The Beer Thread: 2007 – 2008

[TooLiveBrew]

In no way is this intended to take the place of, or anything away from, the Drunk Thread. However, having recently relocated to the Northwest, every time I go out to buy beer, I stand in front of the cooler aisle, pacing up & down, examining bottle after bottle & case after case, mostly due to the fact that I can no longer simply grab a 12-er of New Glarus/Capital, make a mix-&-match 6-pack of Sprecher, or grab a growler from the Great Dane. Although I'm being forced to discover new breweries & beers (which, by the way, is not a bad thing!), so far, so good.

 

My hope is that this thread can be both a 'Try this beer,' and 'Avoid this beer,' service - though not simply limited to that. Please link any relevant information for breweries or specific brews, as one goal here is to help people try new stuff and expand their tastes. So, with that in mind, my purchase this evening (while watching the Cubs-Astros game on WGN) is from Full Sail Brewing Co.:

 

Pale Ale - Slightly hoppy & slightly bitter, clean taste, with only a slight after-taste. Not as powerful as an IPA, but sort of a toned-down version of one (in a good way). This is the first time I've ever tried anything from Full Sail, but they are also responsible for Session Lager, a slightly more well-known brew in the region, and very well-regarded. Given the quality of the Pale Ale, I definitely trust this brewery now, so I'm more inclined to try their stuff.

 

So, bottoms up, and pass along what you've learned!

 

p.s. -- I'll be the first to admit that I have little to no 'beer-cabulary' - that is, the technical terminology of describing and/or reviewing beer. However, don't be afraid to make up your own words and terms to describe whatever it is you want. Likewise, don't shy away from using official language/terminology if you know it. Any and all beers are welcome, this is an equal-opportunity-beereview

 

(if there already is a 'Beer Thread', I apologize, but when I searched, I didn't find one...)

 

 

 

EDIT: Thank you to whoever fixed my signature in this post. It was awful -- thanks mods http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[7600simd]

I just purchased one of the Henieken Draught Kegs yesterday; one of the best beer purchases I've ever made. I recommend for anyone to try it at least once. Tastes like it comes out of the tap at the bar, and for 19$ you get 14 - 12 oz. servings. Great deal for the taste. Great for a barbecue or a party, or just to keep in the fridge. It's pressurized and is supposed to be good for 30 days. Plus you get a cool mini keg to look at afterwards. I hope other beer makers look at this and take the hint... A miller mini keg would be heaven.

[TooLiveBrew]

thanks, 7600 - I actually almost bought the Heineken mini-keg tonight. My only reservations were: how many, and how tasty? So you've covered both, and my next beer purchase will likely be the mini-keg. Thanks!

[mothershipconnection]

Heineken, while not my favorite beer, it way better out of a keg, IMO. Some beers seem to suffer more "skunkiness" from being in green or clear bottles, and Heineken is one of them.

[7600simd]

Yeah, Henieken was never my favorite either. But like many beers, it just tastes better out of a tap. It's like a completely different flavor than from out of the bottle. It's a gallon anda half of beer, which is pretty cool.

 

A couple tips for anyone that gets one:

- Put it in the fridge for ten hours before you tap it.

- The first bottle with be full of head and after that it works great, just make sure you pull the tap about half way up. Any more than that and it gets over pressurized and all you get is the foam. Good luck!

 

Other than that, I am a big fan of Guinness. I don't know what it is about an extremely dark beer that I like, but it's like drinking beer syrup. It's my favorite type that I'll take home in the bottle....

[burniebrewer]

Sorry fellas, I've got no beer revelations for you, but will contribute my preferences.

 

Plain and simple, I'm a High Life man and have been for 15 years. Occasionally I throw myself a change up and pick up some Molson--a by-product of Wednesday nights of 6-for-$6 Molsons at State Street Brats back in the day.

 

I will drink any cheapies you put in front of me as well. No micros for me and absolutely no Bud.

[rwa12]

One of my favorite breweries is in the Pacific Northwest. I reccomend the DeShuttes (sp?) brewing co., and especially their Obsidian Stout. Quite tasty, I know I have had others, but can't recall the names. It is located in Bend, OR...had a friend from there, or I would have never found it. While pricier, Anchor Steam out of SF is always a good bet.

[Gone]

I'm definately in love with beer. I've tried so many I can't even remember half of them or what they taste like. For a while when I was younger I decided that every time I got some beer I'd get a new kind... just to try it out and keep a bottle. I now have a bottle collection of over 140 different types of beer I've tried. There seems to be different beer that I like on different occassions. For instance; if it's a nice hot summer day and I'm sitting out in the sun I love Pacifico, but would take most mexican beer.

 

I'm not a big fan of Guiness, but I really like Harp (made by guiness). When it comes to dark beer I am a huge fan of the Old Peculiar. I'm a huge Red Stripe fan as well. I've tried a bunch of micro brews as well, but besides the local midwest stuff most its random and sparatic where I can't really have it on a regular basis.

 

I pretty much love beer in general, but I love it so much that I tend to go for the "cheap" beer more often than not just because spending $25 on a 24 pack of Pacifico is great... but when I can spend $13 on a 30 pack of PBR it's even better. I guess I'm like an old cig smoker who has come to the point where they put down the Camels and start smoking the Basic.

[TooLiveBrew]

rwa - Nice! One with which I'm already familiar, and happily so.

 

Deschutes Brewery

 

Haven't tried their Stout yet, but I love the Cascade Ale, and look forward to trying more!

[pitchleague]

two breweries that I must stop at every time I drive thru town are:

 

Eddie McStiff's Brewpub in Moab, UT. Very delicious beer (Canyon Creme Ale is to die for). And many flavors to choose from.

 

Estes Park Brewery in Estes Park, CO. Again, excellent beer (Long's Peak Red and Honey Weiss are two top notch flavors).

[uecker9]

I used to have a few favorite beers, Molson Ice, Eku 28, Heineken, Heineken Dark (do they make that anymore?) Lowenbrau Dark, Elephant and Carlsberg and the occasional $4.19 case of Huber Bock.

[burniebrewer]

I now have a bottle collection of over 140 different types of beer I've tried.

 

For many years, I collected full bottles for my Grandpa's collection in his basement. I have many friends who work in liquor (retail and sales) who would give me single bottles for free or for a minimal cost (25 cents) because they knew I was doing it to build up a collection, not to drink it.

 

The collection is at well over 1000 full bottles and cans, some highly collectible. Unfortunately, my Grandpa passed away a few years back and I inherited the collection. One of these days, I need to go and box it all up and figure out what to do with it.

[Invader3K]

Anyone else notice that Point now has different varieties of beer for sale in six packs? They seem to be trying to get some of Leinenkugel's market, and their prices are a little lower. I had some of their Belgian-style White Bier (I think that's what it was called), and it was decent, but didn't blow me away. Similar to Blue Moon.

 

I'm kind of like burniebrewer otherwise...I like to try different types of beer, but I'm not into a lot of the microbrewery stuff, and High Life is pretty much my "go to" beer. Don't care much for Miller Lite at all, and can't stand any Budweiser products at all.

[JumpinMacFlash]

My roommates and I decided we wanted to try all the New Glarus beers that we could find. We were all fans of Spotted Cow so we figured the rest would be pretty good too. We were wrong. They have a lot of beers that just plain taste like crap. The only ones that i enjoyed were Totally Naked and Yokel. The others were either bad or something I could only drink one of. The hardest one to drink was their Hearty Hop. It was just a bit too overwhelming.

[jaybird2001wi]

The first ever beer I drank was Corona back in college as a freshman. I threw up after two beers because it was the first time I ever had a sip of beer in my life.

But I prefer all the Miller Brewing beers. I am a general GD Lite man, sometimes even buying High Life. I also don't mind Coors Light at all. Back during my all-out third shift days, I'd go to this third-shifter bar and they always sold 16 oz Coors Light cans for 1.50 so I knew I couldn't beat that.

People are right when they say beer in green bottles taste nasty and skunky. I tried Rolling Rock once and I almost choked on it, same with Heineken. The clear bottles are not bad.

[BrewCrewForever]

Im a huge beer taste guy. I like to try all different kinds and flavors. I even joined a "beer club" at a local bar where I live. Got to try a lot of different kinds and makers for that. I don't have any specific favorites though. I do most often prefer an import or micro brew over a domestic though that is for sure. However I would say that my favorite domestic is Coors Light. I like Miller products, but that is the smoothist domestic in my opinion. I also like Guiness, different flavors of Rouge, Heinie's, most of the Leinie's flavors, Bell's, most amber's and stout's are good.

[Hammer]

I really love Sol. I went to Cancun for spring break 9 years ago and drank about 40 of those a day. To this day, that taste brings a smile to my face!! The sun, the fun, the ladies and their...

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:AqnnvhEg8eME1M:http://www.dbbreweries.co.nz/assets/brands/Sol.jpg

 

Ah, the joys of college...........and beer.

 

 

I also have a tender place in my heart for Kul beer out of La Crosse. Lots of that during the college parties as well...

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:L4x0KKdey9s2IM:http://www.citybrewery.com/images/Kullitewhole.jpg

[TooLiveBrew]

I do most often prefer an import or micro brew over a domestic though that is for sure.

Amen. Domestics are so incredibly watered-down, they almost literally deserve their own category - like how Jose Cuervo is technically not tequila. I can drink Miller Lite, or whatever, if there's a need for a mass quantity, but when not, I just prefer more flavor.

 

And to those talking about how beer in green bottles is affected by said bottle - huh? The beer itself is what you dislike - the color of bottle has nothing to do with it. Nearly every beer I enjoy comes in a brown bottle, but that doesn't mean the reason I don't like, say, Corona, is because its bottle is clear. Anyone tried Beck's? It's probably the best lower-cost import beer (it's a German lager, so know that heading in), and comes in green bottles. Definitely one of my favorites.

[BrewCrewForever]

Beck's is a great beer. Big fan.

[Gone]

Anyone tried Beck's?

 

Beck's is good, and St Paulies is also in a green bottle and I really like that. As is Dos XXX which is another great Mexican beer in a green bottle.

[GAME05]

My roommates and I decided we wanted to try all the New Glarus beers that we could find. We were all fans of Spotted Cow so we figured the rest would be pretty good too. We were wrong. They have a lot of beers that just plain taste like crap. The only ones that i enjoyed were Totally Naked and Yokel. The others were either bad or something I could only drink one of. The hardest one to drink was their Hearty Hop. It was just a bit too overwhelming.

 

surprised you didn't like some of their others. Spotted Cow is everywhere, but their Edel Pils I think is their best. although I just brought a couple bottles of their seasonal Belgian Cherry back to NC via St. Louis, and i wasn't too happy. really good for four sips, but it's too heavy and sweet after that--doubly bad that it comes in a big bottle.

 

I don't think i've tried any Pacific Northwest beers, but i'd be surprised there wouldn't be a ton of good ones up there. it's supposed to be the best hops-growing region in the nation.

 

love this thread. i'm in the same boat. definitely a beer snob, but stuck in North Carolina, where I have yet to find a superior local brew (city laws discriminate against drinkers, too). Usually stick to a lot of good domestics like Three Philosophers or Old Chub. But I think I've just been spoiled--start out on Capital and New Glarus and there's really nowhere to go but down.

[TooLiveBrew]

mmm....St. Paulie...

 

I didn't realize that about the Pac NW, Game, thanks. There are even billboards, come to think of it, that tout how Budweiser uses local hops. I didn't put two & two together. This also makes me suspicious of their "we travel the world looking for the best hops" claim. I hate Bud as a company, and it's not just a regional thing (though that plays a role). They just seem so smarmy.

[samwise]

TooLiveBrew wrote:

---

I do most often prefer an import or micro brew over a domestic though that is for sure.

Amen. Domestics are so incredibly watered-down, they almost literally deserve their own category - like how Jose Cuervo is technically not tequila. I can drink Miller Lite, or whatever, if there's a need for a mass quantity, but when not, I just prefer more flavor.

 

And to those talking about how beer in green bottles is affected by said bottle - huh? The beer itself is what you dislike - the color of bottle has nothing to do with it. Nearly every beer I enjoy comes in a brown bottle, but that doesn't mean the reason I don't like, say, Corona, is because its bottle is clear. Anyone tried Beck's? It's probably the best lower-cost import beer (it's a German lager, so know that heading in), and comes in green bottles. Definitely one of my favorites.

There is a difference, I believe.

 

I checked the net and found this.

 

Green bottles are a marketing gimmick designed to convey a "premium" image, but they are bad for beer flavor. Unlike their brown brothers, green bottles can't stop the light-induced reaction that produces skunky aroma and flavor in beer. The effect is so common that many consumers now accept it and may even complain when it is not present. Those who prefer to avoid it should buy from closed case boxes that have never been exposed to light or stick to draft products.

 

http://www.allaboutbeer.com/features/packside.html

[TooLiveBrew]

my bad, good call sam (& others)

 

http://www.abovethelaw.com/images/entries/foot%20in%20mouth.gif

[samwise]

TLB, A guy at Riley's told me to watch out for green bottled beer because it tends to get skunky fast. He explained to me why. When you go to college not everything you learn is in the classroom, you also learn some of life's most important lessons. http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/happy.gif