We have never talked about Beer

Everything else
1

I know there are a couple of threads floating around, but not according to the search function, which finds no match for “beer” in this forum. So . . .

Like, OMG I’ve rediscovered beer. Apparently there are some new brewers and ideas producing beer than is well above everything that has come before. In particular, I tried the Dogfish 90-minute IPA and was floored. And then I discovered that my local booze store has a mix-and-match sixpack deal where you can get six of anything in the store, then they add up the individual bottles (at 1/6 sixpack price, not individual pricing) and then knock another 10% off. Pretty fucking awesome.

So now I need recommendations on the ultra-tier beers. From my life of drinking:

  1. American beer, per the stereotype, and with two grades. Stroh’s/Schlitz/PBR/etc. and Bud, Miller, Coors. All heinous crap.

  2. Up-tier but not that great beer.

  3. Mass-produced/only competent microbrewed quality beer. Sam Adams.

  4. Genius microbrews pushing the envelope on what beer is and can be.

So I’m interested in #4, obviously. I’m drinking a Bell’s Hopslam (18$/6pack!) and it’s disappointing. It’s nothing but hops, which I’ll grant might have been gleaned from the name, but you can have hops and malt and complexity all in the same beer. This just tastes like a bale of hay.

So, what do you like?

H.

2

Chimay blue label’s got a hold on me right now.

St. Pauli Girl and Tsingtao Premium Draft are about equal in a light pilsner.

Shiner Bock is classic and great with Tex-Mex.

3

Rimbo, I can only say that I completely disagree. I don’t know how to disagree as much as I want to disagree without sounding like a douchebag, so I can only, simply, disagree.

H.

p.s. Shiner Bock? c’mon.

4

We need to get Alabama’s damn cap on alcohol content raised. Dammit!!

Freethehops.org!!!

5

Your google-fu is weak!

6





oo I missed one… and a moment late :(

7

aw . . . sorry. I just don’t think of teh Googal when I have a juicy search button to click.

H.

8

This is nothing short of amazing if you don’t brew yourself, got it at the local “fancy-pants” beer shoppe.
http://www.unibroue.com/products/maudite.cfm
It’s strong, and definitely awesome with beef jerkey. Also, anything inspired by getting home for christmas guided by satan with lumberjacks has to be good, right?!

Since 1992 La Maudite
Type Strong Red Ale, refermented in the bottle
Alcohol 8 % alc./vol.
Color Mahogany
Taste Subtle coriande, light spices and a hint of hops
Aroma Spicy
Shelf Life 5 years or more
Serving Suggestions Pasta, red meat, stews and spicy dishes

In November 1992 Maudite (the damned one), was the first strong beer to be distributed in Quebec grocery stores. It contains 8 % alcohol and is also the first beer brewed in America that improves with age. When served young, it is very smooth, but when served after several years of storage, its flavour is reminiscent of port. Maudite is a mahogany-colored, rich-tasting premium beer that has a distinctive, complex taste. Because of the warmth it releases, this strong character beer must be served cool but not cold. Perfect with pasta, red meats, stews and spicy dishes, it also makes a good aperitif and after-dinner drink.

Maudite has a typically Quebecois name that is reminiscent of the legend of the Chasse-Galerie (the legend of the Flying Canoe). Legend has it that a group of lumberjacks struck a deal with the devil to fly home in their canoes, guided by Satan himself, to make it home in time for Christmas.

9

Fuck your “with beef jerky”. Go for some “tastes like beef jerky”.
The Schlenkerla Rauchbier is pretty fantastic. It tastes alternately like a bar burned down and smoked jerky, but it’s really good. Just don’t drink more than one in a sitting. Trust me.

10

I just drank a bigass bottle of Chimay blue and have to agree.

11

Am I drunk? Yes? Good beer.

12

To be fair, the last two (Tsingtao and Shiner Bock) I’ve had local, and it makes a big, big difference.

13

To me, it tastes like liquid bacon, and I mean that in a good way.

Had this draught in Bamburg, Germany (which is famous for it). The only other beer that I’ve had that impressed me so much was a microbrewed oyster stout at this microbrew pub that’s in the heart of Dublin (forgot its name, but its pretty well known).

14

Kozel Premium , sure there’s Plisner Urquell, but I think this better. There are microbrews but they aren’t that easy to find, which is surprising in the land of beer.

Also as an added bonus it runs at a around 17 kr, or around a buck a 500 ml bottle. The Czechs are a very pragmatic, intellegent and noble people.

Česká republika! Pravda vítězí!

15

This is my desert-island beer. I absolutely love it. Fortunately, it’s available not only at the local “fancy-pants” beer shoppe(s), but also at most of the natural food stores, and several convenience stores around here. Like the Sunoco station about 1.6 miles away from here, which doubles as a liquor store.

If you’re ever in the Montreal area, Fourquet Fourchette is a nice restaurant, serving up most of Unibroue’s products (and incorporating them into the food) alongside the native and colonial cuisine of New France. The Chambly location is particularly nice, in the shadow of the old fort, and right on the river basin.

I always bring some Unibroue bottles along to a dinner party, but if it’s a more casual occasion with a mixed crowd, then I’ll go with a sampler from Samuel Adams, or a local microbrewer, like Otter Creek. Not long ago, I was able to expand the beer horizons of a Bud Light drinker by offering him a bottle of Long Trail Blackbeary Wheat.

If you’re stepping into the world of micros, and like what you found in the 90 Minute IPA, I suggest you try the 60 Minute IPA, which is not quite as strong and much better balanced. Then, continuing with the pale ale trend, take a look at Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or Smuttynose IPA. Those are some of my favorites, anyway, and are fairly widely-distributed. Well, maybe not Smutty, outside of the northeast…

People also seem to really like hefeweizens and wit biers as a stepping stone. Hoegaarden should be pretty easy to find.

Also keep an eye out for Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout, if you want a good, hearty, hardy winter brew to keep you warm. Sip it like you would a strong espresso.

16

Oh man. Having it on draught would just be amazing.

17

The Czech stuff is great, but I was very happy last month to find a place doing (bottled) British beer in Prague. It’s a bookshop and publisher that does Czech versions of Terry Pratchett’s books; in a corner they also have a shelf of cider and real ale, so that Czechs can live the weirdy-beardy dream.

18

I’m having my first Maudite ever and am pleasantly surprised.

19

I was hoping this was a thread about the q23 user named beer.

20

I went through the microbrew revolution of the 90s with full enthusiasm, and since then have been a medium snob, but the 90-minute (which I am drinking at this moment) has really rasied the bar past the several hundred other microbrews I’ve tried in my life. It’s very much like the first cup of french press freshly-roasted burr-ground filtered-water coffee I managed to make properly; how had I missed this for so many years? That’s why I’m interested in finding the “new beer” that folks are working on, the crazy super premium stuff. I just went to the store and have another sampler, including the 120-minute IPA. If it is to the 90 what the 90 is the 60 (which is good, but didn’t do a ton for me) then I suspect I’ll burst into flame upon drinking it. Reports later.

H.