Lately I’ve been tossing back a lot of Black Hart Dry Irish Stout.
Also like:
Black Butte Porter (Deschutes Brewing)
Pilsner (James Squire only)
ESB (Red Hook)
Kiltlifter (Pike Brewing)
Moose Juice (don’t know the brewer, and no, it’s not Moose Drool)
Goat Scroat (uncle’s brew)
Abbey Ale (New Belgian Brewing)
Hazelnut Brown Nectar (Rogue)
Young’s Chocolate Stout
Shiner Bock
Guiness
Bass Ale
and sometimes
Stoney Creek Vanilla Porter
Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
I’m a Full Spectrum Beerslut[sup]tm[/sup]
When moving the lawn on a 92 degree day, nothings better than a Budweiser…
When I’m sitting down to a bowl of Chili on a cold day in October, nothing’s better than a Doppelbach.
I’ve even made my own beer. It’s amazing the crap you’ll drink cause you made it yourself!
Rickard’s Red… nobody else for Rickard’s Red? Guess I’ll have to finish the pitcher myself…
I’m too young to drink here in the US, but occasionally my dad will offer me a half-can, or whatever he hasn’t finished. I usually don’t accept, because dad generally drinks Miller Lite and the like. He got a ‘Beers of the World’ variety case one birthday, and didn’t like most of them. Halfway through a certain bottle, he gave up on it. I took a sip.
Ohhh. Yeah.
I set it down, and can’t believe my tounge. I reach for the bottle again–and knock it right on the floor. Eight ounces of heaven, and the dog’s lapping it up. And I won’t taste it again for five years. I won’t forget, though: remember ‘Spaten.’
Newcastle Nut Brown Ale
Sierra Nevada India Pale Ale
Amstel. NOT Amstel Light. Drank it exclusively in Egypt and I still (20 yrs later) haven’t found anything close.
Wish I could get it here. All they sell is Light.
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is certainly my dependable stand-by: almost always available, tasty, fresh, enough of a whallop to innure me to any annoying social occassion. I would argue it is one of the best domestically brewed beers there is.
When I can get them, and feel like a treat, I will eagerly snarf up any Delerium Tremens Tripel or Orval Trappist Ale that happen to be around. But if I’m just grabbing one after work I can be perfectly content with any of:
Paulaner Munich Lager
Spaten Marzen Oktoberfest
Hoegaarden White
Mendocino Red Tail
Pyramid DPA
Bass Ale
Harp Lager
and Newcastle, Weihenstephaner, Pilsner Urquell or any pale ale can cover me in a pinch. I’m pretty adaptable, so long as they’re tolerably good. Which brings us to:
Of the domestic macrobrews, I find Budweiser the most palatable-I will drink it cheerfully when necessary; same with the big Japanese beers. Miller is marginally acceptable, like if I’ve already put back a six-pack of something good and thus had my taste-buds and good judgement shot to hell. I just loved Henry Weinhards during college (good beer! 3.50 a pack!) but either I’ve just lost my taste for it, or it’s just lost its taste. Coors is impossible, I have tried and failed many a desperate 3 am at a party, after the fridge has been cleared of the good stuff and all the liquor stores are closed.
Old Peculier (not that I can afford it)
Anchor Liberty Ale
And just about anything from the North Coast Brewery
Miller Lite? Labatt’s Blue?
What’s wrong with you folks?
Guinness, Newcastle Brown Ale, Boddington’s are superior beers.
Kronenburg, Bass, Grolsch… these are also very good.
Hacker-Pschorr, Stella Artois, Heineken… are nothing special.
Well, I gotta say, I’m impressed. Most of my favorites have already made the list (anything by Rogue, any Deschutes, Big Sky Brewing- the Moose Drool folks, Anderson Valley, etc.) There are two brews I gotta put in a vote for, though:
-Any beer made by the Hair of the Dog Brewing Company. This stuff is gnarly- it’s meant to be bottle-conditioned for a few years before being drunk, which raises its alcohol content from about 10% at bottling to somewhere in the neighborhood of 18-20%. Even straight from the brewery, this stuff packs a helluva punch.
-Eye of the Hawk Ale, by Mendocino Brewing. This beer is just beautiful, all the way around. It’s a nice, assertive brown ale which is just as good warm as cold. Now there’s a beer I like.
By the way, Oregon’s one of the best places around for good beer. The scenery ain’t bad, either.
M.
Piffle. May God strike you down where you stand for your sacrilege.
Other than that, I like Yuengling Traditional Lager, Harp, and Guinness.
The worst beer in the history of brewing is Shaeffer’s, with Pabst and Schlitz not far behind.
Some of you might want to check and see if you are, in fact, zombies. If your piss is no warmer than real pub Ale, you may be dead. Either that, or the bar is running your beer through the toaster because they hate you.
Cheap beer of choice : Leinenkugel’s. It’s usually cheaper than major brands, and unlike them it actually has flavor.
Import of choice : Most any Belgian double or trippel. Gulden Draak is the best I can find around here. Pay out the nose for them here in the Midwest, but man is it worth it.
Other than that, I will concur that there are dozens of world class beers to be had at small breweries all across the US. And also some really crappy ones to be had at small breweries all across the US. But I can usually find enough good ones that I no longer have to be jealous of those lucky souls living in the traditionally beer rich lands of Europe.
Beer snob pet peeve… You could always tell a non-beer snob trying to buy his way into the club when he showed up with bottles of Guiness. You could then condescendingly inform him that the ONLY way to buy Guiness for home consumption was in cans. The Widget don’t you know. Right, run along. It was a fun game. But now Guiness ruined my fun by putting widgets in bottles also. How will I know if the person bringing the Guiness bottles knows what he is doing or just got lucky? Where’s the snob appeal in that?
My favorite beer? Boulevard Irish Ale (Boulevard Brewing Co)
My favorite name for a beer? Arrogant Bastard Ale (Stone Brewing Co)
The VT brewery makes something called Forbidden Fruit which is just unbelieveable. Also, belgian Lambic is damn tasty, particularly black cherry.
I’m not much of a beer proper fan, but I do snork down Hard Cola at an impressive rate.
Only the occasional Aussie beer on the list an nat a kiwi one anywhere.
Montieths Black has to be a staple.
Montieths Summer ale is something a bit different. yum
Macs Copperhop is good, but I prefer
Mike’s mild ale. Very hard to find even in NZ, but if you happen to be driving past the brewery then you can always pop in for a free sample. It has no preservatives and is not pasteurised so it only lasts a couple of weeks. Impossible to stock up.
Galbraiths stout on tap. Luvverly.
For the lagers, I’ll usually go for an import. Mostly Stella Artois, but occasionally Hahn
I rotate between
Guinness
Spaten Optimator
Newcastle
Fat Tire
Shiner Bock
Negra Modelo
and the very occasional light beer (Shiner Blonde or Sunshine, preferably). Honey Brown’s good also, but it’s almost like a watered-down Newcastle, so it doesn’t make my “best of” list.
Is it rare for women to drink dark beer? I get odd looks from bartenders/waitstaff, like “Are you sure…?” Maybe I just don’t look like the type to drink dark beer, or something.
One of the nice parts of living in the Seattle area is an abundance of excellent micro breweries.
Red Hook ESB
Scuttlebutt Homeport Blonde
Pyramid Coastline Ale
Pike Brewing Naughty Nellie’s Ale
And Sam Adams for a mass produce brew.
Walk into any little guesthouse, bar or hotel in Germany and just ask for a “beer.” You will get the local brew. Half of them will be Loewenbreu Someplace-or-another. With few exceptions they will all be just wonderful. Since it was my local brew I am particularly fond of BBK, Bavarian Brew Kaiserslautern. The local brews are so much better than the national and international beers that there is no fair comparison. We Americans have been spoiled by incipient, weak spined, cheap ingredient or outrageously expensive national brands and by imports that have endured a trans-Atlantic boat trip. Screw ‘em all. Give me a fresh drawn glass of BBK in some quiet guesthouse in Landstuhl or in the woods behind K-town.