Recommended List of Beers for Beginners
Joel Plutchak
>*************************************************************
>List of Recommended Bottled Beers For Beginning Beer Drinkers
> (Available in the U.S.)
>*************************************************************
<Warning to the humor-impaired: humor may appear in this article
without benefit of smiley-faces. Read at your own risk.>
As a service to the truly beer-deprived, here's my classification
of the beer on the list. Note that descriptions of beers and beer
styles are strictly my opinion, based on only 15 years of (non-continual)
beer-drinking. For knowledge from a true master, I heartily recommend
Jackson's pocket guide to beer. If you are truly offended by my ratings,
send me a bottle or three of the beer in question, and I'll make a serious
attempt to reconsider my opinion.
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Basic lagers: These are beers brewed with lager yeasts, but *aren't*
specialty brews like bocks, Octoberfests, etc. With my Germanic blood,
when I think "beer", I think of these kinds of things. My personal list
would include Spaten Munich, a good, solid beer.
Samuel Adams Boston Lager - good; I prefer the Stock Ale slightly
Capital Gartenbrau - good; their dark is even better-- Wisconsin's
finest!
Dominion Lager - I don't know this one, so I put it here.
Basic ales: These are beers brewed with ale yeasts. I include pale ales,
which are generally hoppier, fruitier, and lightier-bodied than the
standard english-style ale like Bass. I also include the ambers in here,
since most ambers I've quaffed are ales. They generally are slightly darker
and have more body than pale ales. Again, I've left out specialty brews.
Also, try a Scotch ale (Belhaven, MacAndrew's, McEwen's); they're generally
stronger and maltier than their English cousins.
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - my spouse's favorite; nice appley flavor
Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale - good, slightly nutty, somewhat metallic
taste
Newcastle Brown Ale - similar to Samuel Smith's, more metallic
Anchor Liberty Ale - good
Geary Pale Ale - OK, especially on tap while sitting in a Bar Harbor
brewpub
Harpoon Golden Ale - pedestrian
Pete's Wicked Ale - had it recently, not impressed.
Whitbread Ale - good English ale
Anchor Steam - good; really a lager, but brewed at ale temperatures (or do
I have that backwards). At any rate, this is where I classify it.
Samuel Adams Boston Ale - my favorite "everyday" beer
New Amsterdam Amber Beer - never had it, but will soon
Albany Amber - never had it
Red Tail Ale - never had it
Pilsner - a distinctive style of lager; not to be confused with so-called
pilsners brewed by US megabreweries.
Pilsner Urquell - the definitive Pilsner, from Pilsn, Czechoslovakia.
Light, hoppy, satisfying. Note that my spelling of both Pilzn and
Czechoslovakia may vary.
Stouts/Porters: the really dark stuff, usually (always?) ales. Vary in
character from bitter through sweet, from smooth through coarse. For a
sweet stout, try Mackeson XXX. And since a porter isn't on this list,
try a porter from Anchor (more like a stout), Sierra Nevada, or Catamount.
(For lower-left/upper-right coasters, try porter on tap at the Crown City
brewpub in Pasadena, CA, or the Commonwealth Brewery in Boston, MA.)
Guinness Stout - the classic Irish stout, bitter yet smooth. Can be
quite different in different countries and in different containers.
Undeniably the best to be had is on tap at the brewery in Dublin.
In this country, try it anywhere on tap-- it's smoother and less
bitter than the bottled variety.
Grant's Imperial Stout - OK; but for some reason, none of Grant's
products have ever thrilled me.
Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout - tastes like burnt chocolate chip cookies.
I like an oatmeal stout every now and then, though Young's is
cheaper, and almost as good.
Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout - never had it.
Black Hawk Stout - never had it.
Barley Wines: very strong beers (generally 10-15% alcohol), brewed with
special yeast which doesn't get pickled at high alcohol levels. Can have
very complex qualities. Not everybody's cup of tea, but worth a try.
My favorite in this style is Thomas Hardy's Ale.
Anchor Old Foghorn - good; not as complex as Thomas Hardy.
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale - similar flavor to their Pale Ale, but in
the characteristic barley wine style. More carbonated and less
syrupy than other BW's I've had.
Old Peculier - I've had this, but it's been awhile. Can't remember
if this is a barley wine or just an ale, so I put it here.
Specialty beers: This is a catch-all category. Beers can either be
just a different (maltier, lighter) version of the brewery's standard
product, a completely different style, a fruit-flavored or spiced beer,
etc. Also, I've put in this category beers which don't really have much
in common taste-wise with those in the above lists.
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale - I remember this as a maltier version
of their Pale Ale, brewed around Christmas. Could be wrong.
Samuel Adams Winter Lager - not too impressive; drink their standard
lager or ale.
Samuel Adams Octoberfest - a maltier version of the lager. Again, stick
to their standard products.
Samuel Adams Double Bock - bock is a maltier, usually darker lager,
traditionally brewed in the fall for drinking in the spring.
Double bock is a stronger (6-9% alcohol) version of bock. Some
purists quibble over the "double" designation of this one; I don't.
More than one of these babies gives me a morning-after headache.
Paulaner Salvator dopplebock - classic doublebock. More headaches.
Spaten Optimator - my favorite double bock. Still gives me headaches,
though.
Chimay Red - words can't do justice to a good Belgian abbey-brewed ale.
Suffice it to say that if I had to restrict my beer-drinking to
the product of a single country, it would be that of Belgium.
Chimay Red is a good, generally-available introduction to these
brews. Also try the Grand Reserve, which is darker & maltier,
though characteristically Chimay.
Duvel - never had it; is it a Belgian ale?
Kriek - a brewer of lambics, available in peach, raspberry, cherry,
and maybe other flavors. I'm not a big fruit lambic fan, so I
won't comment. However, if anybody knows where I can find a
non-fruit lambic in the Boston/Providence area (or even in Pasadena,
CA, where I go on business every couple months), let me know-- I'd
like to try one! Also, the beers are produced in a unique manner,
worth reading about in the aforementioned guide to beer.
If you got this far and are still with me, go home and have a beer...
you deserve one!
--
Joel Plutchak, Research Programmer/Analyst
plut...@porter.geo.brown.edu -or- PGGIPL::PLUTCHAK (VMS: Just say NO!)
Favorite sci.geo.meteorology quote: "Joel dissipated over China on 7 September."