Tmsorosk, there must be something other than the big breweries in Alberta. Considering there are some good ones in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, you'd think there should be some in Alberta for sure. In Saskatchewan, there are very nice ones from Bushwakker Brew Pub in Regina. I'm a fan of a number of their offerings such Palliser Porter and Chico IPA. Also, a former brewmaster from Bushwakker opened Half Pints brewery in Manitoba. I'm a big fan of their Stir Stick Stout, and if someone really likes very hoppy IPA's, their Little Scrapper IPA is very good too. |
This is, unsurprisingly, not subjective. The best beer ever is Russian River Brewing's "Pliny the Elder".
Many other truly fantastic beers have been mentioned, quite a few of which I've had the pleasure of drinking in the past year, either during my summer in Madison, WI (go New Glarus!), winter in Boulder, CO (GABF 08-11 cups proudly displayed), Summer in San Francisco, CA (Find me at the Toronado) or my current digs in Washington, D.C.
Truth be told, despite my Belgian heritage and Colorado upbringing, California has perfected beer. Pliny the Elder is it. |
"California has perfected beer
You probably think California perfected pizza by adding pineapples :-) |
Best beer??? Hmmm? Any of my home brews. Old Castle nut brown ale ranks up there I find it even tastier than New Castle. |
Corona. Also a great song by the Minutemen. |
Big Rock Traditional. Small Western Canadian brewery. Yum! |
Mission Brewery (from San Diego) Blonde Ale has become my recent go-to, everyday beer. Nice flavor, good body, but goes down smoothly. Also tried some Magic Hat #9 (from Vermont) and Brooklyn Summer Ale while I was in NY, as well as Bronx Brewery American Ale. All were good -- especially the Magic Hat.
Keep Drinking Local! |
Sierra Nevada Hoptimum satisfies greatly during this scorching summer. |
Hoptimum is about 10%ABV -- go easy! O'Dell's Mercenary another fine big pale, tho perhaps not as good as Hoptimum. Founder's is making a lot of good big beers (the exception being their unfortunate Hazelnut Coffee flavred offering).
John |
John - Agree on Founders. Nearly every flavor is very big and good. Us beer imbibers live in an amazing time with so many terrific choices out there these days. I feel like a kid in a candy store sometimes. |
Thirsty Dog Brewing Co.
22oz Old Leghumper |
Let us not forget the ultimate in bourbon barrel oak, an aged rye beer. Ale Industries - FYSUS mmmmm tasty! |
Great thread! I do like the whiskey barrel stouts. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is also awesome after a hot day at work. After slammin one of these ease into a lighter wheat or whatever. |
Leffe- Belgian Trappist beer. They must have a wild time in that monastery! |
Well, that Jamaican beer company has the best commercials, RD Stripe, it's beer!
Their Dragon Stout brew is very satisfying.
Fun mostly,
Stitch.e |
Carlsberg. Probably the best beer in the world. It says so right on the can. |
09-27-12: Csontos
Carlsberg. Probably the best beer in the world. It says so right on the can.
Reminds me of the movie Elf where the sign on the outside of the coffee shop says World's Best Coffee "Close your eyes and taste this. What do you taste?" "A crappy cup of coffee?" NO! It's the world's best cup of coffee!" If you want the best beer, make it yourself. |
Recently had a La Trappe Quadruple on draft at a Belgian beer garden,
Victoire, in Rochester, NY. Very tasty. |
Milwaukee's Best. The name says it all !!!!! |
Olde Frothingslosh, Pittsburg's finest pale ale. The only beer with the head on the bottom. |
Haven't seen Old Frothingslosh in the Buffalo/Niagara area, in many decades. Sorry, but...the only way the head can be on the bottom is if you look at it while standing on your head, or, if you've had 'one too many'. Thanks for the memory! |
Full Sail ipa made in oregon |
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Trappist Roquefort 8, Trappist Roquefort 10, Maharaja IPA and just about any good beer from Belgium (provided it is not a fruit beer- yuk). Also good are a wide selection of IPA's from Stone Brewery in San Diego. That said I can't drink beer any longer due to a Gluten intolerance. Oh well.
Ted Denney
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc. |
Has anyone tried Surly from Minneapolis? I'm not a big beer drinker but I'm told they make some excellent brews. |
Surly is great. Their Darkness is superb as are almost all other beers I have had from them. A sad day when they stopped distributing to Chicago (they had trouble keeping up with demand I am told). |
I'm a big fan of the Belgian farm house style beers such as those made by Sasion Dupont. They even have a "Table Beer" which has only 3.5% alcohol that they recommend starting your whole family drinking with. These beers are yeasty, malty, with a bit of hops. Well balanced and they almost taste alive. If you have ever had the privilege of visiting breweries in Holland or Belgium you will learn about IPA's and the use of hops. The double hops of the "India Pale Ale" was added to preserve for the long voyage to India not for the heavy, bitter taste (extreme) that we Americans seam to love. Just look at snacks like Dorito's and you can understand why Surly and so many super hoppy beers are popular. |
Dogfish Indian Brown Ale. |
If in Brazil try Brahma dark beer or Nova Schin, both reference dark beer. Domestically, Voo doo lager is solid as is Rasputin. |
Good call on the Smoked Arrogant Bastard, Martykl. Excellent brew except it only comes in a four-pack. ;-)
Good luck finding these next two (though they're worth the effort):
Shipyard Bourbon Barrel Aged Double ESB (limited edition)
Drake's Brewing - Aroma Coma Pale Ale(summer seasonal)
Had both the Shipyard and Drake's at my favorite beer store which has the best selection I've ever seen anywhere. It also has a tasting room with 15 select beers on tap for $3 a glass. They rotate the offerings regularly so there's good reason to visit.
More readily available would be almost anything from Lagunitas. This is my overall favorite brewery. Their beers are great and the commentary on their packaging is very entertaining. The company motto is "Beer Speaks, People Mumble."
Kenyt mentioned Little Sumpin' Ale. I'll go one better and also suggest Little Sumpin' Wild, too. This is one of their seasonals which are all exceptional with names like Wilco Tango Foxtrot, Hairy Eyeball and Undercover Investigation Shut-Down.
The Lagunitas New DogTown Pale Ale is extra hoppy and more like an IPA than their IPA (in turn the IPA is really more like a Pale Ale; I think it's an inside joke...)
Damn, I could go on but have to go to the liquor store. There's no beer in the house and this conversation made me thirsty! |
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Just picked a 4-pack of Founders Backwoods Bastard. OMG it is fab! Love bourbon barreled beers. |
I feared I was become a craft beer snob. I'm saved. Last night in a resturant where there was little choice I tried a Sam Adams Larger. A great beer with Chinese for sure, pizza next. Just 'sipping' beer I don't know yet. |
Just realized, three of my fav beers are from Founders.
Fav Bourbon Barrel: Founders Backwoods Bastard
Fav Porter: Founders Porter
Fav Stout: Founders Breakfast Stout
Rounding out my top fav five:
Fav Wee Heavy: Orkney Skull Splitter
Fave Belgian: St. Berbardus ABT 12
Fav Barley Wine: I forget! Dammit! |
The best beers are homemade. (period) |
Just drank a few new beauties from Mammoth Brewing Company (located in Mammoth Lakes, CA). These are all new, limited releases. Descriptions below from MBC's web site. Good luck finding these outside of Mammoth, but if you can get there (the powder is dumping as we speak), they are top notch (and strong enough to knock you down pretty quickly):
Devils Post Pale Ale: Originally brewed for the centennial celebration of Devils Postpile, we superheat volcanic rock to start the boiling process. The result is earthy, caramelized wort, giving this ale its unique flavor. We then generously hop with Centennial hops (of course!) to create this double pale ale.
7.5% ABV, 70 IBUs
Owens Valley Wet Harvest Ale: Mammoth Brewing Company is proud to offer our third annual wet harvest beer. This year, we chose to brew an Imperial Double Red Ale. Drink this limited wet harvest ale today at the peak of freshness to enjoy the aromatic qualities of these high altitude wet hops.
8.0% ABV, 70 IBUs
Lair of the Bear: A true winter warmer to sip by the fire, Lair of the Bear is a hefty Russian Imperial Stout with an O.G. of 22 Plato. Our brewers fermented this stout with our proprietary yeast in stainless for two weeks then racked into freshly emptied Heavenly Hills Bourbon barrels and allowed the beer to rest for seven months. Enjoy now or age for as long as you like, but be aware Lair of the Bear may put you into hibernation.
9.5% ABV, 70 IBUs
Fire & Eisbock: Brewing in the land of fire & ice (the Eastern Sierra) since 1995 has brought us to this style of beer, where we use a long intense boil to concentrate color, flavor, and natural sugars. Then, after fermentation, we freeze no more than 2% of the water content out of the beer. This concentrates the alcohol and smooths out the flavor for a true winter seasonal. Like the bliss of a one swing stick into ice, this beer will distill your attention down to the single focus of the bend of your elbow. Fire & Eisbock will age well, but do drink one now to compare with our barrel-aged eisbock.
10.0% ABV, 27 IBUs |
BTW, Tycobb wins. Can't argue with that! |
The best beers are homemade. I brew a bit, and I don't know about this. People say my beers compare favorably to commercial samples (most recently, Rockadanny, a Bacwoods Bastard copy tasted against the original). A lot of this, I think, is a freshness effect. Remember, a lot of the commercial folks were once the best homebrewers. I went to graduate school with Paul Phillippon, and drank his yummy homebrew; now he's the man behind Duck Rabbit, "The Dark Beer Specialists," and brews even yummier commercial beer. (Duck Rabbit is has growing distribution, based in NC, keep an eye out.) My2c, John |
-1 Sweet2ear.
I've brewed a bit as well. I've tasted many others' home brews. I've never tasted any home brew which even comes close to top beers. Better than Bud? Sure. But no comparison to the top brewers like Founders and others. Maybe I just need to get new home brew friends? ;^) |
Well Rockadanny, I think it's your friends. With all respect, of course. ;)
To use your example, it should be pretty straightforward to brew an APA in the league of Founder's Centennial (a very good, but not great, APA). Not saying way better, or even better, but most certainly competitive. I've done this reliably, and I'm pretty casual brewer. (Other styles, like Lagers, are harder.)
IMHO, the most common cause of "amateur" homebrew is cloudy, sludgy beer, that just doesn't taste clean. The cure is patience: enough time in vat for particulate to settle out (and the clean beer to be "racked" off).
After that diatribe, another recommendation:
Schlafley's Tasmanian IPA, with all Australian hops. Pretty local to ST. Louis, but worth a look.
John |
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Tried a home made beer at friends that trounced all others. It was a pale Ale. |
Nitro milk stout. Good stuff! |
I'm also going to try Ghost. |
Chimay, New Belgium Brewery (Fat Tire, Sunshine Wheat, 1554), Bristol Brewery (Laughing Lab, Mass Transit, Beehive). We take our micro brews very seriously here in CO. We had 130 breweries in 2011, only behind Washington (136), and California (268) for total number. Denver ranks number one in the nation beer production per capita and second in the number of breweries.
:-) |
For a non-alcoholic beer, Maisel's Alkohol Frei Weisse Bier is ridiculously good. Nearly impossible to tell from any other good unfiltered German Weisse Bier |
Uerige Doppelsticke
Dark and delicious. |
Me, I'mpartial to IPA's and have had a few recently that stand out: Firestone Union Jack, FOunders Centennial, and Green Flash.
Dogfish 90 as a standby but a little to much malt IMO. |
had a very nice amber ale Sunday- Weed. Recommended. |
