Newcastle has an absolutely fantastic caramel-like flavor to it, really rich and smooth. It’s also really easy to find. I know for certain that supermarkets and liquor stores in most of the US, Canada, UK, and Japan will carry it. I’m sure you can find it wherever you might be.
Less easy to find is Coedo Beniaka, which is made with the usual malt, barley, and hops, but is flavored with Kawagoe’s famous sweet potatoes. It gives a beer that is dark red in color, incredibly flavorful, easy and smooth to drink (belying its slightly high alcohol content), with a bit of a sweet, earthy tone. It’s a bit pricey, (4 dollars per 333ml bottle) and I am not sure if they will ship it overseas, but, man, it is, without a doubt, my favorite flavored beer.
That being said, Yuengling is absolutely fantastic. I had never had it until a Pittsburgh friend introduced me to it. Really good stuff, that is.
Seconding Bell’s Oberon, although it’s out of season right now. Bell’s Winter is a damn good substitute, though, and when one goes away the other comes back.
If you want something a little stronger (and not wheat) try Dogfish Head’s Raison d’Etre.
The best lambics I’ve ever tasted were at the microbreweries where they were crafted. Where are ypu located? We could steer you towards something wonderful if we knew your vicinity.
Eww! Looks like that bum soiled his pants. Ohh, wait–no, he just spilled Guinness on himself.
A wheat beer that wheat beer fans tend to hate is Widmer’s Hefeweizen. It was my “training wheels” beer, the one that I drank when I was learning to like beer (which mainly involved getting over the bitterness of the hops). It’s not very bitter, it’s great with a wedge of lemon, and you can’t beat it on a hot sunny day.
I rarely buy it now, because I like hoppy beers so much, but once in awhile in the summer it really hits the spot.
Another “training wheels” beer you should be able to find at the grocery store is Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. I loved it when I was [just starting to drink beer] years old, but it’s a little sweet for my taste nowadays. Goose Island Nut Brown Ale is pretty easy to find in the Midwest and it’s pretty user-friendly if you want something darker. If you’re looking for something more exotic, go to the biggest liquor store in town and ask someone there (even a fellow customer). But generally, brown ales are great winter beers if you want some flavor without a lot of hoppiness.
That one was a little to cherry-y for me. Another great training wheels beer is Blue Moon. Another is Abita Purple Haze. It’s billed as a raspberry wheat beer and while I could just barely detect the raspberry, it’s a very good wheat beer.
Again, we need a location, that’ll help quite a bit.
Also, are you looking for beer that has more beer flavor then other flavor, about equal, more other flavor then beer flavor or are you looking for beer that doesn’t even resemble beer in it’s taste (like a lambic)?
Are you looking for hard to find stuff?
Are you looking to be able to go to a bar and order something (which would greatly change what we can suggest to you).
Oh, one more, if you can find it, Liene’s Berry Weiss is almost like a wine cooler.
Oh, that reminds me. When I was a teenager, the only beer my girlfriend would drink was Pete’s Strawberry Blonde. It was too sweet/fruity for me to drink more than one but the first sip was always really good.
It doesn’t look like anybody has mentioned any of Rogue’s beers yet. They are out of Newport, Oregon, but they’re easily available here in Indiana. I’ve also seen them in Florida, so I imagine it’s distributed nationwide. You’ll usually see them in 22 oz bottles in stores with a large selection of good beers. I would recommend the Hazelnut Brown, which is sweet, smooth and nutty. I generally don’t care for nut brown style beers (especially Newcastle–referring to what Left Hand of Dorkness said about Guinness, I would call Newcastle the Guinness of nut browns), but I’m usually alright with this one.
Rogue also makes a double chocolate stout (or porter? Maybe they make a mocha porter as well…) brewed with real chocolate in addition to chocolate malts. I’m not as wild about it, but you might want to find the Rogue section of a beer aisle somewhere and start trying things out.
I have Rogue in my store in Wisconsin, it’s distributed nationally as far as I know.
Dead Guy isn’t a beginner beer, it’s a maibock, but it’s pretty hoppy, not like an IPA, but I think it’s similar to an amber.
Another tip, PALE as in pale ale or india pale ale has nothing to do with the flavor.
Another great brand to look for is Left Hand. I haven’t found a Left Hand beer I don’t like. Even styles I would typically go no where near, Left Hand does such a good job of balancing them, they’re are still quite drinkable.
Good call, the OP should probably stick to the Rogue beers I mentioned. I guess I just assumed that the name “Dead Guy” would be enough of a warning (not to mention Rogue’s chipotle ale).