Let's Talk Beer

[fohfoh]

I drink occasionally, but it's hard to obtain when you are underage.

Is Ontario's legal age for alcohol 20 or 19?

You're in Ontario, right?

[NaRu]

The legal drinking age where I live gets lifted when I have a drink in my hand....well not anymore since it doesn't better

[rostheferret]

I like to think of myself as a bit of a beer connoisseur - one of my hobbies is trying as many new and different beers as possible. The more obscure, the better

I'm a big fan of Belgian beer. Blondes (like Hoegaarden. My favourite is Corsendonk Agnus) and Trappist ales (Chimay, Westmalle, Westvleteren, etc) especially. Lambic beers (the ones usually brewed with fruit) can be quite nice - the ones brewed with cherry, strawberry, etc are all delicious. But the rest I've tried (such as peach and banana) have been less good. And I had one brewed with chocolate once... that was disgusting.

I'm also partial to a good German wheatbeer. When I was in Berlin I tried Berliner Kindl, which was lovely, but I've never had a chance to try it again since. Erdinger is also very good, and it's sold in some pubs near me, which is nice.

Sadly most of these beers aren't easy to buy here in the UK. Until recently I used to regularly import crates from Europe, but that's got too expensive now, so I'm stuck with what I can find in the local shops

I had to do a double take of "...I don't remember writing this"

There is a Wells and Young ale aptly called "Banana Bread Beer" that's amongst my favourites, proving banana's in beer can work wonders, though otherwise it's usually raspberry or cherry for me. That said, due to the cost of importing I usually shoot for ales; Bombardier, Speckled Hen, Golden Glory, Tanglefoot, Old Peculiar, Waggle Dance, etc.

Kirin Ichiban/Asahi is alright but its just another lager to me. I'd take a Tiger, Tsingtao or Cobra over it any day. I have a lesser knowledge of American beers but whilst most of it tastes like watered down horse piss, I got nothing but kind words for Sam Adams Cherry, Magic Hat No.9 and Dogfish Head IPA. I'm sure there are others mind.

[sdedalus83]

I've been on a wild ale bent for a few weeks now.  Unfortunately very few get distributed in Texas.  I'd love to try the whole line of Russian River wilds, particularly Consecration and Supplication.

I have a lesser knowledge of American beers but whilst most of it tastes like watered down horse piss, I got nothing but kind words for Sam Adams Cherry, Magic Hat No.9 and Dogfish Head IPA. I'm sure there are others mind.

If you ever get a chance, New Glarus' Wisconsin Belgian Red is considered one of the best fruit beers around.

And definitely try some of the crazier stuff from Dogfish Head.  Burton Baton is quite a bit better than 90 minute, Indian Brown is my go to dark beer, and World Wide Stout is something to behold.

[mgz]

ive been trying to expand my beer palette a little bit. Since im really picky with my beer cuz well i am.
I would rather be drinking whiskey or scotch but when im stuck drinking beer i want to drink something i enjoy.

Currently I  have been drinking a lot of shit from weyerbacher since they make pretty good fucking beer.
From them
merry monks
blithering idiot
old hethen
I enjoy all of those quite a bit

Dont mind hoegardden (spelling)
cold yuengling

tried some trois pistoles the other day it was pretty tasty.

For some reason though i have a tendency to enjoy high alcohol content beverages

[Switch-Renn]

I'm not into beer at all. To be honest I don't like the taste for it.

Pretty much this. I've tried a variety of alcoholic beverages and I honestly disliked all of them. Well, I liked a few alcopops (ie Smirn-off Ice, Fat Frog, Mickey Finns), but other then those I really hate alcohol. :c

[kitamesume]

i prefer wine over beer, liquor over wine, and soda over liquor, a mix of soda and liquor beats them all!

[mgz]

i prefer wine over beer, liquor over wine, and soda over liquor, a mix of soda and liquor beats them all!

how does soda and liquor combined = beat them all

it ruins your sodas flavor which is presumably why you were drinking it, and makes it flat.

It also dilutes your alcohol and makes it taste like shitty soda

[Soryon]

i prefer wine over beer, liquor over wine, and soda over liquor, a mix of soda and liquor beats them all!

how does soda and liquor combined = beat them all

it ruins your sodas flavor which is presumably why you were drinking it, and makes it flat.

Soda + liquor is how girls and teenagers cope with the taste.
Only mixes I will have are jagerbombs- But thats mostly due to it being basically just a shot with energy drink (and they are 2 for 1 on weekends at the bar down the road!)

Anyway- For me, I am what you might call an abusive drinker. I only drink on weekends, but I tend to get absolutely plastered. Because of this, I need a generic beer. Nothing too expensive (but I dont buy bottom shelf either) Something relatively light on calories and absolutely nothing flavored (artificial flavors give me gut-rot after a few.)

Where I live, Miller is the best option that fits all of those categories, so, its what I drink. Maybe when I am older my preferences will change, but as long as my motivation for drinking is to get (really) drunk, I dont need to concern myself with other alternatives.

Being a beer thread, I wont delve into any detail about hard liqueurs, but I do buy shots at the bar and keep a bottle of congac in the house, but my preference remains beer.

it doesnt necessarily ruins it, its like making your soda alcoholic. like grape soda+grape liquor or apple soda+apple liquor.

Creme de Menthe + Ice Cream! Alcoholic mint ice cream. Me and my friends would do that when we were young.
I remember one time we tried to drink rum, but not knowing much about alcohol, we treated it like coffee. We tried to kill the taste by adding a bunch of suger and milk 

[kitamesume]

i prefer wine over beer, liquor over wine, and soda over liquor, a mix of soda and liquor beats them all!

how does soda and liquor combined = beat them all

it ruins your sodas flavor which is presumably why you were drinking it, and makes it flat.

It also dilutes your alcohol and makes it taste like shitty soda

it doesnt necessarily ruins it, its like making your soda alcoholic. like grape soda+grape liquor or apple soda+apple liquor.

[fohfoh]

Increases sugar flavor, thus covering up the alcohol aftertaste, hence makes it easier to down overall, or easier to down faster. But the fact remains it's generally meant to cover the flavor of the alcohol.

I'm more of a drinker of premium beers. But I seriously can't take Stella. It's barely palatable for me just like any pilsners or Keiths IPA. (Let's just say I downed 4 of those in 1 night quickly with all sorts of mixing of hard liquors, wines etc.)

I can't stand Kokanee, but Kokanee Gold seems to be alright.

Steamwhistle is a nice one from here in Canada as well.
Molson... well... it's not the strongest, but better than Bud. Bud just smells strong and tastes weird.

Carlsberg vs Heineken... Not sure. Maybe Carls, Heineken has a strong flavor... I don't remember what Carls tastes like.

But I seriously go after some domestic brews if I can find it.

Grasshopper
Wildrose
Bearspaw (or was it Bearsclaw?)
Yukon Red (not bad for a red)
Steam whistle


Sleeman
Rickards
Sam Adams

All have their hits and misses. But overall, not bad brands.

My friends love newcastle. It's ok, but I prefer the tastes of local beers instead.

Erdinger is ok.

Victoria Bitters... not sure what I think about this one. It tastes bitter. Who loves bitter? Yet afterwards, it feels refreshing.

Tsingtao isn't bad.
San Miguel... no thanks
Blue Girls... eh... no thanks
Corona... not if I can help it.

But I need to try Brahma. I hear it's good.

[NaRu]

I'm not into beer at all. To be honest I don't like the taste for it.

Pretty much this. I've tried a variety of alcoholic beverages and I honestly disliked all of them. Well, I liked a few alcopops (ie Smirn-off Ice, Fat Frog, Mickey Finns), but other then those I really hate alcohol. :c

Dont get me wrong here. I hate beer but I love vodka, Rum, etc....mmmmmmm jager

[mgz]

i prefer wine over beer, liquor over wine, and soda over liquor, a mix of soda and liquor beats them all!

how does soda and liquor combined = beat them all

it ruins your sodas flavor which is presumably why you were drinking it, and makes it flat.

It also dilutes your alcohol and makes it taste like shitty soda

it doesnt necessarily ruins it, its like making your soda alcoholic. like grape soda+grape liquor or apple soda+apple liquor.

i guess it doesnt help that i dont like my liquor sweet.
If im drinking soda i want it to taste like it does and be carbonated.
If im drinking liquor i expect it to taste like my liquor not apple whiskey or grape whiskey etc.

This is probably one of the reasons im not a huge fan of rum

[kitamesume]

best cocktail to make you warm(and puke!):
wasabi
chili extract
Liquor
ground ginger
mint extract
ground pepper
mustard

mix them all and be ready to sit on the bowl~

[rostheferret]

i prefer wine over beer, liquor over wine, and soda over liquor, a mix of soda and liquor beats them all!

how does soda and liquor combined = beat them all

it ruins your sodas flavor which is presumably why you were drinking it, and makes it flat.

It also dilutes your alcohol and makes it taste like shitty soda

Some drinks mix really well; Gin and Tonic, (Dark) Rum and Coke and JD and coke all spring to mind. Gin/JD on their own taste like shite, and a cheap scotch ain't much better. It's ofc blasphemous to mix a nice scotch with coke but a shitty one? So long as you don't dilute it too far - anything more than 1:1 is too far imo - then its just a combination of two tastes. Would you rob a cheesecake of its crumbly biscuit base for ruining the flavour?

[mgz]

i prefer wine over beer, liquor over wine, and soda over liquor, a mix of soda and liquor beats them all!

how does soda and liquor combined = beat them all

it ruins your sodas flavor which is presumably why you were drinking it, and makes it flat.

It also dilutes your alcohol and makes it taste like shitty soda

Some drinks mix really well; Gin and Tonic, (Dark) Rum and Coke and JD and coke all spring to mind. Gin/JD on their own taste like shite, and a cheap scotch ain't much better. It's ofc blasphemous to mix a nice scotch with coke but a shitty one? So long as you don't dilute it too far - anything more than 1:1 is too far imo - then its just a combination of two tastes. Would you rob a cheesecake of its crumbly biscuit base for ruining the flavour?

i guess im just upity i avoid cheap scotch like the plague. I wont touch shit like white label dewars.
I just personally dont like my drinks mixed i would rather hammer down my cheap scotch if needed and chase it with coke as an example

[OmniGo0se]

I'm not normally a beer drinker and I haven't had much dark beer that I like. I can drink Rolling Rock, Coors Light, and Budweiser with out really caring, but I haven't had a dark beer that I'd want to keep drinking. I much prefer Rum, Vodka, or Whiskey and something to mix it with.

[i_am_otep]

Whenever a beer thread comes up, people always bash the mainstream ones and throw fancy, never-heard names..

Maybe you guys can throw good to decent ones that are not so hard to find. I'm from Canada, btw.

[mgz]

Whenever a beer thread comes up, people always bash the mainstream ones and throw fancy, never-heard names..

Maybe you guys can throw good to decent ones that are not so hard to find. I'm from Canada, btw.

eh just gotta experiment, or talk to the people who dont hate their job at the liquor store.

Nice thing over in jersey  is the big liquor store around here has regular beer and wine tastings, as well as breweries (usually the smaller more local ones) swing in and give free samples.

But i personally have found that asking other people what to try based one what i like and just grabbing shit that sounds like i would like and trying it.

Doing so ive wasted 10 or 20 dollars here and there but i get to try a bit more variety. Granted i cant remember half the shit i tried and didnt like i would recognize it to say no to though

[Bob2004]

I've no idea what beers are common in Canada, so I can't really offer any advice on that, but the best way to find good beer that you like is to try as many different ones as you can. Just go down your local off-license, pick out a selection of different bottles which look good, and try them. Some you'll like, some you won't, but it's the best way to find new beers which are both nice, and easy to obtain locally. That's how I found pretty much all my favourites.