Another Beer Thread

[Vladimir]

I love ales; but room temperature? Ugh. I'm all about cellar temperature (it puts the label in the basket). Nothing is good at room temperature. "Tepid" is never a compliment.

[A Nerd]

What's the difference between room temperature and cellar temperature? (I tend to breeze thru the posts while reading occasionally) Comparing room temperature, cellar temperature and cold as in beer served cold in the US. I'm curious about it, that is all.

[Vladimir]

Room temperature is ~70 degrees F. Cellar temperature, to me, means it has a slight chill. Room temperature is too conducive to bacteria growth and skunkiness.

[A Nerd]

That's good to know. Cellar temperature does seem to be ideal. I never really did like beer too cold.

[Peasant Phill]

It depends from beer to beer. For example most of the Trapisten beers are best at 12-18°C while most pils beers like Stella or Bud are better at a lower temperature.

I do have one motto: if you have to drink a beer ice and ice cold to be able to enjoy it, than that beer isn't worth much.

[A Nerd]

I suppose a beer's flavor can be enjoyed much in the same way as table wine.

[Ice]

Funny you guys are talking about cellar temperature. The beer in my initial post suggested just that. I think it was 45-50 degrees F (our metric system friends can translate that since I'm far too lazy).

[Andres]

Discovered the Waterloo triple a couple of years ago and recently bought a few bottles and I must say it tastes great:



Clicky

Not my all time favourite (which is Ciney blonde), but still pretty good.

Another less known Belgian beer which I can highly recommend is Quintine. Another clicky.

[Pannonian]

Oh and the best beer commercial I've seen:

Dambusters
Water in Majorca

[Vladimir]

I really need to find a job in Belgium.

[Ice]

I really need to find a job in Belgium Netherlands.

[naut]

Anything under about 6% aint got enough kick to begin with.

But, beer is not for the kick. Beer is for the taste. If I want kick I'll have a beer with a whiskey back.

do we have any corona fans here that stuff tastes like cat piss.

Corona is average. Sol is the real Mexican beer of choice.

[Peasant Phill]

Dambusters[/URL]
Water in Majorca

Good commercials, not so good beer.

[A Nerd]

My favorite Mexican beer from years back was Negra Modelo. There were others I had in restaraunts, bet that is the only one I can remember. Prefered a good sangria to beer though.

[Moros]

Hate Sam Adams: It's good English beer; that's like Edit: Nevermind.

Anything with a fatal overdose of hops should be (relatively) good warm. The hops help preserve the beer.

Hops are great for preserving beer as long as you keep it away from light, that is. It is often a misconception that it's the beer getting warm after being poured out which ruins the taste but it's mostly light destroying the hop, making the bad taste. (the darker the bottle, the better, though the high quality hop of bigger breweries are less vurnable against light nowadays Another great evil of course is air, there's a reason you need a 'kraag' (the whitish foam) a top of your beer of a decent size (though it depends on the brand and glass and it's tradition on how high it should be, a stella for example has a 'kraag' of ideally three fingerwidths high), is air. Beer should get into contact with air at all. Temperature is not something that necessarily ruins the beer, but not all beer should be drank at the same temperature. While a pils should be at the colder end of a spectrum, one shouldn't ruin a fine Delirium Tremens by serving it at 6°C (at least 9° but better go for something a little higher) and especially not a beer a like a Chimay Blue (min. 13°C). Pils should always be served cold, preferably from a top cooled tap. And rember kids the first and very last drops when opening and closing the tap shouldn't come in the glass at all! Actually it's quite pathetic how at some fancy places people pay a lot of money (especially abroad) for a quality beer, but get them poored in completely wrong from out filthy pipes.

[Moros]

Discovered the Waterloo triple a couple of years ago and recently bought a few bottles and I must say it tastes great:

It's not really one of my favourite, but if you drink it you should use their typical ceramic glasses. (I ripped one at the horecabeurs ;))

Also this week I had some Geuze Boon and 3 fonteinen, I almost forgot how great they are when it's hot and when you've got a geuze that isn't like that commercial overly sweat morte subite like *****!

[drone]

Hops are great for preserving beer as long as you keep it away from light, that is. It is often a misconception that it's the beer getting warm after being poured out which ruins the taste but it's mostly light destroying the hop, making the bad taste.

And you would think that most knowledgable brewers would know this. However, a majority of the Continental lagers are shipped to the US in green bottles, making them pretty much undrinkable. You have to search for a store that keeps them in the case boxes, picking up a six-pack just sitting on the shelves is a big mistake. Most British ales get shipped in brown bottles, and are generally free of teh skunk.

[Moros]

And you would think that most knowledgable brewers would know this. However, a majority of the Continental lagers are shipped to the US in green bottles, making them pretty much undrinkable. You have to search for a store that keeps them in the case boxes, picking up a six-pack just sitting on the shelves is a big mistake. Most British ales get shipped in brown bottles, and are generally free of teh skunk.

Sadly and strangely some people have the misconception that green bottles mean better quality. Hence some brewers specifically chose them even though they are aware of it.

[Centurion1]

any czech beer fans here?

[Ice]

Hops are great for preserving beer as long as you keep it away from light, that is. It is often a misconception that it's the beer getting warm after being poured out which ruins the taste but it's mostly light destroying the hop, making the bad taste. (the darker the bottle, the better, though the high quality hop of bigger breweries are less vurnable against light nowadays Another great evil of course is air, there's a reason you need a 'kraag' (the whitish foam) a top of your beer of a decent size (though it depends on the brand and glass and it's tradition on how high it should be, a stella for example has a 'kraag' of ideally three fingerwidths high), is air. Beer should get into contact with air at all. Temperature is not something that necessarily ruins the beer, but not all beer should be drank at the same temperature. While a pils should be at the colder end of a spectrum, one shouldn't ruin a fine Delirium Tremens by serving it at 6°C (at least 9° but better go for something a little higher) and especially not a beer a like a Chimay Blue (min. 13°C). Pils should always be served cold, preferably from a top cooled tap. And rember kids the first and very last drops when opening and closing the tap shouldn't come in the glass at all! Actually it's quite pathetic how at some fancy places people pay a lot of money (especially abroad) for a quality beer, but get them poored in completely wrong from out filthy pipes.

::Thumbs Up::

[Fragony]

any czech beer fans here?

Yes, nobody makes better pilsner.

[Moros]

Yes, nobody makes better pilsner.

Indeed, Czech pils in general beats every other pils out there, whatever country it may be from.

[Moros]

Some of my personal favourites are:




Delirium Tremens: Strong pale ale (8,5%) voted best beer of 1998 and 2006, with reason IMO. It's the beer I usually drink when I want to spend a relaxed evening or afternoon or sometimes a few as starters for a good night out. It has a more rounder/smoother taste that as well has more depth than the usual duvel for example. (Don't forget to turn the bottle though before pouring out the last bit.) It's my favourite beer actually.


Gulden draak: Decent average strong dark beer. Has quite a high alcohol percentage 10,5%, which actually doesn't do the taste that good. Still a good beer.

Rochefort 8: Together with Chimay Blue it's my typical choice when in the mood for a standard trappist dubbel. Personally I think these two are the best choices when it comes to the trappist dubbel (well West vleteren is up there too, but it's just way too hard to come by these days, if you do get your hands on it, let it lay in your cellar for at least a year or two. Though let's not overreact, it's a bit like the dark knight or avatar more hype than greatness). While la Trappe and Westmalle are more than decent as well, I just can't understand why one would pay to drink an Achel or an Orval really. Both also make a cheese which goes along fine with the beer and a game of chess or a good conversation.



La Trappe Quadrupel: Yes it's a Dutch beer, but this is a really good beer. But then again it's part of the typical Belgian trappist history (though this has been contested, which caused the beer not to be recognised from 2000 to 2005 or something). If you try a dutch beer, avoid the pils, this one should be most definately it.

Rochefort 10: Stronger variant of Rochefort 8, with a stronger taste and alcohol percentage of a little over 11% IIRC. Great beer, but you might not want to drink to many of it at the same time.

Westmalle trippel: My first and usually only choice when it comes to blond trappist. The taste is full and has more than depth enough and yet for a trappist amazingly refreshing. If it's hot or feel like a refreshing drink, but don't want to go for the sissy gueze or pils, this is the way to go.



Tripel Karmeliet: A newer beer, that taste like an old traditional abbey beer but then made unique by it's use of Oat and Wheat. Has been voted the best beer of 2009, if I'm not mistaken, and it's popularity and fame has grown immensly since. I've always tasted it from the bottle but soon my bar will put it on the tap and I can't wait to try it out. A great beer that everyone really should try. Probably the single best thing that originated from the 90's, well except for the.org that is.

Geuze Boon: personally my favourite geuze, forget about those sweat candy like commercial ones. Geuze has to have sour refreshing taste. Other recommendation is 3 fonteinen. You should also try out Kriek (Lambic) from Boon, which still brew Lambic as it should be, not like soda or Bellevue.

Brugse Witte: Personally I'm not a fan of 'wittekes', white beer, but if there's something most people agree on, who know a bit about beer, it's that this one is rather better than the more famous Hoegaarden.



Rodenbach: Dubbed as 'the most refreshing beer' by Michael jackson (RIP), no not the singer, is definitely one of the most unique beers from Belgium. It's a you like it or you hate it kinda beer. Personally I like it. It's something one should have tasted just because it's so unique, though it might not please you at all.

Deugniet: Comes from a small brewery and isn't that much known it is however what you expect and want from a strong pale ale, but with a hint of apple. I've been to the Horecabeurs two years in a row know (where most breweries come to promote their beers) and both times it was voted by me and my friends/companions as the best beer. My personal tip for everyone to try out.

Hertog Jan: The second Dutch beer in this list, which is not really included for it's outstanding taste or for it being better than other Belgian beers of it's kind (de oud bruin family), but to demonstrate that in fact there are decent beer in the Netherlands as well.



De Koninck: a Speciale Belge beer, a tradition that started as a counterreaction to the importation and increase of popularity of Pils. Universities of Belgian held a contest with the goal of making a new beer back then and this was the deserved winner. In style not unlike oud bruin, but like pils a more refreshing lighter taste. So one could call it a pils-oudbruin hybrid.

Standard Abbey beers: Maredsous, Grimbergen and Leffe are probably the most known of these. Technically though Leffe isn't an Abbey beer any more as it is brawn at the Stella brewery at Leuven and not much of the original recipe is left either. (If there's one thing I hate more than those idiot Brazilians in the Inbev grou it's their recipe changing and commecialising ways). Grimbergen is my personal favourite here by far.

Cristal 1928: Of the bigger, more commercial pils from Belgium only one brand actually dares to use some more flavour and that is Cristal Pils. While the other big brands like Stella, jupiler (both using the same recipe these days thanks to Inbev), Primus and Maes are practically the same and ones preferance would be more psychological or based upon cleaner taptubing, Cristal has a more bitter and fuller taste. Cristal 1928 goes even further, it goes back to using muck of the original old recipe and hence moves away from the more modern commercialising recipe's. While it isn't the greatest thing, it surely is fun to try out and not bad for to use for spending a night out without having to go over to flavourless pilsner.



Moortgat: known for their commercial hit Duvel and their cooperation with the Nazi's, but it's actually their rather unkown Pils that is actually worth it. While Duvel and 'groene' or 'kleine' Duvel is much more known, both being good beers in their own right, the Bel pils might actually be the best Belgium Pils. Perhaps the only one who could dream of competing (not winning though) with Czech pils.

La chouffe: Great, great beer, blond and 8%. I'm getting lazy so I'll just leave it at that.

Beers one should avoid:


Hoegaarden Rosé and Hoegaarden Citron: worst things ever to come out of a brewery since guinnes

Achel: It's not because you are a trappist, you're necessarily any good. There are 6 other brands to choose from that produce better beer...well except Orval.

Barbar and Orval: two beers that have more aroma than taste. While I don't mind the first, I really need some of the latter as well.

sweet Geuze or Lambik: liquid candy, yuk!

[AlexanderSextus]

I Love BEER! I even brew my own. My latest was an English Special Bitter. My friends literally JUST tried it and by all accounts it was a great beer. In a 5 gallon batch, I used 2 cans extra light malt extract, a half a pound of Aromatic malt, a half a pound of crystal 40L malt, a half a pound of victory malt, a quarter pound of special roast malt, and a quarter pound of crystal 60L malt. I used an ounce of East Kent Goldings hops (kentish hops are a MUST for english ales) for flavor and an ounce of Fuggle hops for aroma. I used a London ESB liquid yeast. It came out a nice pretty amber color. Bottled with 4 ounces of corn sugar for carbonation.

My Favorite Beers:

Yuengling Lager. It's not the BEST beer out there, but it's FAR better than the standard CRAP beer we have here in America. It's also quite affordable. This beer represents what was brewed in the US before Prohibition. Prohibition caused the smaller breweries that made good beer to go out of business. Only the crappy breweries, Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Pabst and Coors survived.

Originally, American beer was characterized by the fact that we had inferior malted barley compared to Europe, so we would add just enough corn to lighten the body of the beer and create enough enzymes to ferment the barley. We made good beer from crappy ingredients.

Nowadays beers like budweiser (yuck) use RICE as the main ingredient and pabst (meh) uses up to 75% corn in their beer. No wonder they suck so bad. Even Japanese rice lagers use more barley.



Czechvar is the American name for the original Budweiser Budvar brewed in the Czech Republic. Stupid greedy American beer companies prohibited them from using the name Budweiser in the US. This is one of the best beers I have ever had. Great smooth lager taste with a nice malty flavor and strong Noble Hop taste upfront. I encourage everyone to try this one. Not Cheap in the US.



Sam Adams Noble Pils is an American made version of a European Pilsner, and uses the same Noble Hops, imported from Europe. It's definitely up there with Czechvar, Although being an American version is much Hoppier than would be expected of a European beer. This one has a kick. It's not the same as Czechvar, it's less malty but it's a very drinkable beer. Strong Tettnang hop flavor throughout with some maltiness in the background.



I Love Love Love Love Guinness. This is what i mostly drink in the wintertime.

We've all had guinness, I would think. Super strong roasted malt taste, with noticeable hop flavor. Creamy head with a thick mouthfeel.

[Ice]

I Love BEER! I even brew my own. My latest was an English Special Bitter. My friends literally JUST tried it and by all accounts it was a great beer. In a 5 gallon batch, I used 2 cans extra light malt extract, a half a pound of Aromatic malt, a half a pound of crystal 40L malt, a half a pound of victory malt, a quarter pound of special roast malt, and a quarter pound of crystal 60L malt. I used an ounce of East Kent Goldings hops (kentish hops are a MUST for english ales) for flavor and an ounce of Fuggle hops for aroma. I used a London ESB liquid yeast. It came out a nice pretty amber color. Bottled with 4 ounces of corn sugar for carbonation.

My Favorite Beers:

Yuengling Lager. It's not the BEST beer out there, but it's FAR better than the standard CRAP beer we have here in America. It's also quite affordable. This beer represents what was brewed in the US before Prohibition. Prohibition caused the smaller breweries that made good beer out of business. Only the crappy breweries, Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Pabst and Coors survived.

Originally, American beer was characterized by the fact that we had inferior malted barley compared to Europe, so we would add just enough corn to lighten the body of the beer and create enough enzymes to ferment the barley. We made good beer from crappy ingredients.

Nowadays beers like budweiser (yuck) use RICE as the main ingredient and pabst (meh) uses up to 75% corn in their beer. No wonder they suck so bad. Even Japanese rice lagers use more barley.



Czechvar is the American name for the original Budweiser Budvar brewed in the Czech Republic. Stupid greedy American beer companies prohibited them from using the name Budweiser in the US. This is one of the best beers I have ever had. Great smooth lager taste with a nice malty flavor and strong Noble Hop taste upfront. I encourage everyone to try this one. Not Cheap in the US.



Sam Adams Noble Pils is an American made version of a European Pilsner, and uses the same Noble Hops, imported from Europe. It's definitely up there with Czechvar, Although being an American version is much Hoppier than would be expected of a European beer. This one has a kick. It's not the same as Czechvar, it's less malty but it's a very drinkable beer. Strong Tettnang hop flavor throughout with some maltiness in the background.



I Love Love Love Love Guinness. This is what i mostly drink in the wintertime.

We've all had guinness, I would think. Super strong roasted malt taste, with noticeable hop flavor. Creamy head with a thick mouthfeel.

AS, how are you doing? I see your enthusiasm for beer is as strong as your love for the herb. :)

Not to downplay Moros' review, but being a European I'd expect such ;). It's nice to see an American who knows his beer. Yiengling and Guinness are two of my favorite, generic American brews. I'm not a huge fan of Sam Adams, but I'll have to try the boutique beer you mentioned above. Czechvar intriques me because of its history.

[Moros]

Not to downplay Moros' review, but being a European I'd expect such ;). It's nice to see an American who knows his beer. Yiengling and Guinness are two of my favorite, generic American brews. I'm not a huge fan of Sam Adams, but I'll have to try the boutique beer you mentioned above. Czechvar intriques me because of its history.

AS surely knows his beer indeed. And personally I like hearing his review about the American beers, as I know little of it. Haven't been in America (yet), nor have I usually been pleased enough abroad by a beer to at least remember it's name. Though there are good ones out there (especially Czech, German, Austrian and perhaps even English ones). Sadly most would probably ruined by the way they are tapped.

Btw: AS do they already use tetrahop in some American breweries?

AS, how are you doing? I see your enthusiasm for beer is as strong as your love for the herb. :)

Lol!

[naut]

Hmm. Moros, why are many Belgian beers so fruity? I'm not a fan of the fruity tasting ones, I tried one that tasted like pineapple , can't remember the name.

[Fragony]

Many Belium beers are an aquired taste, a geuze or a lambiek can taste fruity. So much variety bound to hate something. Now the Germans, don' be surprised if the add banana-juice

[AlexanderSextus]

AS do they already use tetrahop in some American breweries?

Some of the really big breweries do. Big American breweries don't tend to make very good beer.

[Moros]

Some of the really big breweries do. Big American breweries don't tend to make very good beer.

Yeah. I don't know much about American beer, but I was that far as well.

@Psychonaut: There are many Belgian beers that don't taste fruity at all. So if you ignore Lambic, Geuze and the likes you will find some that suit your preferences.