Commercial Favs
 

I recently was involved in a discussion about beer (commercial beer) and I got to thinking about some favorites and some dislikes of mine...

To the dismay of some of my "All-American Beer" loving friends, I will immediately pass by the following beers:

• Budweiser
• Keystone
• Pabst Blue Ribbon
• "Natty Ice"
• Miller
• Michelob
• Corona
• Yuengling
• Generally Most "Name Brands" turn me off

However, there are a few beers that i'll consider and have found to be appealing to me:

• Sam Adams Seasonal (Winter Lager, Octoberfest, Summer Ale... and the other one i forget)
• Stella Artois (can be found on occasion in the fridge, but really not a stable in my house)
• Blue Moon

Then there are a few local beers I like:

• DogFish Head Shelter Ale (a tad on the bitter side for me)
• Independence Ale (Phila. Independence Brew Pub)
• Amish Ale (Lancaster Brewing Co.)

Are there any recommendations on any local brews I should explore? I'm looking for a good malty beer with a tad sweeter taste than bitter...

Please share your favs (commercial and local)

Check out Flying Fish - they're out of Cherry Hill, they make some fine brews. You can probably also get Troegs out of Harrisburg - they make some awesome beers as well.

I think you can get Bell's most places, they have a lot of good brews. I'll be making a pilgrimage to the Bell's Brewery soon (I'm about an hour and a half away). I'm a big fan of their Best Brown Ale, Porter, Pale Ale, and Double Cream Stout. A lot of people seem to like the Two-Hearted Ale, I haven't tried that one. Oberon is OK from them.

As for commercial beers, I still like most Leinenkugel even though the quality has dropped over the last few years it seems like. Their Red and HoneyWeiss are quite drinkable if not really exciting. I'd stay away from the Sunset Wheat.

there are a few commercial beers I like. Umm....Heineken,Rolling Rock,Becks,Guiness,Sleemans...

You can probably get Great Lakes brews in PA. If so I'd recommend Dortmunder Gold (dortmunder), Edmund Fitzgerald (robust porter) and Eliot Ness (amber lager).

I think Bells might be in PA but it's not "officially" distributed in Maryland. Bell's actually has a rather small (13 states on the easy coast, I think) region.

I was extremely lucky to find a store in Virginia that keeps it in stock so I picked up a few 6ers. :ban:

Two-Hearted Ale is probably NOT what the OP wants, it's got a very strong floral aroma and decent hop bitterness where as he wants malty/sweet.

I can't think of any local brews off the top of my head. In fact, my advice would perhaps be the opposite, given your tastes and criteria here. Try some imported brews. Even the "mild" American beers tend to be hoppier than their overseas counterparts.

Some of my personal favourites in the "not too hoppy" category are Wychwood's Hobgoblin, McEwans's Scottish Ale.

If you do want to stay on this side of the pond, something like a Kolsh or a Hefeweizen might be more your style. I just finished some Magic Hat Circus Boy hefe this week.

I just tried a Thai beer, Singha. Tasted like an Oktoberfest beer...malty. - Dirk

Plenty of local brews to sample in Central/Southern PA -

Appalachian Brewing
Troegs
Lancaster Brewing Co - the 4-Grain Amish you mentioned is solid
Stoudts
Weyerbacher

They all bottle and you can buy their stuff in LanCounty.

Try Union Barrel works, Iron Hill, Selinsgrove Brewing, Allentown/Bethlehem Beerworks, etc. also... Although these places don't bottle so you need to make a trip to their pubs...

Can't gauge how wide your beer pallet is from the few beers you named - in fact all the Micros you mentioned (Shelter Pale, Amish 4-Grain, and Independence) were Pale Ales if I'm not mistaken... Most American Pale Ales are going to be somewhat more hoppy than sweet.

Do you like other styles? Porters? Stoudts? Ambers? Weizens? I'm guessing IPA's are out if Shelter Pale is too bitter for your liking...

There are plenty of GREAT local beers near you, just start trying them... Me naming my favs, might not work out for you. For example, I *love* the Appalachian Hoppy Trails IPA, but you probably would not...

I drank a 6er of Pabst Genuine Draft on Sunday while brewing up a batch of American Brown Ale. I ain't no beer snob. The Pabst just makes me appreciate what I have to look forward to when the ABA is done.
AP

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the hoppiness of some beers, in fact I really love the Amish Ale and Independence Ale, the Shelter Ale was a tad more hoppy than I like, but it was very satisfying :D

I've just become fascinated with malty/sweet beers, but don't know where to begin.

I'll be swinging by the local "Brewers Outlet" to pick up a case of beer for the holidays since my beer won't be done in time and I really want to get a good malty beer to share for the holiday...

I was going to pick up a Variety Pack, but I decided to just get one good malty beer.