The Beer Thread

i'm interested to hear what your top beers are when you return.

i wonder what regions and countries mean in the big picture. for the large part, you could put the region aside for those four. you could say that for most beers, these days.  berliner weisse, a classic german style, is now readily available as most craft beer stores. you could get a local wheat beer pretty anywhere.  blah blah blah.

atomicfront wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:
what's your favorite belgian and german beers?

Hofbräu Münchner Weisse
St Bernadus Pater
Leffe Blonde. 
Hoegarden

atomicfront, i dare you to read this in a year and not laugh at yourself. 

When you get a chance, do yourself a favor and try these Belgians:

Wit: St Bernardus
Saison: Saison Dupont
Belgian Pale Ale: Duvel, Orval, La Chouffe
Tripel: Karmeliet, Westmalle, St Bernardus
Dubbel:  Westmalle, Chimay Red
Belgian Dark Ale: Gouden Carolus Blau, Rochefort 8, Chimay Blue
Quadruppel: St Bernardus 12, Rochefort 10

Note: Not all of these are readilyavailable on draft. Belgians seem to be more about bottled beer than they are draft beer.

Most, if not all of those, should be available in any good beer store. If your beer store doesn't sell most of those, find a better beer store. If you find that those are too expensive and are willing to take a chance on North American American made Belgian beers at a better price, Ommegang, Allagash, and Unibroue all measure up (or come close). Stillwater and the Bruery also do Belgian styles very well, but they're probably no cheaper than the real thing.

As far as German beers go, try anything by Weistephaner, Schneider, Aecth Schlenkerla and Ayinger.Again, all should be available at any good beer store.

atomicfront wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:

atomicfront wrote:
Top 2 with Belgium.

what's your favorite belgian and german beers?

Hofbräu Münchner Weisse
St Bernadus Pater
Leffe Blonde. 
Hoegarden

sweetcell wrote:

atomicfront wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:
what's your favorite belgian and german beers?

Hofbräu Münchner Weisse
St Bernadus Pater
Leffe Blonde. 
Hoegarden

atomicfront, i dare you to read this in a year and not laugh at yourself. 

Why would I laugh at myself.  I have been drinking good beer all my life.  Do you think my tastes will change in a year at my age?  Hoegarden and Leffe are available at the ball park on draft.  Draft beer is better.  I enjoy them and fortunately not many others do as I can walk right up and get a beer any time I want.  I love Leffe Blonde.  The smell is amazing.  The other beers get good reviews even on Beer Advocate which you guys love so I don't get your comment at all.  My favorite beer isn't going to be some beer I can only get on draft at one bar in 100 miles.  That wouldn't make sense at all. 

James wrote:
When you get a chance, do yourself a favor and try these Belgians:

Wit: St Bernardus
Saison: Saison Dupont
Belgian Pale Ale: Duvel, Orval, La Chouffe
Tripel: Karmeliet, Westmalle, St Bernardus
Dubbel:  Westmalle, Chimay Red
Belgian Dark Ale: Gouden Carolus Blau, Rochefort 8, Chimay Blue
Quadruppel: St Bernardus 12, Rochefort 10

Note: Not all of these are readilyavailable on draft. Belgians seem to be more about bottled beer than they are draft beer.

Most, if not all of those, should be available in any good beer store. If your beer store doesn't sell most of those, find a better beer store. If you find that those are too expensive and are willing to take a chance on North American American made Belgian beers at a better price, Ommegang, Allagash, and Unibroue all measure up (or come close). Stillwater and the Bruery also do Belgian styles very well, but they're probably no cheaper than the real thing.

As far as German beers go, try anything by Weistephaner, Schneider, Aecth Schlenkerla and Ayinger.Again, all should be available at any good beer store.

atomicfront wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:

atomicfront wrote:
Top 2 with Belgium.

what's your favorite belgian and german beers?

Hofbräu Münchner Weisse
St Bernadus Pater
Leffe Blonde. 
Hoegarden

I have had almost all of the St Bernardus brews.  I have had Duvel many of time as it is everywhere.  It is good but not my favorite.  My wife had an Ayinger Heifweizzen last night.  I took a taste but wasn't that impressed.  Had Allagash white a lot and I love it. 

atomicfront wrote:
My favorite beer isn't going to be some beer I can only get on draft at one bar in 100 miles.  That wouldn't make sense at all. 

i see what you're saying, but i wouldn't judge some1 who listed their favorite beer as something you only could get at one bar in 100 miles.

similarly, what you say makes sense.  you see leffe and hoegaarden everywhere, and that easily could make it someones favorite.

You don't have to go to some bar a 100 miles away to find the best Belgian beer. As I said, almost all of the best Belgian beers are available in a bottle from any good local beer store.

If you go to a really good pub in Belgium, they might at most have a half dozen beers on draft and 500+ different beers in a bottle.

Clearly the Belgians themselves don't think their beer is better on draft than from a bottle. Neither should you.

James wrote:
Note: Not all of these are readilyavailable on draft. Belgians seem to be more about bottled beer than they are draft beer.

most belgians benefit from some aging.  few people are going to buy a keg and cellar it.  in fact just about every belgian brewery cellars their bottles for a few months before releasing it (according to BLAM).

price plays a role too: because of the high gravity (i.e. more ingredients), the aging, transpo, etc., belgian beers are going to be more expensive - making the keg more expensive.  bars are typically limited in how many taps they have.  why dedicate a tap to an expensive, lower-volume selling beer when you can put on a beer that moves quickly?

and then there is tradition.

atomicfront wrote:
Draft beer is better.

depends on the beer.  lagers, IPAs, pale ales, and the like are generally better on draft.  imperial stouts, big belgians, barley wines, etc. are better in bottles because then need to age.  same with sour beers.

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
Note: Not all of these are readilyavailable on draft. Belgians seem to be more about bottled beer than they are draft beer.

most belgians benefit from some aging.  few people are going to buy a keg and cellar it.  in fact just about every belgian brewery cellars their bottles for a few months before releasing it (according to BLAM).

price plays a role too: because of the high gravity (i.e. more ingredients), the aging, transpo, etc., belgian beers are going to be more expensive - making the keg more expensive.  bars are typically limited in how many taps they have.  why dedicate a tap to an expensive, lower-volume selling beer when you can put on a beer that moves quickly?

and then there is tradition.

atomicfront wrote:
Draft beer is better.

depends on the beer.  lagers, IPAs, pale ales, and the like are generally better on draft.  imperial stouts, big belgians, barley wines, etc. are better in bottles because then need to age.  same with sour beers.

That might be true about bottle conditioned beers but I doubt a pasteurized brew that was artificially carbonated is going to get better with age.  Most likely the opposite as it sits on your local liquor store shelf for two years before someone finally gets around to buying it.  Leffe Blonde is just ok in a bottle but is awesome on draft.

Even if all Belgians were readily available on draft, who has the money to try them all on draft ? They are expensive enough just buying them and trying them at home.

But of course Leffe Blonde is an AB-INBEV beer, so cost is much lower.

so who's been to Merriweather recently?  this will be my first time back there in months.  any interesting beers on offer? 

i always thought the pinball machines at merriweather . . . are the stupidest things i have ever seen at a venue.  what other distractions from the show you paid to go to, can they have?  how about a comedy tent? 

sweetcell wrote:
so who's been to Merriweather recently?  this will be my first time back there in months.  any interesting beers on offer? 

i was there sunday.

i had a duckpin pale ale, and flying dog in-heat wheat (?). it was raging bitch right before that, but i just missed the last pour.  $11 and $10, respectively.  both were purchased over on the right side at a beer truck.

i saw a goose island stand which was not operating. not likely it would have interesting offerings, but who knows. 

walkonby wrote:
i always thought the pinball machines at merriweather . . . are the stupidest things i have ever seen at a venue.  what other distractions from the show you paid to go to, can they have?  how about a comedy tent? 

I love the pinball machines.  It was great the time Explosions in the Sky was one of the openers for Flaming Lips.  It gave me something to do during their set.

James wrote:
Even if all Belgians were readily available on draft, who has the money to try them all on draft ? They are expensive enough just buying them and trying them at home.

But of course Leffe Blonde is an AB-INBEV beer, so cost is much lower.

Plus it is at a baseball game where all the beers are 8 bucks.  So you could get a Leffe Blonde for 8 bucks or a Coor Light for 8 bucks.  And if it weren't Inbev it wouldn't be available at the game. 

Where do you live and where do you shop for beer?

atomicfront wrote:

James wrote:
Even if all Belgians were readily available on draft, who has the money to try them all on draft ? They are expensive enough just buying them and trying them at home.

But of course Leffe Blonde is an AB-INBEV beer, so cost is much lower.

Plus it is at a baseball game where all the beers are 8 bucks.  So you could get a Leffe Blonde for 8 bucks or a Coor Light for 8 bucks.  And if it weren't Inbev it wouldn't be available at the game. 

James wrote:
Where do you live and where do you shop for beer?

atomicfront wrote:

James wrote:
Even if all Belgians were readily available on draft, who has the money to try them all on draft ? They are expensive enough just buying them and trying them at home.

But of course Leffe Blonde is an AB-INBEV beer, so cost is much lower.

Plus it is at a baseball game where all the beers are 8 bucks.  So you could get a Leffe Blonde for 8 bucks or a Coor Light for 8 bucks.  And if it weren't Inbev it wouldn't be available at the game. 

The closest liquor store to my house is Wells Discount Liquor in Baltimore. It is also probably the best liquor store in Baltimore area.

everytime i go into the city, i check out the liquor stores.  years ago, i would have never gone in any of them, because i dont understand people that stay in hotels and buy liquor.  but now, they are awesome locations of the best selections of beers, and sometime they have something forgotten about, where you are smiling like a stupid kid with it all the way to the counter.

sweetcell wrote:
so who's been to Merriweather recently?  this will be my first time back there in months.  any interesting beers on offer? 

They had Duckpin and DC Brau 24 oz-ers for $11 at the National show.  Across from the pinball machines if I recall correctly. 

Just found out that Ballast Point is now available in Maryland.  Too me, that could only mean one thing…….  SCULPIN!