marais

I had a McEwan's Scottish Ale in Bermuda almost 30 years ago, and it was awesome---my first non-US beer, and it spoiled me forever in making me favor ales over lagers. A true beer epiphany

First requirement for a vacation spot: must have good beer available! And finding good local beers is a plus for any spot. I'd love to see more folks comment on venues they've visited and the locally produced brews that made them memorable.

Bigez747

What was your favorite Baltika?

If you are in LA i know of a place where you can get it

ChinaShrek

I am surprised no one has mentioned Newcastle Brown Ale - my favorite since 1990!

1worldtrader

Thank God for Microbrews and imports...Not being snobby, just respecting my taste buds...

My favorite style overall is Pale Ale, which explains my top 2:

1) Sierra Nevada
2) Red Hook
3) Chimay Grand Reserve
4) Any local beer while in Germany
5) Bohemia - The best Mexican beer IMHO
6) Baltika no. 7 (used to find it in So Cal, now I can't)
7) Quilmes
8) Tiger
9) Pilsner Urquel
10) Labatts Blue

The Juiceman

Westveleteren 12: the smallest of the trappist breweries and many beer snobs favorite. I've only seen it once in the U.S. It was $17 for an 11 ounce bottle at a package store in Florida. I paid 7 Euros for one at the Gollum in Amsterdam, worth every cent. They do not have a distributor and the only way to get it is to go to the brewery in Watou. There is a 2 case limit and it's around 1.5 Euro per bottle there.
The abbey version made from the same recipe is the St. Bernardus Abt 12. It's priced around $8 for the 750 ml in the U.S.; so good I named a German Shepherd after it.

The Juiceman

From what I understand the Chimay Grand Reserve is the Chimay Bleu that has been bottle-conditioned. i.e. there is live yeast added to the bottle. Notice the residue at the bottom of the Grand Reserve.

"Ales and stouts taste completely wrong to me; feels like a cheap, watered-down poison."

I hate to tell you but Chimay and La Trappe are ales.

greggwiggins

"What's your favorite beer" is as unanswerable as "what's your favorite food" would be. Just as I'd hate to eat only one thing for every meal, so would I refuse to restrict myself to a single brand or style of beer. As others have also noted, what beer I order will depend on where I am, what I might be ordering to eat, and simply by what I feel like drinking at that particular moment. (I mean, with apologies to the vegetarians, aren't there times you want seafood and other times when you crave red meat?)

So I'll answer your question by quoting the dean of U.S. beer journalists, Fred Eckhardt of Portland, Oregon. I'm lucky enough to know the man -- Fred is in his 80s, hasn't slowed down a bit and is still a marvelous drinking buddy who, after leaving the USMC, has devoted more than half a century to fine beverages, good food and beautiful women. I don't know any writer on the beer beat who doesn't want to grow up to be Fred Eckhardt.

But, with his reputation and background, he's regularly asked, "what's the best beer" or "what's your favorite beer". And I've never heard a better answer to either question than Fred's...

"The one in front of me."

greggwiggins

It's available -- but not on the menu -- at The Bier Garden in Portsmouth, Virginia. I think their price is something above $20 per bottle.

HOWEVER, if they don't know you or somebody in your group, the bartender may deny they have any.

That's because it's very illegal to sell that beer in the United States. Nobody has any import or distribution agreement with the brewery so by definition it's bootleg and (most important to the government types) nobody has paid any state or federal taxes on it.

bpratt

I'm not sure who originated the following saying. I've seen it attributed to Groucho Marx, but it may be someone else. At any rate, it follows in the same vein:

"I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a pre-frontal lobotomy"
:-)

Certainly, beer that is free is also often a "favorite beer"!

graraps

Ah, yes! I had read it somewhere but forgot it later

"Ales and stouts taste completely wrong to me; feels like a cheap, watered-down poison."

You're right. I was referring to English/Irish ones

Irrover

Stone Ruination IPA or Arrogant ........
When on the road I'll go with the old standbys Guinness or Sam Adams

thelark

I'll be sure to check when I pop one after work today

brendog

I've been on a Redhook IPA kick as of late for no apparent reason. If left to my own devices, I generally revert back to PBR or Natty Bo (National Bohemian for those not from the Mid Atlantic). I lost my taste for dark beers at some point in my late 20s.

oneant

Can't say that I agree with that. Wines are rated, and there are empirically good and bad wines. Same thing goes for beer.

I could make a home-brew that tasted like horse-manure to everyone else and would actually be a VERY bad beer, but if I liked it you're saying it can't be called a bad beer?

E3A-Sentry

When i am home in berlin-all the beers from my next door home brewery-berliner buerger braeu,
especially the "rotkehlchen".
Also very tasty-Haacke-Beck "Kraeusen"-unfiltered and very tasty.

for a few years now, i like that more and more mikro breweries make good beer in the states.i just returned from alaska and loved the beers from there.

cheers