[peachcreek]

I have tried a few new beers lately that might make it to regional distribution or bigger. The first was Deschutes Brewery Pils. Not one of my favorite Deschutes beers, I thought the hops were way off for what I was expecting in a Pilsner-style beer. I was wanting a little more "roundness" from the aging time when what this delivered was a little thin and astringent for my taste. Their beers tend to be hit-and-miss with the good ones being really on the mark.
The other new beer I tried was Bayern Brewings' Trout Slayer Ale. The discriptions on the bottle says the beer is lightly hopped, but at least they paired the malt and the hops pretty well so it isn't cloying. I think if it were dry-hopped it could approach greatness. My girlfriend loved it as is.

So what are YOU drinking?

 

[cape chef]

Peachcreek,

Unfortunatly i'm drinking seltzer with lime these days

I wish I could tell you i'm trying all kinds of micro brews and such..but not for a little while longer.

BTW..you always have great posts when you discuss beer,do you brew at home?

 

[kimmie]

Heineken.

 

[tetsuryu]

Blue Moon
Dogfish Head Immort-Ale
Fordham Copperhead Ale

I don't know how far the last two make it away from the Mid-Atlantic but Blue Moon is a Belgian White Ale from Colorado.

Here's the webpage for Dogfish Head check out their beers, especially the Midas Touch at the bottom of the page.

Forham's Coppehead Ale is a German style Altbier that has just the right amount of hoppiness to it. (I can't abide overly hopped beers, yech.)

I highly reccomend these if you can find them in your area, if not, well I guess thats just more for me.

 

[moxiefan]

I can get blue moon up here in New Hampshire. I like it a lot. If you like that, and have a tast for obscure beers, try getting cheval blanc white beer from quebec... that's what blue moon reminds me of.

Speaking of quebec beers, I've noticed Fin du Monde beer at my local corner store, much to my suprise. Is this stuff being distributed in the U.S. now? I'm amazed that's legal. (for the uninitiated Fin du Monde means "end of the world," a suitable name on account of the very high alcahol content... 14 percent, I think... tastes terrible)


Regards,
P

 

[spikezoe]

I recently moved to NC and am pleasantly surprised with beer choices at the local watering holes, grocery stores, etc. The growing Latin community here has had a nice influence on the beer cooler (Polar must be Spanish for Blatz). Shiner makes a nice quasi-merica style Hefeweisen that has been a good summer beer (complete with helpful directions on just exactly how to drink my beer).

The one that I can't seem to figure out is Yuengling. That stuff is everywhere down here. Granted they're old school, but it must be something that you have to grow up with.

I am totally a child of the micro-brew movement, but from a food standpoint it seems that beers are getting more and more distinctive and more and more aggressive. Great by themselves, but like wine, all but the blandest corporate beers are getting harder for me to match with food.

 

[peachcreek]

Biere De Mars Ale from New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins. I give it the big thumbs down. Their other Belgian -style beer do varying amounts of justice, but c'mon. This is their idea of a March-style French-style Belgian-style season ale. This reminds me of beer like Adelscot from France-syrupy yet still finding room to be insipid. Beer without hops. This guy is an oat/wheat/barley brew finished with lemon verbena. Zippo hoppo. If I were to buy another six pack of it it would be to use say in a beer cheese soup or other recipe where you want a grain flavor. As a drinking beer, if I had to suggest what to eat with it- desserts. It would go OK with just about any dessert you could throw at it. It did'nt interfere as I drank it and munched on another March tradition- Girl Scout cookies.

 

[ronn]

A great beer that goes by the name Okanagan 1516 Bavarian Lager
Very pale and clean. Big white head. Very little aroma. Allthe flavour is in the funky aftertaste. The aftertaste is like a pilsener trying to escape. Vanilla and hops would be the best description I can make.

 

[bmiller]

Hope this works. If it did it's a picture of a "supply" run while my wife and were cruising the San Juan islands on a trawler.

 

[devildogchef2b]

I'm not so much of an expert on how the beer is made, and how the various ingredients play out, but I can suggest some beers for approval I guess. I found a few beers in the local Kroger in Texas where I was living recently that I was quite fond of. The two beers were quite high in alcohol content, but that was matched by the high price tag for the beer. These are made by the same brewery under the name Maredsous Belgian Abbey Ale. One of them is a nice amber color, and has a nice aroma, while the other is much darker in color, but not quite a stout. It's borderline stout, but still has some tracings of an ale. The one key thing I found was that the one had 10% alc by vol for a short chubby bottle, and the brother to this ale was close behind with 8% alc by vol. Very nice taste, and would recommend it to anyone. They are quite expensive in my book as I said previously. A 4 pack I believe it was costs a little over $8.00. One of them was about 3 bucks.