Racist.

Just a random recommendation of one of my favorite seasonals:

http://www.brooklynbrewery.com/beer/...hocolate_stout

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.

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 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?

http://www.ratebeer.com/ratebeerbest...erall_beer.csv

Out of the top 20 or so I've had most of them. And, most of them while raiding in WoW.

Oh, shit, is that why we are so bad?! :O

Read this thread a bunch of times and tried out some pumpkin ale last night. Blue moon's pumpkin ale to be more accurate.

Gotta say i loved the stuff. Now im no ewpert on pumkin ales but I have tried blue moon before so i was kind of guessing it would have a slight pumpkin taste if anything. I was plesently suprised it had almost no pumpkin taste at all.

My critique of Blue moons pumpkin ale would go something like this:

Quite possibly the coldest taste beer i have ever had.if that makes sense :P
Got a little spice after taste but is very subtle and doesnt detract away from the taste of the ale itself.
It was good i finished the whole 6 pack which is something i didnt expect.but it did leave a nice little hangover in the morning

Awesome thread, been ghosting it for months.

In my first post I'd like to give you an example of a VERY good "Chistmas-beer" with shit loads of flavor and a nice finish. Even though the bottle screams Budget, it's kinda expensive and hard to come by!

http://www.systembolaget.se/SokDryck...0&SokStrangar=

Can recommend it with all my mouth to all Belgians and Swedes, the rest of you will have trouble finding it.

(To the rest of you, check out Samuel Adams Winter Lager - a Boston beer with a lot of exciting layers of taste. It's very nice as well, but not really as perfect as the Belgian one, in my humble opinion.

http://www.systembolaget.se/SokDryck...0&SokStrangar=

I know some people didn't like this one in this thread - don't listen to them. It is very nice!)

That's all for now, Merry Christmas to all you beeroholics out there!

Seigneuriale (or something like that), a new brew by my favorite place, Unibroue: Crap. Sorry Uni, you guys screwed the pooch on this one. Nearly flavorless, lacking in any redeeming value besides 9% abv. I would not recommend this.

Red Nectar by Nectar Ales: This is a decent, perhaps even very good red ale. Heavy on aroma hops without overwhelming bitterness, smooth, goes down easily. Went well with crab cakes.

Samiclaus Bier ($4 per 12 ounce bottle sold as a 4-pack :socar: ): Did not like at all, and introduced the majority of the bottle to my sink. This saddened me greatly because it's really rare, brewed every year on my birthday, and everyone seems to think it's amazing. The other three bottle are now in my Beer Aging Cabinet and will not be touched for at least 3 years. Legend has it age makes this stuff amazing, so I have my fingers crossed.

Quelque Chose: Served warm as God and Unibroue intended. This was incredible stuff, very strongly cherry-tasting, tart but different from a lambic. I would highly recommend it.

Corsendonk Christmas Ale: Good stuff, though not as strongly spicy as I like my holiday beers to be. Definitely worth drinking.

This concludes my early holiday new-beer experience.