Your Favorite Beers

After reading a few posts a minute ago about beers, I decided we were missing a thread for those to share their favorite brews.

I've been to the Strohs brewery as a kid, but never had one. As a kid I remember watching a movie with the Pabst Blue Ribbon brewery in it, but again, never had one.

As for a couple of my favorites:

Sam Adams (Boston Lager or Summer Ale)
Carling
Cobra

Now, enlighten me on your faves...

 

For those of us in the western U.S., Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, originally brewed in the great Chico, California, is a tasty beverage. Anchor Steam is a fine brew too. There are so many "microbrews" around here it's almost impossible not to find a new thirst-quenching option at will.

Chimay is delicious, but only when I feel like dropping $10 for a 22 oz. beer.

Olympia, Lucky and Milwaukee's Beast are favorite "cheapys" of mine.

 

Forgot to ask Mike...are you referring to King Cobra? The malt liquor that's as "fine" as Mickey's? Nice.

 

Agree that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a great brew. There are so many small breweries back in the midwest that it is hard to pick out a favorite.

Slightly more popular brews that I like would be Newcastle, Guiness and even a Blue Moon from time to time. Unfortunately I must stick with Keystone and other cheaper brews to fit my budget needs.

 

I enjoy Newcastle, Carling, and Molson. I also tried something new a few weeks ago when they ran out of Newcastle called Downtown Brown. I liked it slightly better than Newcastle.

 

If you're sure you're going to have just ONE, then a Newc's good. Believe me, this comes from a guy that misspent as much on beer in his youth as any of you...

But like I say, 'Tastes great, just filling enough' for me is any Sam Adams, Dos Equis, and in a party, Bud Light ..

ANYTHING BUT a Miller product which gives me headaches and has since I can remember.

Oh... and Coors Light will do when I cant trust any other source of drinking water.

 

Very interesting indeed. For some reason Anheuser-Busch products do the same to me. Even the PBR. I totally agree there's way too many micro brews, hell in Northern California alone. All you want is a domestic or import and they force you to drink their schwill. I like an ice cold can of any pilsner. Oh yes I almost forgot. In regards to malt beverages, nothing beats the Crazy Horse 40 4 $1.25 back when.

 

Anyone ever tried Mississippi Mud Black & Tan? It comes in what appears to be an old liquor jug. Fantastic brew and goes perfectly with a hearty meal...not too good for a party though.

 

I concur, Downtown Brown is good stuff, brewed with love in Eureka, California.

I believe in the Guiness conspiracy theory that it tastes better in Ireland than over here. Personally, I chalk much of it up to the 'being in Ireland' factor. However, my Irish pals drink only Mexican beer (Corona, Negra Modelo) here because they say the Guiness on tap in California pubs is shit.

 

Ugh. Most comments so far make me cringe. Maybe I am biased, but nothing suits me better than Grolsch. Beats Heineken or amstel anyday.

After that, Ottakringer is my favorite. So far I have only found it in Austria, which is where it's brewed, but I have heard reports of it in Florida and other places. Third choice to the Polish Zywiec.

I only judge people who drink corona. Well, that and people who drink dark beers that are turned dark with chemicals rather than dark malts.

 

Like assholes, everybody has an opinion when it comes to beer. My wife began buying Grolsch simply for the tops, then she started to enjoy it. Good brew. Ottakringer is solid, but what about the Austrian Coors: Steigl?

My Irish pals drink Corona, and other Mexican beers, because they are cheap and plentiful as compared to in Ireland. But unless it's 90+ degrees, I'm not choosing a Corona either.

 

Colorado's New Belgium Brewery (Fat Tire, etc...)
Belgian Beer (Westmalle Triple... let your date drink it)
Louisiana's Abita Beer (Amber, Turbodog, or Purple Haze)
Houston's St. Arnold's Beer
Texas' Shiner Boch and friends
In Düsseldorf, Germany Dunkel bier.
In Cologne, Germany Kölsch
Budwar... or the original Budweiser Czech Beer
Pilsner Urquell Czech beer

 

When in Baja, I'll drink Dos Equis (higher booze content and really crisp)
Negra Modelo and Bohemia round out the Mexican cervasas.

Bass, Newcastle, and Sierra Nevada are all solid choices when not drinking a light beer.

 

I got turned on to Dos Equis in the seventies on a biz trip to detroit of all places.

Sometime in the mid eighties, I was in a meeting in downtown LA and allus adjourned to some bar happy hour. Every freaking one of the 'educated and informed' suits.. well, the OTHER suits.. ordered Corona and lime.

I was last and ordered Dos Equis and spanish peanuts... you should have seen the waiter's face, he was pro but a hint of a grin and a slight wink.

For the next two hours I was both the first and last served of the bunch. What I never understood is how the Corona fad hung on so long.

 

9 times out of 10, the local brew is best. There are plenty of beers I don't drink, but this is a link to what we DO like to drink, so I'll keep it in that direction.

On baseball days, I end up in an Irish section of NYC, and will have Guinness or Harp (the Harp if my friend is buying tequila). I do like the Yuengling brews, quaffing more than my share of their light beer (it seems to be the only one I've tried that actually has flavor), whilst admiring their Porter. Carol Stoudt, from Pennsylvania, brews wonderful beers, and I've yet to have a bad one from her brewery.

On the other side of the pond, like HatterDon, I tend to go for real ales (I think I was a member of CAMRA, but I may have been drunk at the time). Yes, I do enjoy Fuller's ales, especially the London Pride. On my most recent visit to the West Country, I did find a couple of pubs with cask ale, one of which was Bass. Tasted like no Bass I've ever had, and was wonderful.

One of the great things about visiting other brewing nations (Germany, Czech Reublic) is the sampling of the local brews. It seemed to me that every small town in Southern Germany had a brewery that did not send it's product more than a few miles from the center of town. All were delicious.

 

funny, i just signed up for beermaking classes and got a large story about local brewerys/winerys published in todays paper. so kudos to this thread.

favorite: smithwicks

very honorable mentions: samuel smith oatmeal stout, harp, sam adams double bock (any other specialty is just as good), murphys extra stout, clipper city (bmore brewery), carlsberg, any lambic ale, any hefeweizen, any belgian white (i'm not too particular on these)

good-bad beer: miller high life, pbr

if there's nothing else: miller lite

guilty pleasure: bud ice

i'm taking a cab home: colt 45, blithering idiot (11.1%!!!!!!!!!!)

 

A few highlights...

Fat Tire (FINALLY able to get it as of this week in Minneapolis)
Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat (out of KC)
Shiner Bock
Victory Golden Monkey (a heavy-alcohol Trippel brewed on the East Coast)

And for really hot days (like it's going to be this weekend in the Midwest)...
Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy

I do sorely miss the Free State Brewery in Lawrence, KS... they don't bottle their stuff... only available on site and from the tap...

 

I'll 3rd Fat Tire (sadly, still not on the East Coast).
Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (Delaware)
Long Trail Ale and Double Bag (Vermont)
Magic Hat Fat Angel (Vermont)
Ommegang Trappist Style (New York)
Bear Republic Racer 5 (California)
Bell's (Michigan)