I’ve read about Yuengling on this site but can’t seem to find it around here; I’m hoping I’ll be able to pick some up when I head south of the border in a few weeks. In the meantime I thought I’d share a few favourites and solicit your opinions. Maybe I’ll have a longer shopping list for the trip .
One of my all-times faves is Innis & Gunn a very smooth Scottish beer, very little aftertaste. It’s oak-aged and you can taste a bit of vanilla in it. The brewer’s brother was the rep at a local beer festival recently and you could see how much pride they take in their beer. He was very perturbed when anyone brought him a glass with the remnants of another beer at the bottom, the only booth where they insisted on rinsing the glass before filling it.
If you like stouts, we have a great one here called St-Ambroise, not sure how widely available it is. It’s quite dark and bitter. It’s an oatmeal stout, which doesn’t sound very appealing but trust me this is an excellent beer.
When I can’t find anything new and interesting to try I usually go with Guinness or a good Belgian beer such as De Koninck. So let’s hear about your beer of choice…
Of course, as a Californian, I am morally obligated to state, without question, that Sierra Nevada Pale is the single greatest beer in the Universe. I’d say that anyway, but I think it’s in the California Constitution somewhere.
For a slightly different taste, I really like Buffalo Bill’s Orange Blossom Cream Ale.
When I lived in New Zealand I lived two blocks from the Speight’s plant in Dunedin. Speight’s brews a decent lager-style ‘Gold Medal Ale’ but its real shining star is its ‘Old Dark’ which, I’ve just learned, is a porter-style beer.
Now, I live in Calgary. I’ve not yet found anything even close to Speight’s Old Dark anywhere near here. Any NZ dopers feel like putting together a care package? I mostly just drink Kokanee these days.
Looks good but this is the one that caught my eye. I’m impressed with their website, bitterness units, food pairing - other breweries need to take notes!
I conducted a Beer Madness contest in this forum a few months ago, Yuengling did very well fininshing in the top 4. I received a 6 pack of Pennsylvania’s best from a fellow doper a few weeks after the contest ended, I enjoyed it very much. As far as local beers, my preference is for Redhood ESB or Pyramid Hefenweisen. I just had my growler jug filled with Buttface Ale, I will enjoy a couple glasses tomorrow with a ribeye steak I picked up today.
When I lived in NJ and PA, Yeungling was one of my favorites, and Sam Adams was my ‘go to’ beer. Now that I’m in CA, the choices seem almost limitless!
Now my ‘go to’ beer is absolutely SNPA. It’s the perfect every night beer. My all time fave right now though is probably Russian River Brewing Company’s Pliny the Elder, followed by or damn near tied with their Blind Pig. I may head over to the brewpub tonight, and I’ll definitely be there tomorrow as a friend’s band is playing and I promised I’d be there.
Other regulars are Lagunitas Pale Ale (on tap right now; this is the beer I’m sipping as I type this) and IPA, Bear Republic’s Racer Five, And Third Street Alework’s Bodega head. All local.
I scoff at your local brews and brewpubs. Yes, I said scoff! I happen to live in the state with the greatest amount of micro-breweries and brewpubs per capita. Hell, I have three brewpubs/taprooms within walking distance of my apartment, and several more in less than an hour’s drive. And then there’s also the microbreweries. Within Burlington I have Switchback and Magic Hat, and the rest of the state has Otter Creek, Harpoon, Long Trail, Rock Art, Trout River, and several others, some of which are spin-offs are the aforementioned ones (like Wolaver’s and Woodchuck Cider.)
Come up here and have a Switchback (because it’s the awesomest beer since awesome came to awesome-town.) I’d send you a bottle…but it’s not bottled. The brewmaster/owner is so concerned about quality over quantity/money, that he only makes kegs.
When I was still in New Brunswick, one of my favorite ‘basic beers’ was Clancy’s Amber Ale… I’m told it had wheat in it, to give a distinctive taste… I miss my Clancy’s…
I was also a fan of St. Ambroise back home, and it’s available here in Alberta, in bottles.
I’ve tried the Innis & Gunn since I’ve been out here, and agree with you that it’s a good beer, although an occasional one for me.
Two beers I’ve discovered recently, that are quite good, are by Mill Street Brewery. They are the Tankhouse Ale, which is a nice reddish beer, and the Coffee Porter, which is almost as dark as a stout.
My standard beer of choice these days is Smithwick’s, which is brewed by the friendly folks of Guinness.
If you make it back any time soon you should check out Picaroon’s a Fredericton brewery or Pump House in Moncton. NB has come a long way in terms of breweries. Didn’t mention them in the OP since their not widely available yet, Picaroon’s Irish Red is great.
I’m a big fan of Yuengling and am drinking one now, but lately I’ve shifted to wheat beers. I usually drink Blue Moon because that is what I can find most often, but I’ll often try any local wheat.
One thing about Yuengling: I find it doesn’t travel well. The farther you go from the brewery the less I like it.
Interesting, I have no idea where the brewery is and would likely not have heard of it if it hadn’t been for racer72’s beer madness thread a while back. I’m traveling to Conn, NJ, NY soon, any one spot you’d recommend as being better than the others to give Yuengling a taste test?
Sometimes the best tasting beer has more to do with context than anything else. Like the time my buddy secretly brought a couple of Fosters Oil cans on a backpacking trip and “discovered” them in an alpine stream.
I’d cry if they’d sell Yuengling here in the midwest, the world’s most insular beer market. Shit, we pay $7 for a sixer of *Shiner * here. Every time I have one of my East Cost living jarhead brothers come home they’re packing three or four cases of it for me.
Tonight though I roll with Pabst Blue Ribbon. Sometimes it’s nice to recall life before microbrews. Pabst has that honest canned beer flavor and it’s hard to beat the price. To be fair though I picked up a case when it was too damned hot to drink fancy beer and I’m killing it off. Lawnmowing beer and 90 degree midwest days can be some good times.
I like Blue Moon, and it’s often at the top of my list depending on the selection at a given bar/grocery store. That said, Hoegaarden is the best. (Very similar to Blue Moon, of course.)
I also find Yuengling to be very hit-or-miss, at least on tap. Sometimes is incredible, sometimes it’s kinda bitter and unappealing, and usually it’s somewhere in between. Good beer overall, though.
I used to be a semi-regular at the Pumphouse… my favorite of theirs is the Fire Chief’s Red… if ever you get a chance to get your hands on some Boreale Rousse, it’s very similar, and full of beery goodness from the Gods.
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I mostly just drink Kokanee these days.
