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Good Beer Discovered in Past Year

 
pie sneak
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Victory Golden Monkey - my new favorite for about half a year now though I've yet to meet anyone else in person who feels the same

McEwans Scotch Ale - had for the first time last night; good sipping

Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale - surprisingly good for a beer with fruit flavor - the Wells Banana Bread Beer is also worth trying and much better than the ratings given

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier - tastes like a Belgian and kinda fruity

Smithwicks - I'm actually a fan of Killians Irish Red but I've since learned just how much better a "Smiddicks" is, especially on draught.

Gulden Draak - pretty expensive but also pretty darn good

Anchor Steam - tried while at JavaOne in San Francisco; not too shabby

These are just what came to mind sittin' here.
 
author and iconoclast
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Very interesting list you've got here; you have a range of tastes. I think that's good. Me, not so much; it's pretty much all IPAs for me. Anchor Steam I like, but heffeweisen, oy!
 
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Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:
Very interesting list you've got here; you have a range of tastes. I think that's good. Me, not so much; it's pretty much all IPAs for me. Anchor Steam I like, but heffeweisen, oy!



Come to Edinburgh! We are lucky enough to have a huge range of IPA's on draught in pretty much every pub.

Deuchars IPA is my favourite.
 
Marc Peabody
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Hats off to you, EFH. I can enjoy a good IPA but I can never start with one (and enjoy it) unless it's of the weaker variety. At least... not yet. All that hops! Yikes!

So what're your favorites? Anything I should at least try?
 
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I liked Saranac Pale Ale a lot, but I'm not sure if I ever saw it outside of NY state.

Sam Adams Boston Lager is standard fare in MA and quite tasty.

I like Hefeweizen in the summer precisely because of it's fruity/refreshing taste, and Franziskaner is one of the best. Lots of people never touch the stuff, though, so Ernest is not alone.

My favorite Pilsner is Beck's, which used to be (and probably still is) widely available in the USA.
 
Ernest Friedman-Hill
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Originally posted by Marc Peabody:

So what're your favorites? Anything I should at least try?



Well, as far as widely-available beers, I like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale a lot. My current favorite, I think somewhat harder to get outside of my area, is (was) a local beer that's recently been exported from the Delaware shore: Dogfish Head IPAs (see http://www.dogfish.com/). Used to be one brew pub; now it's being franchised. But the bottled beer is still coming from the original source, more or less. They have three IPAs, the 60, 90, and 120 minute versions (that's how long they get boiled on the hops.) The 120-minute is 12% alcohol (!) and it's a killer. The 60-minute is wonderful stuff at a more standard 6%.
 
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When I was seventeen
I drank some very good beer.
I drank some very good beer
I purchased with a fake ID.
My name was Brian McGee.
I stayed up listening to Queen.
When I was seventeen.


---Homer Simpson
 
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So will InBev purchase of Anheuser-Busch increase or decrease the number of good beers available in the US?
 
fred rosenberger
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that depends on how you define 'good beers'. personally, the merger worries me more for what it will do to St. Louis than the quality of beers available anywhere.
 
Marc Peabody
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Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:
Well, as far as widely-available beers, I like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale a lot. My current favorite, I think somewhat harder to get outside of my area, is (was) a local beer that's recently been exported from the Delaware shore: Dogfish Head IPAs ...


Dogfish Head sounds familiar. I'll look for that.

I was tempted to list a few that I thought you might like. Then I noticed I put Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in the list that, though hoppy, I don't think is technically an IPA and I didn't want to get flamed so I deleted the list.

Originally posted by Ulf Dittmer:
I liked Saranac Pale Ale a lot, but I'm not sure if I ever saw it outside of NY state.


I bought a Saranac variety pack from a Kroger in Columbus, OH a few months ago. I thought it was mostly mediocre (possibly due to its clear bottles being in the storelight), but the Pale Ale did stand out as the best of the pack.

@Fred - we've a Bud plant about a mile from my house as well. I'm wondering if many employees will be cashing out stock to retire early coming soon. I doubt if the plants will be effected. If anything, their distribution centers might get busier.

I kinda like inBev's Stella Artois and the St. Pauli's Girl ain't bad. I think they might actually own the Franziskaner I mentioned in the OP as well.
 
Ulf Dittmer
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Originally posted by Marc Peabody:
the St. Pauli's Girl ain't bad.


That one annoys me every time I see it, because it's named after the St. Pauli red light district of my hometown of Hamburg, but it's actually brewed in Bremen. It's for export only, which, frankly, I for one am quite happy about...
[ June 13, 2008: Message edited by: Ulf Dittmer ]
 
Pat Farrell
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Originally posted by fred rosenberger:
that depends on how you define 'good beers'. personally, the merger worries me more for what it will do to St. Louis than the quality of beers available anywhere.



I doubt it will do all that much to St Louis. Clearly some managers will be fired. The merger will cause some reductions in force. But unless some of the plants are really bad, I would not expect them to be changed. I think Newark and Williamsburg actually bottle as much as St Louis.

I lived in St Louis for nearly three years on TDY. It was impossible to buy a beer in town that was not a Busch product. Everyone worked for AHB, or had a wife/husband, neighbor who worked for them. Amazing. I haven't been back recently, they may allow a little SAB Miller in town now.
 
Ernest Friedman-Hill
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Originally posted by Ulf Dittmer:

That one annoys me every time I see it, because it's named after the St. Pauli red light district of my hometown of Hamburg, but it's actually brewed in Bremen. It's for export only, which, frankly, I for one am quite happy about...



I haven't heard this before, but I've heard what Ozzies think of Foster's Lager. Let's get Andrew in here and see if we can get him going.
 
Marc Peabody
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Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:
I haven't heard this before, but I've heard what Ozzies think of Foster's Lager.


"Foster's" is Australian for "Beer"... right?
 
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Originally posted by Marc Peabody:

"Foster's" is Australian for "Beer"... right?



Well, partially correct. Foster's is Australian for "beer we export so we can keep the good stuff for ourselves"!

Personally my favorite Aussie beer is Cascade Premium Lager, followed by a Coopers Pale Ale. Of course, being from Victoria, I don't mind a drop of the Victoria Bitter, but that is kind of a general "all purpose" beer to have in the middle of the day.

Having said all that, tonight I enjoyed a local Hefeweizen. Don't ask me the name of it though.

Regards, Andrew
 
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Originally posted by Marc Peabody:

Smithwicks - I'm actually a fan of Killians Irish Red but I've since learned just how much better a "Smiddicks" is, especially on draught.



I agree! While we're on the subject of Guinness Brewery brands...

A number of years ago I tried a Guinness and hated it. Ughh, how could anyone actually drink that stuff? My great great grandfather arrived from the Emerald Isle early last century, so for St. Patrick's Day this year I finally decided to give it a second go. Much better. Apparently I got some beer that had been sitting around a while the first time. Guinness certainly hasn't rocketed to the top of my list, but I can throw back a couple if that's what everyone else is having.

I thought a Harp would be right up my alley. I wanted to like it, but there was something just a little off about it. It's nice enough I suppose, but not spectacular. A little sweeter and hoppier than I expected. I'd drink it out of someone else's fridge, but I don't think it's quite worth the price. Maybe I'll get another six pack before the end of the year... maybe not. (By "a little off", I mean it goes from a 95 down to a 85, while Budweiser is down in the 50 range.)

Smithwick's: It in the same class as but definitely has more character than a Killian's. I like the extra... what would you call it... "roastedness". The head lasts a good long time, which is nice. I would have liked to see just a touch more carbonation.

"Smiddicks" is now one of my go-to beers/ales. This is the nice, relatively rich one to have in more sedate environments. In contrast, I have something ice cold from north of the border, such as a Molson Canadian while cooling down after physical exertion.
[ June 17, 2008: Message edited by: Ryan McGuire ]
 
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