Bass. Anything else is less than perfect.
(That is, allowing for my ignorance of what h’aint been sampled yet, due to geographic limitations. (Bookmarks thread for the next holiday)
I love beer. And yes beer snobs are annoying. I have a fondness for dark ales (liking Fullers London Pride at the moment) but my beer desires vary according to my mood. Beer can just be so different. My everyday beers are typically Sierra Nevada, Newcastle, Shiner Bock or something similar. With Asian food I like Sapporo, and Sing Ha. Pacifico is a solid mexican beer for when I want something light. If I want something bitter I like Stone’s IPA.
But the best beer that I have **EVER **had, the one beer that **all **beer drinkers I know have loved, is this one. Never have I had a beer that was so satisfying on every level I would want a beer to satisfy. Goes well with food and alone. Has a great nose, clean crisp taste, and a wonderful finish that has just the slightest hint of honey. I like everything from that brewery, but La Fin Du Monde, it really is the end of the world.
NAF1138, I likes me some Fin Du Monde and have put away far too many Fuller’s with dinner. Definitely the best of the “large format” beers. 
By the time I get to the bottom of a Fuller’s, though, I’m usually giggling over the association of fullery with stale urine. “First you treat the wool with Fuller’s Earth, as a detergent, and then it’s on to the Fuller’s Ale.” No fault of the fine potable’s, of course – I’m just easily amused.
I’ve seen several local publications over the years have blind taste tests of various beers, using beer ‘experts’.
The usual result is that they can’t even reliably identify their own favorite beer, the one they drink every weekend, out of the crowd of beers. And there is generally no agreement at all on the ‘best’ beer.
So as a non-beer drinker, I suspect that there isn’t any ‘best’ beer. And that they probably all tase pretty much the same. Especially after the 3rd or 4th beer.
Silenus - that’s Shepherd Neame, of Fashersham in Kent. Most of their beers are reasonable, although some Kentish locals refer to it as (excuse me) “shit-and-scream” after having bad experiences.
My personal favourite, at the moment, is Westmalle Dubbel, although any Trappist would do or a really good bitter gueuze.
There is much to be said for the beers in California: Speakeasy’s Big Daddy IPA springs to mind.
Once you start paying big bucks for the Trappist stuff and the like, then there are going to be dozens of sublime beers. However, for a basic, mainstream beer, my favourite is Tooheys Old (which is hard to get out of the Sydney region). It’s a big, ballsy, black, malty ale. Thirst-quenching without being an insipid “lawnmower beer”, doesn’t attract a premium price, and you can readily get it on tap in most pubs in my home state. Given that most Australian mainstream beers are overly-sweet lagers, this one is a godsend.
When it comes to pilsners, I’m very partial to Zywiec. In bottles it’s not as good as on tap, of course, but for that I think you’ll have to go to Krakow. Admittedly my taste for Zywiec is entangled in my nostalgia for my time in Krakow.
I’ve only found it at Beverages and More in California, and then only in a six pack of small bottles.
I agree with all of those who put Bass Ale at or near the top of their lists, especially when it’s on tap. I also love Guinness, but it doesn’t quite taste the same in the states as it does in Ireland. I don’t know if I’m imagining a taste difference, but enjoying a draught Guinness at an pub in Ireland is a little slice of heaven. And Guinness in a bottle or a “pub draft” can is a sacrilege.
If I ever find myself in British Columbia, I always order some Okanagan Springs Pale Ale. Mmmmmm, yummy.
Other dependable brands- Sierra Nevada, Dogfish Head, New Amsterdam, Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale.
I could be wildly misinformed here, but I recall being told by someone in the liquor industry that most of the Guinness consumed in the states is made in Canada by the Labatt’s brewery, not in Ireland at St. James Gate. If that’s really the case, then I can see why there would be a huge difference between the stuff we get here and the stuff you can get over there.
Saw some good picks in here; just thought I’d add my two cents. In descending order of preference:
- Paulaner Oktoberfest Martzen
- Guinness (Draft; from the bottle just doesn’t compare.)
- He’brew (The Chosen Beer.) ;j
- Magic Hat #9
- Sam Adams Winter Lager
Adam
“Best” is so subjective, but those that haven’t already been mentioned that I’ll usually choose over anything else are Newcastle Brown Ale, Kirin, Straffe Hendrik, Shiner Blonde, and almost anything that comes from Belgium. It sounds elitist, I know, but outside of Shiner, I tend to avoid anything mass-produced in America like the plague.
I’m not usually one for fruity beers, but Unibroue Ephemere from Canada’s a good one.
I’ve also recently discovered Ghurka beer from Nepal. I’d heartily recommend it!
I refuse to ackownledge that Pilsner Urquell or Guinness is even available any way but on tap. If you find either of these freshly tapped, they are indeed sublime pleasures.
It’s impossible to say what is the best beer because of the wide variety of styles. The best Pils, the best Trappist and the best English Mild Ale are so different, they can’t even be compared.
Trying to narrow it down, I might be able to say Porter is perphaps my favorite style. Of Porters, the short-lived but tasty Flagg was great. Boulevard Brewery’s Bully Porter is terrific and Sierra Nevada’s Porter is among the best I’ve ever had. My own homebrewed Chocolate Porter is my favorite, though.
Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale is, IMHO, untouchable in the American Pale Ale category (a variation on the IPA).
Pyramid’s Hefeweisen is hard to beat.
Dos Equis is my favorite of the Mexican Munich style lagers.
I could go on and on and on; but I’ll stop there.
The best beer depends on the setting. Sometimes the best beer is a freezing cold Coors, if it is 98° and I just got done roofing the barn.
Now that it is below freezing every morning I am leaning toward dark, alcoholic beers. Baltic Porters and Imperial Stouts made up the bulk of my purchases yesterday.
Corona is never the best beer though.
Umm, noooo, they don’t.
On this page alone, people have mentioned at least a dozen distinct beer tastes that I’d like to think that nobody would think “taste the same”, blindfolded or not…nobody is going to drink a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and a Westmalle Triple and not distinguish between the tastes. .That rudimentary tasting doesn’t even take “an expert”, just being born with taste buds.
No kidding. I can pick Sierra Nevada Pale out of any number of other beers, blindfolded and dead-drunk. Of course, I am BJCP certified, too, so that’s cheating!
Anybody who can’t differentiate between Newcastle and Urquell is not someone I’d care to drink with.
My kindred spirit! Almost any beer on tap beats the bottled version, to my taste. Sierra Nevada is great in a bottle, but nectar on tap. And if a brew pub offers a cask ale, that is always my first (and usually subsequent) choice.
At the end of a hot day, a glass of crisp wheat beer with a slice of lemon floating on top… Aah, summer can’t come soon enough for me. Almost any wheat beer works for me here.
I used to love Bass on tap, but for several years I’ve had some bad luck there. I don’t know if they have changed the brewing, or if I am just getting bad batches.
Harpoon makes my favorite Octoberfest.
For those in the Massachusetts area, the Berkshire Brewing Company makes a Drayman Porter that is to die for.
I suspect that t-bonham’s comment may have pertained only to the American style pilseners. I can’t imagine that it is applicable across beer types…
Okay, now it’s my turn to question your tastes. 
Corona? Sam Adams? What’s the backup, Coors Light? Shiner Bock is at least decent brew but it doesn’t make my toes tingle; I can name half a dozen bocks offhand that would leave it crying in the dust. Get thee down to Barney’s, lass, and take a run through their beer cabinet. (Forget the Beer Bragger’s Wall; they make you drink Zima, O’Douls, and that other non-beer malt beverage crap which is just all flavors of wrong.)
I have to agree with the OP that Delirium Tremens is crazy good, though at 9% alcohol it’s closer to a malt liquor than what most would consider beer; let the imbiber be warned. 5 year old Chimay Blue (Grande Réserve) is a pretty awesome Trappist ale, too. Hoegaarden Witbier (the only kind regularly available in the US) is outstanding and can sometimes be found on tap at your better establishments. Spaten Optimator may be the best doppelbock I’ve found. And Samual Smiths Nut Brown Ale is an outstanding example of its type.
If I have to go with something that’s a tap standard, it’ll be Newcastle, Bass, or Guinness (though I’m routinely disgusted by the lack of delicacy and compassion with which most barfolk handle the Guinness). And if I’m in Milwaukee I’ll partake in one of the most excellent Sprecher beers, especially the Amber, the Pub Ale, or the Black Bavarian when it’s in season.
Corona? ::shakes head:: Corona?? Not even Pacifico? Just…I mean…but…ah, heck, drink what you want. Just consider the options next time you sally up to the bar. I’ll buy you a beer or a few, gratis, if you’ll just open your palette to something better.
Stranger
[thread=345287]Here[/thread]'s a recent thread on beer recommendations, and [post=6807609]here[/post]'s my post which expands somewhat on the beers mentioned above. I’m not above partaking in a PBR or even a Blatz :eek: in the right setting, but since my current vocation offers me a comfortable amount of discressionary income I’ve tended toward the more pricey stuff. The all complex life on Earth could be destroyed by an undetected asteriod or gamma ray burst tomorrow; do you really want to die with a MGD in your hand? 
Stranger
I agree with previous folks who have said that ‘best beer’ is subjective. Depends on what you like.
My favorite all-time beer is Rodenbach Grand Cru. So good, but hard to get and expensive. I’ve not had one in about 4 years, because I just can’t get it around here.
I like the lambics a lot too, and treat myself to one occasionally.
Bass, Newcastle and Guinness on tap - more easily accessible, and all good.
Brooklyn Brewery beers are generally tasty. I especially like the lager and black chocolate stout.
Great Lakes Brewery also makes some fine beers. A couple years ago they made a belgian ale in honor of their 15th anniversary - it was absolutely awesome and how I wish they’d made more … I do have some of their Holy Moses white ale in the fridge as consolation, though.
I miss Celis White … I know it’s being made now by a brewery in Michigan, but I’ve not had any since the change and I don’t know if it is now as good as it once was.
So many beers, so little time.
Especially since it’s not really a Bock. It’s more of an Amber Lager. It’s called that because of Texas’ stupid alcohol regulations. For instance any beer with an alcohol content of 4% by weight or more is label an Ale or malt liquor, regardless of whether it is an Ale or a Lager.