I realize I’m opening up a huge can o’worms here, but I think that, in order to go along with the parallel thread on mixed drinks, we should have one on beer.
In your respective minds, what constitutes a “good beer?” Relax, I won’t go snobby on you. I know that some people look down their noses at lighter beer, or American beer in general, or warm beer, or whatever. I promise not to belittle anyone for disagreeing with my opinions.
I like rich, malty beer. As I say, “I’m a stout and bitter man.” True in more than one sense, actually. Call me odd, too, but I am one American who likes certain of his beers warmer than most other Americans seem to. If it’s too cold, it loses a lot of flavor and mouthfeel, and the experience is much less satisfying for me. Perhaps the epitome of satisfying beer for me is Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, brewed by the North Coast Brewing Co. in Fort Bragg, CA. It’s absolutely black, passing no light whatsoever. The head is darker than many other beers. If drunk cool rather than cold, it has a rich, smooth, creamy mouthfeel, a bit of sweetness, a touch of chocolate flavor, lots of roast malt flavor, and lots of balancing hop bitterness. Good alcohol warmth, too, at 8.9%ABV.
But there’s lots of other beer I like too, from all parts of the country and abroad. I love lager and ale; stout and wiesse; bock and doppelbock. I guess you could say it’s a passion of mine.
A committee is a lifeform with six or more legs and no brain.
Good honest beer in fine company. Fine comany=people who drink the damned stuff and spare companions the sniffy/pretentious adjective-prone preciousness often associated with wine.
Grapes, grain, hops, water, time, human care and associated stuff settle (literally) into miraculous stuff. IMO the drive to identify “the” single malt, superlative vodka, finest-vine wine, perfect beer just plain stupidly (and artificially) limits the spectrum.
The icy, hoppy slosh of Bud (or whatever) on a hot day is no less fine or honorable than a pine-drenched retsina or a dense Spanish sherry or a yeasty IPA.
Sick to death of genealogical snobbery for drinks,
Veb
(savor it; you’re not marrying it or even going steady! Relax, already!)
I like a good “hoppy” ale! I just finished my second batch of “Weiss
Bier” that has wheat & barley. It’s very refreshing! I keep my brews at about 4.5% alcohol, as I don’t want my socks knocked off! I make a brew similar to SNPA, just a bit hoppier, that is my favorite.
Stop by sometime & try it!
The older I get, the more it’s worth it to spend the extra buck to drink good beer rather than Bud, Miller, or similar generic American beers. If that’s snobbery, so be it; I’ve drunk plenty of that stuff in the past, and it just doesn’t do anything for me anymore.
If I’m in an ethnic restaurant, I like drinking the beer of that country - Mexican beer with Mexican food, Thai beer with Thai food, whatever.
When I’m eating nothing in particular, I bounce back and forth between Corona, Beck’s, Negra Modelo, Nut Brown Ale, and a few others. When I was in Montana a few summers ago, the place we hung out at in Whitefish had some good regional porters that I haven’t been able to find back east.
The presidents of Miller, Coors, Anheuser-Busch and Guinness were at an international beer conference. They decided to all go to lunch together, and the waitress asked what they wanted to drink.
The president of Miller said without hesitation, “I’ll have a Miller, there’s nothing like a High Life.”
The president of Coors smiled and said, “I’ll have a Coors, brewed from pure Rocky Mountain spring water!”
The guy from Anheuser-Busch proudly said, “I’ll have a Budweiser, the King of Beers!”
The guy from Guinness glanced at his lunch mates and said, “I’ll have a Coke.”
The others looked at him like he had sprouted a new head. He just shrugged and said, “If you guys aren’t drinking beer, then neither will I.”
my favorite beer is an amber ale… I have a batch in the kitchen, that I brewed… unfortunately, I’m thinking it might be ruined… I think my son might have dropped something in it… but anyways, as far as store beer, my fav’s are Clancy’s, and Sleeman’s Honey Brown. I don’t like a very hoppy/bitter beer… ambers typically have a very low bitternes to them…
I don’t suffer from insanity…
I enjoy every minute of it!
The best beer is one that someone else is drinking.
I am a college student at a major Big Ten school, and I never believed that anything like this would happen to me…
…but I hate beer. Loathe it. God knows I’ve tried. I’ve had at least a sip of just about every beer that anyone I know has ever ordered. And I can’t stand the shit. I can only drink it when I’m too drunk off of something else to actually taste it. And it gives me really bad hangovers. The only time I’ve ever had an all-day headache was after the one night that I managed to finish all of two beers.
What can I say? I’m a mutant. Give me a mixed drink any day.
My favorites are Bell’s Amber Ale and their Two Hearted Ale, which has a good kick. It’s a micro out of Kalamazoo, MI, and therefore, I cannot get it back here in CA. So now I go for Red Tail Ale. Or Full Sail, which is also an Ale. Guess that makes me an ale drinker. I also enjoy stouts and a good lager.
For spending time with beer drinking friends, Fuller’s ESB, for poker games and similar social gatherings with a purpose, Carlsberg Elephant, for watching some entertainment, Giunness Stout (the canned draft - particulary good with a jigger of vodka) and for social events where I may need to exhibit staying power and reasonable judgement, Bud Lite.
Have you ever had any of the Lagunitas beers? They’re brewed in Petaluma, in Sonoma County. If you live in Alameda, the Safeways there should carry them. The IPA is, arguably, the best beer I’ve ever had. Also try the Dogtown Ale, the Hairy Eyeball Ale and the Bugtown Stout if you like heavy stouts. They’re a little pricey, but taste damn good!
Any kind of dark ale. Brooklyn Brown is my current favorite.
Here’s my official test: If it tastes better at room temperature than it does ice cold, it’s good beer. If not, there’s something wrong with it. In other words, you shouldn’t have to numb your taste buds to enjoy it.
“And thanks agin fur the plague, Porpentine.”
– mr. john
Guiness, again, wins here. Also, almost anything else dark, porters, stouts, etc…
As for the lighter stuff, Heineken, Dos Equis and I’ll second the above remark on Lagunitas. Thanks DD.
“Don’t bother to pack your bags, Or your map.
We won’t need them where we’re goin’,
We’re goin’ where the wind is blowin’.”
–
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but anyways, as far as store beer, my fav’s are Clancy’s, and Sleeman’s Honey Brown. I don’t like a very hoppy/bitter beer… ambers typically have a very low bitternes to them…