Whats the best beer you've had & why?

[Fatman]

Somewhere, in the evil twin of this thread "what's the worst beer you've had and why" would be most English real ales. Where I live in the UK they're mad for them, and they're normally pretty awful. I stick to the palatable few, but even they are not good. Problem is that the alternative international beers are really bland. What I'd give to get hold of German beer more easily. Sorry, this is not a favourite beer, but I had to rant somewhere

Sacrilege.

I don't know what county in England you are in but real ale is sensational, you may be the unfortunate victim of some of the more mediocre larger breweries.
Still to each his own I guess.

 

[Binaural]

Sacrilege.

I don't know what county in England you are in but real ale is sensational, you may be the unfortunate victim of some of the more mediocre larger breweries.
Still to each his own I guess.

Hahaha, I think the problem is that all my local breweries are tiny and cater to the tastes of a minuscule group of beardy ale fundamentalists. We had a local beer fest the other day in the local castle, and there were hundreds of beers and ciders. Some were OK, but nothing that really knocks your pants off. It's just my taste really, I prefer German Weissbier and Helles, I'd even take a Radler over most UK beers.

 

[pak]

Good Beer

Hahaha, I think the problem is that all my local breweries are tiny and cater to the tastes of a minuscule group of beardy ale fundamentalists. We had a local beer fest the other day in the local castle, and there were hundreds of beers and ciders. Some were OK, but nothing that really knocks your pants off. It's just my taste really, I prefer German Weissbier and Helles, I'd even take a Radler over most UK beers.

I'am with you man, after living in UK an through Europe. German purity law wins for me.... Italian Peroni also the shit.....

 

[Fatman]

I do enjoy a good German beer but its easy to get bogged down in the vast amounts of mediocre lager, variety is the key.

Speaking of variety there was another outing yesterday to some of Sydney's more interesting beer establishments. Here are the highlights, we stopped in at Redoak, The Pumphouse, James Squire, The Lord Nelson and the Local Taphouse. The more interesting brews of the day were;

Pumphouse Thunderbolt Strong Ale. A powerful malty offering with loads of body and flavour with a thick creamy head. A great drop but put some of the boys on their arse after a couple.

Pumphouse Huhu Pilsener - Light and refreshing with a lovely hop bite.

Pumphouse 1891 Honey Porter- A little disappointing, doesn't have the rich honey character of some others, coffee aroma and slightly sweet finish.

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar- Deep brown with a generous head and intense hazelnut aroma, a little tart but easy drinking with a smooth finish.

James Squire Festive Pumpkin Ale - A most unusual but enjoyable beer, had the distinct flavour of pumpkin and beautiful clear orange colour. Smooth and easy to drink but one was enough for me.

Jamieson Beast IPA - I have probably mentioned this one before, its name is appropriate as it has a brutal hop bitterness and rich malt. Too much for a few of the lads but I enjoyed it immensely with the chilli fries and prosciutto pizza.

We did have quite a few others but many have been done before and others were just not worth mentioning.

 

[donny70]

Youngs Double Chocolate Stout
Brewed with actual chocolate as opposed to using malts with chocolate flavours.
Really rich flavours, you can only have one or two of these.

Maybe three...

 

[jonesy-88]

im not really a big beer fan but the nicest beer ive had was carlton draught lol was alright at 5am after finished 4wding haha

 

[MasterOfReality]

Youngs Double Chocolate Stout
Brewed with actual chocolate as opposed to using malts with chocolate flavours.
Really rich flavours, you can only have one or two of these.

Maybe three...

Can you get that here?

 

[Fatman]

Can you get that here?

It's a core Dan's product, about $7.50 from memory. A few independents have it as well.

 

[wespelarno]

• Having a pint of this with Dad to accompany our pepper Steak dinner tonight, it's been a few months since i've had an English ale, it's certainly the darkest beer i've had in months as this heat doesn't get me too excited for it and neither has the steak. pretty creamy with a lot of subtle flavours there but i can't really distinguish them from the food, should have just had it on it's own as it's far from unpleasant, it just deserves some space i reckon.

I haven't seen in it in aus, but if you do, try hobgoblins big brother, goliath. It basically takes everything good about hobgoblin, and makes it bigger and better.
http://www.beerstore.com.au/detail.asp?beerID=313
I was in england, at a pub all of 10km from the wychwood brewery.

Onto larger manufacturers, I quite like london pride for mass produced english ale. Infact, I would go as far as to say it is better than some of the obscure local breweries.

 

[Raw Toast Man]

The official launch was yesterday, we've had it in for about a week and the feedback has been mixed.
Personally I'm not fond of it, just another insipid low carb. As the 62 proved, just because it's Coopers doesn't make it good.

Having never had the 62 pils, I cant comment on it. Having a few of the Coopers Clear now and enjoying it alot. Quite similar to XXXX Summer Larger, very dry, easy drink but has the Coopers malty after taste.
Would buy for parties to drink, I like it alot.

 

[NCR600]

I managed to get an invte to the Malt Shovel Brewery's launch of the latest Mad Brewer's release, "Orchard Ale".

An interesting Saisson style ale brewed with apple juice sourced from a cider orchard in (of all places) Orange.
Earthy and rich with heavy apple flower overtones and a quite pronounced apple palate. Very interesting, but definately not a session beer, although we made a good fist of trying to session it in smaller glasses!

Matches fantastically well with pork belly, blue cheese and strong cheddar, all thoughtfully supplied by MSB.

We then made a night of it heading to the Local Taphouse via Schwartz's brewerey in the Macquarie hotel. Standouts were the Jamison Beast IPA (although a little under hopped for mine) and Schwartz's Pale Ale, which had a pronounced passionfruit/citrus tang, and was a pretty refreshing drop, particularly after building up a thirst walking from camperdown!

I also managed to try a cider I actually liked, Henry of Harcourt Duck & Bull. I really don't know enough to try to describe it but it was a cloudy style, quite heavy and about 9% abv. Anyone know who stocks it in Sydney and other similar products I can try?

 

[Pebble]

Just brought a premium beer 10 pack. The Grolsch seems to be a very nice beer, I liked the VB Raw as well so far but the Carlton DRY Fusion (with lime) beats them all, completely different to any beer I've tasted so far. I suppose being a woman it's the softdrink like taste that would be atractive.

 

[Garrath]

Mountain Goat Rare Breed IPA

Mountain Goat have just released a limited edition IPA. It's a bloody tasty IPA and if your into IPA's, find it before its gone.

if you ever come across any beers from Mikkeller and you have the dollars to spare, jump in as they are bloody amazing as well. Mikkeller are from Denmark. The Oatgoop is very intense, a dark beer that improves in character as it cools down. The whopping big alcoholic content also helps at around 10%.

 

[skivi]

attention fellow cider fans i won't bore you with a crappy rant (see my dribble posts above) on how my tongue orgasmed but this is without hesitation the best cider I've ever had the pleasure of drinking. find some, get some, chill it (has to be very cold) and save it for a summers evening on the deck, absolute bliss.

 

[nikmcc]

... Anyone know who stocks it in Sydney and other similar products I can try?

Maybe something similar...

I buy a lot of beer from here:

http://www.adelaidebiershop.com.au/home.php

Service is real good, it is usually at my door step within 3-4 days




You could also try:
http://www.beerstore.com.au/index.asp

But... there service is absolute SHIT! The website does not accurately reflect what they have in stock. Personally I dont order from them anymore, but you might get lucky

 

[floody]

Van Dieman Brewing Ragged Jack Pale Ale - well, after just smashing down some of the gnarliest, rockiest, fastest stuff I've ever ridden, at race pace, with 20 other people, for 20+ minutes, it was pretty welcome!*



*At the finish of Wellington Super-D. Sponsored by Van Dieman Brewing , and hopefully on again late this year. 1000m vertical descent through heritage forest into our world class bike park.

 

[brisneyland]

Anyone one tried Terrible Beer or My Wife's Bitter? Gonna pick up a few of each one night and watch Pure Shit with the boys.

 

[Arete]

Maybe something similar...

I buy a lot of beer from here:

http://www.adelaidebiershop.com.au/home.php

Service is real good, it is usually at my door step within 3-4 days




You could also try:
http://www.beerstore.com.au/index.asp

But... there service is absolute SHIT! The website does not accurately reflect what they have in stock. Personally I dont order from them anymore, but you might get lucky

The Adelaide Bier Shop's inventory is very similar to Dan Murphy's only considerably pricier.

 

[Labcanary]

Anyone one tried Terrible Beer or My Wife's Bitter? Gonna pick up a few of each one night and watch Pure Shit with the boys.

I have tried Terrible many moons ago, I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it but can't for the life of me remember what the flavour was like. I did not like paying so much for it (something close to $20 for a 500ml bottle I think). I've been meaning to try My Wife's Bitter (great name) so let us know how it goes.

 

[nikmcc]

Anyone one tried Terrible Beer or My Wife's Bitter? Gonna pick up a few of each one night and watch Pure Shit with the boys.

I've got a big bottle of Terrible at home waiting to be drunk, looks and sounds far from terrible...

The Adelaide Bier Shop's inventory is very similar to Dan Murphy's only considerably pricier.

Never really had much luck finding what Im after at Dan Murphy's, but maybe I'll have to check em out again one day