My favorite beer in the whole world is McNeil's ESB. Ray McNeil is a brewer and pub owner in Brattleboro, VT, and he brews some of the best beer on the planet. If you ever happen to be in that town, it is worth stopping in and checking out his brews.


The ESB is a rich, heavy American style bitter. One of the keys is that it is cask-conditioned, meaning that it is carbonated naturally in the keg, and pumped out by hand, rather than being force-carbonated by a CO2 tank. Makes for a smoother, less bubbly beer. Not a very common thing in this country, and a real treat.

My Favorite

Guinness, the real king of beers.

Yeah, the cask beers are really solid. When I lived in Brooklyn, there was a great bar on Atlantic Ave called the Brazen Head which had several casks on tap.

anything on the dark side -

however i do enjoy the occasional St. Pauli's Girl / Heineken

Dos Equis Lager and Heineken

Don't think I could narrow it down to one, since there are beers for many occassions.

Probably my favorite beers in the world are not available domestically. Karg Weizen from Germany and some of the Czech black beers are my faves.

Among domestically available...

Beer to just sip on while I'm fishing or grilling or assembling a shelving system: Stella

Beer to savor: The Franziskaner Weizens (Hell and Dunkel), Duvel and Hoegaarden

Beer to get lit up on: Aventinus

I dont drink too many domestic brews, but two underrated ones are Shiner Bock and Killian's Red. Surprises me a little that Killian's isnt more popular.

Favorites
Cheap: Pabst.
Moderate: ($8-$10/12 pack): Yuengling. Shiner Bock and Killians are also good
Domestic: Depends, among my favorites: a

Black Radish (dark lager mostly available in NC and VA, IMO better than Sam Adams Dark)
Anything from Ska brewing(Colorado) rewing company, esp Pin Stripe Ale
Anything from Magic Hat (Vermont), including Blind Faith, Fat Angel, Saint Gootz, #9
Highland Gaelic Ale (Asheville, NC)

et al..

Imported:
Hoegaarden
Bass
Murphy's Stout

et al...

That beer sucks... :lol:

Stella is one of my favorites. Never cared for the weizens, however.

Some people say that. But it really depends on what Weizens you try. The domestic microbreweries, which IMO are generally shit, often try to get "crazy" and introduce weizens but I think the only one I've ever tasted that was worth a shit was Henry Weinhard's. Celis is an OK Belgian rip-off, too.

But go for the really good German or Belgian ones and you're at least giving them a fighting chance. Then again, some people just think they're too hoppy.

It's the sourness that I don't care for, a product of the yeast they use. It's one of those things that some people really like, and some people just can't stand.

I've had a few Bavarian, Belgian, and German brews, it's just not my style of beer. My general preferences tend towards the "pale ale" end of the spectrum.

Alltime Favorite: Cambridge Brewing Co. YouEnjoyMyStout (Russian Imperial Stout) Aged in oak barrels for well over a year.

St.Bernardus Abt 12 is a close 2nd.

This is ranked as the #3 best beer in the world by Beeradvocate and Ratebeer.com...it's a west coast brewery so you guys should have no problem finding some...it's really great.

Maisle Weisen is one of my favorite. But whilst on my journey through Europe, I discovered a beer so tasty, so yummy, that I tried to bring a mini keg home with me on the plane, and they wouldn't let me take it, dang them. This beer?

It is brewed in a monestary on top of a mountain by monks. The name of the town in Germany is called Wildflecken, and the mountain is the Kreutzburg. I know at one time it was rated the #2 beer in the world, but it is only sold at the monestary. Their Christmas beer is also very tasty.

my personal #3 beer... :wink:

i don't give a shit what they say about old milwaukee, it doesn't get any better than this.

Maisle is actually some serious crap. About the only place I ever ran into it when I lived in Germany was on Deutsche Bundesbahn trains and in scaggy train stations. It's a weizen for the untermenschen.

Never tried the Wildflecken. But monks know what's up on beer. If you ever get down to Bavaria, check in on the monestary at Andechs. It's a beautiful location and they brew a helllacious beer.

I got turned onto Killian's more than twenty years ago by a college classmate. Fortunately when Coors bought it they didn't destroy it.

It's one of the few domestic beers that I like. Another was actually Michelob's Amber Bock. Though I haven't had any in years and perhaps I'm romanticizing it...

Ziegenbock is quite nice, despite the fact that they've recently (and by recently I mean within the past 5 years) been bought by Anheuser-Busch. Shiner is pretty decent too; the hef is preferable to the bock, imo.

Anything Canadian or European.

American beer should have a warning label on it that alerts the drinker that they are consuming piss water.

I'm not a beer drinker either, after 2 years of 'trying' to 'acquire' the taste, I just gave up. Grey Goose is good stuff.

Killian's is a totally underrated beer IMO. Probably the only worthwhile domestic made by a giant brewery.

I remember when Shiner was the best available beer at $3.69 a sixer. *sigh*

Did you know there is no such thing as St Pauli Girl in Germany? Yet somehow, they charge "import" prices.

New Castle
Negro Modelo
Anything from the Carolina Brewery

the top of the mountain - stone brewery 'ruination ipa'.

There was a place in Baltimore that had Hacker Schorr on tap. Sad day when they went out of business.

i've been getting into the rogue ales. st rogue red ale and i'm fond of the dead guy ale.

funny - i had you pegged more along the lines of


:lol:



good stuff ...

Ever had their chipotle ale? good stuff

no i haven't. i've been getting mine by the case at the distributor and he only stocks a few flavors. don't know i'd want to special order a case of chipotle without trying it first. are there any bars in philly that sell it?

Shit, I forgot you live PA and have to shell out like $80 if you want any Rogue beer because you can only buy it in cases of 24. Damn blue laws. Anyway, to answer your question, no I don't, but I'm pretty sure I've seen rogue singles in Jersey. I used to cross the border when I lived with my parents because a sixer was eastier to manage.

I'm also a fan of the Juniper Pale.

And speaking of PA, i think Storm King Imperial stout (Victory Brewery, Harrisburg) has risen to the top of my favorites. Only available seasonally I think.

lol, it's actually not that bad. i pay about $38 for a case of rogue including tax. haven't been to jersey in a few years, but i'll keep an eye out around the philly bars on the chipotle singles though.

Rogue is about 6th on my list of Oregon craft brewers.

Bridgeport and Deschutes both get the best Oregon hops. Rogue is an afterthought to me these days. On the side, I've been to the Rogue brew houses in both Ashland and Newport.

Jesus f*cking christ, does f*cking EVERYTHING have to have chipotle in it now?!?

Uhhh... No, that's not even remotely close to true. You have heard of "micro" and "craft" brewing, right?

It's actually pretty good. There's one with a pepper actually jammed in the bottle, but the beer itself tastes like piss.

Always the trend follower. I drink what tastes good whether it's made in the US or otherwise. Sometimes Im in the mood for a heavier beer, sometimes lighter, I dont sit around swishing it in a glass and smelling it like it's fucking wine.