Best Value Commercial Brews...

Okay, I've really enjoyed reading the recent thread on "over-priced commercial beers," so I'm wondering if there are some beers out there that you've often thought, "Hell, that's a pretty freakin' good beer for the price!"

Your thoughts?

Spaten Optimator. About a buck and a quarter a bottle? It's a freakin steal!!!! Nothing really comes close to it for the price. If you like thick, rich, and malty beers, this is the one for you. I can pick up a 12 pack for under $15, sometimes for $12. And I snatch them up.

As for the big three, I think Coors is the best tasting. I also think Coors light is the worst of the light beers. But I don't mind a Coors sometimes....

Yuengling Lager is a good beer for the price. Not one of my favorites, but it is barely anymore than BMC. Sam Adams is also very reasonable for as good as it is. A buck a bottle off of the distributor, and in stores its about 14 dollars for a 12 pack. I know in bars you pay as much for these as you do beers that are $30 a case off of the distributor though.

Macksens XXX stout, its like 10$ for a 12 pack.

Ivan Lendl said:

Macksens XXX stout, its like 10$ for a 12 pack.

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Wow I didn't know of any stout that you can get for less than a dollar a bottle even off of distributors. I will look for this stuff when I don't have any of my homebrew stout and want some stout. Is it a good beer or just a good value?

Designing Great Beers talks a bit about Mackesons. It's one of the originals. The real deal. I'll have to give it a try....

SPATEN OPTIMATOR I will second that big time. My local liquor store owner just turned me on the BIG BOSS PORTER. SHWING that $#!^ kicks &$$ if you havent tried it go get some....... Ill wait

back yet...

how bout now???

ya I have had a few!!!!

joshpooh said:

Yuengling Lager is a good beer for the price.

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I'm often partial to Yuengling Black and Tan when budget shopping.

I wish they just sold the Yuengling Porter around here as I'd like to try it again. The only time I've tried their porter was at beerfest and I was pretty numb at the time.

Anyone else like the original Pete's Wicked Ale? I used to like it and buy it because it was fair priced for good beer. But since Gambrinus (that owns Corona, Modelo, etc.) bought them a few years back, I don't seem to find them as widely available, and haven't had one in a long time. They were one of the early micro brews, though, I think, and used to have a decent product for the money. Their "strawberry blonde" was not good, though, IMO.

Toot said:

Designing Great Beers talks a bit about Mackesons. It's one of the originals. The real deal. I'll have to give it a try....

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The XXX available in the states is brewed by Sam Adams in Ohio....

fezzman said:

I'm often partial to Yuengling Black and Tan when budget shopping.

I wish they just sold the Yuengling Porter around here as I'd like to try it again. The only time I've tried their porter was at beerfest and I was pretty numb at the time.

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eh....it's not all that great IMHO.


Hard to beat Oskar Blues Dales or Chub by the case for craft/micro offerings...prb one of the few under 30 bucks at my local distributor.

When I'm slumming it I don't mind a High Life or MGD. That stuff is nearly cheaper than bottled water.

Sierra Nevada is very tasty for the price. Lots of flavor without being heavy...

brewt00l said:

The XXX available in the states is brewed by Sam Adams in Ohio....

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Is the recipe different? Is there a difference in ABV? Sam Adams brews an alright beer so you haven't quite dissuaded me yet...

Toot said:

Is the recipe different? Is there a difference in ABV? Sam Adams brews an alright beer so you haven't quite dissuaded me yet...

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Good, I wasn't trying to dissuade....just saying it's a contract brew in the states. I don't know enough about the original vs the contract brew answer your questions.

fezzman said:

I'm often partial to Yuengling Black and Tan when budget shopping.

I wish they just sold the Yuengling Porter around here as I'd like to try it again. The only time I've tried their porter was at beerfest and I was pretty numb at the time.

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I also need to re-sample the porter. The sad thing for me is that I live on the same road that the Yeungling Brewery is on. It's 40 miles away, but it's the same road.

Just to update, I couldnt find that Mackseon XXX stout anymore, (FarmFresh, VA Beach)I think it was a limited deal. It was 9.99 for at least a year though untill, it seems, I bought all of them out.

Good beer no matter what the price.

Negra Modelo, I love this stuff. I just picked up a 6 pack for 5 bucks.

Nowadays, I guess I consider any good micro/craft that I can still get for $6.99 a sixpack to be a good deal. But I buy so little beer that I'm kindof out of the loop on that.

I think Saranac has some good beers for a very reasonable price. Availablility is hit and miss out here. O'Dells 5 Barrel Pale Ale is a good mainline micro IMHO.

Cheaper drinkable beers, better than BMC: Killians on tap, Shiner Bock.

+1 to cweston - Saranac makes some decent beers and I love that O'Dells 5 Barrel Pale. Great beer IMO.

I'll have to think a bit before I add my offerings to the list.

Since moving to Louisiana I have been drinking a lot of Abita beers. They make pretty good beers, and only cost $6 for a sixer which is pretty cheap. And when you go to the bars it is only like $1.50-$2 for a bottle which seems real cheap for bars prices since I was in California before. I found a bar that has dead guy ale also that is only $3, and buy 1 get one from during happy hour, so can I call that a good value beer.

I had Turbo Dog for the first time a week or so ago. Pretty good beer. I believe it was naturally carbed too (last pour came out a little cloudy and looked like some residue on the bottom of the bottle; could be wrong but I thought so), which is cool. I wouldn't expect it to be that cheap...

SilkkyBrew said:

I had Turbo Dog for the first time a week or so ago. Pretty good beer. I believe it was naturally carbed too (last pour came out a little cloudy and looked like some residue on the bottom of the bottle; could be wrong but I thought so), which is cool. I wouldn't expect it to be that cheap...

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Turbo dog is good, I really like the restoration ale, which is sort of an IPA I guess. I haven't tried the red ale yet, but they have a ton of it all the time. And the amber is the stock one that is everywhere.

Point Cascade Ale is pretty tasty. I paid $11 for a twelve pack. Don't know if Point beer makes it very far out of Wisconsin. I remember as a kid that their Point lager was in really cool blue bottles. We called them blue gut bombers. But what did we know? We couldn't drink at the time.

Al

miller high life... six bucks for twelve bottles.. can't beat it when mowing the lawn this summer

PBR baby!!!

Or, for those of us out west, I always though Henry Weinhard's was a good deal at $8.00 a half rack.

Lone Star is my cheap beer of choice....I know it's not that great but I like it...It's the "National Beer of Texas" and I like the riddles under the bottle caps....plus it's only $4 a sixer! I'm kinda bummed you can't buy the bottles in cases....

I think I like the "culture" behind Lone Star more than the beer itself...I've got a Lone Star belt buckle I wear and I got my girlfriend a Lone Star necklace

for "good" cheapish beer I like Shiner (again, I know there is better) but I like it....It's nice to drink something that is widely available that is ACTUALLY a Texas beer

Shiner is a bit of a creapy town to be honest...drove through one day (bc our ranch is in Gonzales which is only like 30min away) we had music playing in the car and the windows rolled down and all and when we pulled up and stopped it was so quite....like silent....and there was NO ONE out....drove by the brewery and saw CRAPLOADS of kegs piled up...it was pretty cool to see that many

Ithaca Brewery makes some pretty good beers, they're a regional micro out of, you guessed it, Ithaca New York. I get the 12pk sampler for $9.99, the Caskazilla red Ale is great and the Apricot Wheat is also tasty, kinda like a #9 but not as sweet and basically just better than #9.

I agree Saranac is great for the money, the big liquor store near me was selling cases for $14.99 recently, probably still is.

Another regional micro I like is Otter Creek out of VT, usually about $13 for a 12pk but the Copper Ale and Stovepipe Porter are very tasty. Unfortunately they use twist off bottles, so I've been buying them less since I started brewing

LaBatt's Blue Light - Affordable and easy drinking.
Does Equis Amber

I will second the Pete's Wicked!

And I'll pay for Smuttynose Old Brown Dog, Sam Adams Octoberfest and Lake Placid Ubu Ale - I love 'em!

Ryanh1801 said:

Negra Modelo, I love this stuff. I just picked up a 6 pack for 5 bucks.

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One of my favorites, too! I ALWAYS order it when eating out at Mexican restaurant, only buy the sixpacks once in a while.

The Budget beers at my house are PBR and Amberbock..

It is what SWMBO will drink.

In PA and Ohio, you can't beat Straub's for a good 'lawnmower' beer. You have to drink it fresh though. But @ around $15 for 24 x 16oz'ers (plus deposit if you use the bottles for homebrew) you can't beat it imo...at least not here.

my favorite budget brew is Abita Brown. It's more like a porter than a brown, and it's damn fine stuff.

Another great inexpensive craft brew is Otter Creek. Their copper ale is great stuff for the small price tag, and their lager ain't bad either.

I dunno, though...to be honest, I have so much HB, it is my budget brew. But back when I wasn't brewing and I needed party beer, those two were always good ones.

Or you can get a mini-keg (5L) of various german brews for $20 at our shop. Those were always the BEST deal if you plan on high-quantity drinking.

joshpooh said:

Yuengling Lager is a good beer for the price. Not one of my favorites, but it is barely anymore than BMC. Sam Adams is also very reasonable for as good as it is. A buck a bottle off of the distributor, and in stores its about 14 dollars for a 12 pack. I know in bars you pay as much for these as you do beers that are $30 a case off of the distributor though.

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i can find sammy at 12.95 per 12 pack...and i buy the heck out of it!
love the sampler 12pk.

Goose Island or Sammy, when it's on sale for $11.99 or $12.99 a twelver, is a pretty good deal here. BMC is never worth the price, IMHO.

cweston said:

Nowadays, I guess I consider any good micro/craft that I can still get for $6.99 a sixpack to be a good deal. But I buy so little beer that I'm kindof out of the loop on that.

I think Saranac has some good beers for a very reasonable price. Availablility is hit and miss out here. O'Dells 5 Barrel Pale Ale is a good mainline micro IMHO.

Cheaper drinkable beers, better than BMC: Killians on tap, Shiner Bock.

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Hands down, dollar for dollar, Saranac is the best brew for your buck. Being in NY might keep the prices reasonable (about $6.50 for a sixer and $11.50 for a 12) but I think the prices are pretty constant wherever you can get your hands on it.

In fact, the Washington Post had a 64-beer March Madness tournament and Saranac Pale Ale made the finals over all the major players you can think of from Brooklyn Brewer, Magic Hat, Sierra Nevada, Dogfish Head, Anchor Steam, etc.

Pretty worth praise from beer drinkers.

I don't drink any of these very often, but for CHEAP beer, I have no problem with PBR. I also like a Miller Lite now and then. Blue Moon has come way down in price these days. It's tough to beat for entry-level wit.

Everything else I drink tends to be expensive.

Yuengling is dirt cheap < $1 per bottle. Also on weekends we stock up on 12's of High Life for our drinking games.. man I love quarters. and at $7 per 12 you cant complain.