The beer thread

[tau_neutrino]

The purpose of this thread is to advertise what kinds of beer we like so that maybe we can introduce each other to new brews.

Shiner Bock (local brew in Texas)
Tecate
Dos Equis
Taiwan Beer
Newky brown
Bitburger

all I can think of at the moment..

During the summer I generally prefer the lighter beers with lime or lemon, served ice cold. When it's 100+ (~37 Celsius) degrees outside the darker brews tend to be too heavy and not as refreshing.

In Europe yall probably don't have to suffer the heat so I'm assuming your preferences will be quite different.

[Grunt 70]

Oh man...I've got so many favorites...Depends on the weather, what food I'm eating, what I feel like at the moment...

There's a great Pale Ale up here in the NE named Geary's Pale Ale...Hot summer day with a geary's in a frosted mug...man that hits the spot.

I've been drinking Samuel Smith Lager when I'm in the mood for a lager.

Love a black & tan down at the neighboorhood Irish Pub

Of Late I've been drinking a beer out of vermont that's a double bock but its got a cow motif and calls itself a double bag.

Nice Post Tau !

[Faultline]

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout

I'm not a big drinker of stouts but anytime I see this on a menu I have to get one or two. Fantastic beer.

Other good ones:

Abita Turbodog
Sierra Nevada
Rogue
Murphy's Irish Red
Newcastle Brown Ale
Purple Haze

And my personal dirty beer favorite:

Schlitz

[Redleg75]

Well I live in Budweiser land here in Alabama. Can't stand the stuff Bud, Coors, Miller, yuck :-(

Over in Atlanta, GA there is a small brewery called Sweetwater http://www.sweetwaterbrew.com/index.asp
They have an excellent IPA and the 420 is great, but my favorite for summertime drinking at any event is the Sweetwater Blue. Great crisp blueberry flavor, not to strong, and it is great with food. Not a fruity man's beer mind you , just good for sipping in the sun.

I also drink my fare share of Newcastle Brown, Becks, Becks Dark (when I can find it), and Dos Equis Amber.

I would love to travel to England / Germany and get into some of the beer there. I'll try any beer once :-)

[Beatnik]

Great thread tau. I'm a 'beer enthusiast' (read: beer snob) so I'm liking the thread already. I totally agree with your situational preference for different brews. Here are my picks:

General (anytime beers):
Dogfish Head - Raison d'etre - won 'Best Beer in America' a few years ago. 8% and a lovely brew. My favorite beer right now.
Boddington's English Ale - the smoothest beer you will ever drink.
Guinness - black gold
Hoegaarden - Great belgian white, perhaps best in class
Most German Beers

Daytime beers:
Almost any mexican beers, but I'm loving Tecate lately, but of course Corona is always good.
Wittekierke - similar to a belgian white (like Blue Moon/Hoegaarden) that comes in cans.

Crappy, but cheap and relatively non-offensive beers:
Lone Star (the standard here in Austin)
PBR

There are definitely others, but those are my favorites off the top of my head.

[perry]

Old Speckled Hen is a favorite as is Pilsner Urquell. Normally, just plain ole Budweiser will make me happy though.

[Coridon]

Originally Posted by Beatnik

Hoegaarden - Great belgian white, perhaps best in class...

Yes! This is one of my favs!! I bought some "cheap" last year at Jungle Jims just north of Cincinnati. Think of combining Disney's Epcot Center with a mega-grocery-store and you have Jungle Jims (it even has a monorail). I ordered one a couple of weeks ago at Shallo's but the waitress bought me Hofbraeuhaus Weiss instead, which was so-so. I still drank it for free, of course...

Around the house I usually keep:

1) Grolsch (I'd like to get Jever [similar] but it's hard to find around here)
2) Franziskaner (wheat beer; I like both the light and dark)
3) Tecate
4) Warsteiner
5) Newcastle
6) Budweiser Select (hey, it's not that bad!)

I used to keep Guinness draught around but not as often after a bad night of Irish Car Bombs about two years ago. *shudder*

I'll drink anything at least once and this thread has brought it to my attention I need to throw a couple of of new beers into the rotation soon.

The ones I listed are the ones I keep regularly because they're not much more than "MGDs" or "Coors" but they taste a helluva lot better...

[perry]

Originally Posted by Coridon

Yes! This is one of my favs!! I bought some "cheap" last year at Jungle Jims just north of Cincinnati. Think of combining Disney's Epcot Center with a mega-grocery-store and you have Jungle Jims (it even has a monorail).

Yea, that place ROCKS! Not just for their beer selection, but the food selection too. I've made a few trips down there, but haven't been since the monorail opened. I actually thought about moving down to Cincinnati just so I could shop there weekly

Next time you're there, try to find Spaten Optimator. Dark German beer. I'm not a huge dark beer drinker, but I liked that stuff for some reason; coulda been the 7.2% alcohol content I've not seen it around here for some reason. Friend of mine in Georgia wanted me to ship him a case last time I went there due to the alcohol limits down there.

Heh, speaking of Lone Star and Jungle Jim's, another friend here had me get him a six pack of Lone Star when I went to Jim's. My friends have wildly varying tastes in beer

[Beatnik]

Originally Posted by Coridon

Yes! This is one of my favs!! I bought some "cheap" last year at Jungle Jims just north of Cincinnati. Think of combining Disney's Epcot Center with a mega-grocery-store and you have Jungle Jims (it even has a monorail). I ordered one a couple of weeks ago at Shallo's but the waitress bought me Hofbraeuhaus Weiss instead, which was so-so. I still drank it for free, of course...

Around the house I usually keep:

1) Grolsch (I'd like to get Jever [similar] but it's hard to find around here)
2) Franziskaner (wheat beer; I like both the light and dark)
3) Tecate
4) Warsteiner
5) Newcastle
6) Budweiser Select (hey, it's not that bad!)

I used to keep Guinness draught around but not as often after a bad night of Irish Car Bombs about two years ago. *shudder*

I'll drink anything at least once and this thread has brought it to my attention I need to throw a couple of of new beers into the rotation soon.

The ones I listed are the ones I keep regularly because they're not much more than "MGDs" or "Coors" but they taste a helluva lot better...

Good points - except I can't stand the Franziskaner Wheat - normally wheat beers are great (especially Austin's own Live Oak), but that just left a bad taste in my mouth. Could have been a bad batch in the grocer though.

Irish Car Bombs (dropping a half-n-half shot of Jameson whiskey and Baileys Irish Cream into a half pint of Guinness and drinking the whole thing) are the devil. And delicious. But they bring out some of my more sinister multiple personalities when more than two are consumed.

The Hofbrauhaus in Munich is great fun for Americans. It's the most 'touristy' of Munich's beer gardens, but a ton of fun. Their beer is OK, but I'll drink it for nostalgia alone. Here's a link to a (very large) pic of our waiter bring us some beers from our last trip there in 2004: Link And another of a very very sober German that was one table over who'd found his true calling as human coaster is here.

And yes, very surprisingly, Bud Select (not sure what makes it 'select') is not nearly as bad as I would've thought. Just had my first one at a wedding this weekend after they ran out of Newcastle, Corona, Miller Lite, and finally Bud.

Perry - the Optimator is indeed lovely. Had that in the Spatenhaus in Munich. So very nice. I'd recommend Kostrizer (sp?) if you like that.

One more thing - Beer Advocate is a great site for the beer enthusiasts, and mostly focuses on regional microbrews. My friend who knows far more about beer than I ever will is using the site to map out local brewpubs for his trip to Prague, Munich and Berlin this summer for the World Cup.

[Buckets]

A few of my favorites that haven't been mentioned here:

Rogue Juniper Pale Ale
Nimbus Palo Verde Pale Ale
Four Peaks Kiltlifter
Fischer Amber
Paulaner Oktoberfest
Windmer Bros. Hefeweitzen

[givebeesachance]

Keystone light.
...
Did I say something wrong?

Actualy If I'm drinking for the pleasure of drinking I perfer cider. K is pretty great stuff. Woodchuck is also nice (and comes in larger bottles).

Honey Brown is a solid beer though.

The Cuttlefish is 20 and not responsible for his actions

[Buckets]

Originally Posted by givebeesachance

Keystone light.

I think you might be in the wrong thread. We're talking about beer, not urine.

[USN_Squid]

I agree with a lot of the previous selections. Sierra Nevada, Old Speckled Hen and Newcastle are good any day. Tecate is okay, but I prefer Bohemia on a hot day.

Breckenridge Brewery here in Colorado makes a nice Amber called Avalanche that I like a lot. Another local Brewery, Left Hand makes an Imperial Stout that kicks off a night of gaming real nicely.

Nobody has mentioned Red Hook ESB yet I don't think. All time favorite right there.

[BHack]

Red dog

[AMosely]

I second Beatnik's nomination of Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre - it's strong, it's powerful, and it is unique. I also recommend the 90-minute IPA and the Chicory stout. All of Dogfish's beers are fantastic, I think, it is my current favorite craft brewery. Did you know they also make spirits (vodka and rum). I've visited a few times to their pub in Rehobath Beach DE, and have had a great time each time (except for the time that it was on fire).

I highly suggest that you see if they make a beer to your taste/liking and seek it out at a distributor near you: http://www.dogfish.com/. Don't balk at the $7+ pricetag per 6-pack, and also realize that the beers are priced on alcohol content (the Raison is $9-12 for six). This is fine dining.

My previous favorite brewery was Rogue, out in Newport Oregon. As a dark beer fan, I find their Shakespeare stout and mocha porter amazing. http://www.rogue.com/

Here in my home state of Maine, my favorite brewer is the Allagash brewery. They are pretty much a belgian-style brewer, with some deviation. This is just fine with me. Recently they started experimenting with aging ales in oak whiskey barrels. The results have been amazing, resulting in a stronger (ABV 9.5-10.5%), sweeter ale.