Hooray beer!

[Technico Support]

After days of beer and malt liquor talk in the wrestling thread, I've decided to be the change I want to see in the world and start a beer thread.  What do you like?  What do you not like?  How often do you partake?  Any beers you used to enjoy that aren't made anymore?  What's the liquor store situation where you live?  Whatever you want to talk about that's beer and beer-adjacent related.  Have at it, ya fuckin' drunks!

[Technico Support]

Starting this myself, I like most beers except for wheat beers (can't stand that malty, bubble gum flavor) and my favorite style is IPA.  I have to be careful, though, as I figured out, through bad reactions and trial and error, that I'm specifically allergic to Mosaic hops.  I'll typically stick to Lagunitas IPA or Lagunitas Lil' Somethin' Somethin' (a wheaty IPA, the wheatiest thing I'll tolerate), Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Torpedo, Bell's Two Hearted, Dogfish Head 60, and Sixpoint Bengali.  

I live in Maryland, where who sells beer and liquor, and when, varies by county.  The county I currently live in has stores owned by the county that sell beer (only warm, not refrigerated), wine, and liquor.  Non-county stores can sell beer and wine (warm and cold) but no liquor.  It could be worse...I could live in PA where the laws are insane.  Anyway, the county stores have great beer prices but they cut down their selection like a year or so ago "to give the independent stores a chance to make money."  Well two of my closest mom and pop stores sell beer past their sell-by dates and at a shitty markup, so hey fuck them.  I only go to independent stores when I want a better selection and have extra money to spend.  Seriously, a six pack can be $4-10 higher at some of these places.

Rule of thumb: when your beer store still has pumpkin ale in February, that's not a good place to go.

Beers I wish I could still get: Pete's Wicked Ale and anything by Magic Hat other than #9.  The former went out of business a long time ago, while the latter was purchased by a large company, who cut down their offerings.  Tale as old as time in the beer world.  It happened to Lagunitas, too.

I only drink beer on Saturdays...gotta watch my figure.  I had Sierra Nevada Torpedo this past weekend and it was delicious.

Edited January 13 by Technico Support

[Curt McGirt]

Here's a question: has anyone had the formula on a beer change on them by the producer and they stopped liking it? Old Style did that to me. At some point around the teens they switched recipes or something and it went to crap. I mean it was always supposed to be crap, according to any connoisseur, but it was great before they changed it up (and raised the price, which was telling). 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

Now that we have a beer thread, how about a song to go with it? Why not a song called "Beer"? Or we could go with the Cheers theme.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nMpxb-PsEss&pp=ygUScmVlbCBiaWcgZmlzaCBiZWVy

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EHa3TkqH6Gg&pp=ygUYYmlnd2lnIGNoZWVycyB0aGVtZSBzb25n

Edited January 14 by Nice Guy Eddie

[Curt McGirt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B76JCx50Fg&ab_channel=JosipKovač

Wehrmacht - "Biermacht"

I mean they name 25 different beers at the end in the lyrics. C'mon. And they rip off "Detroit Rock City" to start the song.

Edited January 14 by Curt McGirt

[zendragon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjc5An_l9fc

[Curt McGirt]

Yeah I was gonna do Fear but it was too easy. Gang Green too

EDIT: Hoo boy those Fear lyrics... I mean, "bus in schools"? Just what are you getting at there, Mr. Ving? Christ.

Edited January 17 by Curt McGirt

[driver]

My go to for beer is either Bud Light Platinum or Natty Daddy. Those usually get paired with four shots of whiskey(Jim Beam Devil's Cut, Ezra Brooks 99 or Wild Turkey 101(depending on cost and availability)). Pair that with some Melatonin and a nice night's sleep is had.

[Teflon Turtle]

On 1/14/2025 at 9:16 AM, Curt McGirt said:

Here's a question: has anyone had the formula on a beer change on them by the producer and they stopped liking it?

Former craft beer nerd here. I will still have some beer on occasion, but not every weekend or even every month(or every day, as it was at my worst). 

To answer this question first: virtually Stone Brewing's entire catalog. They're the brewery that got me in to craft beer, by and large, and had a diverse range of styles when I first started exploring beer. Then for whatever reason, they discontinued many of their beers, and changed up the recipe of others. For instance: their yearly imperial stout release. The original was great. They retired it, and a while later put out a modified recipe under a different name. It was just...OK. Whole thing was a cynical metaphor for life. Things change, frequently not for the better, not a whole lot we can do to stop it. To me, the most conflicting thing about it is the business was eventually sold to Sapporo. So Stone is longer independent...but the new ownership then started to bring back some of the older recipes and discontinued beers. It took the sale and exit of one of the founders for the brewery to finally listen to what their consumers were saying: we want the old stuff back.

To address some questions at the start of the thread: darker beers seem to sit best with me. Stouts, imperial stouts, porters. I used to be quite into IPAs, but the shift in trends and the development of some GI issues as I aged made those harder to tolerate. I also quite enjoy many Belgian ales: Orval probably being my favorite, but Saison Dupont running a close second. 

I should clarify when I say "imperial stouts," I do not mean anything part of the "pastry stout" trend from a while ago. Fewer adjuncts the better. A straight imperial stout or a barrel-aged imperial stout for me. 

I'll close the post with a short story and recommendation rolled into one. Many years ago, I got a friend of mine into Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. It's brewed by North Coast Brewery out of California, but is available pretty much everywhere in the US, I think. At the time, I had learned more about beer than he had. He wasn't aware that some of the darker and heavier beers aren't best when consumed ice cold. So I told him about all of this, and it opened up the beer world for him (we were in our early 20s at the time, just starting out). As a sort of eventual "thank you" for that original recommendation, this friend bought an extra four-pack of Old Rasputin one day and stored the bottles in his basement for me, letting the beer age. Every couple of years he'd give me one. If you have the patience for it: for a readily-available and relatively cheap imperial stout, this beer ages wonderfully. Some of the best stuff I've tasted. 

 

[Curt McGirt]

Oh yeah, the Old Rasputin is the shit. I used to have a field day when I first turned 21 over at Friar Tuck's (which closed down after, drum roll -- 21 years open last year) because they had the pick-a-six option with a frickin' wall of different beers that you could grab individuals or multiples of to fill a sixer. I think that one was one of the big beers that wasn't an option but I still grabbed it a lot of the time. Anyway, that's how I was introduced to a ton of international stuff and figured out what I really do and don't like. 

[Mike Campbell]

My favorites are Sam Adams Octoberfest and the varioius stouts from the Southern Tier Brewing Company Blackwater Series. I really don't drink much anymore, which led to an amusing discussion between the wife and me a while back. The gist was that I commented that I'd had a bunch of beers in the fridge for a while because I just hadn't felt like drinking. She replied that maybe it was just a part of my life that was over, followed by her asking me where her wine was. But more often than not, the beer is used for cooking. We have an awesome receipe for crockpot french dips, and every time we make it, we try different beers to see how different it comes out.

 

I really do miss the 'make a six pack' gimmick at the grocery store. My local one doesn't do it, and the only other place that does is over an hour away.

[zendragon]

thirded on Old Rasputin, I tend to go for craft stouts or porters cause I usually only drink on my days off 

[COLETTI]

Current drinking some Sam Adams Cold Snap, my favorite cold weather seasonal of theirs. It just goes down so smoothly and doesn't have the usual Sam problem of, "Did this really need the sharp hops taste?"

I'm the opposite of Tecnico as I don't like IPAs at all but a good malty wheat beer is always welcome. I also greatly prefer stouts and porters but overall am not at all a beer snob and simply like what I like. 

[FireThunder]

The thing I like about craft beer is variety. I try not to drink the same thing too often. I'll drink practically anything but I prefer dark beers like stouts, porters, black ales. I bemoan the fact that hazy IPAs are still dominant, but I buy my share of them when I need to fill my beer fridge, so hello, it's me, I'm the problem.

I bought a six pack of Jai Alai on sale at one of my local stores on Friday, I had forgotten how damn good that beer is.

Beers that have changed: a local brewery has a beer called Tropical Burn, originally a mango/habanero DIPA weighing in at 8.5 ABV. However, a few years ago, they removed the habanero so now it's just an overly sweet DIPA.

NDH band HÄMATOM has a few songs about beer. They wrote one in a friendly competition with another band (Saltatio Mortis who appear in the video dressed as maids) titled It's Raining Beer.

 

[Technico Support]

21 hours ago, COLETTI said:

Current drinking some Sam Adams Cold Snap, my favorite cold weather seasonal of theirs. It just goes down so smoothly and doesn't have the usual Sam problem of, "Did this really need the sharp hops taste?"

I'm the opposite of Tecnico as I don't like IPAs at all but a good malty wheat beer is always welcome. I also greatly prefer stouts and porters but overall am not at all a beer snob and simply like what I like. 

It’s funny, typically you like IPA or wheat beer, but never both.

@Teflon Turtle reminded me of the answer to @Curt McGirt’s question: Stone changed their recipe for the worse.  I liked their stuff a long time ago, but after the change, their beers just upset my stomach and make me gassy.

I polished off a six of Bell’s Two Hearted Saturday.  I’ve read that some folks think it’s the best IPA out there.  I don’t know about that but I’ll say it’s really good and balanced, and very drinkable.  

[Curt McGirt]

Bell's Best Brown Ale is probably my favorite beer that I've ever drank in my entire life. If you could hook up a neverending keg in my house and I could drink from it at will without consequences, I'd never leave the house, or drink anything else but water or juice again. I'd put it up there with Samuel Smith and Newcastle. Those have always been my kind of beers, probably since the first time I had a Michelob Amber Bock. A nice Bass ale. Huber used to make a good bock but I bought a 12er years and years later and hoo boy, either I got a skunked one or we were just too drunk to realize how bad it was back in the day. 

Since I'm letting down the curtain here a bit I'll go on to say that the beer I've probably drank most in my life is Milwaukee's Best Ice. Second would be Mickey's, third would be Pabst (and way back, Old Style). Hamm's, Stroh's, Schlitz, even High Life (and the myriad possibilities of the beloved 40 ounce bottle) were the bedrock of my vintage drinking days. There was a horrible detour when I was unemployed living with friends in a house one year and spent six months drinking nothing but Steel Reserve because it was a several block walk to the Circle K where I could get two tallboys for $2.50. One would knock you out if you were living on peanut butter and tomato soup. Then again it's just toxic chemicals and runoff in a can, so...

Edited January 20 by Curt McGirt

[Mike Campbell]

On 1/19/2025 at 2:02 PM, COLETTI said:

I also greatly prefer stouts and porters but overall am not at all a beer snob and simply like what I like. 

I love a good stout, but I'm not too fond of porters. They all seem to have this watery taste that just doesn't do it for me, like a not-as-good stout. The only exception that I can think of offhand is the Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald. I used to be a big beer snob like 10-12 years ago, but I've mellowed out quite a bit with age. 

[Zimbra]

Great Lakes is one of those breweries that I don't think I've ever had a bad beer from.

I think the best beer I ever had was when Bell's did the series of beers based on Holst's The Planets and one of them was a super-malty brown ale that was just delicious.  Runner up is probably Stoaked from Uplands, which is a quadrupel aged over fresh oak staves.

[Curt McGirt]

Oooo, you guys just reminded me of Young's Double Chocolate Stout. *droooooool*

[Chaos]

The old beer thread here died a few years ago.  My palet lately has narrowed back to mostly IPAs, especially NE/Hazys.  Distribution in my part of Alabama is lackluster and has gotten worse over the years. Alabama also doesn't really make getting out of market beer easier through shipping because everything has to kiss the ABC Cartel ring.

If I don't drink IPAs, I will occasionally go for a stout or a sour.  I tend to shy away from anything too malt forward, which in recent years just gives me more of a gag reaction than anything.

Recently, one spot in town got in a case of Parish West Coast Ghost, which I love any of their ghost variants and this one did not disappoint. I have a list of breweries that I wish I had easier access too, but I've always been hesitant on trying to actively seek finding connections in markets to ship stuff too me (for example, I would love to get some Tree House my way on occasion). 

[Technico Support]

On 1/20/2025 at 5:04 PM, Curt McGirt said:

Bell's Best Brown Ale is probably my favorite beer that I've ever drank in my entire life.

 

That sounds awesome.  I was going to say the only Bell's available near me is Two Hearted, but I seem to maybe remember seeing the brown on the shelf.  I'll double check this week.  Thanks for the recommendation!

I mentioned Pete's Wicked Ale as being a good beer that disappeared.  Here's a short, fun post about it, the key point being that at the start of the 90s craft beer explosion, it was a wild time where everybody was gambling on what the dominant style would be, and Pete's was brown ale.  They lost, but it was definitely one of my go-to beers in my mid/late 90s college days.

On 1/20/2025 at 10:18 PM, Mike Campbell said:

I love a good stout, but I'm not too fond of porters. They all seem to have this watery taste that just doesn't do it for me, like a not-as-good stout.

The idea of a porter always works out better than the execution.  I think "hey, a porter!  Yum!"  Then I buy it and it's blah.  It usually just feels like a watered-down stout and, maybe it's just my tastebuds, but also sort of tastes like peas.

Edited January 22 by Technico Support

[SirSmUgly]

I love a good porter, especially in the winter. 

My favorite is the Icicle Dark Persuasion: https://iciclebrewing.com/beers/dark-persuasion/

If you're one of those people who doesn't love a chocolate or fruit finish, it might not be for you, but man, this has just the right aftertaste of toasted coconut for me. 

Porters, stouts, and scotch ales are my favorites, but in the summer when it's hot, I'll drink a red ale. Not an IPA fan because most of them are just endless hops.

[Zimbra]

Ballast Point did a toasted coconut Victory at Sea a few years back that I remember being pretty good, although they went a little hard on the coconut.

This is a good time of year for me because everyone is trying to clear out their winter ales, which is my favorite style.  Gimme a big 'ol, malty 10% ale with some spices in it.

[Technico Support]

No Bell’s Brown Ale at the county-run store I stopped by today.  I’ll have to check the overpriced mom n’ pops.  I picked up a six of Heavy Seas Loose Cannon IPA (made in Baltimore!)

Again on the “beer you can’t get anymore” tip, Heavy Seas used to make a beer called Small Craft Warning, which was an incredibly delicious imperial Pilsner.

Edited January 23 by Technico Support

[Zimbra]

Won't do you much good if you're not in Wisconsin, but New Glarus is apparently doing an imperial pilsner as one of their limited beers this spring.

I miss Lagunitas' Brown Shugga. That was a quality beer that drank real smooth for 10%ABV.