Tap - because it's still alive. I shun the big domestics. I support the craft brewers. I'm a sucker for anything Belgian.
In the right place: tap. However, there are some pretty good bottled. Small domestic, imported adventures can be fun and sickening at the same time. [This past summer my friends and I spent our drinking nights at a beer garden. It was our goal to try everyone of the 35 countries they had...we got to 27. Some were good, some were great, some were horendous. Green?
I would think that Ireland would have some green beer. Heineken has a green bottle And there's too many shitty beers. Pabst Blue Ribbon Anything "lite" And about 15 others. Stay away from Budweiser. Except if it's at a US Soccer tailgate. They spend too much time thinking they're #1.
Stay away from Kryptonite. He thinks he's too good for Budweiser products. As for me, I'll drink Bud Light any day of the week.
All Budweiser products give the the sh!ts the next day. That and when I drink regular Budweiser, it gives me an aweful headache (after just a couple of beers). I don't mind Miller Lite but won't drink just MGD or High Life. Would rather drink Leinenkugels.
killian's was drunk tonight after my indoor game. decent stuff, not great but not watered down crap either.
Like Jean-Claude Van Damme and Poirot. Is that the George Killian's stuff? (In a gold can) If so - be careful with that. I remember going on holiday to France with the school for a few weeks. I recall it was that stuff that helped the days fly by in some alcoholic haze. Ok I was only 14 (gotta love those French licensing laws) but it's still stuff not to be messed with IMO.
It's all about Fat Tire, homeys. Or Michelob Ultra if you're calorie counting, only 95 of em. Hey can we merge redwhiteandblue's old beer thread with this one?
my old roomie in college used to have a sister that worked/lived in out in denver, colorado, when she would come visit us she would bring us each a case of fat tire. that was one fine woman! but it tastes like crap...
Doesn't Amstel light only have like 95 calories too? And that is better tasting beer than Bud Light or Miller lite.
A yes, Amstel Light, sorority chick piss beer. That Ultra stuff is crap. Fat Tire is good stuff. Ski towns always have good Micro beer.
Belgium is paradise for beer lovers. Beer is important enough that each type of beer is served in a different kind of glass.
As a college freshman I have had many a beer as of late so I can chime in. I drink anything with alcohol, lots of cheap crap too so any chance I get at good beer I take. My favorite: Guinness Others I like: Corona Newcastle Sam Adams Heineken Drink purely for alcohol: Killians Bud Coors Rolling Rock Beer thats not even worth the alcohol: Miller I keep reading about Belgian beer on these boards, can any good varieties be acquired in the U.S. or do you have to go to Belgium?
Help me out here. I've never had a Belgian beer. I've heard most have higher alcohol content but taste a little more like wine.
A few friends and I went out this weekend to one of those bars that has 200 different beers and it was wonderful. It's the only place I can have a pint of Newcastle, a Black & Tan, a McEwans and a Fullers ESB all in the same night. My fiancee had some Belgian beer, it was $8 for the bottle, and it was raspberry flavored. She absolutely loved it, but good god was it awful (for me at least). It tasted like a raspberry fizz drink and nothing like beer.
Hey, watch it! PBR is good precisely because it's shitty. Otherwise I like Bass and Shipyard Pale. Guiness isn't classified as Beer to me, that's food. Good though.
GUINNESS!!!GUINNESS!!!GUINNESS!!! Capt. Splarg - please understand, there are many more crappy American beers than British beers. #2s - Newcastle, Sam Adams Winter, Chimay, Delerious Tremens, Boddingtons. I prefer tap, mostly foreign - New Amsterdam, Sam Adams, Brooklyn are all quite good.
It is tough to get a variety of Belgian beer in the states. Most of what I see are wheat beer, and I'm not a fan of most wheat beers. They're too sweet and light. You'll also see many Kriek Beers and Lambics (like the one Dante mentioned), which are beers that are flavored with fruit. They're often good, and worth trying, but definitely more of a dessert beer (i.e. not something you want to drink a lot). But there's much more to Belgian beer than wheat and sweet. Many of the smaller brewers in Belgium simply won't ship to the United States, at least not in a quantity that is liable to make it anywhere besides New York. Larger brewers like Chimay and Duvel do occasionally make it to places around the country (I found a decent selection in New Orleans recently). Chimay and Duvel make fine beers, and are a good introduction to the more traditional beers made in Belgium. Another one you might see is Kwak. The largest brand to really expand its reach across the states seems to be Stella Artois, which is just a mass-produced lager (think Belgium's Budweiser). Good and easy to drink, but not really as good an introduction as the Chimays and Duvels. The alcohol content in Belgian beer tends to be higher, often reaching 12% alcohol. But, for the most part, the content tends to be in the 6-7% range. Some of the higher alcohol beers can take on a wine/mead-type flavor, but I really don't have a great deal of experience drinking those. If you do get your hands on a good Belgian beer, you may want to savor it like you would a nice glass of wine. Pour it into a glass, take note of the aroma, and enjoy.
Guinness is my main drink but I'm very partial to Czech beer too. Budweiser is great (and I stress very heavily that I mean Czech Budvar Budweiser from Ceske Budejovice), while Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen all bring back happy memories of a trip to Prague. Czech beer also has the other advantage of being obscure enough that you can take bottles of it to parties and leave it in the fridge fairly safe in the knowledge that you won't have one of those I-must-be-polite-and-not-punch-him-in-the-face conversations with the party-going drinker's arch nemesis, Mr Oh-I-hope-you-don't-mind-but-I-had-one-of-your-bottles-of-beer-feel-free-to-help-yourself-to-one-of-my-supermarket-own-brand-bargain-cans-of-lager-if-you-want.
As mentioned above, Chimay and Duvel are fine examples of Belgian beers. Others to look for are Piraat, Saison Dupont and Affligem. How can you go wrong when your beer's brewed by a monk? There's also a brewery in Quebec named Unibroue that specializes in Belgian styles. Their beers are great and getting easier to find. Wine stores are often a good source for interesting micro and imported beers. Another option: track down your local homebrewing club or store. Most likely they'll know where to find the good stuff and if you still can't find it, you can brew it yourself!
If you ARE in NYC, then you want to get yourself down round the Village to the Belgian Beer Bar (really, I don't know the name of it, so I just call it that). Good Belgian beers - from Chimay and Duvel to Kriek cherry beer (which I like), as well as good pommes frites w/ mayo, served in a paper cone. Don't miss it.
Prefer tap, but bottles will do. Beer I'll drink, in no particular order: Red Stripe St. Paulie's Girl Rolling Rock Natural Light MGD Moose Head === Red Stripe is by far my fave beer. But honestly, I'm not a huge beer fan ... In fact, when I go to 'real' bars in the area, I usually settle for nice raspberry ciders. Yeah, I know it's like kool-aid. But it's yummy.