Sunday, February 17, 2008

Top 20 Beers

Jed over at FreedomSight talks about beer. I like beer, so I'll talk about it too. While it's tempting to list all kinds of rare and famous beer, I'm going to stick to the ones I can get locally, with only a couple exceptions.

First, the ones Jed mention that I agree with:

* Sam Adam’s Boston Lager - Love the hops
* Tooth’s Sheaf Stout - this was my daily beer while in Texas
* Heineken - A fresh Heineken is a thing of beauty.
* Negra Modelo - Very underrated by beer geeks, IMO

Now, some others:

* Ruination - Pure hop juice. Love this stuff
* Arrogant Bastard Ale - or anything else by Stone Brewing (except Levitation)
* Pyramid Apricon Weizen - My summertime staple.
* Thomas Hardy's Ale - The grandaddy of barleywines. I have a few different years in da fridge.
* Rogue Chocolate Stout - Smooth and sweet
* Yeungling Black and Tan (or lager) Affordable quality
* Sierra Nevada Bigfoot - Hoppy barleywine. Not for the timid
* Avery Hog Heaven - Nice, balanced barleywine
* AleSmith X - Hoppy without being heavy.
* Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - Only had this once, many years ago. It's a phenomenal Imperial Stout.
* Grimbergen Blonde - Nice belgian blonde.
* Flying Dog Gonzo Porter - a one-off to memorialize Hunter S. Thompson
* Ballast Point Calico Amber - My friend from San Diego sends this to me from time to time.
* Abita Purple Haze - Another fruit beer, for summer.
* Dixie Blackened Voodoo - Used to get it here, haven't seen it in a while
* Bosco's Flaming Stone beer - Local brewpub's specialty.

That's my 20, what's yours?

Damn, I forgot Bud Light.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well now that's a good list.

At the risk of getting crosswise with a certain other blogger, I'll say that while I do like Ruination, I prefer a bit more balance.

Given the one's you've mentioned, I'm surprised you don't agree with a few of my others. Or is it just that you haven't tried them? I don't know what the distribution out-of-state is for the Colorado breweries.

If you're a hophead, and you can find it, try out Estes Park Renegade.

Rustmeister said...

I have to admit, most of the Avery and AleSmith were either brought back by me, or sent to my by friends.

The only thing I've had was their Samson Stout, the one they brewed for the fallen moose.

As for styles, the only ones I don't care much for are the sweet malty ones, like Wee Heavy.

I'm still getting a taste for Belgian styles. Some of them are a bit tangy for me.

Anonymous said...

Well, you probably wouldn't like Spaten Optimator then. It used to be called DoppelSpaten, and it's a Double Bock.