Favorite Beer

[gary martin]

for those in the westernPA area :  recently only available at their restaurant here are a few North Country brews that are now available at distribuors, etc

https://www.facebook.com/NorthCountryBrewing?filter=1

[Enrico Pallazzo]

I've never had anything that really compares to the beer I make. When you write your own recipe, you get exactly what you want. There are beers that I consider good, like Dogfish Head and Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA, but when I buy store beer, it means I'm out of my own. There is no comparison.

[Triple Jim]

From a fellow home brewer, I agree on all counts.

[kidneb]

I've never had anything that really compares to the beer I make. When you write your own recipe, you get exactly what you want. There are beers that I consider good, like Dogfish Head and Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA, but when I buy store beer, it means I'm out of my own. There is no comparison.

Interesting,- but can you make a Pilsner better than Urquell ?

[oldbike54]

Interesting,- but can you make a Pilsner better than Urquell ?

My favorite .
Dusty


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[Triple Jim]

I don't mean to butt ahead of Pasta Hog, but "better" is very subjective.  If someone wants me to make a beer like his favorite, and uses that favorite as the criterion for judging mine, the best I can hope for is "as good as".  Pilsners are fairly simple beers though, so it's not hard to make a very good one.  For fun I once tried to make a beer like Budweiser.  I used about 40% wheat malt and 60% barley malt instead of using all barley malt, replaced some of the grain with corn sugar, which makes alcohol without adding flavor, and I added very little hops.  The result, if not identical, was certainly very similar.  Then I vowed to never make any more like that.   :D 

[oldbike54]

Please Jim , never do that again . Grinning here
Dusty


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[Triple Jim]

I won't, Dusty, but keep in mind that Pilsner Urquell is a lot closer to Bud than to good beer.   ;D

[oldbike54]

I won't, Dusty, but keep in mind that Pilsner Urquell is a lot closer to Bud than to good beer.   ;D

Only when stored next to bud . Grinning
Dusty


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[Triple Jim]

That wasn't quite the response I expected.  Good job.   ;D

[oldbike54]

That wasn't quite the response I expected.  Good job.   ;D

Laughing here . Maybe the best beer I have ever tasted was dog bolter ( sorry , spell check is screwing with me )
Dusty



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[kidneb]

[Wild Bill Guzzi]

Personally, I like good German beer: TAP 4, 6, and Weihenstephaner .  I don’t know why anybody would like IPA’s, but after I went through a dozen or so to figure this out, I finally found a good tasting IPA called Hop Notch IPA.  Still looking for Heady Topper IPA without success.  Yes, there is a better Pilsner beer besides Pilsner Urqell and that would be another Czech Pilsner called Czechware.  I also have a St. Bernardus ABT, a Belgian beer in the frig, never tried it, maybe tomorrow.

[Kev m]

Jim, I disagree that Pilsners are simple or easy. There's an art to clean, crisp flavor with perfect balance.

As for replicating domestic Budweiser shouldn't you have used rice too?

[Guzzistajohn]

What about the beechwood aging??

[oldbike54]

Or the ground up bug parts that give it that king of beers taste .
Dusty


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[Wild Bill Guzzi]

Comparing Czech Pilsner to (hate to write this word) so I will use a hint, Clydesdales....is blasphemy.

[Triple Jim]

Jim, I disagree that Pilsners are simple or easy. There's an art to clean, crisp flavor with perfect balance.

As for replicating domestic Budweiser shouldn't you have used rice too?

I didn't feel like buying rice suitable for brewing just for that batch.   :D   My point about Pilsners being simple is just a matter of the ingredient list.  It's a lot shorter than many other styles, and by far not the most complicated to make.  On the other hand, there's certainly an art to making any beer without getting flavors creeping in that don't belong there, so from that point of view you're correct that Pilsners, and most other beers, are not simple or easy to make at the highest levels.

John, from what I've read, the Beech curls added in the latter fermentation process have been boiled to remove any flavor they might impart to Bud.  They're there to add more surface area for settled-out yeast to stay in contact with the beer to remove acetaldehyde and/or diacetyl, which cause green-apple and buttery flavors that aren't desired.  You don't normally need wood curls to avoid those flavors in home brewing.

Bill, I don't remember anyone doing that!  I just meant that Pilsner Urquell is closer to Bud in flavor than beers I like.   :)

[Enrico Pallazzo]

I don't really like Urquell. No body, no balance. Very little flavor. No complexity. Skunky, because they use green bottles. It's not for me. If I had to pick a country to produce my beer, neglecting US micro brews, it would be Belgium, followed by Ireland. Germans and other people from central Europe get way too much credit for their beer, if you ask me. It tends to be boring. Like a BMW.

I'm sure I could make something just like Urquell, only better. That's not much of a boast. It's very easy to make good beer. For one thing, I could keep light away from it so it doesn't produce mercaptans. That right there would be a big step up.

RE Bud, it's disgusting. Not even beer. But I had a friend who preferred Bud to actual beer, so I made up a recipe for American-style "lawnmower beer." I had to put corn in it. It was a very pleasant thing to drink like water on a hot day. I guess I would compare it to a shandy.

Bud and other fake beers trigger a little bit of a gag reflex, because they taste like sweetened soap, and the beer I made didn't have that quality. The only typical American beer I can stand to drink is Stroh's. Not sure why.

I like to make beers with a strong, complex set of hops, and I like using crystal malt to balance the bitterness.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

Funny story: my dad used to represent Anheuser-Busch. They showed him a brewery. This was a long time ago, so things may have changed. They said they made ONE beer. If they canned it right out of fermentation, it was Busch. A little aging, and it was Bud. A little more, and it was Michelob. To make light beer, they added carbonated water. I don't know if they were pulling his leg, but judging by the pitiable products they make, it sounds credible to me.

[Wild Bill Guzzi]

Triple Jim,  understood, maybe I was too quick to the draw.  Beer is to each individual taste.  Life is good!

[tarless]

's ae author=Kev m link=topic=2656.msg1027254#msg1027254 date=1388116199]
I love American micro brews, BUT like typical or stereotypical Americans, soooo many breweries overdo it.

Sometimes a high quality, but more simple European beer is better.

I like beers with balance and complexity, but most of all a rich malty smooth flavor with JUST the right amount of hop finish.
[/quote]

Sometimes to YOU its better.  weren't you the one who lectured me not to over generalize in areas of subjectivity??? ;D

There's plenty of simple micro or small batch brew in America. Plenty of complex too... ALL the time to me complex is better.. I like hops and malt so imperial ambers, imperial red IPAs, imperials IPAs do it for me and to my knowledge Europe makes none of that.  I detest Belgians- after drinking them in the early 90's and getting plain sick of them- and dislike weizens and pilsners.  Europe doesn't have much for me except an Altbier or two.

I'll sticks to my guns: the plethora and quality of brews coming from the US (non mass market) rocks!  No other country brews the variety we do and I for one am happy to have it. I've two breweries down the road from me that make it even better!

[Kev m]

Sometimes to YOU its better.  weren't you the one who lectured me not to over generalize in areas of subjectivity??? ;D

There's plenty of simple micro or small batch brew in America. Plenty of complex too... ALL the time to me complex is better.. I like hops and malt so imperial ambers, imperial red IPAs, imperials IPAs do it for me and to my knowledge Europe makes none of that.  I detest Belgians- after drinking them in the early 90's and getting plain sick of them- and dislike weizens and pilsners.  Europe doesn't have much for me except an Altbier or two.

I'll sticks to my guns: the plethora and quality of brews coming from the US (non mass market) rocks!  No other country brews the variety we do and I for one am happy to have it. I've two breweries down the road from me that make it even better!

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.

[Triple Jim]

Triple Jim,  understood, maybe I was too quick to the draw.  Beer is to each individual taste.  Life is good!

Absolutely, Bill!  No offense was taken, and when you're in the area, stop by for a homebrew.   ;D

[Guzzistajohn]

The best beer to me is the one I just opened.   But I really don't like Coors lite.

A little Whisky makes a beer more drinkable.

[Wild Bill Guzzi]

Triple Jim,

I will make a point to stop by this summer.   :BEER:

[r3bauer]

I prefer my own but my go to beer is bud (every bar has it) but for good commercial beers Grolsch, Smithwicks, and Happy Budda.

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[pcoumbe]

'San Mig Light' or 'Beer na Beer' when in Philippines
'Carlton Black', 'Tooheys Extra Dry', 'Boags Premium', 'Coopers Pale Ale', 'Red Back' or 'Crown Lager' when in Oz
'Tusker' when in East Africa
'Guilder' or 'Star' when in West Africa
'Simba' in DRC
'Jack Black Premium Lager' or 'Castle' (when on tap) in Sth Africa
'Tsingtao' when in China
'SP Lager' when in PNG

I guess I just like beer.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

"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.

[kidneb]

Personally, I like good German beer: TAP 4, 6, and Weihenstephaner .  I don’t know why anybody would like IPA’s, but after I went through a dozen or so to figure this out, I finally found a good tasting IPA called Hop Notch IPA.  Still looking for Heady Topper IPA without success.  Yes, there is a better Pilsner beer besides Pilsner Urqell and that would be another Czech Pilsner called Czechware.  I also have a St. Bernardus ABT, a Belgian beer in the frig, never tried it, maybe tomorrow.

Will, do you mean Czechvar ?  That`s what the real Czech Budvar , which gave(sold :)) name to the US Bud while the czech brand still was stuck behind the iron curtain, is called in America now a days.
Just to avoid any confusion of names and labels I believe.
The Budvar is not as hoppy and crisp as the Urquell,-

Budweiser Budvar Brewery (Budějovický Budvar) is a brewery in the city of České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic, that is best known for brewing a beer known as Budweiser Budvar in the European Union; Czechvar in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Brazil and Peru;[1] and either Budweiser Budvar or Budějovický Budvar in the rest of the world.