Beverage: Beer (favorite brands & articles about)

[Aunflin]

Anyone have any opinions on good beers? Personally, I don't care much for commercial brew like Budweiser et al, though they do in a pinch. I like stuff like Heineken, Grolsch (sp?), Fat Tire, and a dark brew they make in O'Fallon MO (near St. Louis) called O'Fallon gold. I've also tried various other brews which were quite good, though (due to their goodness and my state at the time) I cannot recall them...

Hopefully, someone will trigger my memory.

[KiltanneN]

Not being a drinker it is hard to say, but there are some Kiwi beers that have quite the reputation.

Steinlager & Speights being the 2 I recall.

Also - My stepson swears by Stella Artois...

kilt

[Kagnok]

Yuengling Lager, or Yuengling black & tan. They're basically local to Philly, but I've found it in other states also.

[Aunflin]

Thanks. I'm really not a drinker anymore...but I popped open one of my roommate's Miller Lites tonight (the first time in a very long time) and wished I had a real beer to drink...

Now I back on my regular staple: tea...Bigelow's pretty good stuff...steaming hot with a dash of milk...

[Darb]

Aunflin: There are literally hundreds of beers to recommend.

I'll take a stab at it for you, but I'd need a hint of what sort of flavors and styles you like.

For instance, do you like ...
* Dry, medium, full bodied or sweet beers ?
* Highly, moderately, or lightly hopped beers ?
* Light colored, red/amber, or dark beers ?
* Spicy or crisp & clean ?
* Refreshing or filling ?
etc.

Throw me a bone here

[Aunflin]

I sorta like dark and amber beers...nothing overly hoppy yet nothing too mild. Crisp and clean is good too. Red beers. Hmmm...nothing spicing or sweet--definately not sweet. Yeck!

BTW, what you doing here on a Sunday?

[Darb]

Work was only 2 miles outta my way on my way home from my brother-in-law's Easter Dinner. Wife's taking care of her ill father tonite, so I'm all by myself for the evening ... so I'm making up part of the 2 days of sick time I lost earlier in the week.

I sorta like dark and amber beers...nothing overly hoppy yet nothing too mild.

Hmmm ... I was gonna recommend newcastle brown ale, but that might be too mild for ya, plus it;s hard to find it fresh on this side of the atlantic. Oktoberfest and Maarzen both fit that, but this isn't the right season for that. Say, have you tried Pete's Wicked Brown Ale ?

Crisp and clean is good too.

Stella Artois - a little hoppy, but very pleasantly so.

[Aunflin]

I like Newcastle ok. You're right, it doesn't taste too fresh over here. Seen Pete's Wicked Brown Ale somewhere...never tried it though. One I do like, and forgot to mention, is Harps--doesn't taste quite so good out of the bottle. But their's this Welsh pub here in the city that has it on tap...good stuff. Horrible service though. I also like Negro Modelo (sp?)

I'll have to try the Stella Artois--I never actually heard of it.

Thanks.

[Darb]

I'm a big stella drinker - it's in my fridge year round.

I like it because it's a clean & crisp lager with good flavor, a dry yet slightly fruity finish, a lovely head, and (most of all) hops that are clean and elegant and very floral. If you can find it fresh, it can be a wonderful thing.

It's become very popular in recent years, and has appeared on tap in many restaurants in NYC and Long Island. If it hasn't already, hopefully it'll spread down your way.

[Aunflin]

It might...but AB has quite an influence here in St. Louis. There are some bars/restaurants that only serve Anheiser (sp?) Busch products... But I'm sure if I got the inclination, I could find the stella.

[sammy]

I'm a bitter drinker myself, but I understand that that is very hard to come by outside of the uk...

Newcastle brown and guiness will do if none other is available, but I really can't drink lager. (trust me, half a pint and I think I can fly, lol)

[felonius]

Stella has grown enormously popular in the last couple of years - the corporate-powers-that-be have done a really good job marketing it as a "trendy, quality" beer. I've never felt it was quite deserving of its reputation, however. Heineken's about the same price and a better bet, IMHO.

I'm obviously biased, but I think Canada boasts some of the finest beers in the world. I don't know about availability in the U.S, but Alexander Keith's pale ale should be sampled at least once by any serious beer drinker. Moosehead Lager is another favourite. And a micro-brewery by the name of Creemore Springs produces a rich lager in the east that is like nectar from the gods. Expensive, though.

[Darb]

Felonius: There are FAR better beers produced in Canada than the mass-market green bottle swill that so many people are familiar with (i.e., Labatts, Moosehead ... *yawn* ... blandish & boring blue collar lagers that are reliable, consistent, inexpensive and refreshing - but hardly cause for waxing poetic, planning meals around, and travelling long distances in order to procure/sample).

Here's just one site, listing some world class Canadian beers:
http://www.unibroue.com/products/bieres.cfm

[felonius]

Brad: no argument about Labatt's - blue-collar swill at its finest, to borrow your phrase. (but still better than its American counterpart Budweiser.) With due respect, however, I wouldn't place Moosehead in the same category. Mass market, yes - but I'd still take it over Stella any day. To each their own.

Who's waxing poetic?

[Darb]

Comparing mass market lagers with each other is largely a matter of personal preference with regards to variety & amount of hops, malt vareties & brewing techniques. As an amateur brewer, and a competition judge, I can discuss in depth any or all three of those to whatever depth you feel comfortable and interested in.

No arguments about the brewed-to-appeal- to-the-lowest-common-denominator-of-taste-preferences- in-order-to-secure-marketshare of AB's Budweiser. Labatts and Moosehead target pretty much the same general niche in Canada, except they have a bit more flavor ... because the taste preferences of their target niche prefer that.

Stella targets a slightly different niche than either of the above - it's drier, hoppier, more floral, and (in general) uses more somewhat more pricy malts and techniques. It's targeting the "premium lager" niche, and competing with the likes of Samuel Adams (which is much maltier and far less dry/floral). Again, it's a matter of preference on what style you prefer.

The only problem I have with Stella is the occasional bottle that's not optimally fresh. The causes for that are two fold ... (1) there are fewer breweries and the beer has to be distributed further, and often sits on the shelf longer. (2) Sometimes they're skunked/light-struck ... a commonplace problem with greenbottle beers that are improperly handled or stored. You can usually evade both problems by visiting a bar that has it on draft, and which has a reasonably fast turnover in terms of keg life.

Anyway, I was asked for a recommendation, and I gave one. Nobody has to agree.

[felonius]

(John Cleese as the Pope)

"I don't know much about art, but I know what I like!!"

I bow to an obviously superior authority.

[Darb]

Hey, no bowing - I'm an egalitarian canine at heart.

I freely admit to being a beer geek, but all that means is that I know how recipes are formulated to produce different "classic" styles of beer to target different taste preferences.

To extend the analogy to apples - I can tell you what variety you're eating, and whether it's fresh or a bit mealy, but whether or not you prefer (for instance) Fujis to Royal Galas, or McCouns to Macintoshes is still a matter of personal preference.

No more, no less.

[felonius]

Granny Smith man myself...

[Aunflin]

All this talk of beer is making me thirsty...

/me thinks I'll head off to the pub and shoot a few games of pool...

[Kagnok]

All this talk of beer is making me thirsty...

/me thinks I'll head off to the pub and shoot a few games of pool...

Hey! You should get a beer while you're there. Then you wouldn't be thirsty.

[Aunflin]

Yep, Kagnok, that's what I did. Unfortunately, I didn't play any pool. Oh, well. But I went to one of my favorite places, Llywellyns, a Welsh pub, had a few Harps on tap, some chips with malt vinegar, and some delicious battered and fried whitefish...I was too tired to shoot any pool--been up since 3AM.

[Kagnok]

So what is a Welsh pub, vinegar chips, and someone who likes them doing in what appears to be St. Louis, MO per your profile?

[Aunflin]

The place is modeled after real English/Welsh pubs. And yes, it's in St. Louis--in what's called the Central West End, one of those "trendy" areas that I normally don't frequent. Give me a nice seedy tavern any day--the people are so much more real and down-to-earth, if you know what I mean.

In fact, there are several interesting areas in St. Louis--we're not all "hayseeds" you know. The Hill is probably the best well-known--it's Italian. And now we have a large Bosnian population--enough, in fact, that the grocery stores have whole sections devoted to Bosnian cuisine...

St. Louis is a pretty interesting place, if a bit up-tight...it has more character than Kansas City IMO.

Well, I best be getting to bed. Gotta be up in five short hours...

[Echus Cthulhu Mythos]

Not being a drinker it is hard to say, but there are some Kiwi beers that have quite the reputation.

Steinlager & Speights being the 2 I recall.

Some of my mates lurve Speights. Me personally, I think the calling of beer 'piss' is more than just a slang...

I like snapps.

[muffy]

personally i like miller light or bud light. if i'm short of money a natural light works well too.