no sense speaking of our worse beer experience w/o our best
Again from Belgium
Kriek, Duivel, De Koninck, Chimay, Delirium Tremens, and Grimbergen are all excellent
The first time I tasted Usher’s Ruby Ale I cried out in joy and banged my fists on the table. I must have sounded like the annoying cow in the Clairol Herbal Essences ad.
The richness of the flavour caught me by surprise, so I’d say that was the beer that most exceeded my expectations, rather than the best beer.
I prefer different beers for different occasions, so I’m hesitant about picking out an overall Best In Show.
I’m not a beer cononsoire(sp?) but the best I’ve had is Amber Bock. It has a sweet taste I like.
I second this!
Well, it’s a rather sad story in a way. I don’t know what the best beer I ever had was. I hope some of the British posters will read this and be able to help.
It happened in York – a city where I arrived as a solo backpacker, met one of the locals, and ended up staying much longer than I’d anticipated. On our first date we ended up at one of the local pubs; unfortunately I don’t remember exactly where. As I’d never heard of any of the brews on tap except Fosters, and I knew I didn’t want that, I asked him to recommend something – the darker the better. Well, it was my first experience with real British beer (Bass and Newcastle don’t count) and no doubt the surprise factor came into play, but I remember it as pure ambrosia – rich and mellow, neither sweet nor bitter but with a sort of earthy flavor. It reminded me very vaguely of fresh bread, and even more vaguely of mushrooms, but really it just tasted like itself – and like the way the ground smells after a summer rain. I’d never known anything like it before. Knocked me absolutely flat. Needless to say I fell rather hard for the man who introduced me to this stuff, and have stayed that way ever since.
And I haven’t the slightest idea what it was. My boyfriend doesn’t remember either, even though it was his idea in the first place. I spent most of my last week in England trying pints of all sorts of things, to no avail (the closest was probably Brains Dark, but that was a pale shadow of what I remember). If you think you recognize this beer, PLEASE tell me what it is and I’ll buy you a pint next time I’m over there…
Free.
Yer pal,
Satan
*TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
Six months, six days, 1 hour, 21 minutes and 35 seconds.
7562 cigarettes not smoked, saving $945.28.
Extra time with Drain Bead: 3 weeks, 5 days, 6 hours, 10 minutes.
I slept with a moderator!*
Ringnes, from Norway.
Production Beers:
Tuborg Green Label (Danish)
Carlsberg Black and Gold Special Label (Danish)
Harp Lager (Irish)
Pilsner (El Salvador)
Monterey (Mexico)
Local Microbrew: (SF Bay Area)
Stoddard’s Kolsch
Michelob Light
Pete’s Wicked Summer Brew
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Anchor Steam 1999 Christmas Ale
Amstel Light (only with Italian food)
McEwans Scotch Ale is delectable.
In my drinking days, Beck’s was the best ordinary beer. By that, I mean the beer I drank regularly, and the standard by which others were judged.
Moretti’s (Italy) for times when money was not a factor.
I liked my beer very bitter and without chunks.
Samuel Adams Scotch Ale.
At least 5 of the top 10 beers I’ve ever had are from Samuel Adams. Boston Ale, Boston Lager, and I.P.A. are all excellent, but Scotch Ale is the best.
Bavarian “Rausch” bier. Dark, smooth full-bodied bier, with a hint of wood-smoke flavor. Come to think of it, I haven’t met a Bavarian or Czek bier that I didn’t like.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t meet America’s “purity” or “hygiene” standards, and is illegal for import. :rolleyes:
I don’t know how it ranks internationally, but China’s Tsingtao was suprisingly good.
And Italy, best known for it’s wines, has some remarkably drinkable birras; the aforementioned Morreti’s being premium, but Peroni (their “Budweiser”, ie. cheap, mass produced) is quite good also, compared to American beers.
Americans tend to think Corona and Tecate are Mexico’s finest; they just haven’t tasted Dos Equis or Modelo. One of my amigos once told me that Corona is what Mexicans piss after drinking real beer
Most American beers (excepting certain micro brews like Colorado’s “Laughing Lab” Scottish Ale) is piss-water compared to European/foreign beers (damned temperance unions!).
ExTank
“Mostly Harmless :wally”
The winner at the “Great British Beer Festival” this year was Moorhead Black Cat, IIRC, and it was absolutely superb. I doubt I’ll get to try it again; it’s a very small brewery, and generally the winners sell out to major brewery chains or go bust trying to meet demand.
Ok, then it would have to be Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale.
http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/5_breweries/samsmith.html
Complex, fruity, earthy and neither too sweet nor too bitter. Simply fabulous.
As was mentioned before, most Belgian ales are very good too. If you’re in The States try Ommegang’s stuff. It’s brewed in Cooperstown, NY so it’s about half the price of a real Belgian.
Schlitz.
No, wait. That’s not right… Actually, I like Pete’s Wicked Summer Brew, Killian’s, and Foster’s. I’ve had some pretty good microbrews in my time, but I can’t remember their names right offhand. My favorite beer name, BTW, is Red Ass Ale, complete with a picture of a red donkey on the front of the bottle. But that’s another thread, I guess.
My Vote for the best beer for me would have to be Corona because that’s the only ‘non-wizz’ beer I have had.
Alaskan Smoked Porter. There’s a lot of deprivation one has to put up with up here (the closest issue of the Fortean Times is 800 miles away) but we make up for it by having the best beer on the planet.
But their Special Amber is really good with food.
Czech beer. Simply awesome. There is a reason why this has the hishest per-capita consumption of beer in the world (10 million people, 5 million litres of beer A DAY). Smooth, refreshing, and dirt-cheap. $0.25 for a half litre at most pubs- you can go out all evening with a group of friends and pay less than the cost of 1 beer in London or New York. My favorites: Velkepopovicke Kozel, Velvet (just like the name says), Radegast, Gambrinus (same company that makes Pilsner Urquell, but Gambrinus is much better), Staropramen, Litovel, Starobrno, awwww heck, most of them.
It is worth the trip to Prague. Come try them out!
-T