What Beer Are You Drinking? - Fall 2011

[stevegoz]

Enjoyed my first taste of The Vixen from Sam Adams last night, part of a new line of bombers they're doing. Nice subdued chocolate and chili thing going on. Not overpowering, but a nice warm 8.5 percent bock.

[smokinjoe]

An Oaked Arrogant Bastard, after a very, very, long day. I earned my money today.

[jcg9779]

Cigar City "Jai Alai" IPA. Very serviceable.

Just poured one for the Bengals -titans game. There is a unique flavor in jai alai that I can't quite put my finger on, but it makes it a nice change of pace IPA compared to the masses.

I had one of these the other day as well and thought it was pretty good. Not as overly hoppy as some IPAs can get, but still enough to remind me that it is an IPA. It was a good change from the lagers that I had been drinking.

[Beer&Bourbon]

Cantillon St Lamvinus

I love me some St. Lamvinus. I picked up a classic gueuze at Belmont not long ago, but haven't seen anything else in the state (or anywhere else for that matter) in awhile.

I popped a Rose at a tasting a week or so ago and absolutely loved it - barnyard, mud, cherry - just a great mix of complex aromas and flavors. I've picked up about 6 bottle of 3F gueuze in the last few months as well, but haven't tried the two side-by-side ever. I'm hoping the 3F does well in the comparison since it's much easier to get.

[clingman71]

I love me some St. Lamvinus. I picked up a classic gueuze at Belmont not long ago, but haven't seen anything else in the state (or anywhere else for that matter) in awhile.

I popped a Rose at a tasting a week or so ago and absolutely loved it - barnyard, mud, cherry - just a great mix of complex aromas and flavors. I've picked up about 6 bottle of 3F gueuze in the last few months as well, but haven't tried the two side-by-side ever. I'm hoping the 3F does well in the comparison since it's much easier to get.

Ah, Belmont, Dayton's diamond in the rough, best beer selection in town.

[stiffchainey]

German all time favourites:

Reissdorf Kölsch

Peters Kölsch

(special brew just allowed the be sold in and around cologne. hated by most of the other beerdrinkers in germany because of its very mellow and sweet taste, and the special 0.2 liter glasses ;-)

Current Favs:

Zywiec

Lech

Warka

(all polish beers, slightly stronger aka 5.6% and sweet)

[Tony]

Bell's Hell hath no fury

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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.443613,-83.491363

[Clavius]

Heineken from a can. Classy, I know.

[stiffchainey]

Heineken is always a good choice, haha!

[Bourbon Boiler]

Knocked off a sixer of Bell's Winter Ale before watching Purdue and Iowa yesterday. Not a bad beer at all, I had never tried it before.

[stiffchainey]

Is it like a special brew with spices?

[Jono]

Stiffchainey, Q re US selection of mass produced German beer:

We see the following on the average grocery store shelf all of the time:

St. Pauli Girl.....export only?

Becks

Spatenbrau

Warsteiner

Hacker Pschorr

Paulaner

There are many others is larger liquor shops, but I was wondering if these

are considered in "low standing" in Germany?

Are they like our Budweiser, Miller, Pabst etc?

[stiffchainey]

St. Pauli Girl: Never heard of?

Spatenbräu: Not the best, but okay.

Warsteiner: Very good beer!

Hacker Pschorr: Bavarian beer, also good.

Paulaner: Wheat beer, one of the better.

Becks: Regains popularity right now in Germany, I don't like it.

I'm impressed, that is indeed a good sortiment of german beer! Is it popular in the USA?

I have to admit that I love Pabst Blue Ribbon! ;-)

[Jono]

I used to drink Pabst....years ago...IF it was ice cold!

I would say that the German beers are very popular, along with other imported beer from Europe and around the world. However, our numerous microbreweries have cut into the demand for imported beer as the beer aisles are very crowded with hundreds of selections. I try something new on a regular basis.

I think St. Pauli is export only.

Same thing with wine....years ago "Blue Nun" was all the rage...then I think the quality slipped or

it was never as good as the hype. The selections are so large now compared to the past you

better be good or you won't compete.

[stiffchainey]

Same goes for me, I try something different regularly. Right now it's polish and belgium beer.

Pabst Blue Ribbon is a cult-beer in Germany, served in some of the more trippier clubs, I guess this has something to do with the movie "Blue Velvet"...;-)

Haven't tried lots of US beers, just the regular: Coors, Miller, Anheuser, Budweiser, then Colt 45 (wow!) and some canadian stuff, aka Mooshead and LaBat, which weren't bad either.

Always up to new recommendations! BEEEEEER! ;-)

Cheers!

[Jono]

I try to avoid green bottle beer due to the light caused skunk effect...Moosehead etc.

I like Molson from Canada as a mass market product.

Colt 45....funny! It is associated with urban alcoholics. The same for Little Kings and Mickey's wide mouth. College drinks too! Bought for the higher alcohol content.

Some of the old brands have been going through an attempted revival..Pabst, Schlitz, Hamms etc. Not sure how successful, aimed at the nostalgia market.

[stiffchainey]

Yeah, I know. Colt 45 looks also slightly trashy, haha! But I liked it!

There is so many good stuff out there, almost impossible to try them all. Hamms and Schlitz is on my list, as well as Anchor steam. Thanks!

[Whiskey Willie]

I have to admit that I love Pabst Blue Ribbon! ;-)

There you go, stiffy . . . PBR is my fave American macrobrew swill.

There is a good German place just down the street from my office...Spaten Optimator is killer stuff.

[stiffchainey]

There is a cool club w/ live music in Cologne that used to sell PBR in cans for 4 bucks (€) each ;-)

Spaten Optimator is a Doppelbock, isn't it? The alcohol is so very well hidden that you don't see the big punch comin', haha ;-) Like it too, though.

If you like this, you should try some of the blackbeers...great stuff!

[Whiskey Willie]

I can get a case (24) of PBR for $15!

Yep, Optimator is a doppelbock, and I do enjoy the schwartzbiers!:bowdown:

[stiffchainey]

Is the Spaten expensive?

[Whiskey Willie]

Can't exactly remember. . .The half-liter Optimator goes from around $5 and the liter around $8.

:toast:

[stiffchainey]

That's super price, i guess! ;-)

[Jono]

Another old, once popular brand that disappeared in 2002...Lowenbrau.

Wiki

"From the mid-1970s until 2002, Löwenbräu beer sold in American markets was brewed under license to the Miller Brewing Company in the U.S. and Molson in Canada. Although it claimed to use the same recipe, this American-brewed version included corn in the grain bill, so the taste was markedly different from the Munich-brewed version (most notably lacking was the malty flavor characteristic of many German lagers). After 2002, Löwenbräu began directly exporting its beer from Munich. In the years before the Miller licensing arrangement, Löwenbräu Oktoberfest beer bottled for export for sale in the U.S. was of the "Märzen" style, an amber/copper hued beer in the 6.2+ ABV range. With the return of authentic German Löwenbräu to the U.S., as currently offered, this product is lighter in color (in the "helles" style)and of higher alcohol content than Löwenbräu Original."

I think it was style over substance-marketing success-the Lion image and people thinking it was imported.

Binny's carries the imported Lowenbrau.

[stiffchainey]

Löwenbrau is not a very common beer in Germany. It is actually pretty hard to get in my area, just in the bigger stores. Like it though.

If you like lager, you should try "Duckstein"!