Your Favorite Beer

[John Galt III]

Mad River Pale Ale (but can't get it in Upstate NY.)
Ithaca Flower Power IPA and Southern Tier 2X IPA.

For the cheap stuff - Yuengling, LaBatts, Genesee, and Saranac.

Ithaca Flower Power. I bought some of that on deep discount. Really good stuff, flavorful and high octane. Would buy again if it went on sale.

 

[joeea]

Sounds good. Probably heading up there next summer.
No one down here has ever even heard of Allagash, unless from up North.

If you do go to Portland, make sure you visit Shipyard and Bissell Brothers in addition to Allagash.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Have you tried Running Walker in Richmond? They are great!

no sir - I moved to Idaho 8 years ago - I believe that is a relatively "new" brewery

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

dead guy from rogue brewing. Smithwick's from ireland

I like Dead Guy, but it's kinda pricey in my area, maybe $11-$12 for a sixpack. I find that hard to justify when I can get excellent beer for $8 or $9.

I just got a sixer of Spaten Optimator dopplebock to celebrate spring. I think it was about $8.29.

 

[karen1972]

We are beer snobs, we will buy Corona Light, Blue Moon, Sam Adams, LaGaunitas just to have something "normal" in the beer fridge for guests but we drink mostly microbrews and ciders.

A few of my favorites

New Glarus Serendipity
Wicked Weed has some excellent sours as does Jolly Pumpkin
Vander Mills Cider
Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale | Tyranena Brewing Company
Peppermint Stilleto Stout by Gizmo Brew works
Harviestound Old Engine Oil Engineer's Reserve

I love sours, Scottish Ales, and cask conditioned beer. I don't like anything too hoppy.

I spent 8 months in Ireland and Guinness just isn't the same here but we found an english style micro brewer that is making some excellent small batches that we are happy to see is expanding and who now has some Kombucha Sours we have to try out.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

For dopplebocks/darks, I like a couple regionals, Snow Blind from Starr Hill (VA), and Squatch Ale from Chaos (NC).

RB - Always up for a good road trip. Have you been to the taprooms at either Starr Hill or Squatch? If so, any other sites to see, etc in area?

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

New Glarus Serendipity

New Glarus sells only in Wisconsin but within the state their "popular" brews have incredible market penetration. You can get Spotted Cow at almost any supermarket, convenience store or ballpark. Their limited-edition brews like Serendipity are real brewers art, though. My favorite is Imperial Weizen, but they're doing very interesting things with sour ales and wild-yeast ales (again, like Serendipity).

I remember that they imported an antique brew kettle from Dortmund when they started up the brewery. At the time I thought that was pretty cocksure, but the product lives up to that.

 

[Midpack]

Try the guiness in the nitrogen? cans. better than the bottles IMO

+1. Much closer to the Guinness on tap experience than non-nitro cans or bottles!

 

[Janet H]

OK, since we've regressed to crap beers......

One of my band mates throws and annual bad beer party in the July heat. She cranks up a grill full of ribs and corn, adds extra chilies to the beans and ices down all the random beers left at her house over the past months. You know the sort... The bottles that lost their labels after too lengthy a soak in the ice tub, beers brought by non-drinkers who hate to show up empty handed but then bring along undrinkable swill, beer that was chilled and unchilled multiple times and random bottles with labels that maker you wonder if you should be wearing anti-c's and packing lab wear, beer with ingredients like catnip or blueberries, etc

Party guests are instructed dump out undrinkable beers and consume the rest as a civic responsibility. I avoid attending.

 

[RunningBum]

RB - Always up for a good road trip. Have you been to the taprooms at either Starr Hill or Squatch? If so, any other sites to see, etc in area?

Starr Hill, yes; Squatch, not yet. The Starr Hill tap room is nice enough, and they have music sometimes, but outdoors is just a patio off the road, not really too nice.

Are you asking for other things to see on a roadtrip, or other taprooms in the area? Devil's Backbone, Blue Mountain and Wild Wolfe all have nice taproom/restaurants both inside and out, though I'm not a big fan of Wild Wolfe beer. Bold Rock is a particularly nice setting if you like hard cider. Down by Roanoke near Squatch, Parkway Brewing is good, though nothing special about the setting.

As far as other things to see, there's all kinds of things from historical like Monticello, civil war sites, Bedford D-Day memorial, caverns, wineries, and numerous vistas along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

[sengsational]

Who knew so many beer aficionados here! 135 posts.

Longboard , when I can find it...Aloha.

So people in New Hampshire (where Longboard is brewed) say "Aloha", just like the Hawaiians?

Beer is cheaper the farther East one goes in Europe, based upon my experience. I am still amazed that I can buy a great beer for less than a can of Coke - about a $1.50 or so. In Prague a plate of Svičkovà and a good Czech beer is a wonderful dinner.

In Romania, they sold a reasonably drinkable beer for around $1.75 for 2.5 liters. That's more than a six pack worth of beer!


My current favorite. Belgian Tripel for $8.99 a 4 pack at Lidl:

 

[WestUniversity]

no sir - I moved to Idaho 8 years ago - I believe that is a relatively "new" brewery

It is. Opened about 2 years ago. It’s owned by a guy named Joe Braman... your average Texas gazillionaire. It’s both a winery and a brewery. He spared no expense in building it. The beer is great! The wine is pretty good too!

 

[hotwired]

Sam Adams

Sam Adams NE Ipa is my current favorite. Antiguo any ipa that has a citrus edge is great. I can't even drink non hoppy beer anymore

 

[Dawg52]

Coors Light is my go to but I can drink most any light beer. Yuengling Light runs a close second.

 

[Ally]

We don’t drink many beers, but our favorite is Boulevard Octoberfest beer from Kansas City, where our son lives.

 

[chilkoot]

The one I tend to have on hand most often is Dos Equis Amber. Nothing particularly exotic but a large microbrewery (oxymoron?) is due to open about a mile away in a few months. I expect I’m liable to have a new favorite soon.

And while the brew is okay, my favorite beer name is Arrogant Bastard Ale (I forget which brewery). Felt obliged to mention it.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

And while the brew is okay, my favorite beer name is Arrogant Bastard Ale (I forget which brewery). Felt obliged to mention it.

Stone Brewing Company. It's a bit too bitter for me, like just distilled liquid hops, but with something creamy or sweet it was interesting. I might have it again once in a rare while.

 

[audreyh1]

Beer has been forbidden for a few years now. But I sure enjoyed it, in particular the dark malty ones. Don’t like pilsners. Don’t care for most wheat beers.

One of my all time favorites rarely found:
Wee Heavy - a delightful beer from Belhaven in Scotland. Also like their Scottish Ale.

Some good domestic brews though. A couple of major faves:
Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon. Lovely.
Moose Drool from Blue Sky Brewing in Missoula, Montana. A rich brown ale style.

I’m also fond of many of the Belgian styles of beer.

 

[audreyh1]

I was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease and thus I've pretty much given up on beer as I cannot find any suitable true gluten free beers. There are some decent gluten reduced beers that I'm not supposed to drink, but no gluten free.


Anyone ever find a true good gluten free beer.

Yes, I found a Belgian produced gluten-free beer once in my grocery store. It was quite acceptable. They only carried it for a short time.

 

[RunningBum]

We don’t drink many beers, but our favorite is Boulevard Octoberfest beer from Kansas City, where our son lives.

Boulevard makes really good beers. I like their Quad.

 

[audreyh1]

I started my wine and beer making because DW is celiac, diagnosed in 1983. About 8 years ago, my son moved to a big craft brewing area near Bethlehem PA. He suggested I take up homebrewing, like himself, and add an enzyme called Clarity Ferm, which was designed to reduce the protein haze in beer. Well, the protein is gluten and while not officially approved as gluten free, the Clarity Ferm has worked wonders for DW. Clarity Ferm is also marketed under the name of Gluten Ninja. I can now make any beer, any style, anytime and DW can partake. PM me if you have any questions.

Wow, cool! Well, if your wife has no bad reaction to your beer treated with Clarity Ferm, it’s clearly gluten-free enough for her!

 

[carty1]

I like Hofbrau Original. However their Oktoberfest is awesome!!

 

[DogGone]

Dragon’s Milk

https://dragonsmilk.com/

 

[Winemaker]

Wow, cool! Well, if your wife has no bad reaction to your beer treated with Clarity Ferm, it’s clearly gluten-free enough for her!

I sure got extra points for that discovery.

 

[PointBreeze]

We have a local craft brewer about 11 minutes away and I sometimes get a growler from them and Hill Farmstead Brewery, RateBeer's Top Brewery for 2018, is about 1/2 hour away... but most of the Hill Farmstead beers are too harsh or hoppy for me.

Hill Farmstead! I consult a bit for a non-profit up in the North East Kingdom, and enjoy a Hill Farmstead beer or two when I’m visiting my client.

I love New England IPAs in particular, but just about any pale ale or IPA is a wonderful thing in my book.