Or RateBeer. That one is the most extensive, at least on a global scale. BeerAdvocate might be more specific on the American crafts though.

Never actually used RateBeer actually, my taste is mostly inside the US micro styles which are covered pretty extensively on BA.

In other news, I have been drinking this local hero almost exclusively for the past couple of weeks, buying bombers whenever I find em.

Here's some metal themed beers I've run across; http://jesterkingbrewery.com/beers/#beers_188

haven't seen that, but i love me some imperial ipa/double ipa

I gave this a try:



"Störtebeker Treasure Chest" with 6 different varieties. I liked all of them except the "Hanse-Porter", which was very light (4,0%) and sweet to the point of tasting like a malt beer. Not what I've come to think of as a "porter", but I may be wrong. I was under the impression that they tend to be quite strong and, while sweet-ish, not that sweet.

The Pilsener was OK but nothing special. The rye-wheat pretty much tasted like regular wheat, I thought, but both wheat varieties were very good. Same goes for the black beer and Kellerbier.

I like their slogan - "The Beer of the Just".

Whoah. Am I drinking a Starbuck's refrigerated Frappaccino? I was halfway through the bottle before I could accept that this was beer.

Kona Brewing Co. uses their own beans for this brew, and dude .. if you like beer in your coffee, check it out.

It came as a part of a sampler 24 pack of Kona brew that my co-worker has been generously stocking the work fridge with. Over all, Kona's unimpressive. The Longboard is fine, but not great. But this modest little bottle soundly kicked the asses of all its box-mates. Very smooth, welter weight porter. And did I mention it's everything you like about chocolate covered espresso beans?
I'm not done, and I already want another one.

That Pipeline's cool, I think it was my first experience with the style too, but there exist far better Coffee Porters. Six Rivers up in Humboldt makes a fine one but it seems hard to find outside of a bevmo down by me, and then not consistently. Plus side, I'm pretty sure it's only about $4 for a bomber. Additionally, Ballast Point's Victory at Sea Imp Porter is pretty much the best coffee beverage I've ever tasted, alcoholic or otherwise. Both of them smell better than any coffee I've ever had

Thanks for the recs. I know it isn't the best of its kind. I was just shocked by how little it tasted like beer, like, at all. The other coffee porters I've had (names escaping me) tasted like lighter stouts with strong coffee accents. This tasted basically just like the Starbuck's thing out of the fridge, but with less cream .. which was weird, because there's no cream in beer. It was startling.

Next stop -- BevMo for Six Rivers and Ballast Point! (and Three Philosophers and Allagash)

I've had some coffee porters and stouts before and they've tasted like beer with strong coffee notes in there, but I tasted some NY brewery's coffee porter (Percolator something) in New York and it was pretty much like slightly carbonated, cold coffee. Not really good at all.

Ballast Point's Big Eye is superb. At least when fresh and on a hot day and with seafood. Allagash's tripel (the one that starts with C) on the other hand was too sweet and not enough like a tripel for my tastes.

I believe that would be the coffee doppelbock from Dark Horse in Michigan. I liked it, but yeah, it definitely tastes more like coffee than beer. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1471/39129



I generally find that the "coffee beer" style is very uneven and not very predictable. It would seem that a good way to let the coffee flavors stand out would be in a beer with little roasted character, like a barleywine or a doppelbock, but then you run the risk of the coffee completely dominating the beer like in the Dark Horse example. The addition of coffee beans (essentially burnt plant berries) to styles such as stout and porter (which are generally made with "roasted barley," aka burnt barley) should logically result in a profoundly charred-tasting beer with little sweetness, at least when fresh. This is certainly the case with, say, Bourbon County Coffee Stout from Goose Island, and to a lesser extent Founders Breakfast Stout. Yet I've also had coffee stouts that seemed smoother, sweeter, and "creamier" as (Grave mentioned) than should be the case. Examples include Central Waters Peruvian Morning (compared to Bourbon Barrel Stout) and Sam Adams Black 'n' Brew (compared to Cream Stout and Holiday Porter). I'm not really sure what the deal is.


Eh, whatever. I'd rather see more stouts/porters with vanilla beans added, personally.

Nah, it definitely wasn't a doppelbock, much too weak for the style. It was probably Stewarts.



Well, it all depends on what you're looking for. Personally, I don't think adding coffee to barleywines or doppelbocks is such a good idea since it would probably overwhelm the flavor too much usually. Especially with barleywines, I don't think it would fit the flavor profile though with the slight trend of coffee IPAs now, I don't really know. Haven't touched those myself. As for the dry or sweet stouts, well it all depends on how roasted the beer and the coffee are. Some stouts only have a little roasted barley in them, or have added milk sugar or oats for the smoothness and sweetness. Just like some coffee beans are only slightly roasted (making for more bitter and fruitier flavor) while some are much darker (smoother and more chocolatey and nutty). Some like their coffee black as night while some enjoy those big lattes. So, whatever is your preference. The former of course brings out the flavor of the coffee more.

samuel smith oatmeal stout is so delicious. Probably the beer I drink most these days along with Suffolk Vintage Ale. Always go down well. Stouty and hearty while still being extremely drinkable.

Fuck yes! Samuel Smith oatmeal stout is unbelievably delicious, one of my firm favourites (when I can find it).

Speaking of Samuel Smith, just tried their organic raspberry ale the other day, which was delicious. Gorgeous color, too.



Also did Ommegang's Abbey Ale. Another winner from Ommegang, though a bit more straightforward than the Three Philosophers. Realized that though Ommegang is based in New York state, they're apparently a division of Duvel, which would explain their apparent mastery of Belgian recipes.

^You post classy ish. I is take notez.


Ballast Point is a definite. I'll likely check out the Allagash tripel just to try it. What other tripels do you recommend?

Well, the classics of course: Chimay Triple/Blanche (White)/Cinq Cents and Westmalle Tripel are both excellent examples for the style. St. Feuillien make a great impersonation of it as well. My personal favorites though are La Rulles's Triple and 't IJ's Zatte. Both very peppery and spicy from the effects of the yeast, especially the latter since you can find those same flavors in all of 't IJ's Belgian-style beers. Those flavors just don't go as well with the other beers (Columbus, Struis) as they do with the tripel-style Zatte. The former is just so superb in all areas though, especially with cold and fatty fish dishes. These are all Belgian (well, Zatte is Dutch) though so I'm not sure how available they're over there. Probably Chimay and Westmalle at least. The one that you'll probably able to find as well is Chouffe's Houblon IPA Tripel. Not sure if calling it a tripel is really correct, the hopping is much stronger and more in the American vein as its done with Tomahawk and Amarillo. Not that much to my liking as a tripel, but good still.



While they're nowadays a subsidiary of Duvel, they were an independent, American brewing company before and were known for their good Belgian ales even then.

Had a couple yesterday: Vakka-Suomen panimon Prykmestar Savu: A decent, smoked beer, a bock I imagine from the flavor profile though they don't say. Good, but their Savukataja is just superior. Malmgårdin panimon (Ceci n’est pas une) Belge: One of the few Finnish attempts at Belgian beer styles (even our wheats are hefeweizens, not wits) , pretty decent, spicy, peppery and sweet, though rather without its own flair. Also was brought to us readily disturbed so the yeast was well mixed with the liquid itself.

Bought a stout from the local microbrewery called La Barberie before going to my almost weekly Board Game night yesterday, it was very good, I'm looking forward to buy their other beer. It was their strongest stout at 7,5%, very flavory (coffee and cacao).
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With the crappy cam of an itouch, the board game fans are gonna recognize this game!

Oh my, I'm going to be checking this thread a lot more often since I just turned 21 XD

Most of the stuff I've tried has been just generic crap that most of you have probably tasted before. I've consumed a fair share of Great Lakes which is a regional microbrewery based in Cleveland. This stuff was probably my favorite of all of their beers:

21? Oh right!

I'd like to try the "good" American beers, we only get your crappy ones.

What, Quebec doesn't have any good brands? *Slowly shakes head*

what? I didn't say that, we have awesome brands...

Québec does have awesome brands.

And so does BC! Been really into this local brewery: http://phillipsbeer.com/beer-fridge

Blue Buck has long been my beer of choice since early high school but lately I've been checking out some of their 650ml bottle specials. The Amnesiac is my favourite. A double IPA, 8.5%, its taste is quite abrasive at first, but it doesn't take long to get hooked.

Bogan (Boags) Draught. Tasmanian slop. So metal.

i LOVE ommegang abbey ale! good choice.

The lateness of our drinking also contributes to our stupid. Imagine the family jam sessions we miss out on!

+ beach

I am a big fan of the local 312. It's a Wheat Ale which is pretty easy to down.

I've also sparked interested in Stouts. So far I have really enjoyed Black Cauldron Imperial Stout, Guinness, and Left Hand Brewery's Milk Stout. Any recommendations?

Is that Grand Teton's Black Cauldron IS? Always wanted to try that one but I can never seem to find it when I've got the cash to blow. Since you like Guinness, you'd probably enjoy Guinness Foreign Extra. It's Guinness with flavor! If you're in the states you should keep an eye out for both Lagunitas and Stone's Imperial Russian Stout. Both are huge and heavy with an awesome bitterness to them without wrecking your palate but Stone's is a very limited seasonal release so it may be difficult to track down. Avery's Mephistopholes Stout is a tasty if boozy imperial stout with a hefty %17 abv masked fairly well with a whole lot of sweet malt and coffee. Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout is one of the most praised beers I know of but their distribution is fairly limited so depending on where you are it may be difficult to get. I've been trying to get ahold of some for years but they don't have distribution on my coast.

But this is the best damn stout I've ever had

It's a holiday seasonal by Deschutes and is brewed in super limited quantities and sold for around $13 for a bomber in my area. It's pitch black with notes of bourbon, licorice, roasted malt, and charcoal all held together by molasses. Quite possibly the best beer I've ever had

Just picked up a sixer of Sierra Nevada Pale. Local bottle-o is onto importing brews now, I'm shocked.

Sierra Nevada Pale is a great bar standard back in San Francisco. Definitely one of those beers that seems to fit most any occasion nicely. The flavor's nice and robust but restrained enough to make it very all-purpose.

Yeah it strikes me as kind of a more hoppy, American-styled (obviously) version of Cooper's Sparkling Ale, the standard back home in South Australia. Definitely like it.

Good, good stuff.

Boags Draught is pretty good for a bog beer. The Premium is bloody good. The big two Tassie beers are better than any bigger brews on the mainland, in any case.

Yeah it is! It was really good. Definitely recommend it if you get the chance.

Thanks for the recommendations! I really enjoyed Stone's Levitation Ale when I tried it so I would be pretty excited to try their Imperial Stout. Goose Island is brewed locally in Chicago (where I currently live). 312 is a local favorite for sure. So I definitely have access to the Bourbon County Stout.

I'm excited for the next trip to the liquor store to try out some of your recs!

Normally it's really hard to find good crafts in my country but I recently discovered an awesome place, in a cheap-ass Chinatown-style little shop that has tons of awesome beers and ales at really cheap prices too. Finally an alternative to Guiness Stout, Tiger or Heineken. Or some suspicious San Miguel in pubs.

What does everyone think of Tiger anyway? For me it's far too ubiquitous and I drink it way too often to appreciate it any more than just a decent food beer.

The only thing I remember about it was an odd aftertaste that reminded be of some local Juniper beers. I figured it was a local ingredient?

I've seen San Miguel dark 6-packs around but never got around to picking one up. Have you tried it?

American craft? How cheap? I hear Singapore is a pretty expensive place. Not sure how true that is though.

Tiger... Well, it's a pale, macro lager. What's there to think? Doesn't taste like much. I guess it's alright for food since it goes decent with anything because of the lack of flavor. But I'd rather drink water with food than Tiger.



I've had San Miguel. Another bland, pale, watery macro lager. Or the Spanish one at least. Not sure if the one in Singapore is actually brewed closer to that place.

In better news, I had the Tenaya Creek Old Jackalope Barleywine bomber I brought home from Las Vegas and, man, was it delicious. Just about the best barley wine I've had. Loads of caramel and toffee balanced with a heaping of piney and pithy hops. A bomber is definitely too big a bottle for one person so I had it on three different nights. Sure, the carbonation loses a bit, but still delicious.

I don't think Bourbon County is in production right now. The releases are limited (I live just outside of Chicago, too, and I found it tough to get) and expensive. I haven't seen it around in a while. Not all Goose Island is brewed locally anymore. They were bought by InBev a few years back and they brew the biggest GI styles (Honker's Ale, 312, probably a couple others), but the brewmasters at Goose Island are still brewing their smaller batch stuff, like Matilda (which is delicious), Sofie, Pepe Nero, and the Bourbon County Stout.

I remember well the days when Bourbon County Stout used to sit on shelves for months and was easily accessible for the price of $22.99 per four-pack. That was way back in.....2009. Prior to that, it was easy to get for $18.99. In 2010, it was on the shelf for all of two days in Chicago. The most recent release never made it to the shelf, and most stores split the four-pack off into individual bottles to sell to people on off-the-books lists. Seems to be happening a lot these days. Just last year, Founder's Curmudgeon was easy to find for a few weeks. After the craziness that was Curmudgeon's Better Half, it appears the hype factor for the regular went way the hell up; my local stores got a case each, and nobody was allowed more than two 12oz bottles.


Oh well. Goose said a few months back that they plan on quadrupling their barrel capacity over the next two years, so we might be able to see Bourbon County again in 2014. They are doing a special, tap-only release of it this summer for restaurants. Not that it matters much; I've only had Bourbon County a few times, but that beer needs some serious age on it. With two or more years in the cellar, it is one of my top 30 or 20 beers. When it is fresh, it is one of my bottom 10, worst-of-the-worst beers. Seriously, fresh Bourbon County smells more like cheap whiskey than an actual bottle of cheap whiskey, there's just no integration of the barrel flavors whatsoever until it's like 8 months old.

To ask what kind of beer I like most, is like asking for "one favorite metal band", if you live in Belgium like me, there's a whole world of fantastic beers to try... but to name a few superb ones; Westmalle tripel, Duvel, Barbar, Grimbergen, Tongerlo Prior, ...