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! |
If in Brazil try Brahma dark beer or Nova Schin, both reference dark beer. Domestically, Voo doo lager is solid as is Rasputin. |
Dogfish Indian Brown Ale. |
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. |
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). |
Has anyone tried Surly from Minneapolis? I'm not a big beer drinker but I'm told they make some excellent brews. |
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. |
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Full Sail ipa made in oregon |
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! |
Olde Frothingslosh, Pittsburg's finest pale ale. The only beer with the head on the bottom. |
Milwaukee's Best. The name says it all !!!!! |
Recently had a La Trappe Quadruple on draft at a Belgian beer garden,
Victoire, in Rochester, NY. Very tasty. |
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. |
Carlsberg. Probably the best beer in the world. It says so right on the can. |
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 |
Leffe- Belgian Trappist beer. They must have a wild time in that monastery! |
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. |
Let us not forget the ultimate in bourbon barrel oak, an aged rye beer. Ale Industries - FYSUS mmmmm tasty! |
Thirsty Dog Brewing Co.
22oz Old Leghumper |
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. |
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 |
Sierra Nevada Hoptimum satisfies greatly during this scorching summer. |
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! |
Big Rock Traditional. Small Western Canadian brewery. Yum! |
Corona. Also a great song by the Minutemen. |
Best beer??? Hmmm? Any of my home brews. Old Castle nut brown ale ranks up there I find it even tastier than New Castle. |
"California has perfected beer
You probably think California perfected pizza by adding pineapples :-) |
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. |
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. |
Tried a new beer tonight called Ghost, very nice, still trying it. |
west vleteren = rare belgian trappist... one batch per license plate every 6 month... |
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For Arrogant Bastard types,
Give the oaked version a try sometime. It's great. |
Arrogant Bastard is Stone Brewery, based in Northern San Diego County. All of their beers are excellent. I must admit that I find Arrogant Bastard excessively hoppy, but that's been the trend the last few years. I think the market is finally moving past that. Nonetheless, Arrogant Bastard is one of the great beer names. |
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Tmsorosk, there in Alberta Canada one of your large national union breweries brews Brador beer.....uh, things could be worse. |
How about La Trappe - Quadrupel (Trappist Ale)... |
@Tmsorosk - sounds like a great business opportunity -- start selling micro-brews in Alberta! |
I'm amazed at how many beers I haven't heard of and how many folks here mention micro breweries. Here in Alberta Canada there are only large national union breweries.
Anyone know that the Weihenstephan brewery in Germany is the oldest, they've been making suds their for over 1000 years. |
current two favs: skull splitter and st. bernardus ebt 12. both very flavorful. mmm ... |
Deschutes ipa made in oregon.had it when i was in hawaii a couple years ago.still has not made it to the east coast |
Rhapsd, I too am a big fan of the Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. I have one more in the fridge left over from earlier this spring but I like those better in the colder months. Summer'ish is almost here in Michigan and that means Oberon, with an orange slice, in the Beer Garden at Bell's. Damn, only 5 more months of that....tough to take. Another nice summer wheat is Trout Slayer, from the Big Sky Brewing folks in Missoula. |
Favorite name is Arrogant Bastard Ale. Plus the label blatantly insults fans of Bud and Coors by stating "Perhaps youre mouthing your words as you read this." |
"Brew Free or Die IPA" is the one I have had recently that sticks out in my mind. An outstanding and very distinctive tasting IPA. |
Samuel Smith Tawrny Porter and Oatmail Stout
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Been drinking lighter summery beers lately. Tusker from Kenya is very nice and there is one in the can from the guys who make Dale's Pale Ale called something like Mama Yella Pils (too lazy to go down the the fridge and check the name for sure) that is also in heavy rotation right now. |
Free and cold? The boys across the big pond would rather it be room temperature. Used to bartend at the small NATO military base I worked at. The Brits had some of their brew (Double Diamond ale, among others) brought in which was kept out of the coolers at room temp. Took a little getting used to, but was very tasty. Couldn't drink a lot of it though.
My favorite is Mug. |
05-22-12: Tmsorosk
Free and cold would be good but what if it tasted gross? Beggars can't be choosers Tim !!!! |
Tmsorosk, You cannot have everything. |
