CAG Beer Drinkers Unite! Beer Snobs and Cheap Ass Drunks Welcome!

depascal22

depascal22

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This thread will be for any beer drinking conversation. Post your favorite micro-brews, local brews, or macro brews. Anything beer is cool here.
 
I'll start by listing these sites as good places to look up beers, beer bars etc.

www.beeradvocate.com
www.ratebeer.com

I'm a huge beer snob, along with my buddy and I we have a spread sheet tracking beers we've tried over the past year or so. It's up to around 220 beers so far, it's missing a lot we've tried as it only covers stuff we've bought in stores and is missing a lot of good beers we've had on tap as we hit some good beer bars once a week or more. Nerdy for sure, but keeps us from forgetting we tried something and didn't like it, as well as being a good thing to skim through before heading to the liquor store.

Below are a bunch of my favorites from the list. I won't give details on the styles etc. as curious folks can look them up on the above sites. They're just listed alphabetcially since I'm just grabbing them from the spreadsheet.

Allagash Dubbel Ale
Aventinus- Wheat Doppelbock
Avery 14'er ESB
Beamish Draught Irish Stout (Can)
Belhaven Wee Heavy
Clipper City Hang Ten Weizen Dopplebock
Corsendonk- Abbey Brown Ale
Cuvee de Noel Belgian Speical Ale
Deleirum Nocturnum
Delerium Tremens
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale
Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine
Harpoon IPA
Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout
Lagunitas Imperial Stout
Lagunitas Lumpy Gravy
Mc Chouffe Aritsanal Belgian Brown Ale
North Coast Old Stock Ale
North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
Oskar Blue's Ten Fidy Imperial Stout
Podge Imperial Stout
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Rogue Dead Guy Ale
Rouge Double Dead Guy Ale
Rogue Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red Ale
Rogue Mocha Porter
Rogue MoM Hefeweizen
Rogue Shakespeare Stout
Sam Adams Cream Stout
Sam Adams Double Bock
Sam Adams Summer Ale
Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner
Samuel Adams Pale Ale
Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout
Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale
Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout
Samuel Smiths Taddy Porter
Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale
Southampton Abbot 12
Southern Tier Back Burner Imperial Barly Wine Style Ale
Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout
Southern Tier Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale
Stone Double Bastard Ale
Stone Imperial Russian Stout
Stone IPA
Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale
Stone Ruination IPA
Stone Smoked Porter
Tetley's English Ale (can)
The Czar Imperial Stout
Troegs Troegenator Doublebock Beer
Troegs Hopback Amber
Troegs Nugget Nector
Unibroue Maudite
Urthel Hibernus Quentum tripel ale
Urthel Samaranth Quadrium Ale
Urthel Vlamese Bock
Westmalle Trappist Ale Dubbel
Weyerbacher Blither Idiot
Young's Double Chocolate Stout (can)
Young's Oatmeal Stout
 
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Anyone like the new Budweiser American Ale? I think it's decent. You can tell they made it with Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada in mind.
 
[quote name='depascal22']Anyone like the new Budweiser American Ale? [/QUOTE]

I had it on tap after the tour at the Anheiser Busch Brewery in St. Louis last week. I didn't care for it. Just tasted too watery and bland to me. Better than Budweiser for sure, but not much.

But again, I really dig strong "big" beers like Imperial Stouts, double IPAs etc. so those types of more bland beer styles just aren't my cup of tea.
 
Yeah. A stout is good after a long day's work. Feels like a meal in your glass. For some reason, Guiness doesn't do it for me though.


EDIT -- dmaul, are you from St. Louis? I went to high school on the east side of the river.
 
Not a fan of Bells dmaul? They brew good stuff.

I've had just a handful from your list but may print it out for my next run to the place that stocks a ton of singles. Just had my first Troegs Hopback Amber a few days ago. :D

Ever had Moose Drool? I finally had it on a trip out west a few weeks ago and it's a fantastic brown.
 
I second your recommendation of Rogue Dead Guy Ale, dmaul. I haven't had it in a while but I'd love to track it down. That's the only problem with the South Side of Indy. All the good brewpubs are on the North Side or down in Bloomington.

I'd also recommend Hitachino Nest if you're into Japanese imports that aren't Sapporo, Sapporo, or Sapporo.
 
Any thing Shiner is off the chain. And I also agree with the IPA guy. Have you tried the Brooklyn IPA? Don't forget about Newcastle
 
[quote name='wubb']Not a fan of Bells dmaul? They brew good stuff.
[/QUOTE]

Never heard of them. Just checked their site and they don't have any distributors in Maryland. They do in DC and VA, so I'll keep an eye out for them next time I go beer shopping down that way since I live in the MD, DC suburbs.

[quote name='DarkSageRK']A family friend brews his own beer. That stuff is straight up amazing.[/QUOTE]

I've been dying to try it out, but I'm just so busy lately that I don't have the time to put in the time to learn homebrewing right now.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Never heard of them. Just checked their site and they don't have any distributors in Maryland. They do in DC and VA, so I'll keep an eye out for them next time I go beer shopping down that way since I live in the MD, DC suburbs.
[/QUOTE]

I'd suggest their Two Hearted Ale.
 
[quote name='depascal22']
EDIT -- dmaul, are you from St. Louis? I went to high school on the east side of the river.[/QUOTE]

Nope. Was just out there for a conference last week.
 
Yuck! :D

Thankfully I'm beyond my college days of needing to drink regularly and having a tight budget. Now I drink less and have a less tight budget so I just drink the good stuff or don't drink at all. :D
 
[quote name='wubb']Not a fan of Bells dmaul? They brew good stuff.[/quote]

Last winter I picked up every stout that Bells makes (and that my local beer shop stocks) and pretty much every one of them was amazing.

I'm really into the German stuff right now. Bocks, dopplebocks, eisbocks - give me something malty, especially in the winter, and I'm a happy man.

If you want to try something amazing, track down a Samichlaus by Eggenberg. It is a 14% abv lager that pours coppery red, is very sweet, and doesn't hide its alcohol at all. It definitely isn't an every day drink, but it is perfect for special occasions.

Bed time for me but I'll post a bigger list of my favorites tomorrow.
 
I will say that working at a Minor League Park the past 4 years has made me grow a little loving towards Bell's and Leinie's. It is kind of sad though that when you get to college and people offer you free beer and you turn it down because it is Busch, Bud, Miller, Coors, etc. I can't even count how many times following games the F&B people and my bosses would go ahead and let me grab whatever I wanted. Spoiled me too much.

I have to admit though... One of my cheap beer pleasures that I will catch hell for is...

Red Dog... I don't know why, but for some reason ever since the summer before my sophmore year I have kind of liked it. Maybe because it is $12 for a 30 pack.

Magic Hat is also another one that I have grown to like over this past summer...
 
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[quote name='mvp828']I will say that working at a Miner League Park the past 4 years has made me grow a little loving towards Bell's and Leinie's. [/quote]


Do you guys keep a canary behind home plate?
 
Magic Hat #9 is good but I've never had any of the others. Oh, and dmaul, I'm not in college and I don't need to drink regularly but sometimes you need an ice cold 40 after work. MGD isn't really that bad for a night of Gears.
 
I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned Delirium Tremins yet. It's a Belgian style beer that's apparently one of the most popular in the world. Not one of my favorites though.

As for Bell's, their stuff is fantastic. They were the fastest growing beer brewery in Chicago about 3 or 4 years back before they ran into problems with distributors (I hear the owners a strange guy). They started selling under the name "Kalamazoo" before they got the contracts cleared up. But, yeah, they are great.

Has anyone tried He-Brew? I'm interested in getting some opinions about it.

Also, anyone know of Kronenbourg? It was one of my favorite beers when I was visiting Europe, but I can't find it at all over here. Sad Face.
 
Do you guys keep a canary behind home plate?
Click to expand...

:DYeah, when the bird dies, you know it's time to GTFO of the park!

Bell's is located in Kalamazoo, MI. Chicago couldn't sell "Bell's" for a long time, so they called it "Kalamazoo" instead in order to sell it in this market. And I'm glad they did. It is mighty tasty.

I used to drink Bud Ice, Molson Ice, and Busch Light in college. I've moved on to more refined tastes:

Molson/Golden
Bud Light
Coors Light
Guinness
Old Speckled Hen
Dos Equis
Hacker Pschor (sp?)

When I was in Australia, I was drinking some awesome brews that I cannot find here. But, Outback does serve James Boag's, which is nice.
 
[quote name='shieryda']
Old Speckled Hen[/QUOTE]

Remember it's actually "Old Speckled Hen" :D We were :whistle2:k over the quotes at a party once. I think somebody JFGI and turned up some sort of reason for them.
 
[quote name='wubb']Remember it's actually "Old Speckled Hen" :D We were :whistle2:k over the quotes at a party once. I think somebody JFGI and turned up some sort of reason for them.[/quote]

Huh. I never noticed that before.

chibri (another local Chicago CAG) had some Wing Walker ale a few weeks ago. That stuff is good, too.

Sam Adams (no, not Samuel Jackson) beer is good, as well.
 
[quote name='ZenTrickster']I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned Delirium Tremins yet. It's a Belgian style beer that's apparently one of the most popular in the world. Not one of my favorites though.

As for Bell's, their stuff is fantastic. They were the fastest growing beer brewery in Chicago about 3 or 4 years back before they ran into problems with distributors (I hear the owners a strange guy). They started selling under the name "Kalamazoo" before they got the contracts cleared up. But, yeah, they are great.

Has anyone tried He-Brew? I'm interested in getting some opinions about it.

Also, anyone know of Kronenbourg? It was one of my favorite beers when I was visiting Europe, but I can't find it at all over here. Sad Face.[/quote]

Yeah, Delirium is great. I like pretty much anything from Unibroue. Someone else mentioned Maudite which is excellet as well as Le Fin Du Monde and Terrible (super ass-kicking strong Belgian-style ale).

My local beer store has pretty much all of the He'Brew varieties but I have never tried them. I'll have to give them a go sometime.

Speaking of that beer store, if anyone lives in the Hampton Roads area in VA and wants to go somewhere with a great beer selection, check out Grape and Gourmet on VA Beach Blvd. It is a wine store, but Kevin, one of the owners, is a beer nut and now has over 500 beers in stock. Seriously, 500.

Heh, I just found their list of microbrews which was last updated in October.

http://www.grapeandgourmet.com/Microbrews.htm

Oh, and Zen, looks like they have Kronenbourg ;)
 
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When I drink cheap, its Coors Light or Keystone.

I've really been digging Blue Moon and Leinie's lately.

I used to drink Rolling Rock, but banished it on principle after they sold out to Budweiser.

I used to live in Texas, and I miss Shiner Bock horribly.

I also wonder what the hell happened to Michelob Honey Lager. I can't find it anywhere anymore.

I love the holiday season sampler packs that pop up. Michelob, Magic Hat, Sam Adams and Labatt all have some good sampler packs out now.

Dave
 
Blue Moon is nice.

What's the really popular beer brewed in Pennsylvania? I think it comes in a green bottle (not Rolling Rock). Edit: It's Yuengling.
 
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Anyone still drinking Stella now that InBev owns Anheiser? I was hoping it would go down in price now that they have significant US presence but nothing yet. Hoegaarden is another that I was hoping that would be in more stores by now.
 
[quote name='Maklershed']Do you guys keep a canary behind home plate?[/quote]

[quote name='shieryda']:DYeah, when the bird dies, you know it's time to GTFO of the park![/quote]

Huh??? I miss something here??
 
[quote name='mvp828']Huh??? I miss something here??[/QUOTE]

You spelled Minor wrong. You spelled it "Miner".

Back in the old days the "Miner's" took canary's into the mine. Once the bird dies it's GTFO since there is poisonous gases about.

I applaud Maklershed since that made me laugh. :D
 
[quote name='munch']IPA is king![/QUOTE]

Correct. I like Saranac, Sierra Nevada, and Long Hammer IPA. The Saranac "Trail Mix" is also great. Hops FTW!
 
[quote name='pimpinc333']You spelled Minor wrong. You spelled it "Miner".

Back in the old days the "Miner's" took canary's into the mine. Once the bird dies it's GTFO since there is poisonous gases about.

I applaud Maklershed since that made me laugh. :D[/quote]

Ah... Yes I did. Whoops... I mess it up a lot now because at our University one of the residence halls is called Miner and I am so used to typing that in to our security logs.
 
[quote name='ZenTrickster']I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned Delirium Tremins yet. It's a Belgian style beer that's apparently one of the most popular in the world. Not one of my favorites though. [/QUOTE]

Odd that I missed that in my list on the first page, as I do love that beer. I added it and the Delerium Nocturnum which I prefer to the Tremens as well.

[quote name='depascal22']Oh, and dmaul, I'm not in college and I don't need to drink regularly but sometimes you need an ice cold 40 after work. MGD isn't really that bad for a night of Gears.[/QUOTE]

No worries man. I just can't stand Millers/Bud/Coors. Mainly that I just don't like lagers in general (Sam Adams and Brooklyn being exceptions) so I especially can't stand the watery mass produced American ones.

In place of ice cold cheap 40s I stop at a store on my way home and pick up a nice big bottle of something from Stone, or a Corsendonk, Delerium Nocturnum etc. :D

[quote name='depascal22']Anyone still drinking Stella now that InBev owns Anheiser? I was hoping it would go down in price now that they have significant US presence but nothing yet. Hoegaarden is another that I was hoping that would be in more stores by now.[/QUOTE]

I never liked it, but I wouldn't stop drinking something because it was asscociated with a mass brewer--unless of course the beer changed. Never liked Hoegaarden either. Just not in to the Belgian Whites. I really only like the dubbels, tripels and brown abbey ales as far as belgian styles go. Can't stand the Whites (Wittes) or the fruity Lambics.
 
If any of you get the MojoHD cable channel they have a couple good beer shows - Three Sheets and Beer Nuts. I really want to go to some of the microbrew places that the Beer Nuts guys go to. Especially the ones where they do the Beer + cheese thing.

For those of you that like metal, I keep hearing that Kuma's Corner in Chicago is a cool bar. Order the SLAYER burger:

SLAYER Pile of fries topped with a ½ lb. Burger, Chili, Cherry Peppers, Andouille, Onions, Jack Cheese, and Anger
 
For beer bars, there are several good ones in the DC area. Here are my fave's that I check out fairly regularly.

The Brickskeller is definitely the best, as it has supposedly the largest beer selection in the world. Here's the current bottled beer list.

http://www.lovethebeer.com/beer-list.html

Their sister bar, RFDs (Regional Food and Drink) has a nice selection of taps. Here's this weeks tap list.

http://www.lovethebeer.com/rfd-menu/Website Draft List 081119.pdf

Downside of the Brickskeller and RFDs is the food generally sucks at both places.


Dr. Granville Moore's is a great Beligan beer bar. Great selection of Belgian beers, and the food is damn good. Especially the mussels which come in several varieties. Current beer list.

http://www.granvillemoores.com/PDFs/Beer November 2008 _4_.pdf

The Quarryhouse is a nice, little dive bar in Silver Spring, MD with a decent beer selection and excellent tater tots. Here's the site, but no beer list available.

http://www.quarryhousetavern.com/

Frisco Grille in Columbia Maryland has 19 taps they constantly rotate with a great variety of micro brews. The tex mex food is pretty decent as well, especially the burritos. Current beer list.

http://www.friscogrille.com/beer.php

The District Chophouse makes a fantastic outmeal stout and the food is damn good (if a bit pricey).

http://www.chophouse.com/LocationHome.php?FKLocationID=10092

Franklin's in Hyattsville, MD has good food and ok beer they brew themselves. The general store that's attached to the restaurant also has a fairly decent beer selection. Couldn't find a site for them, but here's the pubcrawler entry,

http://www.pubcrawler.com/Template/ReviewWC.cfm/flat/BrewerID=103210
 
[quote name='NTolerance']If any of you get the MojoHD cable channel they have a couple good beer shows - Three Sheets and Beer Nuts. I really want to go to some of the microbrew places that the Beer Nuts guys go to. Especially the ones where they do the Beer + cheese thing.

For those of you that like metal, I keep hearing that Kuma's Corner in Chicago is a cool bar. Order the SLAYER burger:

SLAYER Pile of fries topped with a ½ lb. Burger, Chili, Cherry Peppers, Andouille, Onions, Jack Cheese, and Anger[/quote]

I like Three Sheets but the Beer Nuts guys really annoy me. The Three Sheets where Zane went to Belgium was awesome. My wife lived in Belgium for about a year and she is the one that introduced me to Belgian beers in the first place. After my first Chimay, it was all over.

[quote name='dmaul1114']For beer bars, there are several good ones in the DC area. Here are my fave's that I check out fairly regularly.

The Brickskeller is definitely the best, as it has supposedly the largest beer selection in the world. Here's the current bottled beer list.

http://www.lovethebeer.com/beer-list.html
[/quote]

I've heard nothing but good things about The Brickskeller. The next time I make it up to DC I'll drag my wife there. As long as there are lambics, she will be down.

The only good beer bar around here that I have found is an authentic German beer garden in Portsmouth called The Bier Garden. They have over 300 bottled beers and around 10 on tap (which always includes Aventius) and the food is great as well.

http://www.biergarden.com/
 
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I'll have to check out Three Sheets. I've seen Beer Nuts, but didn't care for it much as the two guys were annoying. Plus it was really only of interest if they were in a city I was going to visit soon, otherwise I'd forget the places that looked cool before I ever got to the city so it was kind of pointless.

Plus it's just easier to look up beer bar reviews by city on www.beeradvocate.com and other sites before a trip. So the show was annoying and had little practical value so I only watched a couple episodes. :D
 
I'd have to say my favorites are Anchor Steam, anything by Shiner (especially the Bohemian Black), Schlafly Summer Kolsch and really anything by Schlafly, Boulevard Bob's 47, St. Peter's English Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and Guinness Extra Stout.

Lately I've been brewing my own stuff but I have yet to come up with something really good. I think homebrew probably takes a few tries before you get it right.
 
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