Arise, ye worshippers of barley! Praise Ceres, and break out the pint glasses. What are you drinking these days, beer-wise, and what do you recommend? C’mon, turn on your brethren and sistren to some hoppy nectar.
In my case, the beer fridge is currently stocked with:
I’d really like to recommend the last one on the list. Full Sail is known for their excellent line of ales, and this is a big departure for them. When I cracked the first bottle, I wasn’t initially blown away. Good, but not great. About halfway through the bottle it began to grow on me (at 6.4%, this is to be expected!). I’m in the middle of bottle #2, and all is right with the world.
Next?
Old Rasputin Imperial Stout is the only thing currently in my fridge that I drink. It’s got a darker flavor than Guinness, and thus is a one-glass beer for me. I prefer Guinness.
When I’m in the mood for something lighter, I go for Blue Moon Belgian Wheat Ale. It’s reasonable, but I’m not too experienced in trying different beers.
Right now, I’m digging Fullers London Pride. I’ve got some of that in the fridge, alongside some Guinness, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and Paulaner Hefeweizen. One that I really recommend, but haven’t had in a while… Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale. IMHO, the perfect American style brown ale.
What have become the ‘regulars’ in the kegerator (not surprising, as they were the ‘regular’ 12 pack or case purchases) - Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Lagunitas IPA, Bear Republic’s Racer 5.
I got to try a few of the Dogfish Head brews while back East over the holidays - the 60 Minute IPA, the 90 Minute IPA and 120 Minute IPA. I was excited about trying them since I’ve seen them appear on so many lists of good brews, but unfortunately I give them all a big fat ‘meh.’ My favorite was the 120, but even it didn’t really wow me.
I also tried some by "Magic Hat Brewing’ out of Vermont, I don’t know if they are available out here and I just never noticed them, but they seemed to be everywhere back in NJ. I tried 3 English Ales - 9, Fat Angel, and Blind Faith. They were drinkable. That’s about it.
(These were all bottles, nothing on tap.)
A couple of weeks ago in Sacramento I tried Pyramid’s hoppiest - ThunderHead for the first time (on tap at the brewery), and thought it was pretty decent. I also tried River City Brewing’s Golden Pale Ale & Woodenhead Ale, (also on tap at the brewery) and liked them a lot, especially the WoodenHead.
But as always in these beer threads, I gotta mention the local brew. The beer that all the others have to look up to as far as I am concerned.
I have yet to find a beer that is as good as or better than my beloved Pliny the Elder. Although the rest of the brews at RRBC come damn close, especially the Blind Pig and the Russian River IPA.
Right now I am not drinking beer. I am drinking a glass of some 6 dollar Riesling from Monterey - Mirassou - Not bad for 6 bucks and goes well with forty spice hummus and pita chips.
The Great Basin Brewery has a very nice ESB that’s not listed on that page. Occasionally, they put their Jackpot Porter on a nitro line - that right there is some smooth and creamy goodness.
Unfortunately, I’m drinking a Pacifico Clara right now.
Oh, I did also try all the brews at Harvest Moon Brewery in New Brunswick, NJ while back there. The Hops2 and Firehouse Red were pretty good, but the atmosphere at the brewpub was an absolulte nightmare. College kids, thumpy, thumpy music, etc. It was awful. I drank my sampler really fast and headed out the door in less than 10 minutes.
Silenus
From your beer selection you are one of those “the hoppier the better” beer consumers. I would not like the same beer as you. I do not like most of these west coast beers. Give me a good Milwaukee’s Best any day. To be honest, my favorite is Pisner Urquel. I also like a good Guiness stout.
This is a good beer.
The only trouble I have with brewing my own beer is that the beer I like to drink is so dificult to brew. Hop a beer to death and it brews itself.
For light beer I prefer Witterkerke or Nest Belgian Ale.
For medium/red I prefer Killians.
For dark, well, the only dark I will drink is Oak Aged Yeti. It’s an imperial stout with the color of petroluem and the taste of vanilla. It puts hair on your chest and flavor in your belly. Mmmmmmmm goood.
No post about great beer is complete without mention of Milwaukee’s Sprecher Brewing Company, particularly their Special Amber, Pub Ale, and awesome Black Bavarian, all unfortunately unavailable (excpet in rare instances) in California.
And I’m with silenus regarding hopps; the more the better (though I’m fond of stouts too). “Milwaukee’s Best” is two lies for the price of one.
One beer I completely don’t understand is Stella Artois; it always tastes skunked to me, whether from the tap or from bottle. I’d like to consider myself catholic in terms of beer (excepting ‘lite’ beer, of course) but this stuff just seems wrong in every way a beer could be wrong. What am I missing?
My current beer collection has some Thwaites beers (Lancaster Bombler, Daniel’s Hammer and Thoroughbred), a bit of Charles Wells’ Bombardier and some of the Wychwood Brewery’s finest: Hobgoblin and Circle Master
Not sure which pub we’ll be patronising tonight so who knows what we’ll be quaffing?
No way I could ever get these beers mentioned in Trinidad or Bahamas.
Usually I stick with the Guiness or the Heinekens.
Would the local beer be better, since it did not have overcome long distances?
I almost exclusively drink Yuengling Lager. However I have recently found that the further away from the brewery you go, the less I like it. IOW, it doesn’t seem to travel well.
mmm…Yeungling…haven’t had any of that since I moved to the midwest…man, I miss that beer…
anyway, the current top of the list for me is Ale Asylum’s Hopalicious IPA. It’s a new brewery that was recently opened up here in Madison by the former Brewmaster of the Angelic Brewpub…their loss, as Ale Asylum has been moving like gangbusters since they started bottling a few months ago and Angelic suspended their in house brewing operations.
