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I've lived all over the country, so my favorites have changed. However, the main bunch that will probably always stick out:
SNPA
Boston Lager
Harpoon IPA
Smutty Nose Finest Kind
DFH 60 Minute
Bell's Two-Hearted
Shipyard Fuggles IPA
Shipyard Export
Allagash White
Anchor Liberty Ale
Anchor California Lager
Red Nectar
Union's BaltAlt
8-Point Vienna Lager
Negra Modello
Nearly all German beers brewed in Germany that I have tried, in particular if they still use[d] decoction mashing.
Heavy Seas Loose Cannon
Neither love nor hate:
Coors Banquet
Shiner (any)
Old Style
Olympia
Hamm's Dark
Shell's (any)
Dislike:
National Bohemian (Boh)
Yuengling
Bud
Nearly all Belgians with the exception of one or two.
Most American wheat beers.
Primo (Grain Belt)
Nearly all British ales
Pabst
Many more...
Quote:
Originally Posted by EugeneOnegin
Favorites:
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Lucky dog. I'm from Northern California, go back home a few times a year, and even I have a hard time tracking it down.
As an aside, Vinnie C. changed the recipe and/or technique every year for five or six years straight yet every year it is "voted" best beer...
Flying Dog Old Scratch: My favorite lager, rich and smooth at the same time
Flying Dog Raging B**ch: Possibly the smoothest heavy beer I've had
Flying Dog Double Dog: This is the best medium between standard 5% beer and hard liquor, great if you want to get loose for social occasions without getting sloppy or feeling too full.
New Belgium Rampant: Very rich tasting beer
Sam Adams Summer Ale: Something lighter for the warm months that isn't weak.
I won't go into details about why I hate all of the lame, weak corporate beers, because I'm sure you all understand and feel the same way. I will say, however, that Mountain Crest is an abomination and should not be consumed by anyone ever (Seriously Natty light is tolerable by comparison).
I just recently got back into beer again and have found that my tastes really haven't changed.
My favorite beer is Budweiser.
I know that many "beer connoisseurs" will either laugh or gag at that notion but heck, I must not be alone. Budweiser is the third best-selling beer in the USA, and it is the best-selling full-strength beer (as opposed to "light beer"). Does that make it THE BEST? Not necessarily... but, man, I like it.
That has chapped my dad and my brother to no end, so I have tried many different beers along the way. Back in the day when I drank beer more often than I do now, I used to go to the bar and try various beers. I guess that's weird, because the bartender once asked me in friendly consternation "Why do you always change your beer?". I've found some beers I like but nothing I like as much as Bud.
Others that get honorable mention:
Michelob Lager - Good stuff. A bit more pricey than Budweiser, but a good bet. I like the smell of this one.
Bud Light - Okay, so I don't really go for light beer, but since this tastes pretty much like a weak version of Budweiser, I can drink it if it's there.
Coors Light - Haven't had it in a long time but I remember that I used to like it. It must come from a bottle, however. This one, for some odd reason, nauseated me when it came out of a can.
Rolling Rock - Tried it again recently and found that I didn't like it as much as I recall having liked it in college... but that's probably because I have since discovered Budweiser and I vastly prefer that.
Nothing against any of y'all who like dark beers and craft beers... I just never did. I have tried many a fancy beer that my dad has liked, and they all taste nasty to me. It can't be said that I haven't put forth the effort. I tried Guinness once - that was about as disgusting as a drink can be. To me it tasted like the smell of a dirty ashtray. Of course, nothing tops Magic Hat apricot ale. I couldn't even get one sip of that stuff down my throat.
I just recently got back into beer again and have found that my tastes really haven't changed.
My favorite beer is Budweiser.
I know that many "beer connoisseurs" will either laugh or gag at that notion but heck, I must not be alone. Budweiser is the third best-selling beer in the USA, and it is the best-selling full-strength beer (as opposed to "light beer"). Does that make it THE BEST? Not necessarily... but, man, I like it.
For what it is worth, what defines craft beer are:
1. Small[er] production, even though the Brewer's Association has upped the amount of production to 3 million barrels annually (one barrel is slightly more than 55 U.S. gallons). Sam Adams and Yuengling both produce 2.5 million barrels whereas Sierra Nevada is around 750K barrels/year, for example.
2. The beer uses "traditional" ingredients and techniques. This, according to the BA, was supposed to mean non-adjucnts which is laughable since adjuncts have been traditionally used in both U.S. and British beers for centuries and many of the Belgian beers use straight-up sugars. To further the irony what many "craft" beer drinkers in the U.S. will consider imported craft beers are actually considered to be macros in their home country.
Very recently (2014) the BA has changed their criteria for what constitutes craft beer to now include those brewers who use adjuncts. Even though the BA claims they do not define what "craft" beer is and that it is up to the individual beer drinker to decide, Yuengling and a few others are now considered craft beers.
Anyways, my point with all of that is that Budweiser is very good at making the beer that they do. It should also be noted that A-B and the rest of the macros make the beer that the American public wants to drink. Your grand dad's Bud was more-than-likely hoppier, maltier, and stronger in the least. Then after WWII American tastes shifted more towards the bland as the country began to become more homogenized, the beer industry changed their recipes to follow suit. In the 1960s Americans began to count calories and once again the beer industry "watered" down their beers. In the 1980s the calorie-counting really took off as America was becoming increasingly more health conscious. As such, Bud Lite and other lite beers exploded.
People can blame A-B and the like all they want. The reality is that these brewers brew the beer that sells: the beer that Americans want. If 80% of Americans all-of-a-sudden developed a taste for IPAs you better believe that A-B would change the recipe of Bud to reflect that.
It should also be noted that the "watered" down pilsner-styled lagers are not unique to the U.S. The trend was prominent across Europe with the likes of Heineken and Amstel (in Europe it is simply Amstel even though in the U.S. it is Amstel Lite. It is the same beer) and the British have been drinking "session" beers, beers with an ABV of 4% or lower, for decades (although their session beers are still a heckofalot more flavorful than those found in the U.S.). Every single beer drinking country on the planet has at least one national beer that can best be described as "beer-flavored water". Why the U.S. gets all of the flack is beyond me.
People eat McDonalds like its their last meal too so I am not surprised people drink Budweiser either. But it is what it is. Whatever makes you feel refreshed and takes the edge off your day like youre looking for.
I don't begrudge Bud. It just gives me a headache after a while. Used to do that to my Dad, too.
Give me Miller Lilte Tall Boys in the warmer months, by the dozen.
I will also ice down Coors Regular Banquet Beer yellowbellies.
GoodLife Sweet As Summer Ale is so good.
Ten Barrel Pub Cans.
Deschutes Pilsner.
Bitburger!
I like to pound beers, see, so I can't do that snifter stuff. And although I respect complex brews, I enjoy elbowing my way past dateless Neckbeards verbally masturbating over the mouthfeel of their Porter.
Oh yeah: Double Mountain Vaporizer! Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale Ale!
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