Beer

[Joe McAdam]

Any beer aficionados? I'm not, but I love trying out new beers.

I've been drinking Bell's Oberon Ale this past week, great light and fruity summer ale, tastes a little like orange.

I can't wait for fall and winter to roll in, that's my favorite beer drinking time. Last winter was all about Goose Island Bourbon Stout, Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, and some spiced ales.

[mezmorized]

I want to try some good dark ales. Any recommendations to get me started in the right direction?

[scamboogah]

Trois Pistoles by Unibroue of Canada. It's 9%, dark and tasty! My new favorite beer.

[KevinLee]

Don't enable me.

[Joe McAdam]

go to this website for tips on beer, it's been a huge help.

beeradvocate.com

[Scratch Lightning]

Good lord do I love Bell's. It was all we drank at Michigan junior and senior year (the first two broke years were spent funneling Natural Lite, Milwaukee's Best and High Life Ice). You knew it was summer when the first cases of Oberon were available. Winter was all about the Double Cream Stout. Also great: their Porter and Two Hearted Ale. And Expedition Stout is intense, but the alcohol content will knock you on your ass.

Sadly, they only distribute to a few states, and New York isn't one of them. Every time a friend goes to Michigan or Pennsylvania they bring back as much as they can carry. My graduation mortarboard was plastered with Oberon labels.

Other favorites: Goose Island Honker's Ale, anything by Ommegang (especially Three Philosophers), Blue Point (their Toasted Lager is really good), Magic Hat. Grolsch is actually surprisingly good. Pretty much any beer is great in its own way. Except for Coor's Lite. And I'm not the biggest Stella fan, either.

I used to enjoy Brooklyn Brewery, too, but their distribution got bought out by Heineken and they're big supporters of Bruce Ratner's plan to destroy Brooklyn with a basketball stadium and high-rise development (I assume they'd be the official beer), so fuck those guys.

[thegreg]

How about the Fall seasonals?

I just had the Southern Tier Pumpking, and boy is that a great smelling beer. Tastes good, too.

[TimBuktu]

There's a great beer out of Wisconsin, I think it's called Olde' Milwaukee.

[J.B.]

Had a Big Bear Black Stout last night and really enjoyed it.

And Trader Joe's Haufbrau is probably currently my favorite everyday beer.

[drieux]

Bell's Beer is fan-friggin'-tastic stuff. I also drank plenty of that when I lived in Michigan.

Founder's is also a great beer, for those living in and around Michigan. It can be hard to find, but well worth it. It's definitely not available here on the West Coast, but whenever I visit family I pick up some.

Lately my go-to beer has been Fat Tire from New Belgium Brewing. Tasty!

[MrDys]

Lately it's been some variety of Unibroue when I'm feeling fancy, Natty Boh when I'm feeling cheap/drinking quantity.

[TimBuktu]

I do really like Fat Tire as well, it's a really smooth and drinkable beer.

[Adult Ed]

I'm a big fan of Fin du Monde and lately I've been enjoying Harpoon IPA.

[thegreg]

fin Du Monde is pretty amazing. If you like that try Piraat

[Scratch Lightning]

I also have a habit of stealing pint glasses wherever I go, especially if they're regional.

So far I've got:

Fat Tire
Mac n' Jacks
Long Trail
Bell's
PBR
Brooklyn
Portsmouth Brewery
2 Olde Peninsula glasses

And a couple others, I think. I use them for everything (but mostly drink beer right out of the bottle).

[yumitree]

count me as another new belgium backer. for those that enjoy the fat tire, i'm going to throw out another amber, anderson valley's boont (amber, they made a boont esb as well). other enjoyable (to me) new belgium brews are 1554, and the trippel.

four or five years ago, a good friend and i spent our entire summer going to bevmo every day and buying two to four six packs of random beer to try.

[jon]

Time spent in New Orleans made me a fan of Abita. Most people know their Purple Haze or Turbodog, but I really like their Amber. They also have a Restoration Ale that's pretty good, and they just started making an IPA, though I haven't tried that.

And if you're ever in Texas, look for Saint Arnold. It's a small company that makes a variety of beers that are all pretty good.

[crazysheet]

i posted in the wrong thread, i blame beer for clouding my judgement?

[yumitree]

as someone with a father from louisiana, i will also stand up for abita. those who aren't beer drinkers should try their root beer, which is uses raw cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup.

another new orleans beer that's a sentimental favorite (read: not really all that good, but who cares?) is dixie, which, sadly, is no longer brewing it's own beer after suffering severe damage from katrina.

[theodoric]

If I'm home, I pretty much drink Anchor, which comes in 6-10 varieties (depending upon the season). Everybody pretty much knows the Steam beer, but that's the tip of the iceberg.

Otherwise, I drink local. Abita (and used to be Dixie) in LA, Shiner in TX, etc.