What's the best beer then?

or

tsing tao - china

Crikey.

I really can't be doing with calling Budweiser "Budvar" nonsense. I've heard in the US it's called "Czechvar". How fucking insulting is that? It's like suddenly deciding that the Simpsons must be refered to as the Yanksons because we've just decided to use the Simpsons for some pathetically inferior product of our own.

I also have a strange fondness for Turkish beer.

Yes, Duvel is mighty fine. I tried some witbier in Brussels which was even nicer than Hoegaarden, but I've forgotten what it was called for some reason. Maybe I'd been drinking.

great beer+cheese in america=wisconsin. let's not say the US=just the same all over.

...by which you might possibly mean TROY, which I will forever associate with the Rough Trade RoTa free gigs at the Notting Hill Arts Centre!

They do? I stand corrected. Anyway, my understanding is that in Europe the Czech Budweiser was sold as Budweiser and the American imitation was sold as merely "Bud", whereas in the UK both were allowed to trade under the name "Budweiser". "Czechvar" just sounds completely absurd.

Anyway I was only kidding with my mischievous generalisations. Americans I know seem very fond of their "watery, domestic". And there is something 'traditional' about beer in cans and sporting events. I'm still not convinced about the cheese though.

Efes is the Turkish beer I like.

Then I drank a bottle of Stowells' Tempranillo and danced like a fool with Shoreditch TwatXors. Oh my head.

Mrs De Rijk's grandfather established the brewery which is still barely known outside the immediate area. Perhaps beer of this quality can only be produced on a small scale but I do wish it was more widely available. I only know it as the owner of my local café was so impressed he travels down to Belgium every month to ensure his is one of only two places in Holland that serves it.

Beer writer Michael Jackson on De Rijk

Austrian beer is great stuff, better than German (heresy!). That said, I really miss American microbrews as long as they don't get too fancy with the flavourings, and intend to reacquaint myself over the Thanksgiving holidays.

Yay, Zipfer!

I discovered a new candidate yesterday - Exmoor Beast! It's dark, it's nummy and it's 6.6%!

Corsendonk [Belgium]
Corona [Mexico, duh]
Zlatorov [Slovenia] --- The YUMMIEST.
St. Ides Special Brew [snoop dogg drinks it...]

maybe i'll create the beer board when i make I Love American Football (before next year's NFL season starts, which is really when i drink the most anyway).

But its still Timmy Taylor's Landlord for me.

also Negra Modelo.

But as far as beers go, I generally choose Guiness when given that option, and am also quite partial to Fuller's line, especially their ESB. Asahi, accompanied by sushi, has made for some of the only actually good dates I've ever been on. Hell, from the Newcastle to the Heine to the Anchor Steam to the...< homer > aaaaaaah beeeeeeeeeerrr aaaaaaah < / homer >

And there are employers in the South in the States who will pay their employees in PBR. This phenom really does exist. Wild stuff, mang.

Amstel Light, Coronas and Red Stripe - There is no point in paying $$$ for imported light lager that tastes just as bad as the American version. And as far as I know, there is no law saying you couldn't put a lime in your Coors Light, so none of this "Coronas are good w/ the lime" nonsense ("oh but it looks so cool with the bottle!") In fact I prefer Pabst Blue Ribbon or Yeulings to any of these.

American beers taste...sweet to me. It's bizarre.

Fr'instance...

Summer day = india pale ales?
Winter day = thick stouts?
Autumn eve = dark lagers?

Within my pricerange, I tend to get carlsberg.

Yes, there are some minor differences in taste between these beers, for example AB products like Mich have that godawful rice flavour, but in the end its like comparing the tastes of different brands of Amercian cheese - even the best are taste like crap compared to the real stuff.

>American beers taste...sweet to me. It's bizarre.

Light lagers have virtually no hops, so the only flavour your going to get from them is from the malt (mostly corn), which is sweet. Even this flavour is very light compared to malt-heavy beers like dopplebocks (very very sweet, esp. Aventinus). So if a beer has no hop flavour or malt flavour, I don;t see how it has ANY (good) flavour - which is why I prefer PBR to Corona.

Summer = Pilseners, Hefeweissens
Winter = Dopplebocks, Imperial Stouts, high alcohol anything
Autumn = Oktoberfests, duh

Their Liberty Ale is good too. I also like Sam Smith (Oatmeal Stout!), Duvel, Chimay, Bass, Negra Modelo, and Harp. Brooklyn and Dominion are serviceable.

Most overrated - Sam Adams
Most underrated - Miller beers, MGD especially

Having put a few years between me and college, I do not plan on drinking Rolling Rock ever again for the rest of my life.