The Beer Thread

[Em7add11]

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

Man, I would have thought anything involving bears would be at least reasonably manly.

It must be all the soccer thuggery that toughens you guys up?

[The Curtmudgeon]

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

A quick googling shows less evidence than I expected to find, so perhaps I should qualify that statement with the phrase "I've been given to understand that ...". Essentially, Boston Beers (maker of Sam Adams) has a business model, or perhaps business practice would be a more accurate description, of buying up smaller microbreweries and replacing their former product with Sam Adams. There are supposedly a number of such microbreweries that have been Borged, with a consequent lessening in the number of available microbrews, so that Sam Adams can claim an expanded share of the market. Not all of such business deals have been amicable, or so I have been led to believe.

I'm open to being convinced otherwise, as I really have no dog in that particular fight. As I said, when I have tried a Sam Adams beer, it's been somewhere between mediocre and okay -- not bad enough to pour down the sink, not good enough to sing its praises.

The ("Cushmudgeon" sounds too much like "Cushie McCoy") Curtmudgeon

[SteveF]

Man, I would have thought anything involving bears would be at least reasonably manly.

It must be all the soccer thuggery that toughens you guys up?

A pint and a fight, a great British night.

[Longstreet]

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

I'm not a beer aficionado, but I'll chime in.

Shiner is pretty good. I've tried Bock and Light, and was pleased with both.

My all time favorite is a Canadian, Sleeman's Silver Creek Lager. It may be more a sentimental thing than anything else (I first had it on a wonderful family trip to Ontario), but man that was good stuff!

It can't be found in Texas. I'm not sure they import it at all.

[Sheepdog]

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)

I recently tried a Newcastle, a Brit beer I now like.

Travelling in Canada got me hooked on Molson Canadian. But usually I'll tried a different brew I haven't before. I don't have an official favorite.

[Jimmy Higgins]

I recently tried a Newcastle, a Brit beer I now like.

Travelling in Canada got me hooked on Molson Canadian. But usually I'll tried a different brew I haven't before. I don't have an official favorite.

You may want to try Moosehead, another Canadian brew.

[Sheepdog]

i heard of moosehead, i'll have to see if we have any of it around here.

you know what i wish we had in the states, something like The Beer Store. i thought it was an awesome idea to have a store devoted entirely to beer.

[Gus Limburger]

I like the wheats, actually. I think my favorite is Georg Schneider and Sons Schneider Weiss.

[Jnthn]

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)

Those Cairngorm Brewery beers are astonishingly good. I bumped into them when I was doing a Scripture Union camp in Aviemore over the summer. Annoyingly, I couldn't do a run to the brewery due to my work committments (I was one of the cooks) and a prohibition against alcohol on the camp premeses.

Thankfully, my local Tesco has some of the lines, and the company does mail order!

J

[Jnthn]

My main beers are Budweiser (yeah, yeah), Fruli (a strawberry-weissbier blend) and a Belgian fruit beer called Bellevue. Unfortunately, I can't find a stockist of the latter of late.

J

[SteveF]

Those Cairngorm Brewery beers are astonishingly good. I bumped into them when I was doing a Scripture Union camp in Aviemore over the summer. Annoyingly, I couldn't do a run to the brewery due to my work committments (I was one of the cooks) and a prohibition against alcohol on the camp premeses.

Thankfully, my local Tesco has some of the lines, and the company does mail order!

J

Yeah, they're real stunners. I've been to the brewery a couple of times now and collected a crate, plus they sell individual bottles at Borough Market in London. Also, we take a group of 1st year ndergraduates up there for an introduction to fieldwork; where we stayed this year has a little bar that we run - 6 of us got through 2 barrels in a week! Happily 18 year olds from London seem to prefer fizzy nonsense, so all the more for us.

I was speaking to the lady who works there and they are thinking of ways to get more of their beers down south, so thats good news for me.

[Pilgrim]

I like the wheats, actually. I think my favorite is Georg Schneider and Sons Schneider Weiss.

I like the Wheat beers on a hot Summer day. See, beers, lagers and ales alike, are like wines. You have to have the right one with the right circumstance or food.

Dark beers are nice once the fall and winter kick in. They have a thickness and comfort to them that go with the cooler days. A guiness with fish and chips in Late October? Well, that's a sure bet. Better even than that is a Caffrey's which is another, and in my opinion, more authentic Irish ale. It settles in your glass the way a Guniess does but ends with a lighter color but similar thickness.

How about a Bass or Smithicks with a nice, real, Irish Rueban sandwich? That's a definite crowd pleaser.

On the porch in Mid July or august? How about a cheese plate with any good Heffiwizen?

I go to the Beer Expo here in Atlantic City and its amazing to see all the frat boys trying to sound like real bear experts. "I tend to like the darker beers," I hear them saying with authority, as if liking dark beers makes you somehow more of a man or an expert on beers.(Let's face it, there are plenty of bitter ales that will put more hair on your chest.) Like they really know the difference. These are guys who drink to get drunk not to enjoy a fine beer or ale.

One last thought. Good with almost any meal at anytime of the year is America's Oldest offering: Yuengling. It comes in a few varities but the lager is as good as any beer brewed in the world. It's brewed in Pottsville, PA and the brewery is the oldest continually operating brewery in the US. If you can get it, you won't be dissapointed.

[Jimmy Higgins]

i heard of moosehead, i'll have to see if we have any of it around here.

you know what i wish we had in the states, something like The Beer Store. i thought it was an awesome idea to have a store devoted entirely to beer.

Actually I want to open a Golf Ball / Alcohol / Office Supplies store. It is impossible not to make money selling golf balls and alcohol! The office supplies would offer as a cover for guys. Obviously there is one other thing that I could sell here, but I'll be nice.

[Jnthn]

Yeah, they're real stunners. I've been to the brewery a couple of times now and collected a crate, plus they sell individual bottles at Borough Market in London. Also, we take a group of 1st year ndergraduates up there for an introduction to fieldwork; where we stayed this year has a little bar that we run - 6 of us got through 2 barrels in a week! Happily 18 year olds from London seem to prefer fizzy nonsense, so all the more for us.

I was speaking to the lady who works there and they are thinking of ways to get more of their beers down south, so thats good news for me.

If Tesco still operate the way they did when I worked for them, give their customer service number a buzz and ask for a nearby branch stockist. They may even be able to get some into your local. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other multiples (Sainsburys, Threshers) couldn't do the same.

J

[Gus Limburger]

I have had one Rauchbier (smoked German beer) and didn't care for it. I think it might be nice with smoked salmon.

Now a kolsch-style ale can have pretty broad application.