Favorite Beer

[LowRyter]

Dust, my boy, the skunk flavor isn't put there by the breweries.  It happens when UV reacts with hop compounds.  I've heard that the guys at Heineken purposely put it in green bottles for the US market so it'll skunk, and taste like we think it's supposed to, and they laugh about it.  The European Heineken I've seen is in brown bottles or aluminum cans.

Miller gets away with the clear bottles for High Life because...     ... there's no hops in it!  They use some alpha acids like hops have in them to give some bitterness, but no actual hops.  Pour a hoppy beer into a glass and leave it in direct sunlight for a few minutes for a great skunk flavor.   ;D

I've always hated Heineken.  Now I know why it tastes so badly.  On the other hand, I enjoy the High Life, not my first choice but it's OK.

[kidneb]

"Drinkable" is such a revealing term. It says a lot about the crap we drink, as well as our uneducated palates. I never struggle to drink a tasty draft Guinness or nice Belgian tripel. The struggle comes when you have to turn down another one. When did drinking beer become work?

The BudMilCoors establishment has taught us to hate hops. That's crazy. A person who hasn't developed a taste for hops does not like beer. He likes carbonated water and getting buzzed.

Suddenly I feel like going out and picking up a barleywine.

:+1

Seems like both hopless Miller and hoppy Urquell is now owned by the SABMiller group though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABMiller

[oldmxdog61u]

Different beers for different situations.
Negro modelo with Mexican food.
Coors light after welding as it cuts fume mouth on a really hot day.
On the porch on a cool day a big english ale...
Red or blue label trappist beer from Belgium with a good friend ready to watch the day go by.
When traveling,  local microbrews are fun at the end of a day on the road.

I feel so fortunate to have so many choices! Life is very good!

[Triple Jim]

Coors light after welding as it cuts fume mouth on a really hot day.

Ha, I never heard that one before.   :D   I solved the fume mount problem about 37 years ago when I bought a TIG welder.  I guess that's why I don't buy Coors light.

[kidneb]

I don't really like Urquell. No body, no balance. Very little flavor.

This makes me wonder if the Urquell Pilsner is the same on both sides of the pond ?
Urquell has grown big with the world wide operating SAB ownership, and it`s not uncommon for big brewing companies like this to modify and adapt their products to local conditions, that be tradition of taste, access of necessary ingredients, marketing strategies etc.
Never the less,- the bottled or canned Urquell we buy at the grocery store today, is just a bleached version of what it once was.
I have tasted the keg dispense draft version of Urquell, - but I still miss to taste the nr.1 pilsner of this world (if you like it or not  ;D),- the cask version !

Almost all draft Pilsner Urquell available throughout the world is served via keg dispense under carbon dioxide pressure, and has been since the 1960s. However, small quantities of the beer in cask conditioned form, dispensed from wooden casks are sometimes made available in the Czech Republic and was also seen in the United Kingdom during 2012.[3]
The cask version of Pilsner Urquell is unpasteurised, unfiltered and naturally conditioned with no added CO2, and is far closer in character to the way the beer would have been in the 19th century.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

That would be great. The world really needs another rice beer.

Bud is loaded with rice. To homebrewers, rice is known as a cheap ingredient that adds no flavor. If, for some reason, you wanted to AVOID flavor, rice would be the answer.

[Pfaff!]

Wonder how long before they ruin Urquell? "Let's see , how can we increase our profit margin?"
Dusty



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You can always go for a Staropramen (Anheuser-Busch)  a Starobrno (Heineken) or why not a Budweiser (also Anheuser-Busch) to differ.  8)

[Kev m]

Drinkable simply means agrees with one's tastes, and perhaps is lighter in body or alcohol content so you can have a half dozen without feeling too full.

It doesn't necessarily mean the enemy of hops.

That said, easy with the snobby educated palette BS. It's quite possible to have a well educated palette but a distaste for excessively bitter or citrusy beers.

Drinkable to me is a Guinness, or Fullers, or Palm, or Paulaner, or Samuel Adams, or a myriad of other lagers and ales that prioritize a rich flavor with crisp, but ending hop finish.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

No, "drinkable" is a marketing term the beer conglomerates came up with, to pander to people who aren't man enough to drink the real thing. It's a term used in commercials.

[Kev m]

No, "drinkable" is a marketing term the beer conglomerates came up with, to pander to people who aren't man enough to drink the real thing. It's a term used in commercials.

That may be one colloquial usage, but it's hardly the only one.

That said, "man enough" there's a stupid term, rarely used by any who are, kinda like "real". ::)

[Enrico Pallazzo]

Jane, you ignorant slut...

[Kev m]

:D  :D  :D

God I miss him...

[Pfaff!]

I've always hated Heineken.  Now I know why it tastes so badly.  On the other hand, I enjoy the High Life, not my first choice but it's OK.

Heineken tastes badly? How can you tell? It doesn't taste anything at all.  ;D
- Like most of those mass-produced so called beers, like Carlsberg or your local Budweiser (Not to be confused with the original Czeck product of the same brand-name!)

[DaGoose]

In Tucson, Nimbus Brewing...Monkey Shine...Sometimes they push it through the lines with nitrogen.

Couldn't help myself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0S4KBV8ZnQ

[Kev m]

Wonder what her recommended inflation pressure is ?
Dusty


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She's above spec for sure...

[Kev m]

Do you suppose she is tube type ?
Dusty


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Absolutely... and they don't last forever...

[tarless]

I covered it with "sometimes". :-* ;)

That said, I dunno, I've only been going out of my way searching for micro brews for a couple of decades, maybe I've missed a bunch of simple, balanced, beers...but probably not.

It's more likely you just prefer more complex (I'd call overdone) beers than me...that's a more likely explanation.

Actually, just hearing some of the styles you enjoy I am sure the difference is in definition. The typical IPA or APA is at the heart of what I'm talking about.

Hell, half the stouts and porters I get these days are too.

Don't really care for weizens, or most flowery Belgians.

I prefer rich flavors, medium body, crisp hops...lagers or ales, but more delicate than not in either case.

More delicate, or "session" beers sort of fell out of vogue in American craft brewing a few years ago when Ales on steroids became all the rage.  I didn't like them at first but now that they've grown on me everything else tastes watery.  If you're into something more subtle (I hesitate to say underdone :)), try Troeggs "Hop Back Amber" or Wachusettes "Farm House Ale" if you already haven't.  They're excellent drinkable beers that still have well rounded flavor. Blue point's "Toasted Lager" is also pretty good on tap but not in the bottle.  Actually Long Island has a few good breweries in addition to Blue Point. Southhampton makes a "Publik House  Ale" that also fits in this category, though it's shel life is very short...

They're out there. Not en masse but you can find a few gems.  the two breweries by me brew these types of beers as well.  If you ever see Defiant Brewery "Muddy creek Lager" (almost an amber)
scoff it up quick!

[Triple Jim]

Variety is very pleasant when tasting beers.  There's really no reason to try to pick a favorite, just enjoy all the various tastes.  If a favorite of the day emerges, then go with it, but there's always tomorrow.

[Shorty]

Guinness, (1 or 2) New Castle Brown, (3 or 4 ) Chimay, Carlos Golden Triple (1 or 2), Yuengling (headache beer 1 or 2 but tastes great) PBR (to be drank AFTER the good stuff ;) ) and I also like Genessee if it is fresh. Sam Adams. Shiner Octoberfest.. One very nice beer from a very unlikely source: Iron City Dark Bock beer. Sometimes sold as Brewmeisters Choice, or Augustiner. Their regular beer tastes bad, but the dark is very good beer. Don't know why.

Some of the local Choc beer from McCallister Ok ain't bad either.

[r3bauer]

Guinness, (1 or 2) New Castle Brown, (3 or 4 ) Chimay, Carlos Golden Triple (1 or 2), Yuengling (headache beer 1 or 2 but tastes great) PBR (to be drank AFTER the good stuff ;) ) and I also like Genessee if it is fresh. Sam Adams. Shiner Octoberfest.. One very nice beer from a very unlikely source: Iron City Dark Bock beer. Sometimes sold as Brewmeisters Choice, or Augustiner. Their regular beer tastes bad, but the dark is very good beer. Don't know why.

Some of the local Choc beer from McCallister Ok ain't bad either.

I love Yuengling! Had it when I was in Virginia over the summer. Drank plenty and never got a headache or anything else beside drunk. I wish I could get it here in IA.

[Triple Jim]

I've never had any ill effects from Yuengling either, but it is lawn mowing beer.  That's the oldest brewery in the US, by the way, in Pottsville, PA.

[r3bauer]

I've never had any ill effects from Yuengling either, but it is lawn mowing beer.  That's the oldest brewery in the US, by the way, in Pottsville, PA.

yup it goes down easy when its hot out but it still has good flavor. Thats the problem I feel with most American beers is it has been watered down so much it loses it individual character.

[Kev m]

yup it goes down easy when its hot out but it still has good flavor. Thats the problem I feel with most American beers is it has been watered down so much it loses it individual character.

It's not that American beers are necessarily "watered down" PER SE.

I mean, alcohol content is just fine.

It's that MOST of them are imitating a particular style (Pilsner) but doing so in a way that appeals to the masses (kinda like McDonalds).

YES though that means they are relatively bland when compared with fuller/richer styles of beers that use more robust flavors either in malt and/or hop ingredients.

Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy the cheap stuff too - especially out on the boat, or beach side. There's a time and a place for an Imperial Stout and to me, neither of those are it.

But yes the more bland flavored and lightly hopped major US domestic brewers are not my first choice.

Yuengling is NOT a bad compromise. And they actually make some other interesting beers including a porter and an ale - my favorite probably being Lord Chesterfield Ale, kinda reminds me of Ballentine Ale which was another mass market style, but at least had some more flavor.

[blackbuell]

This is a great time to be a beer lover in the USA; excellent microbreweries are popping up everywhere and even the popular megabreweries are starting to produce varieties of beer with more character. I agree with some earlier posters that the relatively bland American pilsners are fine under some circumstances. For example, after a hard workout, I find Coors light to be very refreshing. Otherwise, I like drinking more robust beers, especially ones that are new to me. We just joined a beer-of-the-month club; our first case arrives in a few weeks, and I am looking forward to trying some new and unusual beers.

Our vacations are generally taken on a motorcycle, and we often travel with no particular destination in mind--often just keep an eye on the weather forecasts, and head toward the favorable conditions. However, whenever we arrive at a place where we might stay for a day or two, the first thing we do is a google search for local microbreweries. We've had a great time on most of our recent trips. :BEER:

Jon

[r3bauer]

To be honest I have become a bit of a beer snob since brewing my own.  There is a beer for for every occasion.  Beach/boat an American light is fine. Other times are great for an IPA or a stout with a good steak. A nice pilsner with seafood but its like wine screw the rules and drink what you like.  :D

[the Bailey]

Dust, my boy, the skunk flavor isn't put there by the breweries.  It happens when UV reacts with hop compounds.  I've heard that the guys at Heineken purposely put it in green bottles for the US market so it'll skunk, and taste like we think it's supposed to, and they laugh about it.  The European Heineken I've seen is in brown bottles or aluminum cans.

Miller gets away with the clear bottles for High Life because...     ... there's no hops in it!  They use some alpha acids like hops have in them to give some bitterness, but no actual hops.  Pour a hoppy beer into a glass and leave it in direct sunlight for a few minutes for a great skunk flavor.   ;D

i will never drink a beer in a clear bottle.  however, i always thought brown or green were ok.  and say what you will about heineken, while its not my favorite, you can drink an awful lot and not have any type of hangover.  my preference is duvel or maredsous, though im not wealthy enough to drink that stuff exclusively.

[Kev m]

i will never drink a beer in a clear bottle.  however, i always thought brown or green were ok.  and say what you will about heineken, while its not my favorite, you can drink an awful lot and not have any type of hangover.  my preference is duvel or maredsous, though im not wealthy enough to drink that stuff exclusively.

Clear doesn't block any damaging light.

Green filters some, but not all.

Brown, I believe, filters all damaging light.

That said, ultra-light styled mass market beers may never see light in their clear bottles before they are removed from the case, placed in fridge or cooler, then placed in your hand.

All that said, there's a large and growing movement to can microbrews both because it saves money on production/canning and because of the added protection against light.

[the Bailey]

also never trust a beer with a twist off cap.

[tasbrus]

Here's my new favorite...

[FFATDAD]

Home brew I have a milk stout in bottle and a California common on tap!!!

Prost!