I also saw you mentioned meads. This is kind of a tangent, but if you enjoy sweeter wines like Rieslings, you might like mead. It's essentially fermented honey-water and much closer in taste and alcohol content to wine than beer. I don't have any particular brand to recommend, but meads in general are going to be much sweeter than beer, so they may be more up your alley.

Nenamtopia, as was was mentioned, the Wheat bears maybe your best bet. A lot of them have fruit added too, and they are very much on the sweet side. Now if you can find them in your area, a Sweet Stout may be a good choice too. Southern Tier makes a great Vanilla Stout that is very sweet, it literally is desert in a bottle, but I am not sure if they have distribution in your area. There some also some sweet Porters out there, but once again, they may be hard to find.

I'd avoid Barelywines as well in addition to the mentioned IPA's. Whiel they do have the character of a wine, a lot of them are really heavy on the hops.

With it being Fall now, maybe try a pumpkin beer? Theya ren't super sweet, but if you like pumpkin pie, good chance you will like them. Just avoid Shipyards, awful taste, and Juck Pumpkinhead, made by A&B, so the quality on it is just flat out abysmal.

I consider Shipyard's the only pumpkin beer worth drinking, so your mileage may vary. That and the one from Boston Beerworks (not Sam Adams...Beerworks is an unrelated brewpub in Boston), but I don't think you can get it outside their restaurants.

On a different note, a few weekends ago I had Left Hand Brewing's "Juju Ginger" beer and it was quite refreshing. It's actual beer with ginger in it, not "ginger beer" as in the soft drink. On a hot night it really hit the spot, might not be as appropriate going into the colder months now. Left Hand is out of Colorado, I'm not sure how wide their distribution is.

Another style that may suit you is the Belgian lambic, which come in a variety of flavors, including cherry, raspberry, and peach. Lindemans is the best-known and most widely-distributed brand, at least States-side (Whole Foods usually carries several flavors), though I personally find their lambics overly sweet and simple, at least compared with some of the smaller lambic producers, like Boon.

You could also try a Mackeson's stout, which is in the milk-stout style (milk sugar, or lactose, is added at some point in the process, I believe). 180 degrees from the Irish (read: Guinness) style of stout - sweet and chocolatey.

Mackeson is quite good. Left Hand also makes a very good milk stout.

Today(*) is a great day -- apparently they're importing Dogfish Head beers into California now. Stopped off at the local BevMo on the way home from work to see what appears to be their Halloween seasonal, and managed to get a 4-pack of the 90-minute IPA as well. Last time I'd checked, you couldn't get it in California at all, so I'm pretty happy right now.

Huge thanks to Gurg or Kaubel or whoever else recommended it, definitely one of my favourite American breweries.

(*) Spoke with the guy at the register, and apparently they've been stocking it for a month or two. Guess I need to pay closer attention or something.

Yeah, to be honest, not really enjoying the seasonal all that much. Label says "brewed with real pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, sinnamon and nutmeg" but I figured it was worth a shot. Not usually a fan of beer with other crap in it, and this just confirms my dislike for said beers.

Strangely enough, I just bought 2 bottles of the Dogfishhead seasonal this weekend. I feel the same as Asgorath...it's an alright beer with some junk thrown in that does nothing to improve its flavor, nor does it really taste "pumpkiny". To add insult to injury, it was ludicrously expensive (granted they're a small brewery and Colorado is a long way from Delaware). For my money, Shipyard remains the best pumpkin beer.

Denogran nailed it. Dogdishhead's IPA's are fantastic and perfect examples of the style. Everything else they make, I dislike.

Dogfish head makes amazing IPAs. I have not enjoyed any other beer from them that I have sampled.

Yeah, I agree with this.

Who ever thought beer would have pumpkin in it, lol. This sounds like poison

I had Dogfishhead's Red and White at the Extreme Brew Fest in Boston a year or 2 ago (can't remember) and thought it quite tasty. I then picked up a six pack of it some time later at a package store in the area and it was borderline repulsive.

I'm wondering if they fiddled with their recipe in the interim. Either way dogfishhead is a very experimental brewery and most of their beers can not be labeled one style or another. The exception to that of course is their IPA's which are very true to the style.

I think that is part of the reason most of their other beers just don't appeal to me. They get a little too crazy. I also do not like IPA's since I don't like hoppy beers so I tend to stay away from anything made by them.

If you can find it, Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron is really, really good. It's a brown ale aged in wood casks, and the result is really rich and full-tasting-- definitely a sipping beer. It reminded me a bit of Avery's Mephistopheles, but without the strong alcohol aftertaste. (I did like Mephistopheles, but the super-high ABV gives it a sort of cough syrup characteristic that I can't get around).

I agree on the Dogfish pumpkin though-- not very exciting, and their Raison D'etre is kinda wacky too, though not bad.

Also, as a follow-up, later in my 12-pack of Spaten Oktoberfest I got the bottled-penny taste someone else mentioned. They seemed really inconsistent, so I doubt I'll get any more this year.

Then it wasn't just me who got that taste. I had a single I picked up and drank it last night. Wasn't impressed at all. Think I will be sticking to the Oktoberfests from Harpoon and Brooklyn for the rest of the season. Maybe will try Avery's Kaiser again if I am in the mood and can find it for a good price.

With Oktoberfest around, I didn't see anyone mention Blue Moon's Pumpkin Ale. I find it's pretty good for a pumpkin beer, also I had a huge bottle of a Belgian Brown Ale called Nostrodomus, in a word delicious. Also if you live around Charlotte, NC I simply must recommend The Waldhorn link http://www.waldhorn.us/ awesome German food, Oktoberfest parties, and a Beer list to die for. As I manage to only afford one to two visits a year I would still highly recommend this place. Ayinger is phenominal beer as well, we also have a local brewery in Asheville called Highland Brewing Co. I think, they make pretty good ale's n stuff. I don't know how far they distribute tho.

And if you're not paying attention, the 12% alcohol will really sneak up on you...that was a fun night.

I've now had their Palo Santo, 90 Minute, and the Midas Touch, and I must say that I'm a bigger fan of the 90 minute. I'm out here on the left coast, so it's a rather difficult item to find. Though I moved to Dogfish after having the Lagunitas Sirius Summer Ale, when it was discontinued for the season. I'm looking forward to finding more of their ales.

I recently picked up a six pack of 1554 from New Belgium Brewing who are known for their Fat Tire amber ale.

I really impressed with it. One of the smoothest black ales I've ever had, just a very soft dark flavour. I have to say I've been continually impressed with New Belgium's offerings. Is like they know my taste in beer or something.

Thanks to Elysian formign a partnership with New Belgium, there stuff is getting better distribution. We even get some of their stuff up here in NJ now! Any yeah I full agree on the Night Owl. Very nice beer that one.

If people in the rest of the US want to find it, try your local Whole Foods, they are carrying a lot of Elysiums stuff now. Whole Foods actually has a pretty okay beer selection, only stuff I buy from them is beer.

I live in Fort Collins, CO where New Belgium is based, and they do indeed brew some fantastic stuff. I actually think Fat Tire is a bit overrated, but almost everything else they make is delicious. If you like Belgian-style beers, look into their Trippel and Mothership Wit. They also get very experimental; for example, they have a "Giddy Up Ale" out right now that's infused with espresso. It literally tastes like you're drinking coffee, very interesting sensation.

As an aside, if you're ever in town, drop by the brewery for a tour and free samples. It's the most interesting brewery tour I've been on, and even if you aren't that interested in brewing, there's a lot of cool info about their environmental practices (they're 100% wind powered, have their own water treatment plant, etc).

The other craft breweries in town (Odell and Fort Collins Brewery) also make really excellent beers, and I recommend both. The Fort Collins seasonal this year is a Dopplebock that would taste fantastic alongside a plate of BBQ, it's rich and smokey. From Odell, I'd recommend their IPA or 90 Schilling Scotch Ale. It's a great town for a beer lover

I'm the opposite. I prefer Fat Tire over most of their other stuff. And I think I've mentioned it before here, but it's worth saying again - 1554 is some great stuff.

Speaking of which, tonight I had some Fireman's #4 on tap from these guys, with a BBQ bacon cheeseburger, and it seemed really similar in taste to Fat Tire. I asked the waitress beforehand, and she described it as a PA which it definitely was NOT (lack of bite from hops). I'd drink it again though.

I found Young's Double Chocolate Stout lurking in the back of my fridge. I felt as if this beer was just one step from greatness, perhaps it's because it comes in a can? I do not know. I still think it is a good dark beer, just lacking something. There is this really cool place not far from me on the SC/NC border called Frugal McDoogal's they have a superb beer selection though don't carry much high Alcohol percentage one's because of some stupid state law. I will go there and check for a lot of the beers you have all suggested. I'm glad to find that people like me who enjoy good beer also play WoW. Wish there was a way we could get together and just enjoy beer and talk shop.

A good friend of mine flew into town a month or 2 a go, from Boston. He insisted that I try Smutty Nose chocolate (lager?), perhaps it was an ale. I'm not sure, to be honest. I must say, however, that it was incredibly tasty. While it didn't have much of a chocolate flavor, the aftertaste was incredible. It was like I had a brownie in my mouth. If any of you are near/around the Boston, MA area, or this stuff hangs out in your local beer distributors, pick up a sixer and have a go at it. You won't be dissapointed.