Beer Review Thread

Since Trader Woody brought it up...

I thought i would start with Guinness, the pride of Ireland. My favorite goto beer, good cold but better in room temp. Also a great red ale from Ireland is Smithwick's which Guinness has bought & is now destributing in U.S. markets.

[ Edited by: Tiki Bird on 2004-03-30 11:42 ]

[ Edited by: Tiki Bird on 2004-03-30 11:49 ]

I love fat tire and Kiltlifter when I venture out to beer.

On 2004-03-30 12:32, vwtikigirl wrote:
I love ... Kiltlifter when I venture out to beer.

Does it have an affect on you?

theJab - we haven't lifted our kilts so far, if that's what your implying, but we do call it truth serum. Everytime we sit in a group and drink a pitcher or two we find out way too much information from everyone! The stuff will really know you on your ass.

Guiness is a good choice, but only on draft and poured properly.

My favorite bottled beer is Newcastle Brown Ale.....goes down easy and get's you flying quick!

Matt

Newcastle is my beer of choice at Viva las Vegas. And Guiness in the special widget bottles - I know it's better on tap, but there aren't many beers to choose from at the event.

Guinness, at room temp.

or

Watneys' Cream Stout (currently without US dist.)

-Z

heinekin?

#!@* that $#!%, pabst blue ribbon!

On 2004-03-30 14:13, Johnny Dollar wrote:
heinekin?

#!@* that $#!%, pabst blue ribbon!

Words from the immortal Frank Booth.

Best by far is a Belgian beer named Duvel (devil)!!

On 2004-03-30 14:27, Jax Tiki wrote:
Best by far is a Belgian beer named Duvel (devil)!!

Jax, if you like Duvel (1 of my favorite beers & a favorite of beer experts everywhere), try Stone's Arrogant Bastard or Unibroue's Maudite. Both're very reminiscent of the Belgian Golden Ale style.

As a decorated veteran of Oktoberfest:Munchen, I'm enjoined to shout PAULANER from the alpen heights.

Doesn't translate well without the music, maidens and mugs... and then crammed into a little, tiny, puny Amerikan bottle... but still my favorite.

Molson (not Ice) when I'm thirsty.

Seattle has great unfiltered microbrews while Tampa has rancid swill sloshing out of Busch Gardens. Hooray for us.

I've just tried out a beer I've not had before called 'Early Bird' by Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewer (1698). It's a Spring Ale, only available for a few months and packs a fair whallop for such a pale ale.

There's an incredible hoppiness to it eveident as soon as the the beer is poured. It took me straight back to my dad's attepts at home brewing. There is more depth to it than expected, and isn't too dried by the hops. There's the expected freshness to it, but perhaps it might go down better as a summer brew once the weather starts to get hot and the hops refresh the palate.

I'd give it 6 out of 10.

Trader Woody

On 2004-03-30 14:45, freddiefreelance wrote:

On 2004-03-30 14:27, Jax Tiki wrote:
Best by far is a Belgian beer named Duvel (devil)!!

Jax, if you like Duvel (1 of my favorite beers & a favorite of beer experts everywhere), try Stone's Arrogant Bastard or Unibroue's Maudite. Both're very reminiscent of the Belgian Golden Ale style.

Mr./Ms. Moderator:

Why was my comment stricken from this thread? I don't understand...I was discussing my favorite Belgian beer named Duvel...and whammo... stricken from public records.

Really is one of the great beers of the world.

Freddie...thanks for the heads-up on the other brews...I'll definitely give them a try!

Jax- not sure what you mean- I certainly didn’t do anything. Your post looks the same to me. I’m not sure what was cut.

I'll take a minute to talk about some of my favorite UK brews. First, the good people at Fuller's make some beautiful beer. 1845 is readily available here in the US and is a delicious bottle conditioned ale. They also have a superb Vintage Ale which gets an annual release. Always buy two of those and let one age a while. I've had 1999 and 2000, and 2001 is calling out to me from the cellar (well, under the bed). Of course, they all taste better when their served from well kept casks in their native land. For martiki's idea of heaven, visit The Dove in Chiswick, just down the river from the brewery, grab a pint of perfectly kept London Pride or ESB and sit on the deck along the Thames.

Also the two breweries of Masham in the north make beautiful beers, even if they seem to be at some kind of war. Theakston’s Old Peculiar is an amazingly complex brew. And right across town, Black Sheep Brewery makes the wonderful Riggwelter. Both now available in the US! Touring both the breweries one day made for a wonderful afternoon.

Another great brewery both for product and a visit is Samuel Smith’s in Tadcaster. Plus, drinking their beer anywhere near their brewery is not only delicious, but extremely affordable.

I enjoy the Shepherd Neame beers as well- we can get some here. So many wonderful regional beers that I wish I could remember as well- just wandering around with a CAMRA guide through the country, you stumble upon so much character and variety.

I am getting so thirsty. Yesterday I had to get an Anchor at lunch just from thinking about it too much.

You guys are makin me thirsty too. Think Ill go have an Ice cold O'Duels, or maybe a Sharps instead.

And Guiness in the special widget bottles

Couldn't agree more. Guinness at home and guinness out on the town. If no guinness is to be had (and that is a real bummer) then it's usually Bass Ale all the way.

Afflegem Noel blend is by far the smoothest and sneakest asskicker I've encountered.

And HoeGaarten is the best beer on a 95+ degree, 95+ humidity summer day, with a slice of lemon...

I like the quality of Widmer Brothers beers and ales. Drop Top Amber Ale is my current fave.

Martiki...disregard my comment on being stricken from the string. I was looking at the other Beer string running at the same time.

Thanks

On 2004-03-31 19:04, martiki wrote:
Also the two breweries of Masham in the north make beautiful beers, even if they seem to be at some kind of war. Theakston’s Old Peculiar is an amazingly complex brew. And right across town, Black Sheep Brewery makes the wonderful Riggwelter. Both now available in the US! Touring both the breweries one day made for a wonderful afternoon.

Ah, my old boss was telling me about the 'war' between these two breweries just a few weeks ago. One of the members of the Theakston's brewing family got so pissed off with the way things were being run that he went off and opened up a rival. I hadn't realised they were both based in the same town! I've moved up to Lancashire, which isn't too far away from Masham, so I'll have to take the brewery trips sometime. Both Theakstons & Black Sheep feature strongly in pubs across the border in Yorkshire, and both brew fine beers.

Having a new area to explore has meant a completely new set of brewers supplying the ales. My nearest are based in Blackburn - Thwaites & Three Bees. Thwaites brews rather ordinary bitter, but their Lancaster Bomber (4.4%) is a fine, rich beer. On the other hand, I had a pint of '3B's Stokers Slake' yesterday, a very dark mild and it was so bad that I took it back, thing it might be off. The landlord tasted it and pronounced 'that was the way it should taste'. I couldn't finish it, so it really was one of the worst pints I've ever had. Luckily the pub next door did Tetley Bitter & John Smiths at the equivalant of $1.80 a pint. Both from large brewers, but are dependable session ales.

Anyway Martiki, your idea of exploring the UK using a CAMRA guide to lead you to new areas is a damn fine one!

Trader Woody

I'm finding that people are looking at me funny when I mention Canadian beers. I'll try to talk about things that are available in the US. There is so much crap available in grocery stores, and so many micro brewed beers that need to be discovered.

I love this thread, it gives those that rely on their every day beer an excuse to get out there and try something new!

There's a great US company called Winthrop Brewing Co., http://www.webspinnings.com/winthrop/ they make some nice beers.

Elizabeer Russian Imperial Stout brewed by Jackie Whittle from Anacortes Brewhouse in Washington state is a good one. She's a former brewer at Mad River in Blue Lake, Calif. She also makes a good Scottish Ale and Island Hopper IPA.

One thing to understand is that a hoppy flavour or aroma isn't necessarily a bad thing. Some people LOVE hoppy beers. I personally don't. My fiancé just made his first IPA and Oatmeal stouts from scratch, I didn't care for either of them since they are quite strong and hoppy, but that's what he likes.

I agree that CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale) is a fantastic place to find great beers. I belong to the Victoria chapter, they also organize the annual beer festival. One of the main reasons I joined was so that I could actually attend the festival, since tickets sell out more than a month before the event.

Thanks for posting your favorites and reviews, I think I'll try something new tonight myself!

On 2004-04-01 17:09, Tikiwahine wrote:
Elizabeer Russian Imperial Stout brewed by Jackie Whittle from Anacortes Brewhouse in Washington state is a good one. She's a former brewer at Mad River in Blue Lake, Calif.

I love Mad River Brewing Co.'s Steelhead Ale. It's my favorite American ale, along with Anchor Steam. I went to Humboldt State University in the 80s and met Bob Smith, the guy who started Mad River, at a party. He used to bring his homebrew to many of the parties in and around Arcata.

On 2004-04-01 17:25, thejab wrote:
I love Mad River Brewing Co.'s Steelhead Ale. It's my favorite American ale, along with Anchor Steam. I went to Humboldt State University in the 80s and met Bob Smith, the guy who started Mad River, at a party. He used to bring his homebrew to many of the parties in and around Arcata.

Very cool!

On 2004-04-01 17:09, Tikiwahine wrote:
I agree that CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale) is a fantastic place to find great beers. I belong to the Victoria chapter, they also organize the annual beer festival. One of the main reasons I joined was so that I could actually attend the festival, since tickets sell out more than a month before the event.

Tikiwahini, Real Ale's exist in the US, too, although there's no real CAMRA here. The Chicago Real Ale Festival is an incredible fest (although I heard that this year they couldn't hold it as a real festival, it was sort of a Real Ale pub crawl all around Northern Illinois due to problems with licenses).

If you have any plans to be down in Hoity-Toity Land in Mid June, the 7th Annual San Diego Real Ale Festival is the 11th & 12th @ the Pizza Port, Carlsbad:

The 7th Annual San Diego REAL ALE FESTIVAL

WHEN: Fri & Sat, June 11th & 12th, 2004!. Starting at 4 pm on Fri and 11 am on Saturday until closing both days!
WHERE: Adjacent to Pizza Port Carlsbad located at 571 Carlsbad Village Dr just 1/2 mile West of I-5.
WHAT: The second largest collection of Real Ale on the west coast this year, featuring over 50 Firkins of cask conditioned ale served in the English tradition!
HOW MUCH: $20 to get in which includes a commemorative logo pint glass and 8 taster tickets. Only $1 for each additional 5 ounce taste once you’re inside the festival!

The great news this year is that we have twice as much beer coming for each style. This means that you can enjoy yourself without stressing out that a beer may be gone before you get here Friday...........Cheers!

Please bring a designated driver or cab it------you'll need one!

I went last year & needed a designated driver to find the car afterwards! Good beer, good size tasters, good food, beautiful weather, but they need better parking.

That festival sounds great, Freddie. Doubt I can make it, sadly. Last real ale fest I went to was a CAMRA one in Battersea eight years ago. too long!

We have a huge San Francisco International Beer Festival each year. It's a flat $30 ticket for all you can eat and drink. I met the brewmaster of Fuller's there about two years ago. Great wide and diverse selection of beer. Sadly, it's been totally overrun by jackasses who get staggeringly drunk and obnoxious, so it's no longer worth the trouble.

Much much more wonderful is the annual Barleywine Festival at the Toronado pub. This year, there were over 80 varieties. Packet to the rafters all week long, but packed with enthusiasts, so it's great.

Barley wine, talk about stong beer! Tis the season for beer festivals, I'll be attending the Southern Ca. Home Brew fest in on 4/1/04 at Lake Skinner in Ca. Got to come up with a IPA recipe to brew this Saturday for the fest.

Tiki Bird, there's a Barleywine Festival from the 19th to the 24th of April @ Lucky Baldwin's in Pasadena. The feature is 6 years of Bigfoot Barleywine on tap!

My favorite all-timedrinking beer is Straffe Hendrik. Unfortunately they don't ship much of it out of Belgium. So my go to beers are Fosters, Bass, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, & Heineken. But I will drink almost any beer if it's not Canadian. (Don't mean to offend.)

heck, my least favorite beers are Molson Canadian and Kokanee! I have to admit though, that's quite a blanket statement. I think the problem is that none of the good beers are exported. The same goes for the U.S., all we get up here is the American type of Budweiser.

But "I" know there's all sorts of great stuff lurking down there! :wink:

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine on 2004-04-02 17:16 ]

I really like Hoeaarden, a nice light wheat beer. Very refreshing. I've got three of their HUGE glasses at home, they're perfect for the big homebrew bottles.

I think this has been said before here, but here goes again.

Canadian beer = skunky

And,
green bottle = usually skunky

ok, I'm sorry, I'll keep my opinions to myself. :(

On 2004-04-02 17:19, Tikiwahine wrote:
I really like Hoeaarden, a nice light wheat beer. Very refreshing. I've got three of their HUGE glasses at home

Hoegaarden really is a classic beer that goes down incredibly well, particularly in hot weather. It seems pretty easy to serve it badly, though. Be aware of it looking amber/light brown as that means it's old and past it's peak. It really should look pretty much yellow/straw coloured when fresh.

Those pint mugs they do are pretty incredible as even the half-pint mugs look formidable. You probably don't get the little line etched into them near the top of the galss, showing the imperial pint measure, like we do in the UK. If you do, you'll realise how much extra beer they put in if they fill it to the brim.

Trader Woody

Ahhh, thanks for the tip Trader Woody! I know they have a few other varieties (speciale, forbidden fruit and Grand Cru) but I've never seen them. Now I know to make sure the colour is good before purchasing. I believe my glasses do have the imperial pint marking, I'm going to double check when I get home. They are HUGE! :D

My last name is Whitbread, and I am relative of Samuel Whitbread that started the company, but I've never tried one! Now that they're made by Interbrew, I wonder if it still tastes the same? Can you tell me if I'm missing anything? We can buy Whitbread yeast here, just found out about that. I might try something with it.

By the way, I WAS going to bring a bunch of my homebrew, like the extra banana hefeweizen with me on my next US road trip, but if people really hate canadian beer, then maybe I should just leave them at home :wink: Come on, free beer? Just try it? Just this once? :wink:

On 2004-04-02 17:23, thejab wrote:
I think this has been said before here, but here goes again.

Canadian beer = skunky

And,
green bottle = usually skunky

In total agreement here jab. No offense to our Canadian ohana, but I'm hard pressed to remember a Canadian beer that I really liked (not just tolerated, but LIKED). The "greeen bottle stigma" has gotten so bad...I even avoid green beer on Saint Patrick's Day (well, at least until I've had a few whiskeys)! Of course this might just be some kind of ingrained thinking that "Green" infers not yet ripe or ready for consumption. Hey jab, remember the days when we (I'm assuming you did this too) used to hit up the Mayfair on Robinson in Hillcrest for a 99 cent six-pack of generic beer that was a white can with the word "BEER" on it in blue letters? I often wonder how that would taste right now and think...WHERE'S THAT BEER BONG?

I think this has been said before here, but here goes again.

Canadian beer = skunky

And,
green bottle = usually skunky

No offence taken, to be sure. But I do find it interesting that many of my friends find U.S. beer undrinkable...often likened to water. I have had a few great U.S. beers (Sam Adams comes to mind).
I often find beers that people might classify as "skunky" to be more aromatic and therefore more appealing to me. One of my faves is Moosehead...it's Canadian and in a green bottle!

Perhaps it's the big names in Canadian Beer that have ruined it for you. I seldomly drink Molson's or Labatt's beer.

A general rule that works for me: If it's micro-brewed, it's better than the huge commercial breweries.

Slacks, in all fairness I apologize for putting down Canadian beer when all I have to go by is the popular brands I can buy at my local convenience store. By the same token I don't like most American beers either. When I go out beer shopping nowadays, I usually wind up buying German beer (Bittburger, Spaten), Mexican beer (Tecate, Negra Modello), microbrew (Stone, Anchor Steam) or the thick Irish stuff.

Wait a minute...I just went to my fridge to grab a beer & all I found was a can of Sapporo - JAP BEER!!! but the good news is the can says (if cans could talk) "Brewed and canned by Sapporo Brewing Co., Guelph Ontario, Canada.

Well, I guess I'm totally fulla shit, so completely disregard my previous comments.
MMMMMMMM - this is gooood beer!

[ Edited by: Shipwreckjoey on 2004-04-03 02:54 ]

Seattle has great unfiltered microbrews while Tampa has rancid swill sloshing out of Busch Gardens. Hooray for us.

I visited Busch Gardens 19 years ago and we had to drink the Michelob (sp?) Dark to even get close to the same taste as our Bud out here on the west coast. Was the water really THAT bad in Florida back then? Although, the alchy % was higher out there compared to here at the time. The people I was with at the time were originaly from Fl. and knew the hopitality house peolpe at Bucsh Gardens so we sat there all day comsuming then went on rides and the animal tram totally blasted.

*On 2004-04-02 18:55, Shipwreckjoey wrote:*Hey jab, remember the days when we (I'm assuming you did this too) used to hit up the Mayfair on Robinson in Hillcrest for a 99 cent six-pack of generic beer that was a white can with the word "BEER" on it in blue letters?

Oh yeah, I went through the cheap beer phase. Generic beer, large bottles of Malt Liquor, Shaefer, Old Milwaukee, Black Label. My favorite was Lucky in stubby bottles with puzzles on the inside of the cap! But I never could stand Meister Brau.

It was a pleasant blend of sulpher and salt back int he day. Now it's chock full of Vitamin C - Chlorine!

It's the only way to deal with the taste.

BTW - a very drinkable beer with food is Moretti.

On 2004-04-02 17:23, thejab wrote:
I think this has been said before here, but here goes again.

Canadian beer = skunky

And,
green bottle = usually skunky

Jab, there're plenty of good & even great Canadian beers, you just have to go beyond the standard choices. Try anything from Unibroue, look for Cock-o-the-Rock or Propeller ESB. If you have to drink the cheap-o brands, look for sealed 12 packs (no light, no light-struck/skunky beer). I miss the old brown stubbies...

I'm currently enjoying a Stone IPA. It's deep straw to pale amber in color with a nice rocky head. It's an American IPA, so you have hops from the nose through the finish, grapefruit/citrus & piney flavors predominate. Malt flavors & alcohol try to ballance it out, giving their all & failing spectacularly!

*On 2004-04-03 21:30, freddiefreelance wrote:*Jab, there're plenty of good & even great Canadian beers, you just have to go beyond the standard choices.

Sorry if I offended any of my Canadian friends. It's just that one doesn't find a great selection of Canadian beers in the U.S., and that's a shame. I have tried a Unibroue and it was a good beer. I did not know it was Canadian.

On 2004-04-03 22:50, freddiefreelance wrote:
I'm currently enjoying a Stone IPA.

freddie, you must live close enough to the Stone brewery to drive over & pour yourself a glass straight from the tap. They're in San Marcos, right? The Stone IPA is good, so's the Arrogant Bastard Ale. They have one brew they only put out at Xmas time(don't remember the name) that's so strong I think it causes amnesia.

On 2004-04-04 12:40, Shipwreckjoey wrote:

On 2004-04-03 22:50, freddiefreelance wrote:
I'm currently enjoying a Stone IPA.

freddie, you must live close enough to the Stone brewery to drive over & pour yourself a glass straight from the tap. They're in San Marcos, right? The Stone IPA is good, so's the Arrogant Bastard Ale. They have one brew they only put out at Xmas time(don't remember the name) that's so strong I think it causes amnesia.

Shipwreck, I go to Stone every couple weeks for tastings & a 1/2 gallon growler of whatevers good. I've also got the "Beer for a Year" from Karl Strauss, plus I work about 10 to a dozen blocks from Alesmith...

I think the Stone beer that causes amnesia is Double Bastard, they're having growler & 3 liter fills Mother's Day weekend, I'll probably be there Friday afternoon that week.

Ok ok, no worries about the anti-canadian beer comments. I understand that only the crappy mass-produced stuff is available in the US. And it does, indeed, suck. I'll be the first to agree with that.

So if you come to Vancouver Island, give me a call and I'll show you the best beer we have to offer. If you don't find anything you like, come on back to my place and I'll mix you as many as ya like. Heck, I'll do that regardless. My liquor cabinet is too full these days! :)

Tikiwahine, that's the best offer I've had all day. According to my crude calculations Victoria is just a tad over 1350 miles due north of my pad. But, what the hell...you only live once!

Mahalo,
SWJ