I thought I'd go ahead and offer up my observations on all the stuff I've tried lately. I discovered that I lack a proper beer vocabulary, so I'm going to rate these on a subjective scale. The subjectivity includes the fact that I heartily approve of malts, but I'm not keen on hops. I understand why the hops are there, and I appreciate them, but I dislike "hoppy" beers. Probably for this reason I'm generally biased toward dark beers and wheat beers. And in special cases, dark wheat beers.

I'll just rate on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 is undrinkable. 10 is the best beer I've ever had. Part of my comparison is on the principle that if I were sitting down at a bar and had a choice between 2 beers, I'd take the higher rated one. My style preference plays a role in my choices, obviously. If you prefer a style that I've rated negatively simply on style, add 2 or 3. Anything I have rated at 6 (maybe 5) or better, I'd recommend trying if you've never had it.


Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel: 10
Heaven on earth in the form of a dark hefeweissen. A luscious head, gorgeous color and rich taste make this the real konig of beers. If you like hefeweisen and you like dark beers, then you’ll like this beer. Actually, you’ll love this beer.

Fuller's London Porter: 10
I'd eat this with something greasy and be in heaven. A nice thick cheeseburger with some fries if you're in the Midwest or maybe some fish and chips if you're anywhere else and you'll be in heaven, too. Drink two of these and you won't even need the food to be full.

La Fin Du Monde: 9
A Belgian Strong Pale Ale with a rich, complex flavor. It's almost like drinking a good wine, but it's really beer. It's strong (9% ABV), but the alcohol is sneaky. You know it's there, but it's not obvious. Not very hoppy and boosted in the rankings because of that.

Chimay Grande Reserve (Blue): 8
A Belgian Strong Dark Ale with a rich, complex flavor. This reminds me of the Fin Du Monde in the complexity (and strength), but with a different taste. A very good beer, but seemed to be lacking a little spark to push it up higher.

Boulevard Wheat: 7
A damn fine wheat beer from a Kansas City based regional brewery. This is my baseline for a beer I'll order any time. I may choose others over this if they're available, but this is a damn fine beer when they're not. Excellent bottled or draught.

Boulevard's Bob's '47 Munich Style Lager: 7
Very malty with a little hops to it. I don't like it much more hoppy than this, but this beer really hits a sweet spot.

Negra Modelo: 7
A dark, tasty Mexican brew. I prefer Mexican beer when I'm having Mexican food as a matter of principle, but I'd drink this one without needing Mexican food.

Sam Adams Brown Ale: 7
Just a solid brown ale. I love the style and this is a fine beer.

Sam Adams Hefeweizen: 7
Another solid Sam Adams product. A good example of an American pale wheat ale. I’d take a Boulevard over this, but that’s partially because Boulevard is local.

Maudite (Unibroue): 7
Very similar to Chimay Grande Reserve in flavor, but not quite as good. Less head on it than the Chimay and not quite as complex flavor. According to beer advocate this is better draught than bottled and I did have a bottle.

Delirium Tremens: 6
This could go up one or down one. It's a Belgian Strong Pale Ale that tastes a lot like La Fin Du Monde. I'd recommend La Fin Du Monde over the Tremens. Even though it's classed as a strong pale ale, it didn't seem terribly hoppy. It was well within my preference for hops.

Dos Equis Amber: 6
Another dark, tasty Mexican brew. I'd go for Negra Modelo over this, but it's still a good beer. Goes great with chips and salsa.

Pilsner Urquell: 6
Possibly the best pilsner I've ever had. Rated at a 6 only because I'm not a huge fan of the style and I'd take a wheat beer instead most of the time. I had this on tap.

Blue Moon: 6
An American macro-brew take on the Belgian witbier. A good beer (and widely available) that I'll sometimes drink instead of Boulevard Wheat if I want a slightly different taste. I really enjoy the orange and coriander flavors, but keep your orange slices the hell away from my beer.

Spaten Munich Lager: 6
I had this at a pub in Springfield MO and Spaten Munich Lager was the name on the menu. I'm not sure what the real name is. It was orangeish and mildly hoppy. A good, crisp beer, but just a little more hoppy than I prefer. Worth trying, for sure.

Rogue Dead Guy Ale: 6
This is a Maibock that I had from a bottle. I’m unsure on this. I had it a few weeks ago so I’m running on memory here. It was good, worth trying for sure, but didn’t seem special enough to go higher.

Tusker Premium Lager: 5
An interesting flavor and something I'd drink again, but nothing special. If I were in Kenya, I'd happily drink Tusker. Since I'm not in Kenya, I'll happily drink something else. It's worth trying, though.

Young's Double Chocolate Stout: 5
It doesn't have the strong burnt flavor that Guinness has, but I'm just not a big fan of stouts.

Rogue's Shakespeare Stout: 5
I think Young's Double Chocolate edges it out, but it's definitely drinkable. Not my style of choice, so it's hard to really judge it.

Bavaria Beer: 4
It's a Pilsner that's actually from the Netherlands. It's got a better flavor than Bud Lite, but nowhere near a higher quality pilsner like Urquell.

Kirin Ichiban: 4
Nothing terribly special, but it goes quite well with hibachi. It's Japanese and works better with heavier food than something lighter like Sapporo.

Sapporo: 3
Thin and relatively tasteless, but it's a Japanese beer and one should have Japanese beer with Japanese food. I'd prefer Sapporo with lighter food like sushi.

Guinness: 3
I just don't care for the burnt flavor. I don't care much for coffee, and I like burnt coffee even less. I'd drink it in Ireland on a matter of principle, but anywhere else I'll pass.

Duvel: 1
I must have had a bad bottle. I *hated* this beer and I fully expected to love it. It was very disturbing. I don't have the words to describe why I disliked it. The flavor just completely rubbed me the wrong way. This beer more than any others made me appreciate how poor my beer vocabulary really is.

Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat: 1
Too much fake cherry flavor. I want a beer, not a soft drink. I like wheat beers, but the imitation cherry flavoring came through with way too much strength.

Daggo

The girlfriend and I have grown quite fond of this beer for special occasions. While at a local liquor store we noticed that they have also come out with a new "apple" flavor. We had never seen this until about a week ago.

edit- I went ahead and looked it up. They have 6 different "flavors".

http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/5...ns_gueuze.html

The Pomme is the new apple beer.

In the case of Arrogant Bastard, a bottle that insults you.

Fantastic Beeroricraft post, Humbaba. Gonna try a few of those tonight.

Edit: That word made no sense but worked for me...