Tell me about your favorite beer

[WilliamPitt]

I've had many loves in my life. In my callow youth, I loved whatever was least expensive: Black Label, Red White & Blue, Milwaukee's Best (a fouler lie was never heard in all the land). Once my friends and I lucked into a crazy-cheap deal involving five cases of Narraganset 40s. The two weeks after that transaction remain a dim and murky fog.

I was a child, and spoke as a child, But then I became a man, and left aside childish things. Bass Ale for a time, and when I was living in San Francisco, Red Hook IPA was where I left my heart. In leaner times I have gone with Pabst Blue Ribbon, the best bad beer ever made. In flush times I've enjoyed Mojo IPA, whose elevated alcohol content is like getting hit in the head with a mallet made of Silly Putty.

These days, though, I've been squiring around Murphy's Irish Stout. It may be, in virtually every respect, the perfect beer. By the way, any beer snobs out there drinking their Dunkkelweisenshadenfreude with their pinkies sticking out who want to tell me that stout isn't beer get the pre-emptive gas face. It's beer in my world.

So. Murphy's Irish Stout. How's by you?

Oh, by the way: Word has it that the foul and disreputable Coors Brewing Co. is merging with Molsons. Coors is a non-union shop, so it seems likely that Molson will become non-union as well. If you were boycotting Coors (for reasons besides the fact that their product is crap in a can), you need to add Molson to the list. Selah.

[ScreamingMeemie]

If I could, it would still be my old beloved, MGD.

I'm a simple girl with simple tastes. Sadly, I'm not allowed anymore. But a girl can dream. :toast:

Excellent writing in GD btw!

[Chicago Democrat]

1. Lowenbrau (from Munich)

after that its Stella Artois from Belgium

[JVS]

Augustiner from Munich

Gotta drink it from the real barrels at the biergarten on Arnulfstrasse. If you are ever in Munich go there

http://www.augustiner-braeu.de/

[Voltaire]

2. I like beer

But don't get nearly that involved. I like Labatt's Blue because it has taste. Unlike most American beers, especially the Lite ones which are so much cold water with bubbles in it.

[WilliamPitt]

4. Check the edit I just made

about Molson and Coors.

[CatWoman]

3. Sopporo

very dry Japanese beer :beer:

[ET Awful]

5. Being a New England dweller, you've no doubt sampled my favorite

a time or two. Magic Hat #9 Ale is now and has been for many years, my favorite brew.

[WilliamPitt]

7. Magic Hat is so damned good

But the apricot in #9 gets cloying after a while. If you like fruity beers, check out the lambics.

My old roommate and I subsisted on Magic Hat when we lived in Jamaica Plain. We'd been keeping the empty sixpacks on the back porch, fully intending to take them in for recycling. But we wound up having to move out earlier than expected, and had to leave the bottles for the recycling guys on trash day.

It was a lot of sixpacks, and those magic Hat sixers are very colorful. We made this wildly-colored pyramid of sixpacks by the recycle bin. It looked like street art until they took it away. :)

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

6. Can't pick just one.

Red Stripe, Negra Modelo, plain Modelo, Boont, Bass, Boddington's are what I normally drink. I agree Pabst is the best bad beer.

[salinen]

8. Those Trapist Monk varieties

Ummmm! A loaf of dark bread in a bottle. Must be drunk at room temp.

[New Earth]

9. mine is definately Corona

but when i can't afford it, Yueng Ling Lager is my substitute.

[mermaid]

11. YO, Another Vote For Yuengling!!!

I was typing mine at the same time you were typing yours!!

[fishnfla]

49. America's oldest brewery gets my vote

never a headache, no matter what.Last night I had plenty and here it is 7 am and no hangover. Yuengling or nothing for me

[Lugnut]

31. Ah!

My two favorites. :)

[mermaid]

10. Well, I'll Give You A Few Locals

One from my old locality in Pennsylvania...
Yuengling Black & Tan. Damn that shit is GOOD!! By the way, that beer is pronounced (Ying - Ling)

The other is Shiner Bock, from Texas...where I live now.

Also, an honorable mention for a beer whose name I forget...but you could only get it in Thailand. I wanna say Tigris, but that might not be right. Anyway, that beer kicked ass!

[mzmolly]

12. Bells Best Brown Ale adding (or) something by Lake Superior Brewing

Gotta give the business to my local mates.

:P :beer:

Bought a bottle of "Tripel Karmeliet" tonight, I'll let you know how it goes. :hi:



http://ratebeer.com/Beer/tripel-karmeliet/5368/

[Skink]

21. My beer is sexy...

It has a swing top. It's never cold filtered. :loveya:

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Riggwelter, from the Black Sheep Brewery

a strong dark ale, described to me as having a hint of Marmite in the taste, which I can sort of see.

When the famous Theakston's Brewery (makers of Old Peculier - which may be known by beer lovers as far away as the USA) sold out to Scottish and Newcastle, one of the Theakston family, who disagreed with the sale, set up the Black Sheep Brewery in competition (hence the name). Riggwelter (a name for a sheep that is stuck on its back with its legs in the air) is their competitor for Old Peculier - and its even better.

[RebelOne]

14. I am not a beer drinker, but when I do drink beer,

I prefer Guinness Stout. In fact, I went to Dublin, Ireland, just so I could sit in a pub and drink Guinness Stout on tap.

[freethought]

15. I like 'Bass' ale.

But I am going to put in a good word for Sierra Nevada Ale (nice hoppy flavor, expensive though) and a another good word for Long Trail (can be hard to find). But as a rule in most bars and restaurants Bass is my 'old reliable'. Cheers!

[senseandsensibility]

16. I like Becks

and Sam Adams. Lately, I've been drinking Sam Adams Winter Lager, but since it was in the high seventies this afternoon in CA, that's a little heavy now. I also like a lot of our local microbrews. I try to stay away from the stuff, but I think it's in the blood. I'm German, and wine makes me sick.

[Sporadicus]

17. Red Stripe

Some complain that Red Stripe is too much like its American counterparts to justify the extra $3 per six-pack, but I find it has more body than Bud, Miller, Coors or other lager-style beers. It has a clean taste with very little aftertaste.

[amerikat]

18. Harp is my regular full flavor beer.

Rolling Rock is lighter in flavor and I like that sometimes. I'll also have a Becks Dark or a Guinness if it's draft.

I don't care much for bottled German beer, Molson or Heineken. They have a tendency to be skunky.

Edit to add: Sam Adams Winter Wheat is delicious but it does wicked things to my stomach.

[driver8]

44. I love Harp! One of my favorites, also.

Others:

Red Hook
Carlsberg
Labatt's 50
Rolling Rock
Bass Ale
Anchor Steam
Red Stripe

[johnnie]

19. My confession

I like my beer, but not like the average "beer lover". Even though I come from a family of fine beer drinkers I still go with my Budweiser.
I live in Cleveland where beer drinking is innate. At one time this city was the beer brewing capital of the country. The problem is, I just can't enjoy any micro beer, imported beer or dark beer. I like the taste of domestic beer and always have.
There are some breweries around here, but I just can't drink that beer. I have tried to go to The Great Lakes Brewery and drink what they have, but it just won't go down. I like my Bud.
Years ago I went to Canada with some friends and I paid extra to drink imported Bud. I can't drink stouts, lagers, micros or anything else. I guess I am just not a real beer drinker..lol.

[TexasProgresive]

20. Murphy's Extra Stout

We can't buy it here- there is only Red. I'm not much of a beer drinker but I got a taste for Guinness. We went to Ireland in 94 visiting my wife's brother and sister-in-law. Gene asked be if I liked Guinness and I said yes and was eager to have a pint from the tap. This was a set-up for what was to come later.

That evening Gene and daughter Niamh arrived to take us to the Dunmore house. Gene bought the first round - it was wonderful and I told him that Guinness on tap is the best. I got up to buy my round and Gene leaned over and whispered to me, "The Guinness is Murphy's" I've been ruint(Texas word) ever since.

Lot's of fun that night, good craic, towards the end I was waxing the glories of Murphy's and Niamh piped in a perfect advert voice over, " Murphy's, as good as a meal.

[XNASA]

22. A Guinness, if served properly, is all I require.

If I drink beer with a meal, it's almost always Sam Adams Boston Lager.

I don't drink ale anymore, but there was a time when that all I drank. Bass was a favorite for years.

In the Fall, I like the local seasonals from microbreweries.

Murphy's is quite good, but since Guinness is so available everywhere, I've kinda settled into it.

[jus_the_facts]

23. Moosehead.....

[billbuckhead]

24. Birra Moretti, tastes a lot like the Heineken pilsner sold in Holland

because it's made by Heineken in Italy. Mmmmm :toast:

[laheina]

25. Don't usually drink

but when I do, my favorite would have to be Guinness Extra Stout. My brother in law drinks a German wheat beer that is pretty tasty too.

[u4ic]

26. Root...

I haven't touched a drink in ages. I skip the happy/tipsy and move right into the depressant aspect of it.

I can get depressed for free, why should I pay for it? ;)

[laheina]

28. :) nt

[MissB]

27. I have a couple of favorites

My theory on beer is that if you can see through it then it isn't really beer.

Black Butte Porter is amongst my all-time favorites. It is a "local" beer- brewed in Bend, Oregon by Deschutes Brewing Company.

Widmer usually has a dark beer worth drinking. I haven't tried their latest, but it's billed as a milk stout. It sounds perfectly delicious.

My very very favorite is Guinness Stout. Nothing beats a glass of that. It is just that a glass of my favorite stout is best served in a pub in Ireland after a long day of biking. Too expensive to indulge in on a weekly basis. :evilfrown:

[Liberal In Texas]

29. Kronenberg 1664

(I posted something about this somewhere else, but it bears another.)

Problem is, you can't get it in the US.

I just noticed they're planning on new distribution to Russia. Why not here??? Wah!!!

[Redneck Socialist]

30. Ack too many to name

Favorite depends on my mood and the season. Anyway a partial list includes:

Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale
Smuttynose Robust Porter

I like the Long Trail beers, especially the LT Ale

Ipswich makes a fine brew.

If you ever get up north the Franconia Notch Brewing company in Littleton NH makes a fine series of beers. I like the River Driver and Grail Pale Ale. (Available in growlers at fine beer selling establishments near you!)

Newcastle is always tasty and Yngling is the finest cheap brew in the land.

Tonight's a Guinness night.

:beer:

:toast:

[Ellipsis]

32. at the moment, Root-beer, but allow me to tell you my story.

I remember my "first" well. I gently put my fingers around her delicate 7 oz neck, and brought her to my lips, the silver label gleaming in the moonlight PBR, Milwaukee's finest. Three musketeers in in a 69 Chevrolet pick up, winter, our girls (a case of shorties), keeping cool in the bed, We drove the back roads of the prairie, A right of passage, I will never forget.

In college-- 18 dollar 1/2 barrels of Budweiser, and crackers accompanied by gallons of Kaukauna cheese product. (procured by someone's night watchman uncle) was the mainstay freshman year. Then... I had my first serious girl, St. Pauli Girl that is, and though there were affairs with Pilsner Ur quell and pagan spring rituals with Point Bock beer, she was my companion through graduation.

I left her behind after college. I matured. Patches on my elbows, Guinness stout was the beer for my ego. But, one fine night, and a discolored snowbank later We parted ways.

During the struggling artist days, a series of one night stands, Miller, Miller Hi life MGD, Lite, and of course, Red stripe and Ganja. When a fit of melancholy hit, I went went back to my alma mater, Point, but it wasn't the same. There were dark days of Fox Deluxe, Huber, even Rhinelander. When we could afford a special treat, Spatten, established in 1397, what a dynasty, accompanied by shrimp chartreuse.

Then what a marvelous thing did appear, the birth of the microwbrew, Sprecher Amber came here. A serious 4 pack of 16 oz bottles, delicious with flavor, oh-- my-- god, to discover fresh beer. Then came all the rest, Capital Amber, Uf-DA Bock, Edel Pils, Norski Honey Bock, Snow shoe Ale, Fat squirrel, Coffee Stout, and for a change up, Wisconsin Belgian red. An international world champion, brewed with whole Montmorency cherries, it is, a fine sweet champagne. I became a beer gigolo, So many to choose from, all so fine and rich, and then, one day-- there she was. different from all the rest, on the bottom shelf, seductively calling to me, "drink me, drink me". I was intimidated by the voluptuous generic container, 64 0z., a "growler". I had never seen one in public. 7.99 with a two dollar deposit, dare I? What the heck! I brought my Pale Ale to the check out. The clerk looked at me with pride and said "LAKE LOUIE damn that's good beer, I can't get enough of it. Made by a man from Arena." I have never looked back.

[Strawman]

33. Free beer

...but tastewise probably Bells Oberon.

[EstimatedProphet]

34. My favorites:

Rock Bottom (brewpub chain) had what they called a "ryePA" -an IPA with rye added into the mash. Was it ever tasty! I really miss it.

Lately I've been on an IPA kick, so Bass, Sam Adams, etc. really hit the spot. I used to like beer the darker the better, but go more for the IPAs now. Hops must be addictive...

[Dirk39]

35. The real anti-imperialist Budweiser...

O.k. it's not so much about anti-imperialism, it's the taste.
I'm a non-patriotic traitor anyway, praising Czech-beer in Germany, the home of beer: but the Czech did invent the Pils!

And what this U.S. corporation is doing with their piss-product, sold as beer, makes the original even taste better!
They are not allowed to sell their piss as Budweiser outside the U.S.A., although they're trying every dirty trick to do it for decades.

Prosit to Czech from Germany,
Dirk

[really-looney]

36. Anchor Steam

Far and away the best beer I ever had. It is the when I am having only one beer beer, other than that its Bud, cold and plenty of them

[Reverend_Smitty]

37. Sam Adams...

Bass and Pete's Wicked Ale. Which sucks for me because I'm a poor college student and drinking "beast" is just so wrong! I don't like drinking for drinkings sake, I like to enjoy my buzz

Actually I really prefer drinking vodka...my mom gave me a bottle of Grey Goose Vanilla for Christmas and I drink that shaken and straight...yum!

[yellowdog]

38. Well, for a while it was Shiner Bock.

Shiner is one of the few good things to come out of Texas. It is very smooth with a great flavor. But a couple of years ago I was in Missoula ,Montana at the Big Sky Brewery and had a Scape Goat. This is a pale ale with the best flavor I have ever run into. They also make a Stout called Moose Drool, but Scape Goat has my heart. Now if I could just find some way to get it in Iowa my life would be semi-perfect. I say semi-perfect because as long as a Republican has the presidency the rest of my life is a steaming pile of donkey dung.

[frylock]

39. bear republic's racer x..

it's a double IPA; lots of hops, very dry with an almost grapefruit-like flavor. Man, I loves hops!!

[Shananigans]

40. I'd have to say a Leine's Honeyweiss or a Belgian Blue Moon has my fancy..

Mmmm...mmmmm...mmmm!

[AgadorSparticus]

41. i keep insisting that i'm not a beer fan, but i have a beer history too

so go figure. i started off with the cheap keystone stuff that my freshmen budget could handle. i slowly graduated to shiner bock and then settled on sol (with lime and salt, please).

but the best freaking beer i've ever had was some beer from a keg in germany. couldn't tell ya what it was but it gave me utmost respect for beer after that. amazing shit.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

42. When I used to drink I loved 'Newcastle Exhibition'

A very creamy ruby-red ale that was delicious and highly intoxicating.

[BrotherBuzz]

43. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

The best ale in my book, bar none. Hey, it's even my benchmark for my homebrew endeavors.





Now, lagers are another story, especially during hot California summer months. Too many choices, too little time.

[driver8]

45. I agree -- the best ale is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

This is a great Ale. I used to drink a lot of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It is great with food, also.

My mouth is watering for one right now!!

[The Magistrate]

46. Guinness, Mr. Pitt

But many years ago, a friend brought back several cases of Point back from a weekend trip, before anyone had ever heard of the stuff, and it was superb....

[fishnfla]

50. Ah, Point Bock! Now that sir, is a beer of my youth

4 bucks for a case of returnable longnecks. We used to keep them on the windowsills at the house as a refrigerator. The Rasta Slamma Jamma house, University of Wisconsin, circa 1985.

[d_b]

47. Samuel Jackson

[Swamp Rat]

48. Lundetangen from Norway, served room temperature in a brandy glass.

Or anything made by monks in Belgium. :)

[dbt]

51. One more time for the Drink Of The God(desse)s!

A pint of Guinness, properly pulled by a red-haired barmaid in a dark little pub in the West of Ireland--a Christmas pint! Look that one up, lads: Guinness slightly alters their recipe near Christmastime so that one is able to drink MORE!

:beer:
dbt

[tyedyeto]

52. Old Monkeyshine brewed by.....

the local micro in nearby Tucson.

I try to go by and get a growler or two every time I head into town.

[FlyByNight]

53. Guinness is usually my first choice

I really like the Murphy's Stout too. It's a little smoother and a little less bitter than the Guinness. Yummy. Murphy's Amber is good too.

When I don't feel like Guinness, it's usually Bass and sometimes Boddington's. Boddingtons's is really smooth and quite good.

Generally, I stick to Irish and English beers. I'm getting thirsty.

:beer:

[TN al]

54. When I lived in Germany...

... I drank Lichtenaur or Tucher. Hefeweissen was always at the top of my list with Kristalweissen when I felt I was being too decadent. At times a Pils was a nice change.

[Seabiscuit]

55. Fischer La Belle. Brewed in Alsatian region of France, near Switzerland

A little difficult to find here in the U.S. but worth it when you can - some French restaurants carry it, but few very liquor stores.