I have a couple bottles of one of my current favorites, Polygamy Porter (slogan: “Why have just one?”) from the Utah microbrewery Wasatch Brewery.
Silenus, you need to get a six-pack of this if for nothing more than the entertainment value.
I don’t have any booze in the fridge, but when I go out, I tend to drink Shiner Bock, the national beer of Texas. When Shiner’s not available, I get a Corona with a slice of lime.
I currently have a few bottles of Becks and cans of Guinness hidden around the place somewhere. But if I fancy something a bit nicer I’d go for a bottle of something English, most likely something from Shepherd Neame 
My grandfather used to be a drayman for Shepherd Neame…must be where I get my liking for Spitfire from!
My fridge has Pilsner Urquell and Stella Artois (Stranger, please don’t unleash your wrath). I am also saving one bottle of Goose Island’s Christmas beer for my wife (she loves hoppy beers). Why there is any beer in my fridge after the Bears defeat – I have no idea.
Beers that I would like in my fridge, but I just can’t buy are: Bergoff’s Hazelnut Winter beer, Bell’s Oberon, and my all-time favorite, New Glarus’ Belgium Red.
Since there are a lot of hop-heads in this thread, if any of you are in Chicagoland, try Emmett’s Victory Pale Ale. For me it is one of those day-after beers. I had it on Friday for dinner and all day Saturday my mind kept calling up fond memories.
But most of all, I have to agree with mrklutz. Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout is beer Nirvana.
Spitfire’s nice too, I wonder what it must taste like on tap.
There’s a beer I picked up in Tesco’s or Sainbury’s, a very dark, almost sweet beer. I’m not sure what it is but I’d like to rediscover it.
Belgian monks must be a happy lot with the beer they make too 
Rat bastard! 
Shepherd Neame no longer exports Bishop’s Finger to the US. That used to the one of my favorite beers, even if I had to make a liquor run to Las Vegas to get any.
Hey, if you like it (and plenty of people do), good on you. I don’t snob out about other peoples’ beer choices, or at least I try not to, but Stella just always tastes skunked to me. I feel like I must be just…missing something that everyone else gets about it.
Stranger
I’ll second the Belhaven. A little sweet but quite tastey. My fridge also has some Guinness, Wexford Cream Ale and Murphy’s Stout. On the domestic front just some plane old Sam Adams Lager.
I’ve seen so many good beers posted above that I love–it warms the heart. A few that stuck out to me: Pliny the Younger from Russian River, Bear Republic Racer 5, New Glars Belgian Red (this is a fruit beer to be worshipped), and Dogfish Head 90 minute.
There is a new brewer in Ohio called Hoppin’ Frog that is making some really good stuff right now.
The best beer I’ve had lately was probably Surly Darkness from a fairly new brewery–Surly. Incredible stout–probably the best I’ve ever had.
Getting ready to homebrew a huge barleywine tomorrow night!
Hoorah for beer!
Yum…barleywine. This is the season for it. Of course, it won’t be ready until next winter, but what can you do? At least, if you brew them as heavy as we do it won’t.
[anecdote]About 10 years ago we brewed a barleywine we called Leviathan. We have no idea what went in it. It came about when the owners of the local supply store and I were hanging around in the back with a few beers after hours. We started the batch with a mash of all of the floor sweepings from around the mill that day. Then we added all the extract that was label-less in the storage cabinet, along with several large bags of unidentified white powder (either rice solids or malto-dextrose is my guess.) This mess was then hopped with all of the expired or near-expired hops in the fridge. By the time the boil was over, we had 8 gallons of wort that wouldn’t register on a hydrometer. We split it between two carboys, pitched a mixture of ale and champagne yeast, and let it ferment for a few months. It bottled at SG1.73! After some aging, it went on to win awards in 5 states.[/anecdote]
Ahhh, Pliny the Younger.
It’s served in 10 ounce pours, and for good reason, at 11% ABV, it isn’t messing around.
My husband and I are at the brewpub frequently, and it’s a treat when Pliny the Younger is on tap as it’s not always available. We usually stick to just one or two then go back to our Elder/Blind Pig/whatever (and plenty of water), otherwise we’d have a hard time getting out of our stools and into our cab.
They make some really good Belgians as well, particularly Damnation, Beatification, and Redemption.
Other favorites:
Mendocino Brewing Company’s Eye of the Hawk (I actually like just about all of their brews.)
Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ IPA
Rat Bastard Pale Ale
We camp every summer a couple of miles away from this brewery, it’s a short canoe trip from our campsite. I think it’s one of my most favorite bars/brewpubs in the area (for the atmosphere, Russian River is numero uno for the beer, and Third St. Aleworks takes top place for food.) Too bad it’s all the way the hell out in Guerneville. Of course, that’s probably part of the reason it’s so cool.
You know, I just realized I have much greater knowledge of the breweries/pubs/bars of Wine Country than I do of the wineries, and I work in the wine business. 
Well, there’s a saying out here “It takes a lot of good beer to make great wine.” Ain’t it the truth.
Somebody mentioned reds upthread - Mendocino’s Red Tail Ale is a good one as well.
Hi there! I used to be a regular on Tightwad Tuesdays, but that’s grown less and less frequent since I moved out of walking distance. It’s still one of my favorite places in town, though.
I’ve seen a few other northern Nevada posters around as well - maybe we should brew up a DopeFest there.
I know I’ve seen a couple folks from Carson City around here, count me in if there’s ever a Northern Nevada DopeFest!
Mine should end up at about 16% if everything goes according to plan. I’m using a distillers yeast this time around for proper fermentation.
I’ve found that if you add a good ale yeast to the pitch for a barleywine it helps give those yummy esters. Distiller’s yeast is deficient in that regard, IMO. So mix those yeasts!
Word.
Around here in Bible Country… the best store bought I can get is Sierra Nevada. It’s good and all but you get sick of it after a while. It’s very heavy on the cascade dry hop.
So, yeah, homebrew.
Right now, in my kegerator, I have C.J.’s House of the Rising Sun JPA (it’s a staple in my house, everybody’s favorite), Belligerent SOB Ale (an Arrogant Bastard clone), and the third tap is ready for an American Red Ale, if I ever get off my ass and brew it… the damn grains are prolly going stale. :mad:
Whenever I trek to Chicago, I tend to spend a fortune on various IPAs… Dogfishhead 90 minute comes to mind.
Brewing is done and everything went well. SG is 130!!!