Quote from Crashgate3 :

I've never quite got this thing I've noticed some people have in the US of saying that left-handed people can't use manual gearbox cars as it means shifting with the 'wrong' hand [...] Half the world drive like that every day..

Wait, what?

Why are automatic transmissions so popular in the US compared to Europe?

Doubt.

d-o-u-b-t

Webber isn't Schumi.

It seems like this is going to be a make-or-break year for Mark. If he beats Sebastien, great, if not he goes home.

Quote from Shotglass :

nah hell be out for 6 weeks tops and by the looks of it from barcelona rbr havent done much work for 09 yet so id be surprised if he misses anything he hasnt driven before

O rly?

Quote from ITV :

While it looks like he’s out of the winter testing programme, we fully expect Mark to make the starting grid in Melbourne next March.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=44651

Quote from arco :

http://letmegooglethatforyou.c ... +video+recording+software

This reply is full of win.

Well that's good.

The fortune of F1's unluckiest driver continues.

Shame for him, as this means he's going to miss a good portion of if not most of the winter testing. He won't be able to develop the car or rack up seat time in it, so invariably he'll be at a disadvantage at the start of the season. This is not something he needs when he's going up against the quickest teammate he's ever had and when he really needs to step up and prove himself if he wants to stay in F1.

I really like him as an F1 driver. He's honest, he speaks his mind, but he's also a team player who doesn't thrash his team when things are going badly. And he's a really down-to-earth guy. Hopefully he can turn this around and have a strong season.

So when will the BBC start up their website and ITV take theirs down? I can't stand ITV's current shuffling one; I hope the BBC manage something better.

There is no perfect number because performance varies from track to track. The FOX is going to have a bigger advantage on a long track like AS Nat than it will on FE Gold Rev.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Bought tonight:

You bastard.

I can't get any of those here. Hopefully Stone's Russian Imperial Stout will be available soon, but those other west coast brews just don't distribute here. Moose Drool is the stuff of legend here.

I had a Foothills Seeing Double IPA and Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale at my local last night though. Lagunitas is one of those fantastic west coasts who do distribute here, and I thank them for it. Everything they make is great.

Quote from The Moose :

I think if a company make seven crappy browsers in a row, there's no reason whatsoever for me to try their eighth version.

What can it do that Firefox or Opera cant do?

This.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

I thought it was weird when I lived in the USA that you can get a few different Samuel Smiths beers over there, but no John Smiths anywhere. John's is probably the most popular pint of bitter in the UK, but you lot apparently prefer the lesser-known Smith sibling's pint. Strange.

I've never heard of John Smith's, but I can't get everything that Sam Smith makes in grocery stores around here. Kinda pricey though. I like the Imperial Stout the best. Sam makes a Taddy Porter which is very good too; I assume Taddy refers to Tadcaster? Are Sam and John owned by the same company?

Also you said that you frequent York Brewery pubs; that's a foreign concept here. Pubs aren't owned by a particular brewery, unless they're an in-house brewpub which features beers which are brewed in the next room. Even in those, you can get beers which that brewery doesn't make.

Quote from tiagolapa :

I like mini sagres

Never heard of it, but Wikipedia to the rescue!

Branca, I assume you're talking about? Basic lager?

Since I started the thread, I get the privilege of posting the first reply.

I have a hard time picking a single favorite style, but if forced I'd pick india pale ale. Hops are glorious. Fantastic. Amazing. A good IPA is like a good woman - rich, complex and satisfying. Makes you want more.

Stone Brewing Company's Ruination IPA is unbelievable. It's brewed in California and I'm on the east coast, so for the longest time I couldn't get it. They didn't distribute it in this area. It remained but a fantasy. But in the past two months, joy of joys, it's finally here! And it's worth the wait. It has the best aroma I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. It's like lying in a bed of freshly-cut flowers while on LSD. The taste? Well, it's beyond words. If I had to pick a single beer to have for the rest of my life, it'd be Ruination IPA.

Fortunately though, I don't have to pick a single beer. I have choice. I've been quite into dark beers like porters and stouts lately. I picked up a six of Duck-Rabbit Brewery's Russian Imperial Stout last night, and I have to say it's very good. The aroma is fantastic and initial flavor is very deep, with strong flavors of roasted nuts and chocolate balanced with a nice bitter background. The finish however is a little bit disappointing - a bit too sour and sharp. Brooklyn's Double Chocolate Stout is so goddamned good I nearly fell out of my chair when I first tried it on tap. Weyerbacher's Old Heathen Imperial Stout is much the same. Fuller's London Porter is very nice as well.

Stone Brewing is, in my experience, the best brewer in this country right now. Not just Ruination, but Arrogant Bastard. Oaked Arrogant Bastard. Double Bastard. Oaked Double Bastard. Even their basic Pale Ale is fantastic - so well balanced.

Mendocino Brewing's Eye of the Hawk Select Ale has been a standby for a while now. It's often on sale in my area (about $7/six pack) and for that price almost can't be beaten. It has a very nice caremely malt flavor backed up by a substantial, but not overpowering, hoppiness. It's also 8% ABV, so I'm feelin' good after just one. Anchor Steam's Liberty Ale is a great beer. Nice floral hoppiness on the nose, but a sharp hoppiness on the tongue. Nicely balanced and drinkable.

On the other hand, I bought a single bottle of Belhaven's Wee Heavy a couple weeks ago and was a bit disappointed. It was decent, but not as good as I was expecting. I suspect it may have been a bit less than fresh. I prefer Belhaven's basic Scotch Ale - it's deep, honey, caremely malt flavor is very distinctive.

There are so many great breweries in the US that I can't do them justice here. Quality beer here in America has just exploded in the past 10-15 years, and the art of craft brewing has gotten to a level that rivals the best breweries in Belgium, Britain and Germany. The whole notion of "American beer sucks" just isn't true anymore. That said, many of the best beers are adaptations of already-existing styles, so we must pay homage to our European forebears.

I definitely would like to travel to Europe someday in the not-too-distant future, and beer will be a focus of my journey. I'd like to try a pint of Guinness in a pub in Dublin, because my experience of it here has been nothing other than poor. In fact I can say that for me, Guinness is crap. It's dull, weak and watery. The flavor just isn't good. I've heard that it's because Guinness doesn't travel well, so I'm not saying it's outright worthless. I'm hoping to change my opinion when I sample a proper fresh pint. I'd like to try a proper bitter out a real draught keg in England, as is the true way. None of this CO2-powered nonsense - real ale out of a proper pump-style draught keg is a thing of beauty, but unfortunately it's almost impossible to find here.

The next stop would be, naturally, Belgium. Chimay red label. Chimay blue label. Maredsous. Westvleteren. Oh god. Belgian beers are wonderful. Trappist monks know how to live. After England, Scotland and Belgium I'd probably be too drunk to even stumble into Germany. But I'd do it, for the good of humanity. Oktoberfest in Munich is my Mecca, even though I'm less familiar with German styles than any other. I'd like to learn, and what better way is there than firsthand?

Damn, I need a beer.

Ale. Lager. Lambic.

Bitter. Mild. IPA. Porter. Stout. Dubbel. Tripel. Flanders Red. Bock. Doppelbock. Weissbier. Altbier. Kölsch. Märzen. Pilsener. All the others.

What's your favorite style? What's your least favorite? What are you drinking right now? What have you drunk in the past? What would you like to try in the future?

What's your favorite brewery? What's special to your area? What do you wish you could get in your area but can't?

Post anything and everything about the drink of the gods. Bringer of life. Mother of us all. The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.



BEER!

This thread is genius.

If we're counting world champions yet to be, 1979 had eight.

Mario Andretti
Niki Lauda
Nelson Piquet
Jody Scheckter
Emerson Fittipaldi
James Hunt
Keke Rosberg
Alan Jones

Quote from ajp71 :

In fairness as a city figure it's not bad for an overweight car with a big engine.

True, but my point was that it isn't nearly good enough to compete with cars from other companies which can get much better mileage. Just being "not bad" doesn't cut it when the company's going bankrupt.

38 mpg? That's it? How pathetic; this is 2008. With my 1998 2.3L 4-cylinder Acura CL I got 32 mpg on my last fill-up, and that's when I drive vigorously while delivering.

Ford is a joke. GM is a joke. Chrysler is a joke. To hell with their bailout.

How about you yobs stay on-topic?

So is the BBC lineup confirmed, or just rumored? What's the most current supposed lineup? Brundle and Coulthard in the box? I heard maybe that hot chick who did GP2 coverage? What's her name?

Quote from Christopher Raemisch :

Err Laterus FYI Road America is in the boonies with trees all around, not sure where you are getting that the tracks are near built up areas.

I know that; I was referring more to the other previously-mentioned tracks than that one.

Quote from Christopher Raemisch :

the track [Road Atlanta] itself IMO is top notch and could handle GP cars, Cart/IRL runs there/used to run there

Er, when?

Last edited by Lateralus, Sat 8 Nov 2008, 20:12.

Quote from ajp71 :

it is meant to be ... should be ... should be

You're arguing the way you think things should be in F1. I'm explaining how things are. I mostly agree with your general sentiment about how it should be, but it simply isn't the case. And considering the trend of things in F1, it is extremely unlikely to suddenly change direction, so these what-if scenarios aren't of any practical benefit.

Quote from ajp71 :

A lot of the infrastructure can be put into the area relatively quickly if there is serious interest in doing so.

Sorry, no. Why would a hotel chain (gas station, restaurant) spend millions of dollars to open a new location which would be swamped for one weekend but deserted for the rest of the year? It has to be financially viable to sustain itself outside GP weekend.

Quote from ajp71 :

was it Kovalainen at Portugal who drove into the tyres without warning at high speed?

It was at Circuit de Catalunya.

Quote from ajp71 :

when they do have big impacts they generally can get away without injury (as virtually every single driver seems to have had these days, usually s a result of driver error) and it is now possible to get away by the skin of the teeth from the unthinkable (Kubica, Legge).

I don't think being able to "generally" get away without injury is acceptable. The safety of drivers and spectators has to be the absolute priority at all tracks and in all situations. I'd rather watch an endless string of "boring" races at a "generic" circuit than ever watch another racing driver die at the wheel. So I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this point.

Quote from ajp71 :

Installing F1 spec facitlities is usually a straight forward question of getting some funds and building things

A lot of those tracks have development outside the circuit boundaries. It isn't as simple as just deciding to build things; they have to buy out houses or businesses. It isn't impossible, but it's difficult and expensive.

Quote from ajp71 :

Most of them have pits which endurance racing teams seem to be able to cope with, therefore they are plenty good enough to run single seaters from, anybody who tells you otherwise is just whining for no reason.

F1 has specific standards which all venues have to adhere to. Simply telling the teams "here's what you have, deal with it" just isn't how F1 works. Maybe it should, but it isn't. Endurance racing series have much less stringent standards regarding the quality of pit and paddock facilities.

Quote from ajp71 :

There's no such thing as a track which is too long or too short

Again, wrong. F1 requires circuits to be within a certain distance range. A 30-second lap would not be allowed. A 4-minute lap would not be allowed.

Quote from ajp71 :

The only issue with Laguna Seca is cars might have trouble physically getting through the Corkscrew, at which point the correct response is to tell them to stop moaning and use a bit of common sense to solve the challenges they are presented with.

Sorry, no. Assuming the cars would have trouble physically negotiating the corner, they would have to build a completely new chassis with different characteristics for that track. That isn't how F1 works. It would be like putting a giant speed bump on the straight at Spa and telling the teams to "just deal with it".

Quote from ajp71 :

As for distance, just like in the other thread it is evident you haven't been to America and don't have a clue what you're talking about, Laguna Seca is less than 2 hours from San Francisco and even closer to San Jose, by US standards that really isn't any distance at all.

It isn't just about distance, it's about the quality of the roads between the city and the track and the amount of development in the area surrounding the track. That's the main problem with Road America - there are no big four-lane highways running right to the circuit. The crushing traffic which accompanies every GP could not be handled by the narrow, twisty roads in the area. The infrastructure just couldn't cope. There aren't enough hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc. in the area to cope with a GP-sized crowd, therefore F1 will not seriously consider it as a venue.

Quote from ajp71 :

Yes because several tracks with reasonably genrous run off areas are far more dangerous than a street circuit...

As has already been said, none of those tracks have run-off areas which would be considered "generous" by modern F1 standards. On some corners it would be fine, but others not.