Your favorite Beer.

[warpus]

My favourite Polish Beer

Man, that stuff is good

 

[El Koeno]

Either:
- People that ove belgian beer don't post because they know they won't be found original. ie. people post here to promote original beers that no one ever heard off. Because everybody already knows Belgian beers are the best of the world*, they don't post.
- People don't want to admit they love Belgian beer
- They don't realise we have around 8700 kinds of beer. Instead they think belgian beer = inbev. Which is obviously false.

Check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_beer

My favorite:

Spoiler :

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/monks-who-make-worlds-best-beer-pray-for-quiet-life-502172.html

For more than 160 years the Trappist monks at Saint Sixtus monastery in Flanders have been producing a rich, dark-brown, beer renowned for its exceptional flavour and strength. But an unexpected misfortune has befallen this reclusive community of 26 Cistercians: their beer has been named the best in the world.

So great is demand that stocks are exhausted and sales have been stopped. As hits on the monastery website reach 2,000 a day, Saint Sixtus has been deluged with requests for media interviews from the US to Bulgaria.

At the gates of the monastery, near the French border and 50 miles from Calais, a notice directs visitors across the road to the claustrum, an exhibition on monastic life. Normally, the only outsiders allowed to visit the silent order are those who seek spiritual contemplation.

But Mark Bode, co-ordinator of the claustrum, has agreed to speak to The Independent and leads the way to a spartan office where he explains the principle behind the brewery. "It is to produce as much beer as we need to finance the community," Mr Bode says. "We make the beer to live but we do not live for beer." Hence their anxiety about the accolade by www.rateBeer.com, an independent US-based site for beer enthusiasts, which named Westvleteren Abt 12 the best. One of the two other monastery brews. Westvleteren Extra 8, is rated as the ninth best.

Most brewers would be delighted; the monks of Saint Sixtus are not. Mr Bode says: "They are worried about the publicity, about the hype around the beer. This is double-edged. It is a problem." He lives in the nearby town of Poperinge but knows how the monks think because he spent a year in their community. "Outsiders don't understand," he says. "They say, 'You are successful, make more beer; you will make more money'. But the monks believe the most important thing is monastic life, not the brewery."

So production will remain at 4,500 hectolitres a year, between 70 and 75 days of brewing. Belgium has more than 100 breweries and exports many "abbey" beers, only some of which have links to religious orders. But there are only six Trappist beers, Westmalle, Westvleteren, Achel, Chimay, Rochefort and Orval, all of which are brewed by monks.

Of these Westvleteren is the rarest because it has not been distributed commercially since 1941 and can be bought only at Saint Sixtus where, even in times of plenty, customers are rationed to five cases of 24 bottles. At the loading bay for car sales (closed), and the café at the claustrum, customers promise not to sell the beer. They do, at double the price. In the café, the one place Westvleteren is still available, visitors may buy only six 33cl bottles.

Inside the monastery's walled compound is a small, modern, bottling plant manned by three monks, producing 12,000 bottles an hour. Outside, three monks are loading crates on pallets. No one is speaking (permitted only in an absolute necessity) though a monk smiles as he hands us each a half-filled bottle of beer and another toots a horn as he sweeps by on a forklift truck

The monks sleep in dormitories and pray for up to six hours a day in seven sessions starting at 3.30am. They may consume a light beer, Westvleteren Blond, which, with an alcohol content of 5.8 per cent, is the weakest drink produced here.

The two others are brown ales: Westvleteren 8 (with 8 per cent alcohol), and the much-prized Abt 12 (Abt is Dutch for Abbot ) with its rich bouquet, strong flavour, slightly bitter aftertaste and alcohol content of 10.2 per cent. The unlabelled bottles can be distinguished by metal tops.

Brewing began in 1838 because the workers who built the monastery were entitled to two glasses of beer a day. With an alcohol content not much lower than that of some wines, the rarity of Abt 12 has won it a cult following. But the real secret may lie in the lack of commercialisation which makes Westvleteren almost impossible to buy.

edit: note: despite being rare, it's not that expensive. Only drunk it once as a reward for helping at a beer happening.

*) I would guess we win like 75% of the big/independant international beer contests (at least)

I think Belgian beers were mentioned in the thread already, but yeah: beer seems to be one of the few things Belgians manage to do properly.

 

[JustinianVII]

Samuel Adams

 

[Harvin87]

I happen to like Berliner Kindl also.. its a good beer... and of course... how could I forgot the good Rothaus Pils "Das Qualitätsbier aus dem Hochschwarzwald" ... but of course a good old Becks is never a bad option hehe...

 

[kalif]

Beer gets so bad over here, that you have to look really hard to find anything that differs from the rest of it. Germany sucks in comparison to our neighbours, at least when it comes to different flavours. Only Pils, Pils or Pils is available and some Weizen. And the taste of Pils gets equal more and more. Add to that, taht most bars, clubs etc. only sell Beck's and if you are lucky a local beer. We're going to have a nice monoculture of beer soon.

 

[tycoonist]

of common beers (i.e. the ones that i drink regularly) i prefer stella to most kinds. although i do prefer real ale to lager if its available.

 

[ComradeDavo]

My favourite Polish Beer

Man, that stuff is good

Yeah it's not bad, good choice

 

[Mirc]

Beer gets so bad over here, that you have to look really hard to find anything that differs from the rest of it. Germany sucks in comparison to our neighbours, at least when it comes to different flavours. Only Pils, Pils or Pils is available and some Weizen. And the taste of Pils gets equal more and more. Add to that, taht most bars, clubs etc. only sell Beck's and if you are lucky a local beer. We're going to have a nice monoculture of beer soon.

I don't know what Germany you're talking about, because over here there are 5 breweries within 15 minutes of walking distance from the very point where I'm writing this post, and since my arrival in Germany I have not drunk one single Pils (which, BTW, is not a kind of beer that I particularly like). There are a million different kinds of beer available, let alone brands of beer that belong to a group or another. True, the numbers have been declining (there were over 200 breweries in the Altstadt here, at one time), but what I've seen here is still better than almost anywhere else I've been to.

For example, since I'm completely broke right now, yesterday night when I went out I had to rely on my friends to buy me beer, and since every one of them likes a different kind, I've drunk yesterday 4 beers from 4 different categories. All in places within 5 minutes (walking distance) of each other.

Of course, I'm also advantaged by the position here - being some 40 km away from Belgium and 60 km away from the Netherlands, you can get pretty much anything from those three countries (BE, NE, and DE). But my point still stands.

 

[kalif]

mirc, you have to check out a normal Belgian pub and compare to a pub in D. They sell dozens of different beers over there and the variety dwarfs anything here.

It's true that I can only speak for the Niedersachsen/Bremen region, which is obviously Beck's home turf, but the decline of local breweries and availability of different flavours is bad. And with different flavours I don't mean Beck's, Beck's Gold, Beck's Sunny Orange, Beck's Green Lemon, Beck's Level Seven, Beck's Ice, Beck's Whatever or any other retailer's choices. Any Pils nearly tastes the same. It all goes down the way of women's beer, e.g. flavourless...

 

[Onionsoilder]

I'm a root beer person myself.

 

[Mirc]

mirc, you have to check out a normal Belgian pub and compare to a pub in D. They sell dozens of different beers over there and the variety dwarfs anything here.

Point taken, I've only been to Belgium once, and only been to two "pubs" there (more like outside terraces than pubs, really). I would really have no way to know about that.

It's true that I can only speak for the Niedersachsen/Bremen region, which is obviously Beck's home turf, but the decline of local breweries and availability of different flavours is bad. And with different flavours I don't mean Beck's, Beck's Gold, Beck's Sunny Orange, Beck's Green Lemon, Beck's Level Seven, Beck's Ice, Beck's Whatever or any other retailer's choices. Any Pils nearly tastes the same. It all goes down the way of women's beer, e.g. flavourless...

Heh, I thought that, after the Reinheitsgebot, Beck's Gold Beck's Sunny Orange, Beck's Green Lemon, Beck's Level Seven, Beck's Ice, Beck's Whatever cannot even be called beers in Germany.

All in all, I think I'm in a very lucky place in regards to beer, even if there might be some better places, like Belgium, about which I don't know yet. Maybe the immediate proximity to 4 other countries (including Belgium) helped a lot the diversity that can be found around here, but to me this is great.

Now you made me curious again to try some more Belgian beers (they can be found everywhere around here). Too bad I have no money!!

 

[Shekwan]

Best beer I ever had was Blue Moon.

However since I can't get that here I guess my favourite would be Hoegaarden White Beer. I also like Paulaner or Erdinger Wheat beer. Nothing beats a good pint of Guinness too although thats not a beer.

My favorite beer is no beer at all, because beer tastes objectively horrible. Bitter things will always taste bad; it's simply in our biology to repulse bitter tasting things. If you want a relaxing drink, drink soda, or failing that, plain old water.

I'm sorry for your loss, theres nothing more refreshing than a cold beer after a days work. Especially if its physically tiring work.

Nothing fancy. Bavaria. Just a nice light tasty beer.

I heard off a friend that Bavaria has recently become the most popular beer in Ireland. I usually drink it in college, at a euro a can its hard to go wrong.

On the topic of American versus European beer, I think its impossible to generalise like that. I loved the selection of beer in the US and its definately better than Ireland and the UK. However I've only been to NY and CA, so maybe this isn't true of some of the less civilized parts of the country. Holland and Belgium though is even better for beer, best beer selection I've ever seen was in an Amsterdam bar.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Hoegaarden is an excellent beer to "settle" for!

I picked up a few of these today at the store, you know how I love my wheat ales:

 

[capslock]

There is only 1 King of Beers, gentlemen.

Budweiser.

 

[bhsup]

Which one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_Budvar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_(Anheuser-Busch)

 

[Harvin87]

Which one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_Budvar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_(Anheuser-Busch)

the czech of course .. .

Have someone tried "Duff" ? hehe... I have... and its nothing extraordinary ... it just funny ... hehe

 

[REDY]

Hello ...

for me I would say that my favorite is beyond doubt .. Staropramen ... followed by Pilsner Urquell, XX lager (mexico), and Radeberger Pils .. is really cool too ... of course I like lots of beer .. but those are my fav...

and for you?

I dont like Staropramen much, first 2 beers only for taste are good, but for longer evenings in pubs I prefer other Czech beers, like (in order) Pilsner, Budvar, Svijany, Velkopopovický Kozel or Gambrinus.

You Germans have to have number of great beers.

 

[Rik Meleet]

Brand, om nom nom.

Same here.

Same here. Although Grolsch is welcome as well.

 

[fugazi]

The great thing about Brand is that it goes together oh so well with dinner. Restaurants and grand cafe's that serve Brand are fantastic.

 

[Fifty]

Imperial IPA! But its probably too flavorful for European palates... best stick with boring pilsners.