and has been decreasing ever since. Tennents is 4% and I want to say Carling is 4.2%.

In the US light beers are generally 4.2% and normal lager is 5%. In Germany it tends not to go lower than 4.8% and even session beers can be north of 5.1%. In Poland you just can't find lager under 5.

It's worth noting the same beers can be different by country. Stella is 5% in the USA. 

 

They are all wet though?

Seriously, unless its something like Tennents Super Lager which is fucking revolting and avoidable at all costs, you tend not to notice the strength until you get pissed quicker than you normally would.

I always thought that most beer and lagers was between 4%-5% ABV as standard, and occasionally there were a few north of the 5% mark.

Still, it is indicative of the times we live in when football supporters are being 'warned' about the strength of the local beer.  Especially as most who will be travelling would have already experienced it (or similar) over the years.

[Cet Homme Charmant]

16 hours ago, TRVMP said:

Stella was 5.2% and has been decreasing ever since.  

Stella Artois brewed here in sunny Leuven is still 5.2% abv, it's the Stella Artois brewed in the UK and maybe also elsewhere that's watered down. Here's a wee video highlighting the difference between the two... 

Edit to add: Never a week goes by without at least one person asking why it's called 'wifebeater' in the UK

[TRVMP]

3 hours ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

Stella Artois brewed here in sunny Leuven is still 5.2% abv, it's the Stella Artois brewed in the UK and maybe also elsewhere that's watered down. Here's a wee video highlighting the difference between the two... 

Edit to add: Never a week goes by without at least one person asking why it's called 'wifebeater' in the UK

The Stella we get in the US was brewed in Leuven until 2021 but I am almost certain it was 5%, so different from the stuff sold locally. It's now brewed in four regional ABInBev breweries in the US, including the main location in St. Louis.

Meanwhile Foster's, which is a 3.7% lager in the UK and 4% in Australia, has a variant brewed here in DFW which is 5% and value-priced. There is also, inexplicably, a 5.5% "Foster's Premium Ale" also brewed here, which seems to be an entirely American invention.

The global state of lager is controlled by a tiny number of companies which tend to be in each others' businesses in different parts of the world. For example Fosters in the US is MolsonCoors-owned, in Europe it's Heinken-owned, and in its own country of origin it's Carlton-owned, which is in turn a property of Asahi of Japan.

[Cet Homme Charmant]

Just spent a very enjoyable few hours after work having some Stella Artois. Myself and a colleague had 5 330ml Stella Artois each for the princely sum of 20 Euros. So 2 euros for a third of a liter (although this was in a jakey pub in the suburbs, it the city centre it's probably double that). And that's for the proper big boy 5.2% abv stuff.

Everything in Belgium is ridiculously expensive, except beer which is obscenely cheap.  

[capitanus]

12 minutes ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

Just spent a very enjoyable few hours after work having a few Stella Artois. Myself and a colleague had 5 330ml Stella Artois for the princely sum of 20 Euros. So 2 euros for a third of a litre. Everything here is ridiculously expansive, except for beer.  

So €4 for a 330ml of wifebeater.  That's expensive.  Do you only drink small measures because you're a wee guy?

[TRVMP]

40 minutes ago, capitanus said:

So €4 for a 330ml of wifebeater.  That's expensive.  Do you only drink small measures because you're a wee guy?

It was 20 euros for the pair of them, so 10 bottles total, 2 euros apiece.

That's not far off retail price here. With tax, it's $1.42 per 330ml* bottle.

*Stella is almost unique in being sold in 330ml here as it is in Europe. A regular beer here is 12fl oz, which is 355ml, and virtually all cans and bottles are that size, even of imported European brands.

[capitanus]

14 minutes ago, TRVMP said:

It was 20 euros for the pair of them, so 10 bottles total, 2 euros apiece.

That's not far off retail price here. With tax, it's $1.42 per 330ml* bottle.

*Stella is almost unique in being sold in 330ml here as it is in Europe. A regular beer here is 12fl oz, which is 355ml, and virtually all cans and bottles are that size, even of imported European brands.

Ah, I see.  So 'myself and a colleague had 5 330ml Stella Artois for the princely sum of 20 Euros. So 2 euros for a third of a litre.' Should have read 'myself and a colleague each had 5 x 330ml Stella Artois for the princely sum of 20 Euros. So 2 euros for a third of a litre.'  Which would have made more sense.

Lettuce see...

€20 = £17.10 / 10 = £1.71 per can/bottle with seems okay I suppose, except its Stella Artois which I'm not overly fussed about.  

Okay, carry on.

 

 

[Cet Homme Charmant]

2 hours ago, capitanus said:

 €20 = £17.10 / 10 = £1.71 per can/bottle with seems okay I suppose, except its Stella Artois which I'm not overly fussed about.  

Also bear in mind, this is on-draught bar prices, not supermarket bottle prices.

If you're talking about the UK brewed Stella Artois, the reason you're not overly fussed about it is perhaps explained in the video above. Even Belgian brewed Stella Artois is nothing special, here it's a cheap 'everyday' beer, but it's pleasant enough. But there are a plethora of much nicer beers that are stronger and more expensive. This is one of my favourites... 

https://www.sintbernardus.be/en/brewery/our-beers/stbernardus-abt-12-en

I've never seen it in the UK, but it might be available in specialist shops. If you do come across it, I highly recommend it, it's really nice.

[TRVMP]

That's another difference. You don't get "halves" here on draught (draft.) You get 16oz (473ml), or very occasionally for a very strong beer (like a Quadruppel) you get a 12oz (355ml.) Anything below that is served exclusively as part of a 'flight' or tasting menu. If you asked for a small (330-355ml) Bud or something they'd give you a bottle because they don't pour glasses that size.

The liquor store round the corner from me has a decent selection of Belgian beers but for obvious reasons specializes in local stuff in the few shelves it gives over to beer*.

*This is another issue: spirits have to be sold in liquor stores, which close at 9pm and all day Sunday. Beer and wine can be sold anywhere, all day (not quite 24 hours, I think it's 1am it stops now but I'm never up that late to check.) So for really obscure beers you need to order it specially or go to a specialist store, of which there aren't many because even Walmart now has an excellent selection. My local supermarket has a decent selection of imports and every style you can think of - including tripel - brewed locally here in Texas. I don't mind a Belgian-style ale a few times a year but on the whole I find them very sweet and heavy, definitely something for sipping, preferably with food. The rough American equivalent in terms of strength and craftsmanship is IPA; American tastes tend heavily towards hops and resin. I've grown to really enjoy these.