Let's talk beer

[EdwinWillers]

Ikari has a good thread about how to brew beer - to which I've subscribed for future reference once I get my operation going again. But I thought it'd fun to talk about what kind of beer you like, or don't like, and why.

There are all kinds, including ales, lagers, wheat (blech), flavored (meh), dark, light, nitrogenated (blech), canned, bottled, tap, kegged... It's all (mostly) good. :thumbs:

Me?

Guinness [Extra] Stout - the carbonated stuff that comes in the bottles, not the flat, uncarbonated swill they call "draught." ("Guinness is good for you"). Best for cold weather drinking.
German Lagers - my favorite is Stiegl, out of Salzburg. Don't much like the imported versions.

... that's a start.

 

[sawdust]

The USA is leading the charge on the craft beer revolution. Personally, I'm aquiring a taste for hops which I never really understood before. In Florida the most sought after beer seems to be made by Cigar City Brewing in Tampa. Other limited quantity beers which have quite a following are Hopslam by Bells, Piney the Elder and most of what is made by Stone Brewing in California.

 

[Tucker Case]

Guinness [Extra] Stout - the carbonated stuff that comes in the bottles, not the flat, uncarbonated swill they call "draught." ("Guinness is good for you").

Are you drinking directly from the can/bottle?

 

[EdwinWillers]

Are you drinking directly from the can/bottle?

From the bottle, yes. Sometimes I'll pour it into a glass - but that takes time, time away from my lips.

 

[EdwinWillers]

The USA is leading the charge on the craft beer revolution. Personally, I'm aquiring a taste for hops which I never really understood before. In Florida the most sought after beer seems to be made by Cigar City Brewing in Tampa. Other limited quantity beers which have quite a following are Hopslam by Bells, Piney the Elder and most of what is made by Stone Brewing in California.

It's amazing when you go into the larger liquor stores where I live (CO) just how many craft beers there are now. I used to be able to keep up with them and was able to sample most (and did with relish), but now that's not so... which I think is a good thing in itself.

 

[Tucker Case]

From the bottle, yes. Sometimes I'll pour it into a glass - but that takes time, time away from my lips.

That explains it. Directly out of the bottle, the extra stout is less flat, but when poured into a glass, I've always found it to taste flatter.

Both of them are basically ****e compared to what you get on tap in Ireland.

 

[Your Star]

How can you not like nitro beers? So creamy! Best I've had is Left Hand Brewing Milk Stout Nitro.

Some of my favorite beers in different styles:

IPA- Stone IPA, Latitude 48 IPA(2013 version with Mosaic hops) from Sam Adams, Terrapin's Hopsecutioner, Dogfish 60, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye
Stout-Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro, Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Sweetwater Happy Ending, Sam Adams Cream Stout
Porter- Sweetwater Exodus Porter
Wheat- Sweetwater Blue, Purple Haze from Abita
Lager- Sam Adams Boston Lager, Sam Adams Double Agent IPL(India Pale Lager), Yuengling Amber
Pale Ale- Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Sweetwater 420 Pale Ale, Terrapin Rye Pale Ale

Other beers I enjoy that I don't really fit a broad kind of style- Raison D'etre from Dogfish, Arrogant Bastard from Stone, 1554 from New Belgium, New Belgium Fat Tire

And that's just off the top of my head, and I haven't been drinking long :lol:

 

[mak2]

I love a good IPA, when I first started on them there were realatively few. Now there as so many I now realize I wont live long enough to try them all. Kinda came to the same realization about women several years ago.

 

[Dragonfly]

Guinness [Extra] Stout - the carbonated stuff that comes in the bottles, not the flat, uncarbonated swill they call "draught." ("Guinness is good for you"). Best for cold weather drinking.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Guinness Draught is far from flat or uncarbonated.
It's carbonated with nitrogen which helps to make for a freakin fabulous black & tan or half & half.

The only "swill" from Guinness is their poor excuse for a "Black Lager".

The Guinness Foreign Extra is fabulous.

 

[EdwinWillers]

That explains it. Directly out of the bottle, the extra stout is less flat, but when poured into a glass, I've always found it to taste flatter.

Both of them are basically ****e compared to what you get on tap in Ireland.

I had my first Guinness on tap in a small inn in Harwich, UK. Thought I was drinking the elixir of the gods.

I've tried the various methods bars try to serve Guinness here and they just don't cut it. Beer, even Guinness draught, is carbonated. It if isn't carbonated, it isn't beer.

 

[Your Star]

From the bottle, yes. Sometimes I'll pour it into a glass - but that takes time, time away from my lips.

Always pour beer into a glass, I NEVER drink it from the bottle. You're missing out on a lot if you don't. It releases the carbonation from the beer, so you'll be able to drink more without it upsetting your stomach. Plus the biggest part is it releases the aroma of the beer, which enhances the flavor greatly.

 

[EdwinWillers]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Guinness Draught is far from flat or uncarbonated.
It's carbonated with nitrogen which helps to make for a freakin fabulous black & tan or half & half.

The only "swill" from Guinness is their poor excuse for a "Black Lager".

The Guinness Foreign Extra is fabulous.

This stuff is what I like:



I've had bars serve the draught version and what can I say - it's invariably been flat. Creamy, yes. But flat. I don't like flat beer so I don't drink flat beer.

I tried the black lager and wasn't that impressed. It was drinkable, but there are far better dark lagers out there.

 

[mak2]

I drink Miller Lite and Coors lite from a can. Any good beer gets a glass. My IPA's generally get a pilsner glass, I think that is what you call them. Get a big enough glass to hold the entire beer, gotta have a little head too. It smells soooo good.

Always pour beer into a glass, I NEVER drink it from the bottle. You're missing out on a lot if you don't. It releases the carbonation from the beer, so you'll be able to drink more without it upsetting your stomach. Plus the biggest part is it releases the aroma of the beer, which enhances the flavor greatly.

 

[EdwinWillers]

Always pour beer into a glass, I NEVER drink it from the bottle. You're missing out on a lot if you don't. It releases the carbonation from the beer, so you'll be able to drink more without it upsetting your stomach. Plus the biggest part is it releases the aroma of the beer, which enhances the flavor greatly.

I know; and you're right - but sometimes, you just gotta have it from the bottle.

 

[Tucker Case]

I had my first Guinness on tap in a small inn in Harwich, UK. Thought I was drinking the elixir of the gods.

I've tried the various methods bars try to serve Guinness here and they just don't cut it. Beer, even Guinness draught, is carbonated. It if isn't carbonated, it isn't beer.

Here in Chicago, Fado's imports their Guinness directly from the brewery and it makes a difference.

 

[Your Star]

I drink Miller Lite and Coors lite from a can. Any good beer gets a glass. My IPA's generally get a pilsner glass, I think that is what you call them. Get a big enough glass to hold the entire beer, gotta have a little head too. It smells soooo good.

IPA's around 6-7% ABV should get a pint glass, but anything above that should really get a tulip glass, or something similar. Releases the aroma in a better way.

 

[EdwinWillers]

How can you not like nitro beers? So creamy! Best I've had is Left Hand Brewing Milk Stout Nitro.

Some of my favorite beers in different styles:

IPA- Stone IPA, Latitude 48 IPA(2013 version with Mosaic hops) from Sam Adams, Terrapin's Hopsecutioner, Dogfish 60, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye
Stout-Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro, Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Sweetwater Happy Ending, Sam Adams Cream Stout
Porter- Sweetwater Exodus Porter
Wheat- Sweetwater Blue, Purple Haze from Abita
Lager- Sam Adams Boston Lager, Sam Adams Double Agent IPL(India Pale Lager), Yuengling Amber
Pale Ale- Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Sweetwater 420 Pale Ale, Terrapin Rye Pale Ale

Other beers I enjoy that I don't really fit a broad kind of style- Raison D'etre from Dogfish, Arrogant Bastard from Stone, 1554 from New Belgium, New Belgium Fat Tire

And that's just off the top of my head, and I haven't been drinking long :lol:

Left Hand is right down the road from me. I love their Sawtooth Ale.
We helped build the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins. Fat Tire is great.
The only wheat beer I've been able to stomach thus far is Blue Moon. For some reason, it doesn't have the spoiled taste most wheat beers have.

Stiegl, in Salzburg, Austria has the best lager in the world imho.

I do like Stella for quaffability on a hot day.

 

[mak2]

I am pretty manly, but I just aint sure about a "tulip' glass. :lamo I do have a couple of them though. All this beer talk I think I will go have and put one to use. I have a beer, I think it is taproom 21 or something like that at home in my firdge. Its life expetcency is getting shorter.

IPA's around 6-7% ABV should get a pint glass, but anything above that should really get a tulip glass, or something similar. Releases the aroma in a better way.

 

[EdwinWillers]

Here in Chicago, Fado's imports their Guinness directly from the brewery and it makes a difference.

I'll bet it does. Next time I'm in Chicago, I'll make it a point to get there.

I have a theory... some bar ordered a keg from Guinness and it shipped on a slow boat and lost all its carbonation during the trip. The patrons who drank it thought that must have been normal, and it being Guinness, assumed it as a standard and acquired a taste for flat beer; the rest is nitrogenation history.

 

[EdwinWillers]

The USA is leading the charge on the craft beer revolution. Personally, I'm aquiring a taste for hops which I never really understood before. In Florida the most sought after beer seems to be made by Cigar City Brewing in Tampa. Other limited quantity beers which have quite a following are Hopslam by Bells, Piney the Elder and most of what is made by Stone Brewing in California.

Always pour beer into a glass, I NEVER drink it from the bottle. You're missing out on a lot if you don't. It releases the carbonation from the beer, so you'll be able to drink more without it upsetting your stomach. Plus the biggest part is it releases the aroma of the beer, which enhances the flavor greatly.

IPA's around 6-7% ABV should get a pint glass, but anything above that should really get a tulip glass, or something similar. Releases the aroma in a better way.

I am pretty manly, but I just aint sure about a "tulip' glass. :lamo I do have a couple of them though. All this beer talk I think I will go have and put one to use. I have a beer, I think it is taproom 21 or something like that at home in my firdge. Its life expetcency is getting shorter.

Hops are a hugely important ingredient to good beer, which is in part to what Your Star is referring w/r to putting your beer in a glass, and even in the appropriately shaped glass - to get the aroma out so it can be best appreciated.

I can tell a true German lager by the aroma of hops used. It's something so distinctive and unique - very very rare to find that here in America.

 

[Your Star]

I am pretty manly, but I just aint sure about a "tulip' glass. :lamo I do have a couple of them though. All this beer talk I think I will go have and put one to use. I have a beer, I think it is taproom 21 or something like that at home in my firdge. Its life expetcency is getting shorter.

Great thing about being a woman, you can do things the right way without having to worry about being "manly"! :lol:

 

[Dragonfly]

I've had bars serve the draught version and what can I say - it's invariably been flat. .

Then that bar, or those bars are screwing the pooch.

I make my own black & tans and/or half & half's.

Never once had a flat can of Draught.

 

[Tucker Case]

I'll bet it does. Next time I'm in Chicago, I'll make it a point to get there.

I have a theory... some bar ordered a keg from Guinness and it shipped on a slow boat and lost all its carbonation during the trip. The patrons who drank it thought that must have been normal, and it being Guinness, assumed it as a standard and acquired a taste for flat beer; the rest is nitrogenation history.

The worst Guinness I've ever had was warm Extra Stout directly out of a bottle in Ireland when I was like 16. Brutal, brutal ****.

 

[Your Star]

Hops are a hugely important ingredient to good beer, which is in part to what Your Star is referring w/r to putting your beer in a glass, and even in the appropriately shaped glass - to get the aroma out so it can be best appreciated.

I can tell a true German lager by the aroma of hops used. It's something so distinctive and unique - very very rare to find that here in America.

Yeah, Sam Adams uses a lot of the Noble Hops from Germany so they're a good brewery to get that flavor from. Their Boston Lager and Noble Pils are prime examples of that.

Though I do enjoy American hops a bit more, lots of piney and citrus notes, love Cascade and Mosaic hops.

 

[Your Star]

The worst Guinness I've ever had was warm Extra Stout directly out of a bottle in Ireland when I was like 16. Brutal, brutal ****.

Was probably more your fault than the beer's though. :lol: