What is Your Favorite Beer?

My favorite beer in the whole world is McNeil's ESB. Ray McNeil is a brewer and pub owner in Brattleboro, VT, and he brews some of the best beer on the planet. If you ever happen to be in that town, it is worth stopping in and checking out his brews.


The ESB is a rich, heavy American style bitter. One of the keys is that it is cask-conditioned, meaning that it is carbonated naturally in the keg, and pumped out by hand, rather than being force-carbonated by a CO2 tank. Makes for a smoother, less bubbly beer. Not a very common thing in this country, and a real treat.

My Favorite

Guinness, the real king of beers.

Yeah, the cask beers are really solid. When I lived in Brooklyn, there was a great bar on Atlantic Ave called the Brazen Head which had several casks on tap.

anything on the dark side -

however i do enjoy the occasional St. Pauli's Girl / Heineken

Dos Equis Lager and Heineken

Don't think I could narrow it down to one, since there are beers for many occassions.

Probably my favorite beers in the world are not available domestically. Karg Weizen from Germany and some of the Czech black beers are my faves.

Among domestically available...

Beer to just sip on while I'm fishing or grilling or assembling a shelving system: Stella

Beer to savor: The Franziskaner Weizens (Hell and Dunkel), Duvel and Hoegaarden

Beer to get lit up on: Aventinus

I dont drink too many domestic brews, but two underrated ones are Shiner Bock and Killian's Red. Surprises me a little that Killian's isnt more popular.

Favorites
Cheap: Pabst.
Moderate: ($8-$10/12 pack): Yuengling. Shiner Bock and Killians are also good
Domestic: Depends, among my favorites: a

Black Radish (dark lager mostly available in NC and VA, IMO better than Sam Adams Dark)
Anything from Ska brewing(Colorado) rewing company, esp Pin Stripe Ale
Anything from Magic Hat (Vermont), including Blind Faith, Fat Angel, Saint Gootz, #9
Highland Gaelic Ale (Asheville, NC)

et al..

Imported:
Hoegaarden
Bass
Murphy's Stout

et al...

That beer sucks...

Stella is one of my favorites. Never cared for the weizens, however.

Stella is one of my favorites. Never cared for the weizens, however.

Some people say that. But it really depends on what Weizens you try. The domestic microbreweries, which IMO are generally shit, often try to get "crazy" and introduce weizens but I think the only one I've ever tasted that was worth a shit was Henry Weinhard's. Celis is an OK Belgian rip-off, too.

But go for the really good German or Belgian ones and you're at least giving them a fighting chance. Then again, some people just think they're too hoppy.

Stella is one of my favorites. Never cared for the weizens, however.

Some people say that. But it really depends on what Weizens you try. The domestic microbreweries, which IMO are generally shit, often try to get "crazy" and introduce weizens but I think the only one I've ever tasted that was worth a shit was Henry Weinhard's. Celis is an OK Belgian rip-off, too.

But go for the really good German or Belgian ones and you're at least giving them a fighting chance. Then again, some people just think they're too hoppy.

It's the sourness that I don't care for, a product of the yeast they use. It's one of those things that some people really like, and some people just can't stand.

I've had a few Bavarian, Belgian, and German brews, it's just not my style of beer. My general preferences tend towards the "pale ale" end of the spectrum.

Alltime Favorite: Cambridge Brewing Co. YouEnjoyMyStout (Russian Imperial Stout) Aged in oak barrels for well over a year.

St.Bernardus Abt 12 is a close 2nd.

This is ranked as the #3 best beer in the world by Beeradvocate and Ratebeer.com...it's a west coast brewery so you guys should have no problem finding some...it's really great.

Maisle Weisen is one of my favorite. But whilst on my journey through Europe, I discovered a beer so tasty, so yummy, that I tried to bring a mini keg home with me on the plane, and they wouldn't let me take it, dang them. This beer?

It is brewed in a monestary on top of a mountain by monks. The name of the town in Germany is called Wildflecken, and the mountain is the Kreutzburg. I know at one time it was rated the #2 beer in the world, but it is only sold at the monestary. Their Christmas beer is also very tasty.