The Great Debate - Best Beer for the buck?

[bank5]

This is a completely open ended question/debate. The only rule is there are no rules!

 

[ziggy29]

For good homebrewers, the answer is obvious!

 

[jimnjana]

My votes are as follows

US Macrobrew lager - Yuengling Lager
US Macrobrew light - Sam Adams Light
US Microbrews
Pale Ale - Terrapin Rye Pale Ale
ESB Style - Stoudts Scarlet Lady

And of course any "Free" beer is usually a good beer.... I draw the line on anything with lime or any other fruity artificial flavoring added in by the brewer.

My favorite beer motto is Warsteiner's "Life is too short to drink cheap beer"

Jim

 

[ls99]

Foster's of course.

 

[FinanceDude]

Duvels of course..........

Not cheap, but owrth it.......

 

[crazy connie]

A&W for me! I enjoy many red wines, Canadian Blended Whiskey and Dark Rums. Have tried many flavors and temps of beers and ales but not found the palate to enjoy a single one and it annoys me as they look so refreshing!

 

[harley]

I agree with Ziggy about homebrews.

However, for retail products I'd go with Pete's Wicked Lager. Not too expensive, and very tasty.

Leinenkugels are also really good for the price. Sometimes hard to find here on the east coast, though.

 

[bbbamI]

Coors

 

[NW-Bound]

I agree with FD here, but it does not have to be Duvel. Belgian beer. The higher the alcohol content, the merrier. Cheers!

 

[saluki9]

My dollars will be buying Duvel, Delerium Tremens and Triple Karmeliet.

Don't confuse value with cost.

 

[dex]

I like Coors Lite - I just bought 30 cans for $18 and they had a refund coupon of $9 ($8.10 after stamps) so 33 cents/can after the refund - 60 cents normally.

 

[SarahW]

Shiner Bock.

 

[Westernskies]

oops, I thought you were asking about the best beer for a buck... never mind, I just saw the light.

 

[RonBoyd]

In case you have eight minutes to waste, the research has already been done:

YouTube - Cheap Beer Drink-off

 

[Dawg52]

I've always been a believer of buying generic Med's when available. So when something like Natural Light is on sale, I snag it. Otherwise I buy a case of 8oz cans of Coors Light for $10.

 

[ERD50]

In case you have eight minutes to waste, the research has already been done:

YouTube - Cheap Beer Drink-off

I only wasted the first minute of my time. As soon as I saw him drink straight from the bottle, I knew there was nothing to be gained from this and exited. Beer needs to be enjoyed from a glass.

A&W for me!

Two Midwest micro-breweries make an excellent Root Beer - Goose Island and Sprecker.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/d...15057600&en=742f49d74fd387b7&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Duvels of course..........
Not cheap, but owrth it.......

I agree with FD here, but it does not have to be Duvel. Belgian beer. The higher the alcohol content, the merrier. Cheers!

For good value Belgians, try Trader Joe's "Vintage Ale". IIRC Unibroue brews it for them. I know people who collect and save each years release, and then do a "vertical" tasting ( at 9% it might leave you horizontal!). They age well.

One reviewer from Beer Advocate: "Overall: Very nice. Very Drinkable. Very "dark" Unibroue. Very good value for money - at only $4.99 for a 750ml of a 9% beer it’s a bloody steal!! Very Hard to knock this brew at. It’s not perfect, and it’s not the best from Unibroue, by damn it’s a solid brew for tyhe coin and a great treat to see on the Xmas shelves at the local Trader Joe’s each year."

My dollars will be buying Duvel, Delerium Tremens and Triple Karmeliet.

Don't confuse value with cost.

Hmmm, I'm getting thirsty and I haven't had breakfast yet...

Nice choices, and yes, the OP said "best for the buck" (value), not "best cheap beers".

For good homebrewers, the answer is obvious!

As long as you factor your time as "enjoying the hobby" rather than at a cost per hour (I don't get paid for my time anyway!), quality homebrew can be far cheaper than the quality stuff (and I don't drink it if it isn't quality stuff, that is what wine and/or water is for).

And I get to play on the "consume local" bandwagon with homebrew! You can't get too much more local than this. Grain/malt comes from within ~ 100 miles (maybe less, would need to check the map), water comes from my local well (the main ingredient by far, and transport costs are near zero - just my well pump to get it out of the ground), hops and yeast not so local, but they are only a few ounces out of 5 gallons, so on a weighted average, hardly any impact. Reused/recycled glass bottles. OK honestly, what would you rather have, some good homebrew, or some tomatoes from the friggin Farmer's Market Hey, we all have to do our part!

-ERD50

 

[tryan]

Couple times a year the local grocery store sells Labbatts for 50 cents a can. Time to stock-up.

 

[RonBoyd]

I only wasted the first minute of my time.

A full 30 seconds longer than I lasted. I admire your tenacity.

(The post, BTW, was another one of my attempts at humor.)

 

[TromboneAl]

From a previous post:

Beer is a weird thing. A lot depends on what you get used to. In solidarity with DW during her pregnancy, I drank only non-alcoholic beer. When I went back to Miller Lite, I didn't like it -- too much alcohol taste.

After a party at my house, someone had brought a six-pack of Wolaver's Pale Ale. By the end of that six pack, I was almost converted. But I was able to get back to liking my Busch Natural Light, which I can sometimes get for $11.99 for 30 cans. Phew, that was close.

But seriously, there is some kind of a habitation process that is especially strong with beers. Drink one kind for a while, and you get to like it.

 

[FUEGO]

40 oz bottle of King Cobra. $1.49 at the corner grocery.

 

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

Why are you even asking this? The answer is so obvious.

Homebrewed milkstout.

 

[FinanceDude]

I've always been a believer of buying generic Med's when available. So when something like Natural Light is on sale, I snag it. Otherwise I buy a case of 8oz cans of Coors Light for $10.

Come on Dawg, ya drink "Kurs"?? Maybe I need to send ya a care package as I am still w*orking.........

 

[ERD50]

But seriously, there is some kind of a habitation process that is especially strong with beers. Drink one kind for a while, and you get to like it.

I can't imagine why anyone would want to "drink one kind for a while". With the great variety of quality stuff out there, why not live a little?

Do you eat PB&J 3x/day, 7x a week?

I've built up a good variety of homebrew at this point. I bottle so I have a few left from most batches I've brewed in the past year or year and a half. So I go down to the basement, choose from a dozen different styles and chill it to have with dinner. I rarely drink the same brew twice in two days, nor would me or my wife serve the same food two dinners in a row.

Beer is food!


-ERD50

 

[freebird5825]

Rolling Rock from the mountains of Latrobe PA.
"33"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Rock
It is a nice light refreshing beer for lightweights like me.
In my younger and wilder party days, it was Miller Genuine Draft or Heineken or Labatts.
Cost was not a factor.

 

[bank5]

For good value Belgians, try Trader Joe's "Vintage Ale". IIRC Unibroue brews it for them. I know people who collect and save each years release, and then do a "vertical" tasting ( at 9% it might leave you horizontal!). They age well.

I'm a big fan of Belgian beer. Next time I'm in Trader Joe's I'll have to pick some of this up and give it a shot.

Any other recommendations for beer at Trader Joe's? I'm always looking for something new.