Comments on: beer for beginners

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:00:56 +0000

Sorry Super Babe, your comment got stuck in my spam filter for a couple weeks and I just now saw it. Thanks for the input. I totally forgot about Abita Purple Haze! Great recommendation. That’s a fantastic raspberry flavored beer that isn’t too sweet, but has enough to satify those sweet tooths out there. I’m going to edit my post and add it.

And it is on my life’s list of things to do to go to Germany for Oktoberfest, or perhaps even the Berlin Beer Festival. I’m hoping that in a few years I can find someone that will actually pay me to go :)

By: nikki3bags

nikki3bags — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:20:00 +0000

Indeed, my good man!

By: weezer

weezer — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:21:26 +0000

Yeti Imperial Stout makes for a great ice cream float :)

By: nikki3bags

nikki3bags — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:10:10 +0000

As the craft beer world unfolded before me several years ago, Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar was a perfect stepping stone to beer enlightenment. It’s an easy-drinking brown ale with a rich, hazelnutty flavor and aroma. Thank goodness it does not have the “fake” taste of bad hazelnut flavored coffee or other foods. It’s usually available in reputable beer bars and stores.

By: Super Babe

Super Babe — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:02:59 +0000

I’m not quite your stalker, but I’ve been following your blog for a while thanks to my husband (who was in Sumter High with you and has been practicing the perfect pour ever since watching your video)… I think this post was really good, it reminded me of some years ago when I decided that I was going to give beer a shot.

I, and I apologize in advance, don’t care much for beer myself, but some years ago I figured, like your post says, that I should try before I kept saying I didn’t like it… so I had a list done with some decent beers in there (sure, I didn’t care for beer but I had my dignity and was not going to try the ubiquitous ones!)… And there were some I even liked… Abita Purple Haze was missing from the sweet tooth list… and Yazoo makes some pretty good ones… my favorite one I have to say was Shiner Bock… though here in Berlin, my sweet tooth preferred Berliner Weisser mit rot Schuss (a berry flavored syrup – sure, it is an aberration almost like our Mexican Micheladas are to some beer lovers, but Germans don’t seem to mind) :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelada

I’m sure my husband will like seeing Franziskaner in the list – we get it pretty often here (I don’t drink beer, nor any alcohol for that matter now… but I like being informed and knowing about it :P… He, on the other hand, is the one that gets to try them all while we’re living in Germany!)…

If you get a chance to come to Berlin sometime, I’d recommend you plan your trip around the first weekend of August… there’s a Beer Festival here that is pretty good and not as touristified as Oktoberfest…

http://www.bierfestival-berlin.de/index.php?idcat=24

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:47:07 +0000

Great recommendation on Franziskaner. I totally forgot about that one, and it is really good and widely available. I’m going to edit my post and add that one.

And yes, you are correct. Blue Moon is classified as a Belgian white, so it’s a misnomer to call it a hefeweizen. It is brewed with white wheat, so it can still be classified as a wheat beer.

Great catches, and I’ve updated my post to reflect them. Thanks!

By: Bran Mydwynter

Bran Mydwynter — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:30:41 +0000

I’m seconding your Storm King Imperial Stout recommendation, and also wanted to say: Hells yeah on the Unibroue! :) They’ve got a terrific apple-based summer ale called “Ephemere” for those who want to try lighter-coloured, sweeter, fruity beers. And for true hefeweizens I adore their Blanche de Chambly, which is hard to find but totally worth it.

Another great, easy to find hefeweizen? Franzikaner, which unlike the Blanche de Chambly is pretty easy to find. Paulaner, too. Not only are they really two of the best examples of the style, I’ve found that they’re great intro beers, too.

(Is Blue Moon labeled as a hefeweizen? The last time I checked, it hadn’t been bottled with the yeast in, which really negates the whole lovely, cloudy, yeasty point of a hefeweizen.)