Another vote for the inexpensive-yet-flavorful Shiner Bock. I passed the exit for Shiner on my way to Houston last week. I must stop by sometime. Otherwise, I like Twin Creeks’ Vanilla Porter.
I know what you mean. I’ll try to keep it brief…
I prefer extra hoppy beers with medium maltiness. Of course, a good stout or porter (or pilsener)is great every once in a while, my general favorite style is India Pale Ale. My usual drink is Full Sail IPA , Qual Springs IPA (Deschutes), or Bridgeport IPA. Or, not quite as good as those, but a bit cheaper, Red Hook IPA. Or even better than those, but harder to find (around here) and more expensive, are Red Tail Pale Ale (Mendocino Brewing Co.) and Boonesville Hop Ottin’. When visiting back east, Dominion Hop Pocket is hard to beat. Yum…
But this time of year, we have my VERY favorite style, the Winter Warmer. Super hoppy, extra malty, 6.5%-7% alcohol.
Deschutes Jubelale, Wassail, Winternacht, Snow Cap, Winterhook, and others. Which brings us to my ultimate favorite beer that I’d pick if I could only drink one kind for the rest of my life…Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.
Four categories:
Quantity Beer, Consumed at Home: Miller High Life. $3.29/6-pack at the corner store can’t be beat.
Quantity Beer, Consumed at Bar: Miller Lite. Happy hour price: $1.50/longneck, $1.25/draft. This category represents my most frequent scenario and thus most-consumed beer.
Quality Beer available in my town: Sierra Nevada Porter. I can seldom afford it at $7.50/6-pack, but I buy it anyway.
Quality Beer unavailable in my town, thus imparting upon it a mythical quality that makes me crave it even more: Obsidian Stout (Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR). Not only is it a damn fine beer, it’s got the coolest name of all beers!
Anything I made.
Store-bought: Maniquin Pis, Babar Blonde ale, Hacker-pshorr weisse are my favorites. I can only find the hacker now, though…
If I’m outside in the sun, any old beer will do as long as it isn’t too heavy. If I’m watching the Senate on TV trying to overturn one of my appointments, I like to kick back with a Fat Tire, which is a pretty good Colorado microbrew.
Caveman,
Be sure to make the trip to the Shiner brewery. It’s worth it.
Glad to see Corsendonk and Pilsner Urquell made the list.
But my favorite is a beer brewed in Bruges called Straffe Hendrick, which, AFAIK, is not sold anywhere outside of Belgium.
Guinness (no contest)
Sapporo
Kirin Ichiban
[homer]
mmmmmmbeeeeeerdrool
[/homer]
Pete’s Wicked Red (before they quit making it), Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager, Sam Adams IPA and Carolina Pale Ale are up there for me, but my favorite is whatever happens to be in my mug. A local brewpub, Greenshield’s, has an Amber lager to kill for.
Beer Beer everywhere and not a drop to drink… damn work restrictions.
Some of my favorites.
Paulaner Oktoberfest
Paulaner Unfiltered mmmmmmmmmmmmm chewy
Newcastle Brown Ale
Has anyone tried Sam Adams Millenium brew? How was it? Why did you pay three digits for a beer?
Beers to Loathe:
Tequiza
Doc Otis (or any other lemonade brew)
The Beast /hijack have you noticed in all of the faces of death videos the people getting killed are usually drinking Milwaukee’s best? /end hijack
Flows like water around these parts, baby! Portland rules!
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a wonderful daily drinker. Bert Grant’s Scottish Ale is another one.
Holiday ales of merit: Full Sail’s Wassail and Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale pack a thick taste and nice buzz.
Homebrew and Ferrous are right – it is hard to narrow it down to only one. I can say that my favorite style of beer is bock.
I’ll do it by country (not comprehensive):
Belgium - Hoegaarden (white), Double and Triple Grimbergen (bock), and Lindeman’s Peche lambic
Germany - I’ll second Homebrew’s Spaten Franziskaner and add props for a trio of German bocks: Spaten Optimator, Paulaner Salvator, and Ayinger’s Maibock.
I enjoy Kaiserdom Rauchbier whenever I can find it. The smoky flavor really throws my Coors-Light-drinking friends for a loop when they sample Rauchbier!
England - Among stouts, Watney’s Cream Stout mops the floor with the likes of Guiness and Beamish. Honorable mention goes to the hard-to-find Thomas Hardy Ale, to Welsh Ale in the 17-oz. bottle, and to most all of Samuel Smith’s line.
Young’s Old Nick (as mentioned before in this thread) and Shepherd’s Neame Bishop’s Finger are also excellent.
Scotland - Another great stout – Mackeson’s XXX.
Switzerland - Everyone should try Samichlaus once in their life. A 34-proof beer that tastes great … wow!
USA - Samuel Adams Double Bock, though I haven’t seen it in a few years. Their Triple Bock in the cobalt-blue bottle is an interesting novelty beer similar to Samichlaus, only much more cloying. It’s very difficult to finish a Sam Adams Triple Bock at one sitting.
Blue Moon White is an excellent rendition of a Belgian-style white. The Texas brewery Celis made great whites, too – alas, they are no more.
I will think of dozens more later on. Props to those who mentioned Abita Turbodog and Dixie Blackened Voodoo (both hometown faves of mine!).
Gotta go with the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Having said that, though, there is a lot of good beer being made these days. I used to do it myself untill I decided it was too much work.
I swear to God, I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would pay good money for Corona. This highly overrated stuff doesn’t even come in a green or amber bottle, and it tastes like it. Miller also sucks and is overpriced as you’d expect from a company which spends zillions on advertising.
If you want a liquid thirst quencher on a hot day with a good price/quality ratio, go with Natural Lite (Bud lite in a different can for half the price) or Old Milwaukee lite. Old Milwaukee used to be skunk piss, but they have changed their formula in the past few years.
One final thought, applicable not only to beer: If you find that you think your favorite brand is the most heavily advertised one, you’d better expland your horizons; because the odds are that you are being taken for a ride.
Guinness, Gordon Biersch’s Marzen and Winter Wheat, Sam Adams (any), Grolsch, Spaten and, in a pinch, Miller Genuine Draft.
I’m gonna print out this thread and head on over to Beverages and More!!
I’m most partial to Moose Drool Brown ale from Missoula Montana. I had it skiing, and was hooked ever since. I also have a deep loving for Bohemia, from mexico. Domestically (non-micro) I like Henry Weinharts and Rolling Rock.
Mmmm… beeeer…
Lemme see…
From Germany I like Erdinger. From the U.K. i’d have to go with Bass Ale. Jamaican Red Stripe is good (We get it nice and fresh in FL.) From here in the states I’d honestly have to say the Icehouse is either really realy good when you crack one open, or it’s abosolute shite. Other American beers? Sam Adams has a few decent ones… I usually try to pick up their holiday sampler pack.
::wonders where pezpunk is on this thread::
Anchor Liberty Ale
and
Tupper’s Hop Pocket Ale
or
anything else where the hops get your attention.
One more reason to HATE the Miller Brewing Co.
Damn, that’s news to me! Celis was some great beer. Damn you, Miller!
Boags Premium - I’m not a beer connoisseur, but this stuff is gooooood!
or
Cascade Draught - Just your regular, after work, standard price, type of beer.