Beer in the new era

japanese and thai lagers are better, but still things I'd only order in a restaurant.

I swear there was some blind taste-test experiment on the web where someone determined people rank grolsch and a couple others as the "cheapest" if they're given a bunch of beers to sample and try to blindly rank them.

Probably bc of the brown bottles. Maybe Kronenbourg is actually good when you get it in France? Then again, it's made by Carlsberg, purveyors of some of the worst imaginable euro piss.

There's a little French-themed bar close to me and Askance Johnson, and they have Kronenbourg on tap for $4/pint. It's not bad.

As for Stella, I don't go out of my way to drink it, but I'll order it if I want a little flavor and the only other choices are watery domestics or malty low-hopped ales. PBR is best for when I want to keep it light -- as the last beer of the night, or as something to drink while I'm sweating.

I'd like to see a favorite beer styles poll. But there are too many options.

That's a good idea! There's fifty poll options allowed, right? I'm sure you could whittle all the beer styles down to that? Maybe?

Though picking one beer style as a favorite would perhaps be impossible.

Beer Advocate lists 105. I could definitely pick a favorite style.

Yeah I can't stand Stella, Heiniken, or Pilsner Urquell when I've had them, they all taste terribly skunky to me and I'd rather not have any beer than one of these.

I used to not like lagers or pilsners at all - or maybe I just didn't see the point in bothering - but I've started to dig them with certain foods, especially sushi. I'll get micros in bottles sometimes but honestly they aren't THAT different than canned macros.

If I have a can of cheap beer, my favorites are:

1) Old Mil
2) PBR
3) Miller High Life

Though honestly they're all sort of interchangeable to me. Except Rainier and Kokanee which I don't really like.

Styles for me are easy: IPAs and Belgian style trippels. Everything else comes much further down the line.

goddamit, jeff, I think you're right. Too many styles, just too many.

xpost

I think you could probably consolidate styles and eliminate some outliers? E.g. there are a lot of lager styles that are similar.

I'm glad you volunteered! Here's the BA list:

Altbier
American Adjunct Lager
American Amber / Red Ale
American Amber / Red Lager
American Barleywine
American Black Ale
American Blonde Ale
American Brown Ale
American Dark Wheat Ale
American Double / Imperial IPA
American Double / Imperial Pilsner
American Double / Imperial Stout
American IPA
American Malt Liquor
American Pale Ale (APA)
American Pale Lager
American Pale Wheat Ale
American Porter
American Stout
American Strong Ale
American Wild Ale
Baltic Porter
Belgian Dark Ale
Belgian IPA
Belgian Pale Ale
Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Berliner Weissbier
Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut
Bière de Garde
Black & Tan
Bock
Braggot
California Common / Steam Beer
Chile Beer
Cream Ale
Czech Pilsener
Doppelbock
Dortmunder / Export Lager
Dubbel
Dunkelweizen
Eisbock
English Barleywine
English Bitter
English Brown Ale
English Dark Mild Ale
English India Pale Ale (IPA)
English Pale Ale
English Pale Mild Ale
English Porter
English Stout
English Strong Ale
Euro Dark Lager
Euro Pale Lager
Euro Strong Lager
Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
Faro
Flanders Oud Bruin
Flanders Red Ale
Foreign / Export Stout
Fruit / Vegetable Beer
German Pilsener
Gose
Gueuze
Happoshu
Hefeweizen
Herbed / Spiced Beer
Irish Dry Stout
Irish Red Ale
Japanese Rice Lager
Keller Bier / Zwickel Bier
Kölsch
Kristalweizen
Kvass
Lambic - Fruit
Lambic - Unblended
Light Lager
Low Alcohol Beer
Maibock / Helles Bock
Märzen / Oktoberfest
Milk / Sweet Stout
Munich Dunkel Lager
Munich Helles Lager
Oatmeal Stout
Old Ale
Pumpkin Ale
Quadrupel (Quad)
Rauchbier
Roggenbier
Russian Imperial Stout
Rye Beer
Sahti
Saison / Farmhouse Ale
Schwarzbier
Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
Scottish Ale
Scottish Gruit / Ancient Herbed Ale
Smoked Beer
Tripel
Vienna Lager
Weizenbock
Wheatwine
Winter Warmer
Witbier

Why do I feel like we've done this already?

let's be real, no one is going to vote winter warmer or pumpkin ale.

everybody nominate yer top 10 styles then we vote?!?!

idk.

We may have done it, but I could find nothing via search. But that's not saying much, it could be buried in there somewhere.

eh, who knows? I like pumpkin ale and winter warmers just fine, though, yeah, I wouldn't ever vote them as my favorite. I would have a hard time removing more than a few styles from that list. x-post to ian

Also, despite the fact that I drink beer constantly, I still feel like there are a lot of styles I'm not familiar enough with.

has there been a simple ale v lager poll? that's about as much as you need to know, imo

Guess I am thinking of
ILX DRINK Fight Nomination/ Question Thread

also, now I want to try some kvass and some braggot

Quite honestly, 1-10 for me = American IPA. I rarely drink much else, probably should.

Are there any steam beers other than Anchor Steam that are readily available?

ipa (us and english), american amber/red ale. though i'm not actually sure what classification the darker beers i like come under.

Enjoyed a Sixpoint Resin last night. Probably prefer Bengali Tiger, though.

There is a braggot on the menu of this bar I'm in tonight. Cantus Caeli 2010.

This list is actually amazing. But $$$$$$$$$.

Bottle list from last night: http://50.22.2.126/~churchke/sites/default/files/BBCK%20ONLINE%20BOTTLE%20LIST%207-5-12.pdf

Oh weird, I was actually just looking at that menu last night. Going to D.C. next month.

have you guys ever seen this stateside?

http://www.six3.tv/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Six3-Kernel-IPA-e1313500031464.jpg

it's quite prominent in london but the more things i try the more i rate it. it most likely isn't available across the water i guess.

Haven't seen it.

Jaymc, definitely worth a trip. And if you stick to their drafts, not too expense. You can even get 4 oz pours on everything.

churchkey is the best! when i was there last week for the bell's black note tapping, all the tables had kegs of upland and cigar city stashed under them, presumably for some sort of nefarious dc beer week purposes

Ha, I'm back at churchkey tonight. I'm glad this place isn't in Chicago, it would bankrupt me.

Drank tonight:

JW Lee's Harvest Ale 1999. I don't think I've ever drank a 12 year old beer before. I was not of legal drinking age when this beer was born.

Avery Uncle Jacob's Bourbon stout. 17%!!! Not the highest abv beer I've drank, but up there. This is an abrasive beer. I would like to taste this bottle in 5 years.

Ola Dubh Special Reserve 18. Taste like whiskey.

Oh, and the night before I had a 2009 Older Viscosity. Maybe one of the top 25 beers I've ever had. Right in my wheelhouse as far as style goes though, a barrel aged barley wine. Reminded me a lot of Goose Island's King Henry.

For a reasonably priced massmarket beer, I'm really loving the new Widmer Rotator series, Shaddock IPA, which adds grapefruit peel to the Citra hops. Perfect summer IPA.

The rotater beers are alright - cheap and they seem to do some interesting ones.

hmmm i will have to try that

had this years monks sour ale and how the mighty have fallen :( cuvee des jacobins has ruined me for all other sours i think.

I tried Left Hand Brewery's Sawtooth Ale recently. It was not bad - to my taste buds, it's somewhere between an English-style ale and a Pale Ale - a bit hoppy but also slightly malty and balanced. Not particularly memorable though.

cuvee des jacobins

Saw this in Whole Foods and it was $22 for a 4-pack of 12 oz bottles. I think the one time I've had it in a bar it cost about the same (likely a somewhat smaller pour, but still). It is a great sour, though.

yeah the cuvee is a good way for a beer drinker to get poor, thats a pretty standard price. although hey if you buy bombers in the $11 range its the same thing by volume/$ so eh. it could be worse.

hey if you buy bombers in the $11 range its the same thing by volume/$ so eh. it could be worse.

That's true, though I usually get cold feet when bombers are above $8. OTOH, I buy plenty of wine for $10-15/bottle, and go for Deliriums at $10-11, so maybe it's just a perception thing. One thing about the C des J, I doubt if I would drink more than one at a time. When I tried it I also ordered fish and chips - didn't need vinegar!

Sawtooth Ale is probably my least favorite of Left Hand's -- their Black Jack Porter is worth a try. the stranger APA is pretty solid too.

i just got a six pack of the stranger and (although i dont trust the store i got it from so that may have contributed) it was pretty bland and a little skunky. havent really found a left hand that i love yet, but i wont stop trying.

i live right near left hand so i haven't had skunky stranger, but i can see it being a bit on the bland side -- i kind of like that it's a little bit mellow.

did the vt run again this past week, posting pic of what is likely the best reg production beer in america

http://www.howigit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/alch-heady.jpg