Top 5 Beers!

Hey folks,

I'm really trying to 'broaden' my knowledge and pallet for beers from the lightest to the darkest, the complete range if you will... AND I NEED YOUR HELP!

Give me suggestions on beer brands I should try to pick up.
Let me know some of your favourite craft/micro/random breweries!

Try some Ayinger products.

The dopplebock is great. A nice malty dark lager.
I like their Octoberfest/Marzen as well. An amber lager.
They do an Ur-weiss which I believe is a dortmunder style light lager.
Even the Weizen bock is pretty tasty. These beers will give you a nice introduction to German lagers!

My top five are
#1 beer
#2 beer
#3 beer
#4 beer
#5 beer

when I'm sick of those I just have a beer.

Seriously, the question is too hard to answer, but having lived in Germany for almost 10 years I'd say most beers over there are good, try any of them.

EoinMag said:

My top five are
#1 beer
#2 beer
#3 beer
#4 beer
#5 beer

when I'm sick of those I just have a beer.

Seriously, the question is too hard to answer, but having lived in Germany for almost 10 years I'd say most beers over there are good, try any of them.

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Aww come on John their musta been something that stood out for you?

My favorite style is probably a Belgian Dubbel.
Another beer that has really stood out for me is Spaten Optimator.

Green Flash Hop Head Red
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
Brasserie Dieu De Ciel Peche Mortel
Great Lakes Elliot Ness

5 good ones that I've enjoyed lately.

Surely Furious

What is a brand name for a Belgium Dubble?

hmmmm Orval??? i dunno I'm a trippel fan myself

Stuff I've enjoyed lately... Other then my own.

Shorts -Pandemonium
DogFish Head - 90min IPA
Great Lakes Brewing - Erie Monster
Bell's - Two Hearted
Founders - Kentucky Breakfast Stout

Stone IPA
North Coast Old Rasputin
Anchor Steam
Schneider Edel-Weisse
Victory Prima Pils

No particular order, but I think those are outstanding beers in their categories and pretty easy to come by.

North Coast - Brother Thelonious
Lagunitas - Lucky 13
Dog Fish Head - Aprihop
Russian River - Pliny The Elder
Victory - Prima Pils
Just to name a few...check out beer advocate for more great beer that you must try!

surreal_trip said:

Aww come on John their musta been something that stood out for you?

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What stood out?
Pilseners: Warsteiner, Veltins, Jever, Koenig Pils.
Dunkles Pils: Duckstein
Bitterbier: Hoevels.
Schwarzbier:Koestritzer
Alt: Deibels, Frankenheimer
Weizen:Aventinus Hefe starkbier, Schneider Weisse.

I recently had a rather superbly subtle Muenchner Helles called Altenmünster Brauer Bier Urig Würzig, a friend brought back a case of flip tops for me.
Another friend recently brought me back a kellerbier that was interesting, but definitely not something you'll see stateside as it doesn't tend to travel much and has a short date on it.

Anchor Steam
Chimay White
Bridgeport's Hopczar
Sierra Nevada Torpedo
Marshall's Atlas IPA

No order...just suggestions.

You guys are making me want an Anchor Steam.

Also,

Wychwood Hobgoblin
Spaten Munich Dunkel
Köstritzer Schwarzbier

and any German Hefeweizen

Any English Ales worth mentioning need to be tried in country from cask to know what real ale is all about and when it's good then it's as good as any beer anywhere in the world.

if there's a rock bottom food and brewery restaurant near you, try their beers. i don't think i've had a bad beer from there.
as far as buying from the store, my favorites are any of the leinenkugal beers.
any of the millstream brewery beers are good, too. millstream beer may be kinda hard for some to find as it is a small brewery in the amana colonies (german heritage) of iowa.
schell's brewery in minn. makes good beer, as well.

cfonnes said:

What is a brand name for a Belgium Dubble?

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In my opinion the best Dubbels (and belgian strongs) come from Trappist breweries. Rochefort, Chimay, Westmalle, and Koningshoeven all have excellent Dubbels that are easy to find.

As some have said, five is just too few, there are hundreds if not thousands of great beers out there..... but in my humble opinion, to narrow down by a small number of styles, from the standpoint of what I would have stocked in my endless fridge if I was on a deserted island and had to narrow down the choice to just five:

IPA: Dogfish Head 90 or 120 minute IPA
Weizen/weizen bock: Schneider Aventinus
Imperial Stout: Oskar Blues Ten Fiddy
Imperial Porter: Top Sail Full Sail Bourbon Barrel Porter
Oktoberfest: Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen

All of these are big beers, big, complex flavors, and ones that I hope to do justice with my own brewing some day!

Lagunitas Imperial Red
Stone Old Guardian
Stone Sublimely Self Righteous
Bourbon County Stout
Pliny the Elder

In no particular order. There are too many others that I love, it's like choosing your favorite child.

My Top Five:

Traquair House Ale
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Black Sheep Brewery Riggwelter
Bells Hopslam
Murphy's Stout

Wells Bombardier pale ale
Samuel Smith's Nut Brown ale
Fuller's ESB
Rogue's Yellow Snow IPA
North Coast Old Rasputin

Westmalle Dubbel is the beer that started the whole Belgian Dubbel "style."

A few dubbels of American origin include Allagash Dubbel, Goose Island's Pere Jacques, and New Belgium's Abbey....all of which I really enjoy drinking.

Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, published the following tasting notes for Pabst Blue Ribbon in 2008: "A contrasting counterpoint of sharp texture and flowing sweetness is evident at the first sip of this historic brew. A slowly increasing hoppiness adds to the interplay of ingredients, while the texture smooths out by mid-bottle. The clear, pale-gold body is light and fizzy. Medium-bodied Blue Ribbon finishes with a dusting of malts and hops. A satisfying American classic and a Gold Medal winner at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival."

surreal_trip said:

hmmmm Orval??? i dunno I'm a trippel fan myself

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If you haven't tried it, check out Unibroue's Don de Dieu. I liked this one more than their La Fin du Monde, also a top notch beer.

Frank99 said:

Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, published the following tasting notes for Pabst Blue Ribbon in 2008: "A contrasting counterpoint of sharp texture and flowing sweetness is evident at the first sip of this historic brew. A slowly increasing hoppiness adds to the interplay of ingredients, while the texture smooths out by mid-bottle. The clear, pale-gold body is light and fizzy. Medium-bodied Blue Ribbon finishes with a dusting of malts and hops. A satisfying American classic and a Gold Medal winner at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival."

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I don't know what the hell to say to that

yummybeer said:

if there's a rock bottom food and brewery restaurant near you, try their beers. i don't think i've had a bad beer from there.

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good god, rock bottom is awful. literally "rock bottom".

food isn't great either.

motobrewer said:

good god, rock bottom is awful. literally "rock bottom".

food isn't great either.

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I'd have to agree with you, but some people I know really like this stuff. However, they aren't huge beer people either.

yummybeer said:

as far as buying from the store, my favorites are any of the leinenkugal beers.

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oh god! i just realized you said this too....

i actually made a post recently that asked if leine's was actually considered "beer", as in, is it made from barley, malt, hops or if it is a "malternative".

we have completely opposite beer tastes....

Frank99 said:

Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, published the following tasting notes for Pabst Blue Ribbon in 2008: "A contrasting counterpoint of sharp texture and flowing sweetness is evident at the first sip of this historic brew. A slowly increasing hoppiness adds to the interplay of ingredients, while the texture smooths out by mid-bottle. The clear, pale-gold body is light and fizzy. Medium-bodied Blue Ribbon finishes with a dusting of malts and hops. A satisfying American classic and a Gold Medal winner at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival."

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wait PBR's come in bottles?

a few beers i normally enjoy:

Bell's Two Hearted
Summit EPA
Zatec Czech Lager
Weihenstephan Original (all of their beers are good)
Avery IPA (most of their beers are pretty damn good too)

Scooterkdavis said:

wait PBR's come in bottles?

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bottles, cans, kegs

PBR definitely comes in bottles. You can get PBR light, too. As for it being a premium beer, ehh. I think Kid Rock has brought it back for the younger crowd. I think it's disgusting. (And I don't mind cheap beer! High Life is my fave in that category)

I'm fairly new to good beer. For a long time, my favorites were Amber Bock and Killian's. I've since branched out, but not a ton.

My 5 go-to beers, that I can get pretty much anywhere around here are:

--Smithwick's
--Widmer hefeweizen
--Sierra Nevada celebration ale
--Bell's Hopslam
--Negra Modelo dark

I would say give some Flying Dog beers a shot. They're a relatively small brewery (located in my hometown which is how I know them). I like their Raging ***** Belgian IPA, also the Gonzo Imperial Porter is good. The Snake Dog IPA is good too. They're a very hoppy brewery.