Craft Beers Thread: Best Craft Beers?

I bought a 4 pack of murphys stout.
Wish me luck anons

Try smithwick red Irish ale. It's mellow, with almost no hop flavor.
And it's brewed in Ireland

Try some wheat beers.

>Torpedo

I, too, enjoy the taste of pinecones.

Thanks mate, will do. I'll see if I can find it in my country.

SCOTCH ALES
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They are the opposite of hop bombs. They are very malty.

>hate the taste of hops

Try a really well balanced, well hopped beer that's really fresh some time; it's like drinking a bouquet of flowers. Once it goes just a little past it's freshest it turns completely different and will fall flat.

I'm a big fan of sours and lambics, pic related is my favorite. What kinds of foods would you guys pair with these types?

I'm Minnesotan, so my beer taste is very, very local.
For craft beer, my go-to is Surly. Lift Bridge is alright, as is Excelsior. Mankato brewery has put out a few good ones. My favorite was I think Eris Ale, but they seem to have discontinued it; their Crooked Rook porter, Organ Grinder amber and their Imperial Red are all good though.

I've had Wisconsin's New Glarus; I don't get the hype. It's certainly not bad, but I've had several better in Minnesota. I think it's only because they won't sell it here.

My go to, not really craft beer though, is Schell's Firebrick. Grain Belt Nordeast is always a good alternative though. Both easy drinkers, but different.

I have only recently gotten into craft beer but my preference has rapidly changed over these last few weeks. I used to be really into the big meaty imperial stouts. There are so many good ones. But I kinda got sick of the same chocolate/coffee/dark fruit flavor that is present in all of them. It almost feels like a cop out to me. I can dilute anything with chocolate and have it taste half way decent.

That is when my appreciation for hops-based beers started to really grow. Now I am a huge fan of IPAs/IPLs as I feel like the flavor profile of these beers is a bit more nuanced since they can't just mash in a shit ton of meme flavors to mask the booze. I dunno man. IPAs just seems more detailed and skilled. I hated them originally.

that's my favorite sour too!

I have a hard time finding any recommendations for Pilsners. I found Trumer Pils from a meme bar in SF and it's really good, had a few other Bavarian-style and Austrian-style pils that were good, but not memorable. Not fond of Czech style pils from what I remember.

if you like duchess you might also like vanderghinste oud bruin too!
i paired it with some quality pastrami on toasted rye

I love IPAs but I would argue that they too can "cop out" with excessive hops

When I went to Ireland, I was surprised that Guinness Draught seems way more popular there than Guinness Extra Stout. I like the latter more, the former seems kind of flat and flavorless.

I've loved craft beers for several years now.

Some beers I like in particular:

Brooklyn Lager

Bronx Pale Ale

Lagunitas

Sam Adams Boston Lager

Sam Adams Boston Ale

Guinness Extra Stout

Mermaid Pilsner

I even like Heineken and Corona sometimes, but I try to avoid shit like Budweiser. I'll still drink it but usually only to pregame.

I remember really liking Brooklyn Pilsener.

Oh and when I was in Ireland, I tried McGargle's Pale Ale and it was really good. I'm not sure if it's available in the US.

...

I'm not a fan of the way the infographic is organized as it could mislead less knowledgeable people into thinking that bitterness is correlated with the darkness of the beer. I've had enough overhopped pale ales/IPAs and milk stouts.

New glarus puts out a lot of seasonals and special release beers that are fantastic. I have their grand cru in my basement now. It is an exclusivity thing that gets them hyped, but they're still a great brewery

soundtrack for this thread:
youtube.com/watch?v=BSnbhmAvPrk

Eh. You'll have different favourite types of beer at different times. Recently I have been smashing the saisons, but when winter swings around I'll probably go back on the stouts.

Guinness ain't craft beer m8. I do like it but it ain't craft beer.

Jever Pilsener is one of my favs.

This. Is. Lager. by Brewdog is also a really good one.

>Bavarian-style pils
bavaria is not really famous for pils but they make great weißbier

>porter: has burnt taste (my fucking face when I read this)

>like bud light? Try this equally mass-produced and adjunct-loaded piss water beer!

Great chart

For a thick creamy dark beer I would get murphys irish stout. I like high abv beers so that's not my kind of stout but it sounds like what you're looking for.

I like high abv ales. I drink a lot of ipa variants because ipa is ubiquitous but I'm down for some malty 9%+ stuff. I live within 100 miles of lagunitas so I drink a lot of their stuff. They're probably my favorite.

I highly suggest this for you, OP.
If it wasn't $5 a bottle where i live, it'd be the only beer I'd drink

second this. Ayinger is great just check the date on the bottle as most of their varieties are better closer to the brew date.

Hops initially taste awful to any beer drinker. You have to develop a pallet for hops, then you'll really start to appredicate them. I recommend starting with a craft pilsner that has a subdued hop character like Lagunitas Pils, Firestone Walker Pivo Pils, Victory Prima Pils etc.

If you're feeling a little more bold, move onto the pale ale or session IPA. Founders All Day IPA is widely regarded as one of the most accessible IPA's available in most markets.

Pair with funky cheeses and cured meats.

I recommend opening up to a new style - The Kolsch. It's a German style beer brewed in the tradition of a lager but with ale yeast, making it a unique mix of ale and lager. Ithaca brewing out of NY makes a kolsch called Daydreamer. Captain Lawrence also makes one. If you want one imported from Germany, Gaffel Kolsch or Reissdorf Kolsch are good options.

Celebrator should have a pretty long shelf life. Dopplebocks are high in alcohol and maltier as opposed to hoppy. They probably stay good 9 months to a year.

I agree with you, the charts not great.
A stout should taste far more "burnt" than a Porter. The only exception I could see to that is if it's a smoked porter.

sounds pretty good. i wonder if they sell it here in NC...

Another in a similar vein is the German Alt style brewed with a lager yeast at ale temperatures. I've noticed a number of microbreweries are starting to brew this style. It's got the crispness of a pilsner but with more body.

OP here, love Kölsch as a refresher
Probably my favorite lighter beer to memory

Just looked up a few for you. Any of these near you?

ncbeerguys.com/nc-craft-beers/nc-craft-beer-directory/?sw=Kolsch&bs=&go=Go

>not hefeweizen

lolok

Highland's only 30 mins away.

Thanks, user

Yeah I'm seeing alt-biers pop up more frequently and it's definitely a great style, but they're a little bit maltier than the kolsch, which is a super light, crisp, refreshing beer, almost even more so than the pilsner IMO.

(OP here) Yup yup lol

I've lived in Houston for like 10 years

I'd love to drink a beer like that - all the styles in one glass

Not everyone loves the super yeasty flavor of a hefeweizen. A beer can be light and refreshing without needing to be super cloudy and fruity (don't get me wrong, I love hefes)

I'm trying to think of NC breweries that make it up to my state (PA) and the only one I can think of is Duck Rabbit, and they only do dark beers.

They don't do Sierra Nevada or Oskar Blues, or Wicked Weed in PA?

Man, you gotta come here.

On the other hand, you can't get many German-style brews down here.

I don't know. I just don't like how this chart is trying to oversimplify the concept of tasting and judging a beer just so normies can understand it.

It's not such a complicated thing to understand that you have to discard quality descriptors and replace them with a blanket statement like "all porters have a burnt flavor". Sames goes for the rest of the styles they listed.

I get Sierra Nevada and Oskar Blues but those aren't based out of NC. Those are both West Coast based. I'm familiar with Wicked Weed but I never find it in my area so I don't think it really comes up here.

It's really hard to make a chart that adequately describes how a style of beer tastes when within a given style there are tons of variants in terms of flavor profiles. The chart is definitely lacking and imperfect but it would be awfully hard to describe beer flavors in a chart format like that anyway.

they are macro but they're taste wise closer to craft beer than other macros (in particular the Extra stout and Foreign Extra are) so I can see why he would list it with the rest.

>hefeweizen
>super yeasty flavor

Right. Just because hefeweizens have yeast character, they suddenly have "super yeasty flavor"

Must you uncultured swine make everything you don't understand so black and white?

My favorite Irish Red is actually an American beer. Conway's Irish Ale from Great Lakes Brewing is one of the best Irish Reds I've ever had.

Maybe it would be more accurate to dissect the ingredients commonly used in beer and describe the flavors and characteristics they impart, and then list the styles of beer that use those ingredients.

For instance, instead of calling porters "burnt", you'd say that some porters contain roasted barley, which impart a roasty, coffee-like flavor.

Sure an American hefeweizen will have subdued yeast flavor but a traditional German hefeweizen? All of the flavors that make it unique come from its yeast. A Belgian wheat beer cheats by adding fruit flavors, like orange peel. Any fruit flavors derived from a German hefeweizen are from the potent yeast alone. I'm not knocking Hefeweizens mate, they're a phenomenal style of beer.

Try Broad River Red Ale by River Rat brewery. ot the best I've had, but damn close.

fag

The men who built this country drank Budweiser and Coors, and they didn't do it so you could drink your faggy craft shit

Oregonian here. Lots of great microbrews around.

Love everything from IPAs to stouts, particuarly brown ales.

Aye. Of the almost readily available in any craft beer place, Founder's Dirty Bastard is king. Followed by Oskar Blues Old Chub.

I am going to the Tree House Brewing Co. brewery in Massachusetts tomorrow. Any of you faggots want anything?

Any thoughts on New Belgium beers? Just got a 6 pack of Abbey that a friend recommended I try. Pretty good.

Fat Tire is a solid go-to if selection is limited. 1554 is really nice, but not for everyone.

>men who built this country

No. Before prohibition and WWII, beer was brewed by every town and often every bar. They differed between each other and resembled more the microbrew culture of today than the macro pablum after prohibition and WWII. During WWII, women were the primary consumers of beer in the US, and of course they demanded flavorless pisswater. When the men came home, they were happy enough to be alive and getting fucked again, so they didn't bitch.

The macrobrews of the US are a direct result of women's ascendancy after WWII. Men that still suck the macrobrew tit, simply cannot breakaway from the female domination.

That works.

IPAs are a literal meme.

I've tried around 80% of the 50 top rated IPAs on beeradvocate and they all tasted like shit, except for a few that were okayish

at least the food in vermont was good

Agreed..

Bought this for $0.99 for a SIXPACK. $3.84 for 4 sixers. Tastes like smoked cheese's smokiness. 3.5/10 by itself. 7/10 with smoked meats.

Heady topper

What are the best beers to buy in SoCal that I can find at pretty much any liquor store/market?

>I'm a manbabby who can't drink anything bitter, it's so icky >:X
Why do you even feel the need to come in here and tell us? Are you looking for affirmation that it's okay to not like IPAs to make you feel better about being an insecure twat or what?

Port/Lost Abbey, Russian River, Bear Republic, The Bruery, Alesmith, Stone, Firestone Walker, Green Flash, Dust Bowl.

I tried a bottle of st bernardus christmas ale, but all I could taste was sour. did I get an expired bottle or something?

Kolsch has really taken off over here in Australia in the last few years. Not sure about over in America, UK etc. But yeah it's a really good alternative to lagers, pale ales, golden ales for refreshing summer drinking.

Don't worry about it.

Definitely sounds like an infected bottle. I get some slight raisin/currant notes, but nothing remotely resembling tartness. Sucks to hear that mate, it's a really wonderful beer. Give it another go sometime, you won't regret it.

Did you live in the Philippines before that?

Drinking this. Much better than the last time I had it. More fruity and balanced. Minnesota brewery with potential. Also love their logo. Not my pic.

What do you think?

Their summer warmer was interesting. I really think they found some hops on the cheap and didn't know what to do with it, so they put it really strong and says it will make you feel warm. It was like a high class malt liquor.

Sounds about right. They've really gone downhill the last couple years.
Texans are cucks

Anyone else fucking hate pilsners?

Yes, they are mediocre at best. Fucking Czech fags

Excuse terrible photo

Bought this from a beer shop in York a couple of days ago

Pretty nice, though it might be over the top chocolate/nutty but it's quite subtle.
I like Saltaire stuff usually and this is no exception.

>over the top
>also subtle
are you just saying random words?

I said I thought it MIGHT be over the top like some of these choconutcofee porters sometimes are

But it's not

Sorry if that was unclear user

Not Czech pilsners. There aren't many beers I can think of that are better than a fresh tapped Pilsner Urquell. I've sampled some clones from microbrews that are only on tap in Kansas City that were awfully close, though.

You forgot the t in thought is all.

York, PA?

New brews.

That Burton Baton sounds good; going to have to keep an eye out for it.