Beverage: Beer (favorite brands & articles about)

[MidasKnight]

I'm a big fan of porters and black lagers. Not sure what to recommend specifically since we live on opposite sides of the world.

[mrdude]

well, one of my all-time favorites is new Belgium's 1554 - (http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/1554). Also I love Great Divide's (http://www.greatdivide.com/) Oak Aged yeti (although you can't get it this time of year). As you can tell I'm a bit of a sucker for my local breweries (I live in Denver Colorado).

Although its arguably not the darkest stuff around you should totally try Barmitzvah Beer - (http://www.shmaltz.com/HEBREW/j13.html), it's really heavy on the hops, but worth indulging in at least once. I think I've only seen it in the big bombers though (that never stops me mind you)

[mrdude]

Oh I forgot to mention Young's Double Chocolate Stout...best chocolate stout I've tried.... So good! ---> (http://www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk/home/ou ... late-stout)

[Darb]

Edit: "Darb Beer" thread merged into existing Beer thread.

ECM: The first thing you should do is get thyself over to BeerAdvocate, read up on beer styles, and then start clicking like a crazed chimp on all the sub-styles of stout: Imperial Russian Stout (ex: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Sam Smith's Imperial Russian Stout, etc.), English style Milk Stout (ex: Mackeson XXX), Irish style dry stout (Guinness, Beamish, etc.), German Schwartzbier, etc.

[voralfred]

Edit: "Darb Beer" thread (...)

A Freudian shrink would deduce all kinds of things from this typing slip....

[Darb]

Its not a mere slip, you near-sighted ninny ... it's a full on teddy, with stockings, garters, edibles, push-up, and black riding crop.

Sheesh ... next you'll be confusing a San Francisco Imperial IPA with an English Mild.

[mrdude]

Speaking dark Beer, I'm enjoying my second Black Jack Porter tonight (left hand brewery). Hopefully my typing isn't getting to slurry right now. (Ok, that just sounded like dunk speak)

[mrdude]

So I have a theory that beer is one of those odd things that you like for reasons beyond it's own intrinsic value. Weather it tastes good, or is beautifully crafted (not to imply that this lacks importance) there is something about this beer that screams for the occasion. Sometimes you like a beer for a specific occasions, and it might not make a lot of sense at first mention, but you find that it rings true. So Name a beer you can think of, and what you like it for, and maybe a reason for why you think that might be true.

For example:

I like to drink mickeys late at night with friends. I think I make this connection because I used to buy it whenever I played D&D with a group of close friends. We would play until it was late at night (morning really). I would buy a six pack from the closest liquor store and fill a bucket full of ice and throw them in. I liked how they reminded me of the beer my dad drank when I was young that he would give me sips of now and then (he drank odoules, which is a non-alcoholic beer, but also a malt beverage... so it tastes similar) and one of my friends (who has since passed away) loved them, would call them "green grenades" and bum a couple off me every time, so it reminds me of fun times with him.

So basically something that you love possibly more for nostalgic reasons than for the actual quality of the beverage (although there's no reason it can't be something really good)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Speaking dark Beer, I'm enjoying my second Black Jack Porter tonight (left hand brewery). Hopefully my typing isn't getting to slurry right now. (Ok, that just sounded like dunk speak)

I wonder why they named their brewery left hand. Their logo is the front (ventral) view of the right hand!

... dunk speak

Do you speak to it when you dunk a pretzel in your beer?

[mrdude]

Do you speak to it when you dunk a pretzel in your beer?

ummmm..... yes

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Something to go with beer.

See #3 in {snip}

[gpackin]

My wife and I visited the tasting room at Cisco Brewers on Nantucket last week. It was a great experience, the beer was great and the staff was very friendly. I picked up a pint glass to add to my glassware collection and a Whale's Tale Pale Ale t-shirt.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Something to go with beer.

Here it is. (cleaned up)
See #3

Best viewed just before lunch or dinner, because it undoubtedly will stimulate your appetite.

Belgium has three very traditional ways to enjoy the delicious Northsea Gray Shrimp.

1. The venerable "Tomaat met Garnalen" (Tomato with Shrimp).

Spoiler: show

2. The aristocratic "Garnaalkroket" (Shrimp Croquette)

Spoiler: show

3. As finger food, to be peeled and eaten as accompaniment to a glas of beer like Gueuze or Rodenbach. Many people claim that shrimp and beer together, enhances each other's tastes.

Northsea Gray Shrimp really are the most tasty, especially when freshly caught, immediately boiled aboard the fishing boat, cooled, taken ashore and consumed. Preferably with a beer in an outdoor café by the seashore, lit by a sun, ruddy with envy, slowly sopping up the sea's horizon.

(I put a regular fork in the demo to show the shrimp's size.)

Spoiler: show

Supermarkets are trying to push somewhat larger, pink tropical prawns: a plastic tray filled with prawns arranged in a crown-like circle, together with some cocktail sauce. The prawns are peeled, except for a bit of tail which remains to serve as handle when dipping them in the sauce.
But these prawns are very bland, almost tasteless. Certainly too bland without some sauce or condiment.

Spoiler: show

[voralfred]

Interesting, but still... I am a little disappointed. I remember seeing a much more inspired page about the same topic, but where was it? where?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Interesting, but still... I am a little disappointed. I remember seeing a much more inspired page about the same topic, but where was it? where?

I wouldn't know. Even though at 65 I'm well past the legal age, I don't visit adult content sites.

Do you actually manage to circumvent the parental controls of your parents' computer?

[voralfred]

Do you actually manage to circumvent the parental controls of your parents' computer?

A more appropriate quesion would be: how long will I still be able to circumvent the controls impoesed by the "tuteur" assigned to me by the judge who declared me incompetent because of old age (as, I am sure, you'l lbe declared soon ).

[Darb]

3. As finger food, to be peeled and eaten as accompaniment to a glas of beer like Gueuze or Rodenbach. Many people claim that shrimp and beer together, enhances each other's tastes.

I love shrimp, I like geuze, and I enjoy rodenbach. However, not together.

IMHO, the subtle sweetness, tartness, and fruitiness of Rodenbach is best enjoyed either on its own, or with mild cheese and crackers, with some crisp tart fruit slices.

I've also found that Geuze (which is very tart and has a hint of SO2) works better with (and in) a pot of steamed mussels, preferrably with a nice sauce. The low-tide notes of the beer seem to work best with food harvested at low tide.

For shrimp, I prefer something that doesnt distract from or compete with the shrimp ... like a mild crisp refreshing lager, a Czech-style Pils, a well crafted refreshing wheat beer (ex: Hoegaarden Grand Cru), a bone dry cider, or best of all, a dry sparkling white wine.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... with mild cheese and crackers ...

I think you must have seen too often and too much "Wallace and Gromit".

[Darb]

Nope.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

I'm convinced that good beer tastes even better with good company, don't you think?



Especially if you get to kiss off the mustache.

[Darb]

R-rated alert:

Spoiler: show

I must admit, I've never seen a dirty sanchez done with guinness before.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Spoiler: show

I must admit, I've never seen a dirty sanchez done with guinness before.

That isn't physics or rocket science,but it does broaden my American idiom.
Voralfred's too, I'll bet.

[voralfred]

(...) but it does broaden my American idiom.
Voralfred's too, I'll bet.

Indeed! I had to google it to find it one Wiki.
Though the thin halo of Guiness on the lip of that charming girl looked really appetizing...

[Darb]

I should probably issue myself a warning for that one ...

/me kicks own shin.

Ouch !

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Mmmmm, Irish Coffee, heavenly!

Yes, I know this is not beer. But I thought a shot of my ugly mug would contrast nicely with the lovely girl above.