"Guilty" confessions of a beer enthusiast

[Piratwolf]

I've been known to tip back a few Buds with the guys while eating chili dogs at the Vienna Inn

Any chance you're talking about the Vienna Inn in NoVa? That place is legend. Haven't been in years since I moved!

 

[HerbieHowells]

Nothing quenches my thirst better after mowing the grass than a room temperature, 13%abv Imperial Stout. And nothing's better than getting a big group of guys together for wings, darts, football and an 8 year flight of Cantillon guezes.

To be honest, that is quite unorthodox, so I think you fit. That's why I put "guilty" in quotes in the thread title; the point being that no one should actually feel bad about having unique tastes. (If I really wanted to show what a weirdo I was, I would mention that, when camping, along with the previously mentioned Shiner cans, I also pack a bottle of Madiera. All is fair, as long as you like it.)

 

[supe_kitchen]

I love to play disc golf and there is nothing better IMHO than natty light tall boys when I am throwing disc. I am not even bothered when they warm up in my disc bag.

I voiced this opinion on another forum and was told by multiple people that I should drink more "real beer" and that I would learn how bad natty was. I thought that was hilarious since I have been to Belgium, Germany, and several GABF's. But who knows maybe one day I will learn how wrong my tastes are.

 

[jmprdood]

Piratwolf - one and the same - less than 5 mins door to door from my place. Great dive bar with good food (and they even have some good beers on tap) but my work mates seem to prefer BMC, and I'm no snob - I just love beer!

 

[Brew_Force]

My deserted island beer would be rogue dead guy, but bud light is all right with me on a hot summer day.

My guilty confession: I don't see anything wrong with bmc, but clear/green glass absolutely pisses me off, and I think that pilsner urquell is on par with corona. That said, I've had pilsners in prauge, coronas in cancun, grolsch in gronigen, and they they were all just absolutely tainted by their bottles.

Another confession: I love saisons. Banana, cloves, and spice are all welcome in many of my brews; even though I have the ability to combat those "off flavors"

Beer is a good thing, in all its incarnations.

 

[Tyrone]

Beer is a good thing, in all its incarnations.

This.

 

[captianoats]

It is hard to beat a Miller Lite when I go home and meet my buddies for poker or for tailgating.

Also, moved to Cincinnati a couple moths ago, and their local Hudy Light isn't bad either.

 

[Lunchtime]

I don't mind a bud light but I refuse to support the big beer companies anymore so I don't buy it. I guess my confession would be that anything above 13-14ABV kind of turns me off. It's not the rule but for the most part I find it to be true.

 

[Quadrupled]

I'll certainly share a pitcher of miller/coors with family/friends. Michelob Amber Bock is another that I'll actually buy and drink at home.

 

[passedpawn]

i won't drink a BMC no matter what, i'm an insufferable snob. my guilty pleasure is not beer it's music, i like mika.

:fro::fro::fro: Woooo! ( Mika? Ouch. I liked Grace Kelly, dl'ed some other stuff, then realized I was in the wrong genre)

Back on topic, the only BMC I'll drink is Old Milwaukee. Rare, but it's my goto for fishing / canoeing / etc. My Grandpa drank it, so it's good enough for me.

 

[Chia]

i made a shiner clone that tasted nothing like shiner, but had the same feel and if i can say this without contradicting myself, the same amount of flavor. was of the most drinkable beers i have made. the keg did not last a week with me and two friends....there you have my moment...

 

[drummerguysteve]

I don't mind a bud light but I refuse to support the big beer companies anymore so I don't buy it. I guess my confession would be that anything above 13-14ABV kind of turns me off. It's not the rule but for the most part I find it to be true.

I'm with you on the big beers. Not as fully, as I still brew them, and will have a snifter of a huge eisbock while sitting by the fireplace. However, I frown when I see a 10% IIPA. I want to drink more than 1. Give me something at 5 or less, and I'm a happy camper.

I'll also drink BMC with non beer drinkers. When it's hot, it's not too bad. However, most of my camping buddies are well-educated now, and the BMC comes around less and less.

 

[Airborneguy]

I very rarely drink anything over 8%. I VERY VERY rarely brew anything over 5.5%. I never got into the "big" beers craze, especially considering I can get just as much, if not sometimes more, flavor into a 5% beer.

 

[Lunchtime]

I live in Missouri and most BMC drinkers around here are complete turds...We will go to the store and I'll pick up some Rogue and they will get Bud and proceed to tell me..."All you drink are those foreign, lady beers."

 

[Rubes]

I'll always love my Labatt Blue or President's Choice Pilsner as cheap go-to beers.

 

[Krane]

Not sure if it is being from St. Louis or what, but I really enjoy some Budweiser or Busch. I even had some Bud Ice the other night embarassingly enough, although I would NEVER say I enjoyed it...gross.

 

[AUEnder]

PBR is so good. I don't care who you are. I liked it before hipsters made it cool.

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk

 

[Cambone]

My guilty pleasure? Colt 45. I love it. Like buy 40s just for drinkin, not even parties love it.

"I don't claim you can have a better time with Colt 45 than with out it, but why take chances?"

 

[AUEnder]

My guilty pleasure? Colt 45. I love it. Like buy 40s just for drinkin, not even parties love it.

"I don't claim you can have a better time with Colt 45 than with out it, but why take chances?"

My God that's gross. But rock on dude!

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk

 

[JasonToews]

i won't drink a BMC no matter what, i'm an insufferable snob. my guilty pleasure is not beer it's music, i like mika.

Mika is amazing!!! My guilty pleasure is Kokanne, im sorry but if i was offered something like budweiser or PBR i would drink water or pop.

 

[jiggs_casey]

I'm with you on this one eastoak. Not to knock anyone for drinking BMC but I just can't do it.

And not to hijack the thread, but I think this is a good place to tell a little story, and it fits with the drinking ****ty beers with inlaws theme here.

The insult: At Thanksgiving (the Canadian one) we had my brother-in-law and his wife over. I had a case of 24 Mill Street Tankhouse Ale on hand (for those of you unfamiliar, this is a really really good micro-brewed hoppy pale ale from Toronto). The brother in law proceeded to polish off a bunch of them and when we ran out of beer, he offered to buy the next case, went to the beer store and came back with 12 Labatt's Blue. To me, this is a huge party foul. I did not drink any, as I had some good rum on hand. He left the Blue, and made the comment that he expected them to be "improved" by Christmas - meaning that he expected me to drink the ****ty beer and replace it with something good.

The revenge: I tried to drink a blue after cutting the grass one day, and I got about 2 sips in before dumping it (again not knocking anyone who likes the stuff, but I just can't do it). I thought, "How can I get back at him for doing this terrrible injustice to my beer fridge?" So, here's what I did: I have put a little "IMPROVED" sticker on each bottle of his crappy beers and put them in the fridge next to my home brews. When he asks for a beer, that will be what he gets.

Is this reasonable?

Definitely reasonable. I think his comment was rather dickheaded. I probably would have responded in kind with, "I'll dump them then", or something to that effect. However, I like the 'improved' sticker idea better.

That being said, I drink bmc. If my intention is to get ****ty, I prefer BMC! That first 'post yardwork' beer? BMC. Tailgating? BMC. They're mindless, quick, easy and cheap. I'm a 'session' drinker and I hate burning through my stash of homebrew. I try and save those for when I'm craving something with flavor. The same goes for the craft beers I buy.

 

[Fizzycist]

I came to alcohol relatively late in life, mostly as vodka and gin tonics. Some friends had to coax me onto beer and they started with good Colorado microbrews, which means I still can't stomach BMC. However, I must admit, I can down ... sigh... Mike's Cranberry Hard Lemonades like they are going out of style.

 

[Cambone]

I came to alcohol relatively late in life, mostly as vodka and gin tonics. Some friends had to coax me onto beer and they started with good Colorado microbrews, which means I still can't stomach BMC. However, I must admit, I can down ... sigh... Mike's Cranberry Hard Lemonades like they are going out of style.

Yikes, that is a dark secret. Worse than my Colt 45s

 

[Tyrone]

However, I must admit, I can down ... sigh... Mike's Cranberry Hard Lemonades like they are going out of style.

That's okay. Lots of chicks like MCHL. Wait, you are a chick... right?

 

[Skarekrough]

I have a special place in my heart for the cheap beer that is prone to getting left at my house after parties. Usually it's a six of Corona, Coors Light or some variant of Bud.

The local trash pickup guys are serious ball-busters. Anything looks out of the ordinary like trash from construction and they won't take it. And by "it" I mean anything you put out that week.

Of course, there's no note left or anything to tell you, but after it happens a few times you figure it out.

If I get up early enough and put the cheap beer on top of the trash and in plain view they'll take anything. When we were remodeling my basement I left a pile of old linoleum tiles out with a cold six of Corona on top - gone. An old grill? Took that too. And a pile of old lumber with a 30 brick on it? Gone. I swear they even swept up after they grabbed it.

The moral of this is never underestimate the power of beer.

 

[Skipper74]

My refrigerator contains homebrew and Busch Light. I probably only drink one Busch Light per month (if that), but every time I do, it brings me back to college days.....

 

[ajbram]

The moral of this is never underestimate the power of beer.

+ 1 x 10^8

 

[unionrdr]

When I was young & still working,that 12 pack cooler y'all see in my bottling videos was filled with Bud dry. Used to love that sitting on ice while I worked afternoon shift. Me & an ex-marine buddy used to enjoy a few after work in the plant parking lot before going home. Give one to the patrolling guard,& all is well.
Now that I'm retired,finances sometimes dictate the 12 pack of Milwaukee. Maybe some vodka shooters with it. But we both agree that my ales are better. Just hate going through them too quickly. But on the other hand,when I can afford it,craft brew is the order of the day.
That said,the #1 thing that got me into home brewing,other than craig & the guys showing how easy it is now,was that "good beer flavor" I remember from the 50's & 60's. I wanted to bring that flavor back. The older recipes must've still been in use when I was young. So I'd still like to take a crack at it when I get some good temp control. Call me crazy,but I just can't forget that flavor...like to bring it back.
So I guess I am a part time snob...

 

[supe_kitchen]

I was just thinking of another thing that proly puts me way apart from the majority of most craft beer drinkers, I really don't like super hoppy beers. I feel like there is a trend I do not enjoy which is to over hop every beer, especially on the west coast with styles that don't call for hoppiness. I hate buying something like a Dubbel and it tastes over hopped and out of style. I think I feel this way because my gateway beer to craft was optimator, or because I live in the Midwest, but either way I just feel like people need to get over their need to over hop everything.

 

[teresalgl]

My Dad drank Old Milwaukee like it was going out of style (he would rave that it was the best beer for the price). I have one every now and then in his memory. And I enjoy it.

 

[unionrdr]

Nothing wrong with that at all. I remember my dad used to bring me a bottle of Beam's Choice for my birthday. I'd be bbq'ing,or fryin up some fresh caught bass. We used to like Stroh's,Black Lbel,POC,Duquene,& the like in the old days. I'd love to see the Stroh's Bock again,that stuff was addictive. Me,dad,my brother & oldest buddy used to go to Pizza hut for pizza & a few pitchers of the Stroh's Bock. Good times.

 

[smalliewader]

Hot summer day around the pool or on the beach, ice cold Corona with lime is tough to beat.

A PBR after a day on the mountain is also tough to beat. But that's just pre-gaming for all the excellent micros you can get on the mountain at happy hour.

 

[unionrdr]

Before the smoking ban,my wife & I,my older son used to go to Buffalo Wild Wings on Friday afternoon. Food & trying different beers from all over. They had 2 or 3 big rows of taps along the length of the bar. That was where I 1st tried Stella Artouis on tap. Pretty good,& my free chalice is on it's way from them. It''s posted in another thread here.
So I guess you could say that started me on my way to beer snobery. I'll by the good stuff as often as possible. But won't turn down a BCB if offered,or all I can afford atm.

 

[houndsbreath]

My wife's uncle is a great guy; we talk hunting and sports every chance we get at holidays, birthdays, etc. He knows I'm a homebrewer so we always talk beer for a little. His beer of choice is Milwakee's Best and he will happily split a 6 pack with you. I have to admit, on a 95 degree day in Texas, they can be surprisingly good. I have to laugh when he tells me he "ventured out" last weekend and bought 6-pack of Shiner bock...He did, however, love a hefe I brewed last June.

 

[unionrdr]

I wish my dad was still here to try my ales. He used to brew some strong stouts himself.

 

[Revvy]

I love beer. I consider myself a beer geek. I like beer, to brew beer, to talk beer, beer history, etch.

I no longer care who brews what or who drinks what. I think beer is beer, and this is the best time to drink/brew beer. There's plenty for everyone...those who like light lagers and those who like ales...we have plenty to choose from. Hell even in my chain grocery store, there's now more craft beer on the shelves than BMCs.....

I don't like rice adjuncted light lagers, or rice adjuncted lagers in general, not because they're BMC, or made by the "evil empire" and I'm "better" than those folks that drink it, but because they contain rice. So I don't like bud, bud light or sapporo for instance. But if other folks do, it's their choice. If that's all that's available, I'll drink wine or mixed drinks.

But I know why I don't like them, not 'cause it's the beersnob/homebrewer thing to do....And I don't look down on the folks who choose to drink them.


BUT, if they have Sam Adam's or Guinness, or an "MC" beer that is corn adjuncted, such as Miller, or Michelob, or more than likely here in Michigan Labatt's (like when I'm at a hockey game,) and if I'm in the mood for a beer, then I'll have that.

So trying various "Lagers" including those from microbreweries, I made a list of the ones I hated and the ones that were ok; trying to figure out why I liked some and not the others. Finding out that I like corn adjuncted lagers and not rice ones like sapporo and bud.

Millers, Michelob, Labatts, PBR, Strohs, Schlitz, I will drink, and many like Strohs and pabsts (the original 70's recipes I will actually buy and enjoy...to me te two main bud products just taste horrible to me.

I really like Labatt's blue.

One of our members just brought me a mixed case of Yuengling's, both the "traditional lager" and the Lord Chesterfield's ale. And the Lager is actually darker than the ale. And it is full of flavor.

A snob looks down on or judges what other folks drink. Or avoid certain beers, not because simply they don't like the taste, but for other reasons.

Even after all the years brewing and especially drinking craft and imported beers since 1986, the best beer I ever had was ice cold Negra Modelo Especial bought for probably a dime a bottle in 2001, in Ensenada Mexico, and drank on a Sandbar in mexico with fish tacos where the fish was caught and fried within a half hour after is was pulled out of the bay. With a simple wedge of lime for both.

 

[Airborneguy]

I was just thinking of another thing that proly puts me way apart from the majority of most craft beer drinkers, I really don't like super hoppy beers.

I can't stand overly hopped beers. As a matter of fact, I just recently started trying IPA's again and never even look at DIPA's.

 

[ajbram]

I'm with you Revvy... I would have to say the circumstances make the beer. My all time favourite was an Anker Bir - a pretty nondescript golden pilsner from Indonesia. As a beer, it's not the best I've ever had, but sitting drinking an ice cold 620mL bottle that cost me 9 cents wile eating fresh lobster and prawns on Jimbaryan Beach in Bali was pure bliss.

 

[wailingguitar]

I don't drink BM (insert scat joke here), I can handle the C... But have a soft spot in my heart for Heilman's Old Style, Blatz and a few others from back in the day.

I don't agonize over styles... well, if a beer claims to be one thing and is miles off I will make note of it... if I like it, I like it.

Brewing science and technique come in far second to this simple axiom; "it's what hits the glass that matters."

I have brewed in a few well known craft breweries. Of these, I learned a lot from John Maier and Larry Bell. They both have a sort of "ehhh, whatever works works... let's just make good beer" attitude. That rubbed off on me in a big way. I don't really care about gadgets, uber fine tuning of process, agonizing over why my IPA finished .004 higher than I expected... does it taste good? Yes... alright then... RDWHAHB!

 

[msarro]

I occasionally drink Coors Banquet (the yellow can, not the "light" stuff) when i'm at my girlfriend's parents house.

I actually think that there is history and some things to be appreciated about macro brews, even though I personally don't like them (generally speaking about BMC, not everything from InBev). The style is based on depressions, shortages, and what most people liked. Similar things can be said of other styles - for instance belgian styles tend to be malty because there were traditionally a lack of hops there. It doesn't make the beers bad.

I also think that some people take it way too far. Getting up in someone's face because they're drinking what they enjoy is just asinine.