The Beer Thread

[Em7add11]

I haven't seen a good beer thread in a while and I figured a frat without a little beer talk is just wrong.

Anybody a fan of the Samuel Adams Cream Stout? I didn't really care for it the first time I tried it but then I gave it a go from a glass instead of straight from the bottle and that made all the difference in the world.

[Faramir]

Never had the creame stout, though I usually find Sam Adams stuff palatable if not always top notch.

[Faramir]

Never had the creame stout, though I usually find Sam Adams stuff palatable if not always top notch.

Edit to add: Why did this post appear twice?

AND

I recently discovered "Belgian Blue" wheat beer. It is pretty good IMO anyone else have a go with this beer?

[SteveF]

It's something of a myth over here in the UK that Americans have crappy beer; as I repeatedly point out to my ignorant chums, you yanks have many fine beers, particularly from microbreweries. However, what Sam Adams I've tried, I haven't been massively impressed with.

A couple of Good British beers I've been drinking recently are:

Summer Lightening

Trade Winds (my current favourite)

[Em7add11]

Oh man, has anybody else here tried Cave Creek Chili Beer? Yikes.

[Littlejoe]

I don't think I have tried any of the beers listed so far...but I look forward to trying them! As a christian, I don't drink alot, but when I drink a beer, I believe it should be "The Good Stuff"!!! (Why waste time on a crappy beer?) We have a microbrewery here in Texas called Spoetzel Brewing Co. Their Brand name is "Shiner Beers". They make some pretty decent beers. My fave so far is the Dunkelweizen (dark wheat). I have tried the Sam Adams Double bock, its not bad. In general, I prefer the darker beers. Recently tried a Fat Tire Amber Ale that was pretty good. I've seen the Belgian Blue but haven't ventured to try it yet! I may have to give it a go!

LJ

[Jimmy Higgins]

Personally, I prefer Barq's.

[Em7add11]

Mmm, Barq's is definitely the best of the 'root' variety.

[eudyptes]

Belgian White (whitbier): Hoegaarden - looks a little murky in a glass but tastes great

Stout:
York's Double Chocolate Stout

and you can never go wrong with a Guinness

[Faramir]

If you like dark beer (as any real man should), I suggest Paulaner's Double Bock! A little pricey, but worth it!

[The Curtmudgeon]

I can't drink wheat beers at all (wheat allergy -- I can literally feel my sinuses packing in after a single swallow of a wheat beer). I do enjoy trying beers, but more often than not I default to Guinness. At German restaurants, I prefer Kostritzer Dunkel if they've got it, but Paulaner also has several drinkable varieties.

I don't care much for Sam Adams, more on principle than taste -- the owner of Sam Adams has delibertely mounted a campaign to eliminate other microbreweries, and I won't support that. When I have, on rare occasion, drunk a Sam Adams product (and I've not tried all their varieties, or anything like), it's been acceptable but not wonderful.

I don't much care for most British bitter beers, although on rare occasions I've enjoyed Young's ESB, but I find Strine (Au-stray-li-an, if you pronounce every syllable, unlike the Aussies themselves) bitter beers to be very palatable -- especially VB (Victoria Bitter). My experience in Oz, although perhaps a bit dated now, indicated that despite their commercials on American telly, Foster's is really an export rather than an Australian beer (except for the green label Foster's Bitter, which is semi-popular).

Stouts: of course, the top of the list is Guinness. But I've also enjoyed some fine local stouts, including Carlsberg Stout in Denmark & Norway, and Raven Stout in Orkney & northern Scotland. Murphy's is drinkable if you can't get Guinness, but I'd rank Beamish above Murphy's. Anything labelled "oatmeal stout" is usually too sweet, and "double chocolate stout" is something to reserve for a party atmosphere rather than serious drinking. And stay completely away from Russian Imperial Stout -- one of the few times I've refused to finish a bottle after a single swallow.

The (I suppose all that makes me sound like something of a lush) Curtmudgeon

[GKC_fan]

I just discovered dark beers about a year ago, and realized, hey, I do like beer, after all!

I've tried one Chocolate Stout and loved it; from Rogue, maybe? I don't like bitter, i.e., hoppy, beers, and I do have a sweet tooth, so I have enjoyed the couple of oatmeal porters I've tried, but my favorite so far, I think, is Milk Stout, in my case by Duck Rabbit brewery.

A nephew, who also loves milk stouts, highly recommends Imperial Russian Stout, particularly Stone brewery's, so I am planning on trying one.

Cheers!
GKC_fan

P.S. Whole Foods has a great selection of dark beers, including many premium imports.

[GKC_fan]

Here's a great poem by Chesterton, who loved his beer and food. I'm stumped as to why he didn't include a paean to beer in this poem, because he loved it. He suggested (totally seriously) at a meeting of local Temperance group that they should meet at the local pub, as the setting would be much more convivial.

His reference to hot chocolate was really an inside joke, a dig at a newspaper that was a vocal opponent of his; it's nickname was 'the cocoa press". The "windy waters" refers to carbonated mineral water, that is extremely popular in many European countries. bleccchh!

The Song of Right and Wrong

Feast on wine or fast on water
And your honour shall stand sure;
God Almighty's son and daughter
He the valiant, she the pure.
If an angel out of heaven
Brings you other things to drink,
Thank him for his kind attentions,
Go and pour them down the sink.

Tea is like the East he grows in,
A great yellow Mandarin
With urbanity of manner
And unconsciousness of sin;
All the women, like a harem,
At his pig-tail troop along;
And, like all the East he grows in,
He is Poison when he's strong.

Tea, although an Oriental,
Is a gentleman at least;
Cocoa is a cad and coward,
Cocoa is a vulgar beast,
Cocoa is a dull, disloyal,
Lying, crawling cad and clown,
And may very well be grateful
To the fool that takes him down.

As for all the windy waters,
They were rained like tempests down
When good drink had been dishonoured
By the tipplers of the town;
When red wine had brought red ruin
And the death-dance of our times,
Heaven sent us Soda Water
As a torment for our crimes.

- G.K. Chesterton

[Littlejoe]

If you like dark beer (as any real man should), I suggest Paulaner's Double Bock! A little pricey, but worth it!

I have tried Paulaner's Double bock and it is gooooddd! I can't find it around here though!

I can't drink wheat beers at all (wheat allergy -- I can literally feel my sinuses packing in after a single swallow of a wheat beer).

That's a shame! If I must drink a less dark beer, wheat beers are my favorite.

I do enjoy trying beers, but more often than not I default to Guinness. At German restaurants, I prefer Kostritzer Dunkel if they've got it, but Paulaner also has several drinkable varieties.

Of COURSE Guinness is always a great standby! I found Kostritzer's Dunkel in a convience store in the middle of NOWHERE and it was verrryy good!

I don't care much for Sam Adams, more on principle than taste -- the owner of Sam Adams has delibertely mounted a campaign to eliminate other microbreweries, and I won't support that. When I have, on rare occasion, drunk a Sam Adams product (and I've not tried all their varieties, or anything like), it's been acceptable but not wonderful.

I hadn't heard of this. Can you elaborate?

I don't much care for most British bitter beers, although on rare occasions I've enjoyed Young's ESB, but I find Strine (Au-stray-li-an, if you pronounce every syllable, unlike the Aussies themselves) bitter beers to be very palatable -- especially VB (Victoria Bitter). My experience in Oz, although perhaps a bit dated now, indicated that despite their commercials on American telly, Foster's is really an export rather than an Australian beer (except for the green label Foster's Bitter, which is semi-popular).

Stouts: of course, the top of the list is Guinness. But I've also enjoyed some fine local stouts, including Carlsberg Stout in Denmark & Norway, and Raven Stout in Orkney & northern Scotland. Murphy's is drinkable if you can't get Guinness, but I'd rank Beamish above Murphy's. Anything labelled "oatmeal stout" is usually too sweet, and "double chocolate stout" is something to reserve for a party atmosphere rather than serious drinking. And stay completely away from Russian Imperial Stout -- one of the few times I've refused to finish a bottle after a single swallow.

The (I suppose all that makes me sound like something of a lush) Curtmudgeon

Wow, maybe we should call you Cushmudgeon!

LJ

[SteveF]

I can't drink wheat beers at all (wheat allergy -- I can literally feel my sinuses packing in after a single swallow of a wheat beer).

I can't drink wheat bears either. Not because of an allergy but because they are girly nonsense that taste like bum.

I don't much care for most British bitter beers, although on rare occasions I've enjoyed Young's ESB.

Dear oh dear oh dear. Frankly I expect better from you Curt. Youngs is acceptable if there is nothing else to drink, but really they are the Fosters of the ale world. If you find Youngs palatable, then there are loads of bitters out there that you'd like, you just have to dig below the generic surface. Trust the atheist..........