This thread has too much opinion and too little theorycraft. Need calculations, formulas, and ideally also spreadsheets on the pros and cons of different race/class/build combos of beer for different situations!
That's the difference between beer and wine. Beer is not pretentious. It requires no grand vocabulary to describe its magnificence. It is simply beer, to be enjoyed for what it is. Charts, calculations, pH meters...these are the things anal retentive brewers use to get the exact same product every time. They are not necessary for the average brewer nor for the average consumer.
I refuse to be pretentious about beer. I have educated myself on the subject to a degree that one could, were I to act otherwise, safely declare me a Beer Snob. But I am not. Life is too short, and good beer too fleeting, to get caught up in terminology and semantics.
I can't post enough about how much I love Fruli, I spent an entire night drinking this gorgeous strawberry flavoured beer, I paid no attention to the bar maid when she said "I've never met anyone who has sat and drank this all night, you'll feel like death tomorrow".
Thankfully I don't like sweet things, so I'm rarely interested in drinking fruity drinks, cider, fruit beer, white wine, desert wine, etc. Thus, less chance of a hangover as well :)
That's the difference between beer and wine. Beer is not pretentious. It requires no grand vocabulary to describe its magnificence. It is simply beer, to be enjoyed for what it is. Charts, calculations, pH meters...these are the things anal retentive brewers use to get the exact same product every time. They are not necessary for the average brewer nor for the average consumer.
At one of the local brew pubs a couple of us were sitting around drinking and after we got to the second round of drinks we asked the waitress if they switched kegs and she said that yes they did and wondered how we knew. We explained that we drank there enough to tell the variations from batch to batch and it was pretty obvious how different this glass of the "same" beer was from the last.
You don't get the subtle variations in the big batch brews. Not much character in them. I think that's part of the greatness of small batch breweries and even gives you something to look forward to even in beers you have had before.
I read through this thread a while ago and have been hitting up the local brews trying to drink as many of these as possible. Im wondering if anyone has a list of which ones are more Newcastle-esque? thats been my favorite I've had so far, though I do get to try my Boddingtons tommorow (I drink 4 of these a night, and no more)
What I've gotten to this week: Cherry Wheat, Hoegaarden (sp?), Sam Adams Winterfest, Blue Moon, Newcastle (Much Better Draft), Magic Hat No. 9, Porter Oatmeal Stout (could only get 3 of these down, sooooo heavy), Guiness Draft, And the Local Brewery had some kind of Lager that wasnt bad, tasted a bit like regular Sam Adams.
Thanks in advance for the help finding a few new ones with that same heavyness of Newcastle but still the great drinkability. Leaves your stomach feeling warm, not full. If it matters, I live in NC, so some of the NE microbrews are a bit hard to find, but I'll certainly try.
Newcastle would be more of a medium-bodied ale. If you like it, you'd probably like Samuel Smith's Nut Brown or Negra Modelo. (The latter being one of my absolute favorite beers.)
Originally Posted by Lyta
I've been trying to concentrate on studying for my Proof Methods test tomorrow, and all I can think of is your hotness, radiating out from the pixels on my monitor, seared straight into my neurons.
That's the difference between beer and wine. Beer is not pretentious. It requires no grand vocabulary to describe its magnificence. It is simply beer, to be enjoyed for what it is. Charts, calculations, pH meters...these are the things anal retentive brewers use to get the exact same product every time. They are not necessary for the average brewer nor for the average consumer.
At one of the local brew pubs a couple of us were sitting around drinking and after we got to the second round of drinks we asked the waitress if they switched kegs and she said that yes they did and wondered how we knew. We explained that we drank there enough to tell the variations from batch to batch and it was pretty obvious how different this glass of the "same" beer was from the last.
You don't get the subtle variations in the big batch brews. Not much character in them. I think that's part of the greatness of small batch breweries and even gives you something to look forward to even in beers you have had before.
I'm pretty sure there are expert mixers who specifically mix batches to avoid variation with most hard alcohols and wines and large scale beers.
In fact mixing is often done at the micro-brewery level.
The finest cognac in the world has a master mixer who basically blends each years to achieve the same quality and taste. Sometimes the idea is to not have variation.
Mostly for the danish people, but this is the best beer I've ever tasted. It's quite rare and it's more likely you'll find the regular Porse Guld on shelves of liquor stores, but if you see one from the Extra batch, buy it straight away:
I am going to agree that Negra Modelo is amazing for a Mexican beer. Pacifico is another that is more readily available at your local flavor restaurants.
I'll third Negra Modelo. It beats out Dos Equis Amber, another good Mexican beer. You might also try some Fuller's London Porter and Weihenstephaner or Ayinger (I prefer the former) Dunkelweizen. The dunkelweizens will be more to your liking than the porter, I suspect, but the porter is quite good. For general brown ales, try Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar.
I just tried Ommegang's Three Philosophers. Billed itself as a Cherry Lambic, but it wasn't frigtheningly sweet like some of the Lindemans I've tried. Pretty good.
I just tried Ommegang's Three Philosophers. Billed itself as a Cherry Lambic, but it wasn't frigtheningly sweet like some of the Lindemans I've tried. Pretty good.
Most of Ommegang's stuff is quite enjoyable. I visited the brewery while in Cooperstown visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame 2-3 years ago. Friendly folks & nice physical plant, we were the only ones on "tour" that day... :) I heard a rumor that Duvel snapped them up though, might not be brewing at that site anymore.
I just tried Ommegang's Three Philosophers. Billed itself as a Cherry Lambic, but it wasn't frigtheningly sweet like some of the Lindemans I've tried. Pretty good.
Most of Ommegang's stuff is quite enjoyable. I visited the brewery while in Cooperstown visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame 2-3 years ago. Friendly folks & nice physical plant, we were the only ones on "tour" that day... :) I heard a rumor that Duvel snapped them up though, might not be brewing at that site anymore.
The bottle of Hennepin I just bought says brewed in Belgium, and imported by the Cooperstown location. Still damn fine beer though.
Abita Turbodog - meh.
Sierra Nevada Wheat - too hoppy.
Sierra Nevada Stout - damn good. Fits well with Gilliam's "stout + vanilla ice cream" zaniness.
Originally Posted by Lyta
I've been trying to concentrate on studying for my Proof Methods test tomorrow, and all I can think of is your hotness, radiating out from the pixels on my monitor, seared straight into my neurons.
I've been trying to concentrate on studying for my Proof Methods test tomorrow, and all I can think of is your hotness, radiating out from the pixels on my monitor, seared straight into my neurons.
I first had this as a free sample on a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery in late 2001 (they offer free tours with free samples every Saturday -- if you live in/near NYC and like good beer, you should check it out sometime) and then bought a bunch of bottles at a discount from the brewery. I'd been having a craving for it, ordered it last night at the Brickskeller (again, if you live in/near D.C. and are reading this thread, go here or to its sister establishment, RFD, for the best beer selection you'll find pretty much anywhere), but they were out. I managed to grab some at a local liquor store tonight, however, so all is well.
Anyway, if you like stouts -- and strong imperial stouts in particular -- this is really an excellent beer.
Can't believe I've missed this thread. As long as we're recommending beers, I'll go local and recommend San Diego's best - Stone Brewery & Alesmith.
Stone is notorious for hoppy, over the top beers. I've had some bad run-ins with Arrogant Bastard & Double Bastard, though my favorites are the seasonal Imperial Russian Stout and the American Pale. Alesmith has ultrapremium seasonals that are ridiculously good, if you can find them - Horny Devil & Speedway Stout especially. For their more normal beers, I think their IPA and ESB are hard to top.
As for the Negra Modela, I'm actually from Mexico (Tijuana) and used to like it, but got pretty tired of it (and most vienna lagers). A couple of years ago, a brewery called Cerveceria Tijuana opened here and has been producing what is now my favorite Mexican brew - Tijuana Morena. Very hard to find outside of San Diego/Tijuana, but it's great stuff. Elsewhere in Mexico (namely Monterrey) is Casta which has eccentric but very good tasting beers that are impossible to find. Otherwise, it's Tecate/Corona/XX/Pacifico at 99% of stores :( Oh, and there's Bohemia which is a very decent beer that's easy to find.
There were also rumors that Stone had tapped Tijuana into making a seasonal for them called La Piedra since the brewery makes many brews but only commercially exports the vienna and lager (to compete with Negra Modelo/Bohemia). Nothing announced formally yet, but I can only hope...
Corsendonk Abbey Brown Ale. Try that sometime if you like medium to heavy type ales and you've never had one.
A true Belgian and a pretty darn good one, by my standards. Might be a bit hard to find stateside in some places, but if you can get a good, fresh bottle it is an excellent ale. Has a very pretty pour and an aftertaste that both myself and my drinking buddies really dig, but it might not be for everyone. We generally use either those or a good Hefe as our starter beer on a given evening of kicking back and drinking, these days.
I feel obliged to mention that Beerfest is out on DVD now. Grab a case of your favorite beer and watch it!
Three Philosopher's from Ommegang (http://www.ommegang.com/index.php?mcat=1&scat=4) is my favorite beer at the moment, but I really like Brooklyn Brown Ale. Brooklyn also makes a pretty good chocolate stout, but it's more of a dessert beer for me. A long time ago I was out in LA and had what I think was called George's Beer, but I can't remember where it was from. It was 9% and we had quite a few of them, so that might have had something to do with my fuzzy memory.
If you're ever around Pittsburgh, there are a few good beer places. One of my favorites is the Church Brewworks (http://www.churchbrew.com/), an old cathedral that was turned into a brewery. All of their stuff is pretty tasty. Also, Fat Heads(https://www.fatheads.com/) and the Sharp Edge have ridiculously good beer selections.
It was pretty far back in the post, but I know someone said they drink Japanese beers when they have hibachi. Sapporo is pretty horrible, you might want to try some warm sake instead. From my limited experience, sake is what people drink instead of beer in Japan anyways.
It was pretty far back in the post, but I know someone said they drink Japanese beers when they have hibachi. Sapporo is pretty horrible, you might want to try some warm sake instead. From my limited experience, sake is what people drink instead of beer in Japan anyways.
Hmm, I'd never drink a Sapporo, Asahi, or Kirin on its own or in any other context, but I really couldn't imagine having a sushi dinner without one of those extra-large bottles to wash it down. Hot sake is more something I'll have a bit of with edamame as I wait for the real food to come out, but I can't see having it as the main beverage throughout a meal. (Good cold sake, on the other hand, is a different matter, but that's more expensive and really a thread unto itself.) In any event, I think Japanese beer isn't something to be savored on its own, but it really can and does complement the cuisine.
Not a fan of Japanese beers either, but Sapporo Reserve (only seen it in ultra-sleek high-tech indestructible cans) is really solid if you like light wheat beers. Which I do.
I first had this as a free sample on a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery in late 2001 (they offer free tours with free samples every Saturday -- if you live in/near NYC and like good beer, you should check it out sometime) and then bought a bunch of bottles at a discount from the brewery. I'd been having a craving for it, ordered it last night at the Brickskeller (again, if you live in/near D.C. and are reading this thread, go here or to its sister establishment, RFD, for the best beer selection you'll find pretty much anywhere), but they were out. I managed to grab some at a local liquor store tonight, however, so all is well.
Anyway, if you like stouts -- and strong imperial stouts in particular -- this is really an excellent beer.
I have to admit, I really don't like stouts. There is usually a smokey/hickory hint to most of the varieties I've tried. Kinda tastes like liquid bacon. I like bacon, a lot. I just can't seem to drink it.
That little anecdote aside, I gave this a try and while I didn't like it, it wasn't the 'worst' stout I've had. It definitely had those chocolatey undertones.
I also picked up their Winter Ale, and I didn't really like that either. I pretty much like everything else I've had from Brooklyn Brewery, though.
In my hometown, we have a place called Beers of the World (or Heaven on Earth as I like to call it) with literally hundreds of varieties of beers from, you guessed it, around the world. I picked up Arrogant Bastard, Ommegang, Ommegang Witte, the afforementioned Brooklyn varities and a strange French brew called Belzebuth. The latter was rather harsh for a beer. Tasted more like a beer-wine type of concoction.
One thing I learned from my trip, though, is that apparently you can't get Fat Tire in New York State. I was surprised to find this out. While I should probably believe a place that tends to have just about everything else, it just strikes me as strange that they can't find some way to get a few cases up here. Has anyone heard of this?
It was pretty far back in the post, but I know someone said they drink Japanese beers when they have hibachi. Sapporo is pretty horrible, you might want to try some warm sake instead. From my limited experience, sake is what people drink instead of beer in Japan anyways.
http://www.rogue.com/brews.html#MMsoba was made especially for this reason. Shame you can't get it at japanese restaurants that aren't run by morimoto, but if you're making tempura or having take out sushi, grab a bottle of this.
11/28/06, 11:11 AM
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