Favorite Commercial Brews

Hey all,

I just wanted to find out what your favorite Non-Home Brews were. I don't just mean Macro-Lagers but if you love on in particular please share. I just want to hear some new names or get reminded of some old ones.

Here are my Favorites: Pilsner Urquell, Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen, and Chimay Blue

Wow. When I think of commercial brews, I tend to think of Coors, Budweiser, Miller, etc. Of them, I like Pabst Blue Ribbon.

But when it comes to Good Commercial Beers, I agree and like to swig Chimay breweries fine craft. Also like Ayinger as a brewery.

i dont drink many of the smaller beers. i fancy alexander keiths ipa, and keiths red.

I love Sam Adams...I also live 25 mins away from them

I love, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Brooklyn Lager, Rogue Juniper Pale Ale, Stoudts Maibock, Double Grimbergen, Hoegaarden, Brooklyn Pennant Ale, Bells Oberon Ale, Great Divide Titan IPA. As for macro beers call me lame but, I like regular Budweiser in the bottles: they go down easy and the taste is not offensive to me.

I am a pretty big fan of alot of the Sam Adams stuff. Especially like the Boston Ale. I drink Smithwicks and Guinness alot.

I am currently loving the new belgium's mother ship wit.

I like the light ginger taste. and yes, I have had several tonight.

Oh damn! I forgot to mention Rogue Santa's Private Reserve. I bought a single 12oz of it last week, it was so good I went back 2 days later and bought 3 of the 22oz bombers of it and drank all three that night. Really good stuff and It's seasonal, so if you can get your hands on some of this stuff don't hesitate. I believe It's their red ale but with twice the hops. Although, the hops are not over the top at all. Well worth the money. They are 5.79$ for the 22oz bottles of it at Total Wine right up the street from here.

Besides Pilsener Urquell, most of any German lagers are the best IMO.

Great Western Premium for me.

I;m on ILurvTheWhiskey boat - When I thing of Commercial;l brews I thing of Bud and Miller.

So take the Big boys out of the picture then I go with Point and Leinies but there are regional.

then it's almost anything New Glarus, Flying Dog and Rogue make. Fat squirrel is the brew of choice by New Glarus.

Then going smaller Ale Asylum - Home Brewers made good and now with a growing fan base in Wisconsin. MadTown NutBrown is just an amazing brew I wish I could duplicate.

I like to enjoy a Schell's Pale Ale every time I'm visiting my wife's family in MN. Its a typical APA with a good mix of aroma and flavor. It also helps that one of my brother in laws works there. Its fine a day when I get to visit the tap room and sample a Pale Ale every so often.

I'm a fan of Saranac's products. It probably helps that the brewery is only minutes from my house. (I can't wait until the mass produce their Irish Red.)

I also really like Smuttynose and Ommegang.

PBR is my BMC drink of choice. More often I'll pick up: Guiness, Sam Adams lager, Rogue's Chocolate Stout, Tyranena Bitter Woman, Dogfish Head 60min IPA, Newcastle... Hey... I love beer!

I love pretty much everything Victory makes.

Also a big fan of most of Troegs brews as well.

I'd have to go with Rogue. Their service is always crap at any of their locations, but the beer keeps me coming back. Their Imperial Stout, Shakespeare Stout, Chocolate Stout, Mocha Porter, Brutal Bitter, and Younger's Special Bitter are all quality.

I just got 12 22oz bottles of Chocolate Stout at their garage sale for only $28. Rogue garage sales are the way to go

Guinness is also always on my list. I can sometimes find 28 pint cans for $30 at Costco.

Oh! And Stone's smoked porter. Oh, that's good.

Southern Tier's Imperial line and their Blackwater Imperial Stouts are well worth checking out if you can. Southern Tier is currently my favorite beer on the market!

Oh, Harpoon's 100 Barrel Rusty's Red Rye is one of my favs too. It inspired me to brew my own Red Rye, delicious!

I go through phases but I would have to say that my favorite brewery right now is Ninkasi they have some fine beers.

I"m a big fan of Bell's beers, especially their Two-Hearted Ale. I also like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and so far haven't been disappointed with any of their other beers either.

I also like Bass Pale Ale, but it's very different from the others I mentioned, and I know they are a BIG company, but I still think the Pale Ale is well balanced and fairly indicative of the style.

I also don't mind drinking Mich ultra Cactus Lime. Tastes like Soda Pop!!

Anything by Sierra Nevada, especially their Anniversary Ale w/chinook hops.

Fuller's ESB, that stuff is just gorgeous.

I love Sweetwater out of Atlanta. Their Blueberry beer makes me want to float down a river or something and just drink, and their IPA and other ales are quite good.

Theres still so much I want to try but haven't yet though....

for cheap stuff, ya can't beat Molson XXX
i used to love J.W. Dundee's "Honey Brown Lager" (until they changed their name, and logo, but continued selling the same beer at a much higher price)

for real good beer

St. Bernardus ABT 12
Chimay Red, Chimay Blue
Saranac's Winter Mix Pack
Delerium Tremens, Delerium Noel
Southern Tier's Blackwater Imperial Stouts
Brooklyn Brewery Double Chocolate Stout
J.W. Lees - Harvest Ale (once i had the 1998 vintage..... unbelievable)
Avery - "Mephistopheles", "Reverend", "Beast", "Thirteen"
Every Sam Adams (especially Double Bock, Black Lager, Holiday Porter and Old Fezziwig), almost every DogFishHead, almost every Harpoon (their winter warmer smells like fresh apple pie....mmmmmm)

oh!!! how did i forget Anchor??
I love the Steam beer, the Bock, their Xmas Ale (our special brew), their Porter, and the unbelievable "Old Foghorn" Barleywine!!

neko said:

I'd have to go with Rogue. Their service is always crap at any of their locations, but the beer keeps me coming back. Their Imperial Stout, Shakespeare Stout, Chocolate Stout, Mocha Porter, Brutal Bitter, and Younger's Special Bitter are all quality.

I just got 12 22oz bottles of Chocolate Stout at their garage sale for only $28. Rogue garage sales are the way to go

Guinness is also always on my list. I can sometimes find 28 pint cans for $30 at Costco.

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Which Rogue locations have you been to? I haven't found the service at any to be particularly bad but I would say Newport > Portland > San Francisco.

one thing i don't like about Rogue, is that you can tell they use the same yeast strain for every ale.
i mean come on, that Pacman yeast strain does not give you what you are looking for in Belgian Ale or a Chocolate Stout

jjp36 said:

I love pretty much everything Victory makes.

Also a big fan of most of Troegs brews as well.

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I am with you on that. When I try to get people off the bad beer, I always tell them anything with a V on the cap is safe to drink. I also love Troegs Nugget Nectar!

I am also a fan of anything from
* Stone
* Alesmith
* Ports Brewing Company
* Bells
* Russian River
* Deschutes
* Great Divide
* Rogue
* Bear Republic

Umm, yeah. The list could keep going.

Big Breweries I enjoy Pabst Blue Ribbon and Strohs

Leinies Red and Point Cascade PA when I am in my home state of Wisconsin

Central Waters Happy Heron Pale Ale or Bourbon Barrel Stout while in Stevens Point, WI, my alma mater

Lost Coast Breweries Great White and Indica are the best of the far west

I really like this stuff only about an hour drive from my house

Real Ale Brewing Company

AHS has 4 clone kits of their beers

I really like their Blue Moon Pale Rye Ale yummy

neko said:

I'd have to go with Rogue. Their service is always crap at any of their locations, but the beer keeps me coming back. Their Imperial Stout, Shakespeare Stout, Chocolate Stout, Mocha Porter, Brutal Bitter, and Younger's Special Bitter are all quality.
.

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Neko, you have to come down to Eugene City and let me take care of you. I make sure all my customers leave with a big, buzzed grin on their faces.

BelgianWannabe said:

one thing i don't like about Rogue, is that you can tell they use the same yeast strain for every ale.
i mean come on, that Pacman yeast strain does not give you what you are looking for in Belgian Ale or a Chocolate Stout

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They do make Belgian beers under a different brand in a different brewery (Issaquah). John Maier, somewhat famously, doesn't like to brew Belgians. I don't think that, for example, Monk Madness was intended to be an authentic stab at a Belgian.

BelgianWannabe said:

...almost every Harpoon (their winter warmer smells like fresh apple pie....mmmmmm)

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+1! Great beer!

I picked up a 22 oz. of Victory's Baltic Thunder the other day...that is an awesome brew!

I also enjoy Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout, Winterhook from RedHook Brewery, the Winter Solstice Ale from Anderson Valley Brewing, Victory's Lager, and Warsteiner's Oktoberfest and Dunkel.

I love some PBR but if I got some cash to burn i am a big fan of anything dogfish head (90 min, palo santo), anything bells (expedition stout, java stout, two hearted). lately lagunitas ipa has been really hitting the taste buds.

I very seldom purchase a beer I have had before so picking a favorite would be difficult.

Given whats available at restaurants around here I will usually order a Great Lakes Ale if available (most usually have Dortmunder but I'm not a big fan of that style). If they do have some other micro available i may get that. Then my fall back is Guinness or GL Dortmunder.

As for what i look for any place that has a selection.
Russian Imperial Stouts like Hoppin Frog BORIS
Sour Ales like Rodenbach, Cantillon or Lindeman's Cuvée René
Belgian dubbles like Chimay Red or Westmalle 8
IPAs
Stouts and Porters

preferably from a small local brewery I havn't seen before.

Craig

Kokanee Glacier Beer is my all time favorites.

Kokanee Beer

If I start with other beers that are next, the list is long!

For domestic breweries, I think I live everything I have had from Sierra Nevada and New Glarus. Rogue is probably my favorite and they make enough stuff that there is plenty to like even if I don't care for one or two.

Boulevard is my hometown brewery and while I don't care for their flagship pale ale and wheat, lunar/bully porter/nutcracker/smokestack series are all pretty good.

I love Free State Brewing which is a brewpub in Lawrence, KS. They just don't miss. They opened an off site brewery to brew and package beer and had a fire right before they started brewing there but I think they should be up and running soon. I think this is the most underrated brewpub I have been to and I would put it up there with Moylan's, Pelican Pub, Russian River etc. They don't make as many big beers as some of the West Coast places but then they aren't on the west coast. Pelican doesn't do a ton of big beers either I guess.

I pick up different beers every time I go to the store but I pick these up on a semi-regular basis:

Stouts: Mackesons , Bells, Sam Smiths
Belgians: Chimay Red, Delirium Nocturnum, Ommegang Abbey Ale
Wee Heavy: Orkney SkullSpliter
Old Ales: Harvestoun Old Engine Oil, Theakston Old Peculiar
Lagers: Ayinger, Paulaner

Mostly stuff that I have not been able to brew yet - large, old, and/or lagered. Delicious, mmm...

czeknere said:

I also enjoy Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout, Winterhook from RedHook Brewery, the Winter Solstice Ale from Anderson Valley Brewing, Victory's Lager, and Warsteiner's Oktoberfest and Dunkel.

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+1 on the Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout....loves me some of that!!!

Smuttynose Brewery:IPA, Pale Ale, Big A IIPA
Sierra Nevada: Pale Ale
Stone: Pale, IPA, Ruination IPA
Sweetwater: 420
Allagash:white
Tuckerman: Pale
Rogue: Most of them
McGritty: bitter and Black Fly Stout
Weyerman: Simcoe IIPA

Just to name a few

Season Greetings,
The wife and I are partial to anything Deschutes.....
Ho ho ho.....

Number one is Avery's Maharaja.

Honorable mentions are: Brooklyn Lager, Sierra Nevada Celebration, Left Hand Imperial Stout, Real Ale Full Moon Pale Rye, Real Ale Sisyphus (English barleywine), Stone Vertical Epic 8-8-8, (512) Pecan Porter, (512) Wit.

Maharaja, Brooklyn Lager, and 8-8-8 are on my brew wishlist, as is the (512) Pecan Porter if I can get details on the recipe out of Kevin.