Re: US beers you recommend.
 

What a great point. Never thought of that, but it's very true. Now you've got me pining after light ales!

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

HEY me tooooo, Manny's is my no. 1 favorite, its weird as I never thought I would try a beer like that, but once I did I was hooked!! or pissed :unsure:

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

They are learning, even one of the kings of bigger is better (Stone) have come out with a session beer that is tasty and only 4.4%. http://www.stonebrew.com/tasting/levitation/

Also, if you can find it Anchor Small Beer is a fine drop and comes in at only 3.3% http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/smallbeer.htm

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

Alaskan Amber, Boont Amber and the old standby Sam Adams are my US faves.

Frequent a local BevMo (or equivalent) and just work your way through all the weird and wonderful brewskis. You're bound to find a few you like.

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

Some of my favorite session beers under 5.5%:

- Black Butte Porter, Deschutes Brewery
- Odell Cutthroat Porter, Odell Brewing
- Stone Pale Ale, Stone Brewing
- Bridgeport IPA
- Stone Levitation Ale
- 1554, New Belgium
- Mirror Pond, Deschutes Brewery

I could go on, there are lots of great session ales out there, and if you can't find one-- then you are not :beer: enough

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

Here in Northern California there are a good many good micro-brews out there, but I agree, some are a little too much.

My favourites change from time to time, but the ones I keep going back to are:

Lagunitas IPA (very strong flavour but not too fizzy)
Mirror Pond beers (Oregon) - both the porter and the pale ale are excellent
Fat Tire is good, subtle flavour (for a microbrew)
And Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Anchor Steam from San Francisco are my standby beers.

My favourite last year was Sierra Nevada Torpedo - probably not what you're looking for at a whopping 7% alcohol, but very tasty for a strong beer and aptly named!

There used to be a fantastic beer here in Sacramento called Red Horse, but sadly the brewery closed down last year.

And one last suggestion - not beer, but Hornsby's Hard Cider is just right, especially on a warm summer night. They do sweet and dry varieties. I think it's produced by the Gallo wine company in California.

I'm not too fussed on Sam Adams - not bad, but not all that good either. Whenever I visit my sister-in-law, she offers me a bottle of Sam Adams Light, and like a fool, I take one!

I miss my Empire Ale, Bishop's Finger, Old Hookey and, most of all, Wadworth's 6X! Anybody want to bring me some back when they next cross the pond? :)

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

Sierra stuff is great and pretty cheap at Trader Joes, at least for me.

Wadworth I've seen in my local offie but they do special orders for people if they commit to at least a crate, even saw that they got a local Austrian brew to where my brother used to live because someone around here wanted it...bet that cost a fair bit though :lol:

Caffreys is something I miss, apparently sold in a few places, but not around here and I don't fancy a crate of the canned stuff...anything similar over here?

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

Maybe if you just took some Sam Adams and stuck in in a blender for a bit before freezing it almost to within an inch of it's life?

P.S. I've also got a great recipe for homemade Budweiser if anyone wants it, but you make it in the bathroom not the kitchen.

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

18 bottles of 4.2% Miller Lite for $11.99 does the job for me.

Perfect for a session on an NFL Sunday. As long as you just stick to the one case then hangovers/headaches aren't too bad. Can get a bit messy if you start chasing shots with them though. I try not to do that now though.

When it's not the NFL season then a fridge full of ice cold domestic USA lager is perfect for the long summer days sat out on the porch swing.

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

Yeah I got 'Torpedoed' a few times last year! You are right the name is very apt.

You can't really go wrong with anything from Sierra Nevada or Stone. Those 2 plus a Georgia brewery Sweetwater are my 3 standards, although I love trying out new stuff all the time.

A couple of weeks ago at my local bar they had a cask of Rogue Mocha Porter. It was absolute heaven to be drinking non-chilled, non-fizzy beer. Just a shame it was $7 for a (US) pint.

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

Seriously???? Miller Lite , I thought this was a thread about beer :eek:

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

Among local beers my favourites are

#1 Oliver's Best Bitter, Baltimore, MD.
#2 Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA, Milton, DE
#3 Legend Brown Ale Richmond, VA

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

Shiner for a nice beer, MGD or Tecate for cooking lager.

There is a firm trying to bring Fuller's to the TX Panhandle, which might be nice.

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

by a remarkable coincidence I just finished my 'top 5 local beers' for the travel thread on another forum that i contribute to...

PEJP's Top 5 Local Beers

1. Brooklyn Local 1

Brooklyn Local 1 is a beer created by the Brooklyn Brewery (see note below). The only place that I have seen it on draft is at the Brooklyn Brewery itself, but I've seen several places that serve it by the bottle. It comes in a traditional Belgian style large bottle which I believe is 3/4's of a liter, so clearly you need a friend to share it with or you need to be very thirsty! This beer weights in at a whopping 11%, so its something to be savoured rather than to get pissed on, although if getting pissed is your aim then the BL1 will certainly do the job! I usually enjoy a nice bottle of BL1 at Chez PEJP with a rich cheese from the fromagerie at Whole Foods. The BL1 has a complex flavour..it is a dark beer, yet without the overly yeasty taste that you find in other dark beers. It is created using a bottle fermentation process which I understand is quite rare these days, and you can taste that in the beer itself. It's hard to explain, but this beer doesn’t taste 'mass produced'..you get the impression that every bottle is something special. I prefer to drink it in a round bottom glass instead of a pint glass, and sometimes will use a large wine glass.

http://beerglasstripod.files.wordpre...klynlocal1.jpg

2. Sixpoint Sweet Action

Sixpoint brewery is another brewery in Brooklyn, although way smaller than BB. It is relatively new, and was started by two guys from Wisconsin which is a state with many micro-breweries of its own. Sixpoint make several beers, although the Sweet Action is my favourite. I've started seeing this in more and more places, and you can recognise it from the tap with a small orange star on it. It's a fairly malty ale, but very refreshing and tasty. For me, this is a good Sunday afternoon beer. It's probably a bit heavy for all night drinking, but this goes great with food.

http://rattlenhumbar.files.wordpress...xpointlogo.jpg

3. Yuengling Lager

Yuengling is a brewery in Pennsylvania, and has the distinction of being the oldest in America. They produce several beers, although the one that you'll see the most is the Yuengnling Lager. Not much to say about this really. It’s a great lager style beer, its not too fizzy so you can put away lots of it, and unlike the mass produced crap it actually has a really nice taste. Tip…its pronounced ying-ling. The tap is red with an eagle on it. Plenty of bars will stock it.

http://www.pointsincase.com/tyler/up...ger-798888.jpg

4. Magic Hat Number 9

Magic Hat is a small brewery in Vermont that produce 4 year round beers, and 4 seasonal. My favourite is the Number 9. You'll know if a bar stocks this, as the tap is a distinctive copper coloured thin bar with a number 9 at the top. It looks almost like a copper spatula or something. The number 9 is a kind of pale ale style beer. Great with food, but just as good for a long session. It's 4.6 so not super strength, but not weak either. Its fairly bitter, but at the same time it goes down very smoothly. Similar to Yuengling in that you probably wont have much trouble finding it in most bars.

http://businessclassnyc.files.wordpr...0/magichat.jpg

5. McSorleys Light/Dark Ales

McSorleys is a very old bar in the East Village that brews its own beer. The bar looks like it hasn’t changed in the 150 years its been open, but in a good way! McSorleys is one of the last men only pubs to exist in NYC, and only began allowing women in 1970. When you go to McSorleys, you have two choices…light beer, or dark beer. That’s it. No vodka and coke, no whiskey and soda…nothing. Light beer or dark beer. The light beer is my favourite, very easy to drink and it has a nice hearty flavour to it. A beer is served in TWO small glasses with a pretty large head on them. So if you and a mate go in there, ask for 'two light' and you'll get 4 glasses of beer, this is the way it is served..do not just order one beer and have one each.It's only $4.50, which by Manhattan standards is cheap, but its excellent quality and you'll find yourself getting pretty pissed as the atmosphere is fun and boisterous and the beer keeps flowing. You can sit if you want, chances are you'll be at a table with strangers, but you better be drinking otherwise they'll make you get up! They serve a few simple items, such as a burger, fries, and they do a cheese plate as well, which is basically some cheese and a packet of crackers. can be a bit touristy at times, but you get plenty of locals in there too.

http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/568...6BF04B24B4128C






* The Brookyln Brewery is a fantastic brewery, and you can visit and take a small tour of their facilities on Saturdays and Sundays. They have a bar with all the Brooklyn staples, as we as limited edition stuff and experimental beers. You cant get food there, but you can order in pizza from the local delivery place with no problem. I was recently at a function hosted by Garret Oliver, the master brewmaster at the BB, and was able to hear his thoughts on beer and its great to know that there are people out there who want to keep making good quality beer and educate people about beer. The bar there is really fun, and I'd recommend it as an essential part of any trip to NY. The Brewery is located in Williamsburg, nearest subway is Bedford Ave on the L train.

Re: US beers you recommend.
 

I have to put forwward the following:

Long Trail IPA from VT
The Cape Anne micro brewery in Gloucester, MA - some great beers
Sam Adams - always available

I am a bit spoilt as I grew up in Breakspears country in the UK. One of the best bitters of all time, until bought out by Whitbred or someone similar.

Cheers

Porvera