Beer Discussion Thread

I don't think there are any threads like this (if there are let me know and I will delete). The purpose of this thread is so those of us who have recently tried new beers, or those of who have a type of beer to recommend one another, can post their thoughts and preferences.

I guess it would also be relevant to post your location if it's not under your name, since some beers are only available in certain locations. (I'm in US)

Personally, I've been trying a lot of Samuel Adams products lately, and I have to say they are consistently good. In the last couple months I've had:

Summer Ale - good beer, I like ales a lot
Octoberfest - a lot of flavor, good finish
Winter Lager - also a lot of flavor, unique taste
Cream Stout - I am not a big fan of stouts, but it's a little better than the Schlafly's Oatmeal Stout I tried...still not my preference
Boston Lager - always a good lager choice

A lot of Sam Adams products have a lot of flavor. I also like the Schafly's varieties:

Oktoberfest - good, not as much flavor as the Sam Adams version though
Hefeweizen - alright, seems like a glorified light beer
Pale Ale - pretty good, solid beer
Dry-Hopped APA - I really liked this for some reason, it has a bitter aftertaste, but for whatever reason I didn't mind the bitterness as much as I normally do

Assorted/Miscellaneous:
Budweiser American Ale - I loved it the first time I had it, but my enjoyment has decreased every subsequent time...not sure why
Killians' Irish Red - nothing really stood out too much for me with this one
Full Moon (Blue Moon winter brew) - good stuff, solid choice, although again, not quite the flavor of the Sam Adams variety

Haha, thanks I guess. I just turned 21 in March, so my roommate and I have been trying all kinds of new beers in the months since then. Just about every time we go grocery shopping we pick up a new 6-pack of a new variety.

Right now I'm drinking that Cream Stout, and it's just not my thing. It's not bad, but I had higher hopes reading the description.

asahi/thread

I love beer.

It's really cool to delve into beer, because there are so many fucking varieties, and so many textures and flavors.

It's hard for me to drink light beers now (for the occasional times when I drink to get drunk) since I've gotten so used to the flavor and fullness of heavy beers.

Can this be moved to ACL? Beer is part of culture, and Lord knows that subforum needs something besides the manga and video game threads.

I used to be into beer a lot more than I have been recently. Recently, I've been more into single malts, red wine, and port. But my girlfriend is rapidly becoming a beer snob, so I get tastes of stuff all the time.

Things she's had that I really like:
Three Floyds Alpha King IPA
Bell's Amber Ale
Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA

I've had some of the Great Lakes Brewing beers, which on the whole I think are pretty solid.

I've had the Dogfish Head 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs. The 60 was pretty good, but the 90 was too hoppy for me, and I love hops. One wonders what the 120 Minute would be like.

My favorite brewery is Bell's in Kalamazoo, MI.
Oberon is the perfect summer beer.
And my favorite, Two Hearted Ale, is just outstanding in general.

Has anyone had any particularly good Barley Wines? Sometimes they're called Old Ales. They're usually 10% or more alc. by vol., and are very bubbly. I've never had one, but they are expensive, so if I buy one, I want it to be a good one.

Geez, I've never heard of any of those.

Exactly the same way. I usually drink black beers or stouts now, so when someone hands me a pale ale or a lager, I barely taste it. I could barely drink them when I first started, now they taste like rusty water.

Stone IPA
Stone's Arrogant Bastard
Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (still have not had the 90 min)
New Belgium Fat Tire
New Belgium 1554
Real Ale - Rio Blanco Pale Ale (Microbrew here in TX)
Warsteiner Dunkle
Sam Adams: Cherry Wheat, Boston Ale, Boston Lager, Brown Ale, Black Lager
Grolsh
Paulaner
Spaten: Oktoberfest, Optimator


just to name a few..

That's how big the world of beer is. I've actually watched two beer nuts come together and go back and forth trying to find a particular beer they've both had, and sometimes it takes a while. That's the great benefit of the microbrewery explosion in America in the last 25 years. There is great beer being made in literally every state.

Newcastle Brown Ale is pretty fucking good, I must say.

This will probably get borked from hotlinking at some point but whatever.

I love IPAs... the hoppier the better.

I had a Budweiser yesterday, first time I have had an American mass produced beer in a long time, and I almost got sick. Budweiser was all I used to drink cuz it wasn't as light as the rest.. I usually stick to microbrews and imports now. I still have not had a beer from England yet, I have been on Rostro's ass to send me some...lol

it already did lol

Even good pale ales? Man, I feel sorry for you. There are a lot of great beers in that sort of range. It's like wine - just because I love cabernets doesn't mean I can't sit down with a bottle of pinot noir and appreciate and enjoy it. For me, in both drink and pipe tobacco, I tend towards heavier things. But not every time I fire up a pipe or pour a glass do I feel the need to be walloped over the head with flavor.

Guinness
Smithwick's
Old Speckled Hen
Asahi Super Dry
Redhook Long Hammer IPA
Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale
Widmer Hefeweizen
Moose Drool

Those are just some that I can remember. There are many awesome beers I've had that I've just never encountered again, nor can I recall them off the top of my head.

That's reasonable - if it were a Wine Discussion Thread it would be there already.

Guinness
Sierra Nevada (almost anything they offer)
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Firestone Union Jack IPA
Wittekerke

I used to try a lot of beers, but I've settled on Becks as the best price per case to flavour ratio.

I order Guiness or Murphy's stout wherever it's on tap, though.

Also in before staveoffzombies.

He doesn't post here anymore.

I'm drinking one of my favourites, good old Tooheys Extra Dry at the moment.

You are right. There are good ones of course, but most of the time they are the mass produced Canadian/American stuff and taste horrible. The local brewer has a beer called the YIPPE IPA which is pretty awesome, and in the summer I do like some lighter coloured beers, but it doesn't change the fact that I barely taste them.

Eric, we share a favorite brewery. I was introduced to them by a friend who went to law school in Michigan.

If I had to pick a second favorite I would say Dogfish Head or maybe Troegs.

Only 1 Brewery in town where I am, but we "import" some from the next town, so I basically have access to two micro's. They both have some pretty good stuff.

I've been meaning to try Flying Dog beers forever, and always ended up picking something else up at the store. Finally my chance has come though, as I am now in possession of a Flying Dog 12 pack sampler, with two each of 6 varieties, including Snake Dog IPA. I am looking forward to delve into it.

As far as barleywine goes, I recently had an AMAZING barley wine in St Arnold's Divine #7. The bad news is that they make tiny quantities of it each year and I think it's already all gone. I was lucky to have a few pints at the Flying Saucer Fall Beer Festival a month ago.

Here's my bottle collection from about a year ago. I have several (like 40-50) to add in storage but I need to get a nicer display cabinet:

Oh, and sorry for the double post, but my local recommendation is Rahr Ugly Pug, a black lager that is quite delicious.

We get quite a big selection of German and Belgian beers here (as seen in my photo above), but you are correct that the UK beers here are mostly just the larger brands. I cannot even find a green can of John Smith Bitter (although I guess this is a pretty big brand too?) over here and it gets me quite upset.

When I was in Thailand I had to put up with many 'American beers suck' statements from the Brits, and I really don't blame them if all they've ever had from here is Budweiser or Miller Lite. Most of the micro brews here cannot even keep up with domestic demand, let alone start thinking about exporting. Even if we did I don't think Europeans would give our microbrews a chance, since 'American beers suck', afterall.

When I was in Bavaria I drank more different types of beer there than the whole 21 years preceding it.

Lager is complete and utter fail, tasteless overly bitter rat piss, apart from Corona which is strangely drinkable. I dont know whether you guys in the US get different beers to us but all your imports here are pretty awful. Bitter is the way to go, more flavour, more alcohol content etc. etc. Seconding what Rick said about John Smiths, not a bad beer but distinctly average and almost all pubs/restaurants will serve better than that. I guess the main difference between the UK and the US is that we drink a lot more beers from the tap, i never drink bottled beer at a restaurant unless i have to or the bottled stuff is much better.

This is currently the best beer i have ever tasted

Lol. Coroma being beer.

Where do youget the ideas? I have only ever had Sam Adams once, and it wasn't bad, certainly wasn't a dark brew though, wish it was.

You automatically throw out every single beer that uses bottom fermentation except for Corona? Wow. I mean, I prefer ales as well but the world definitely needs its bocks, dopplebocks, black lagers, Oktoberfests, etc.

A couple people have mentioned Sierra Nevada, I've tried their Pale Ale and I didn't really like it that much, but I could always try it again.

I mean English lager and yes, i will prefer bitter over lager almost every single time. Lager i will drink but only when there isnt any other beer, and i have no idea why i dont mind Corona so cant explain it.

@Rick, no I haven't which is something i will try to rectify soon. I know foreign lagers arent nearly as crap as British ones just never got around to tasting some good ones.

I get Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout but it's insanely expensive. I only buy it once in a while. Damn is it delicious though.

Count me as another guy whose favorite brewery is Bella.

My favorite of theirs, and possibly favorite beer ever:

If you guys want the best tasting Imperial Stout for the money, check out some Old Rasputin, at my local store it's right around 7 bucks for a four pack and tastes awesome. Yes, there are better imperial stouts, but I haven't found one for this cheap that is also of awesome quality.

My favorite brewer is probably Surly, out of Minnesota. Rogue is tight, though, generally overpriced. Rogue Chocolate Stout kicks major ass and is worth every penny, though. Any of the Bell's beers are solid, I just had their double cream stout and it's killer. Left Hand brewing makes great beer. AleSmith. Portsmouth, with their Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout. St. Bernardus Abt 12 is a brilliant Quad. Victory Brewing is another one of my favorite, their Storm King Imperial Stout is killer, they have a pilsner that is just out of this world, perfect for grilling out, it's called Prima Pils. Their Hop Devil is just about perfect. I love beer.

@ Eric, a fucking awesome barley wine is made by Great Divide Brewing, it's called Old Ruffian. Get your hands on it whenever you've got the chance. It's kind of spendy but definitely worth it.

I have tried all of the beers in the original post (being his roommate) except for the cream stout (guessing that is a new one you got since I have been home?). I liked pretty much all of them but I am typically more drawn to slightly less bitter beers so I didn't like the dry-hopped APA as much as some of the others, although it certainly wasn't 'bad'.

I bought some sam adams black lager for my dad for his birthday so hopefully I will give be giving that a try one of these nights.

I had the dogfish 60 minute over summer and I know that I liked it, but it has been so long now that I don't remember a lot lot about it. I also tried on of the Bass varieties that night which I liked as well.

There is a microbrew in columbia, MO called Flatbranch which makes some pretty tasty beers. One that I particularly liked was their take on Brown Ale, which was fairly dark and almost had a slight hint of a coffee or chocolate flavor. They also have a green chili beer that was really intriguing. It definitely had a bit of a burning sensation when you drank it, but it was also cool and refreshing like most beer, somewhat of an paradox lol. I was glad to have tried it once but I doubt I would get it again.

Try it out, sir. It's tasty, too bad it's that expensive by you, it's 7.19 at my shop.

The cream stout is kinda like that oatmeal stout (guess it's the stout style flavor) but it's a little more toned down...it does remind me of that Brown Ale at Flatbranch, if you like that you might like the cream stout.