It's time to talk about my second favorite alcoholic beverage!

Anyone start their wine hobby by first exploring the world of beer?

I spent most of my 20's drinking different beers from around the world. I used to go to beer bars that had 200+ taps/bottles so I could try several at a time.

In my "travels," I found my favorites to be:

Polar Lager
Salva Vida
Port Royal Export
Spaten Lager
Pilsner Urquell (my #1 favorite)
Harp
Michelob Honey Lager
Newcastle Brown
Red Stripe
Jersey Shore Gold
Otter Creek Copper Ale
Anchor Steam

What are your favs?

On tap: Guiness Stout.

Bottled: Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter

Microbrew on tap: Karl Straus Star of India Pale Ale

Microbrew in Bottles: Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale

I'll jump on the STW bandwagon for some of those....

Anchor Steam
Duvel
Chimay
Bass
Spaten
Red Stripe for sure.. such a unique aftertaste.
Corona - Can't beat it in the summer.

I also like a lot of the Winterfests and Autumn Brews from Sam Adams and Pete's Wicked.

Short -

A fellow Pilsner Urquell fan...I can see we're going to get along quite well! Available on tap at several bars in this area, especially Harvard Square area.

I'm also a huge fan of Newcastle and Warsteiner.

I know it's kind of fru-fru, but Abita (a brewing company near New Orleans) makes an interesting raspberry beer called Purple Haze. Ok, perhaps I should have kept one to myself.

Sorry, don't drink the stuff. May be, 1 or 2 in a year (in a summer). But, usually, it will that "very popular" beer we all know---Heiny. Really, have No appreciation for the stuff anymore.

In college, a lot...but, that is a different topic (altogether). And, I believe my wife checks out the Site on a regular basis.

My favorite everyday beers (and I may have 12 beers in a year) are:

Killians
Yeungling Black & Tan
Yeungling Lager

Other than that I enjoy New Castle and Anchor Steam. When I was in high school/college (the time when I actually did drink beer) I used to drink Ol' E (Olde English Malt Liquor) and The "Beast" (Milwaukee's Best). I used to drink California Coolers too, so now I'm done embarassing myself.

jb

Any and All Sam Adams. (I think I buy half of the Oktoberfest by myself)
Samuel Smiths Nut Brown
Flying Fish Belgian Abbey Dubbel
Omega
Guiness and Harp Blach and tan
Murphy's Irish Stout

And an MGD when I cut the grass.

TCK

Dad owned a bar, so Falstaff, Naragansett, and Knickobocker were my first dates. As a matter of fact, the Sam Adams HQ in the city I live in is the old Heffenreffer brewery - The Green Monster - you can still see the name on the smokestack!

I've travelled a lot also, and once I got past the Bud/Miler syndrome, I started liking stuff like Sierra Nevada and Red Tail pale ales. I still enjoy the Sierra Celebration Winter Ale, and Boston has local equivalents in the IPA category like Harpoon and Tremont. After a while I got kinda "hopped" out a bit, and my last year or two has seen a big upswing in the Belgian beer consumption and during the summer I enjoyed many German wheat beers. So, as a list I would include:

Duvel
Paulaner Hefe-Weizen
Paulaner Salvator
Hakke-Pschorr Weisse Dunkel (dark wheat)
Leffe Brune (and Blonde)
Fat Tire
Hoeegarden
Wieskse Witte (Dutch wheat beer)
Guinness!!!!
Chimay
Westmalle
Gordon's Scotch
Kolsch beer (haven't met one I haven't liked)
Sierra Nevada
Spaten
Tremont

I got lots more, but I'm blanked out. Great topic. Most of these type beers I like on the warm side of cold, like 47-53F

gigond ass,

guiness is the nectar of the celtic gods & i love arrogant bastard ale. there used to be a bar here in fresno that had both on tap. they still have guiness, but i guess not enough people liked an ale that bit back.

as far as other beers are concerned, it sure is easier to find something decent to drink these days, even when presented with an inadequate wine list, most places have at least something decent to drink in the realm of beer. i also like most offerings from sam adams & sierra nevada, as well as many others. if anyone ever finds themselves in chico, ca, go to the sierra nevada brewery & have their stout on tap.

Hoffenreffer roomed in our frat 1 year I was there. A truck with cases of beers every weekend. Beer= water equivalent in college. Other than meade, it was beer, beer, and if you were thirsty, beer.
Engineering textbooks held open by Molson bottles. It's a wonder we learned anything at all.

Dr T,
I gather you aren't an engineer?

Up until recently Becks was my favoured drop followed by Chimay Blue.

But last Monday I discovered a micro-brewery on Waiheke Island (just 1/2 hour by ferry) and the brew was damn fine. Can't get it on the mainland so every Sunday I will be shooting across to pick up some decent reds and a Gallon Container of the Waiheke brew. (9$ NZD a gallon from the brewery. Or 9$ NZD by the handle at the local Waiheke pubs.) Great hoppy stuff, but with clean chocolatey flavours. Not a stought more of a dark ale.

No, jeremy- It's hard to build strong trusses with beer bottles and kegs.

Spaten (#1)
Pilsner Urquell
Warsteiner
Steinlager
Guiness
Rolling Rock (after I mow the lawn or with ribs)
Eku 28 (anyone know this one?) and/or Samiclaus
Grolsch
Red Stripe is fun
Almost any on-tap Heiffe Weizen if I am feeling funky

Also, point of interest, if you are ever in Europe, try ordering a 'Budweiser' it will look like the same container, but man, it is totally different than the yellow water it is over here in the states....

TJ-
It's in your blood, man.

Dr. T -- I can't remember, did I do my 'Schwarzenegger' for ya?

In DC, boss. I thought I was going to be TERMINATED!

I'm kind of lucky living in the SF Bay Area. We have the greatest brewery in the world right here in our back yard. Anchor Brewing Company. Makers of Anchor Steam, Liberty Ale, Anchor Porter, Anchor Summer Beer, Old Foghorn, Anchor Small beer, and Our Special Ale (the holiday ale). All of these beers are great standards and all except the Small Beer have been made for 20 years or more (the Steam Beer has been around for over 100 years, the others have come out since 1970).

Btw, they also have a distillery where they make 100% Rye wiskey and Gin. The wiskey comes in two varieties, 23 months and 37 months in the barrel. It is sold at barrel strength (i.e. about 125 proof). Personal opinion is that the wiskey sucks, it is just too hot and young. If it was 7 years old it might start to be okay. The gin on the other hand is absolutely fantastic and I recommend it highly.

For those of you who visit here you should set aside an afternoon to visit the berwery. Only open weekdays for tours which are free. They take you on a tour of the brewery and tell you about the history for about an hour and then you get to taste all of their offerings and can ask for more too.

tj,

Eku 28 is some killer high alcohol deal like the Begian Bush, right?

Stagger Stagger Crawl Crawl.

Well, it is actually German. But Eku 28 is not as good as Eku Bavaria (special reserve?). Eku 28 is 28 as in proof, yes 14% alcohol. It is incredibly malty and actually an extremely acquired taste. It is one of the most alcoholic beers you can drink if not the most alcoholic. I, of course, knew this and discovered this beer in college for this very reason.

At age 8 I started to collect beer bottes, I have about 450 bottles in my computer room...

There is a great brewery near my parents B&B, I love the Berkshire Blonde and the Pale ale. Also enjoy:

MGD, what I drank in college and I still enjoy it.
Pilsner Urquell
Warsteiner
Tecate
Spaten
Pilsner Urquell
Polar, fond memories from a trip in Venezuela with some college friends
Amstel