Favorite Beer

Not sure if this has been posted here before. What are some of your favorite beers and what do you like about them?

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=19296&highlight=favorite+beer

Didn’t last too long though. Maybe you’ll have better luck.

Ooooh, beer. One of my favorite things to consume/discuss. I’m gonna keep my list fairly prosaic, i.e. stuff you can find at a decent store for $10 a 6-pack or less.

Belhaven Scottish Ale: good and robust, has a stout-like creaminess, yet lighter, and a smoky element reminiscent of scotch.

Blue Moon: I’d have to say this is my favorite beer, in the sense that I could drink it every day for the rest of my life. It’s a great Belgian-style white with orange and coriander.

Left Hand Milk Stout: Probably my favorite bottled stout. Smooth and full without getting overly bitter, or worse yet, sour (Imperial stouts have this problem for me on occasion).

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA: I’m not generally an IPA person, but this stuff is delicious. It’s fresh and herbal in a way that reminds me of chewing fresh mint leaves, yet without any menthol whatsoever.

Now here’s a few I’m not fond of.

Bud, Miller, Coors: I’m sure you’ve heard it all a million times, so I won’t bore you with my perspective on why they suck, perhaps with a mirthful comparison to horse piss.

Guinness: Just does not do it for me. It’s strong without fullness. It’s really damn bitter, but it doesn’t have that rounded mellow flavor that I’m used to from stouts. I’ve heard that there are 3 recipes for different territories, and thus 3 tiers of Guinness quality, with the US at the bottom, Europe in the middle, and Ireland at the pinnacle. I’ll make sure to try one if I’m ever in the right place.

New Belgium 2 Below: I don’t remember much about this stuff, except that it’s a winter seasonal, and it tasted EXACTLY like raw peanuts. Maybe we got a bad 6-pack, but I think this is the only beer I’ve ever refused to finish.

My current favourite beer is Mill St. Brewery’s Stock Ale, a blond ale that is crazy delicious. They also make a coffee porter and a tankhouse-style pale ale, both of which are pure awesome in a bottle.

I like cheap Canadian beers. Lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of Carling. My buddy buys a 24 two or three times a week.

I still think that Amsterdam is fantastic on tap, but awful in the bottle.

Chimay Blue. Red isn’t as good imo.

For the times I don’t want to spend tons of money on beer, I find Yuengling to hit a good spot on the price:quality curve. There’s a liquor store around me that sells Yuengling Porter, very very tasty beer for a good price.

best beer ever was at a monastery in Salzburg

second place is Tsingtao premium draft, in Qingdao, while eating seafood

third place is Shiner Bock, on tap, in Austin, with tex-mex food

Tui. New Zealand. It’s been 10 years since I last had it. I miss it terribly.

Kirin Ichiban is rather good.

You, sir, are a girl. I fixed your post. If you’re going to drink a crappy american white, Avery’s White Rascal is immensely better.

I never really stick with any one thing. I usually end up trying something I haven’t had before and just look for a style that I’m in the mood for. I’m currently drinking a Bell’s Amber Ale.

I think my favorite beers have been made by the Belgian brewery Fantome. They’re retardedly hard to come by here in US, but worth it if you find one.

I really, really miss living in along the New Mexico-Colorado border. Every small town seemed to have at least one brewery, and lots of them were really good. Not like here in North Carolina, where there are at most one or two decent breweries in the whole state, and lots of breweries producing swill that people drink by the gallon just because it’s local.

The US stuff? It’s made by budweiser. Although I must admit that I love Kirin tallboys and frozen pizza. It’s a guilty pleasure.

Mac & Jack’s African Amber is my current fave.

It’s a microbrew from Redmond. Why can’t I ever remember to go pick up a growler when the damn brewery’s only a mile from my office?

Are you drinking Guinness from a bottle, tap, or can? On tap (from a reputable one anyway) it’s awesome regardless of whether you’re in the US, Europe, or Ireland. You describe it as bitter so I wonder if you’ve just had the Extra Stout version from a bottle? It’s very different than the regular Stout; like you said, bitter and strong without fullness.

I love the Belhaven too. But I think my favorites are…

Goudenband. A Belgian brown ale, very earthy and malty, and over the past couple of years has become incredibly difficult to find in the US (well, in Baltimore anyway). If I could only have one beer for the rest of my life this would be it.

Guinness. I can drink this all night.

Liefmans. All of their lambics are good but my fav is actually the Geuze, which is basically the base, inflavored version.

Saxo. Another Belgian beer (hmm, I see a trend here). This one is light and champagne-like. Perfect in the summer.

Brewer’s Art Resurrection. An awesome local dubbel.

Some other notables: Thomas Hardy, Samichlaus, Anchor Steam/Liberty, Chimay, Sinebrychoff porter, Leffe. There was a brewery that seems to have gone out of business, Elm City, and I loved their “Draught Ale”. Sweet, malty, delish.

Getting thirsty…

Hobgoblin! No really, it is a beer. And I love it!

I’ve had the regular Guinness and the Extra Stout. Wasn’t a fan of either. And no, I’ve not had Guinness on tap (apart from the shittiest car bomb ever. seriously, a car bomb starts with a pint of Guinness, not six fucking ounces), only out of bottles.

I will second the Chimay blue. Pure liquid joy.

Fruit lambics are actually something I should add to my dislike list, I think. I’m not fond of acidic beer, and I’ve never had a lambic that wasn’t sour. As far as I’m concerned, citrus fruits are the only ones that belong in beer, and even then it’s the oil from the peel, rather than the juice, that improves the flavor.

Funkula, all kidding aside, you really can’t judge Guinness on what you get in a bottle.

Then it’s not my problem, as other stouts manage to be palatable out of bottles. Left Hand (as previously mentioned), Mackeson’s, Old Rasputin, Samuel Smith’s, and the most metal of all beer names, Storm King Imperial Stout, all manage it.

On the other hand, I wasn’t all that impressed with Young’s Double Chocolate until I had it on draft. I may try the Guinness on Monday.

Also, I had a swallow of Guinness when I was in Oklahoma City. That was the closest I’ve ever come to a Lovecraftian moment of madness.

Yes, best beer for me as well. Where is the actual brewery by the way? My girlfriend and I went hunting for it a couple of years ago and only found their office in some strip mall in Redmond.

Oh, and of course, Chimay Blue is the shiznit.

Windhoek Draught, 500 icy mil’s thereof and a nice hot ham and pineapple pizza!!

The USA has the shittiest beers.