what is the best brand name beer and the best off brand beer ?

what is the best brand name beer and the best off brand beer ?

I am not talking about lite beer with low alchol so lets exclude any diet beer right away. AND not what YOUR favorite beer is. Instead what is the best tasting quality beer on the market shelves according to beer tasters. If you go to europe you will find fantastic tasting beer and it is served kinda warm compared the way americans drink beer. I think the reason beer is ice cold in America is because it would not taste good celler cold.

My favorite beer is Miller High Life. But thats because I don't know what a good beer is and have no clue (I am an American) what good beer is supposed to taste like. I recently bought Becks beer and did not like it. It was two dollars cheaper than Heineken so I thought, why not. Of course I have tried Corona, Ice house, Coors ect ect. But when I was at the super market last time I spent time perousing all the off brand beers in wonderment if any of these match up to the name brand in taste for a lot less buck$. ...Surely some of these must taste as good or better than some of the name brand (Budwieser, Miller, ect) but for a fraction of the cost?

So my question is for true beer aficianados. What is the best beer??? :

1) Name Brand

2) Best "weird" off brand off-brand beer for the buck $$$

Andechs may be the best I have ever had. Good luck finding it though. It is brewed in a monastery (I think) near Munich, Germany.

Of the readily available brands I would say that Samuel Adams (American) and Samuel Smith (English) are both excellent makers. They each have a variety of beers and it really depends on personal taste a lot what you or anyone else would like more.

I guess it depends on what you think of as "brand-name" beer.

I'm fond of Spaten Premium myself - not hard to find in a well-stocked beer & wine or liquor store.

A bit harder to find is Chimay - sold in large, odd-size bottles.

As for "best bang for the buck," Shiner Bock is good. I'm not sure if it's readily available outside of Texas.

I tried Bodington's (Spelling?), and liked it. I think it's English.

AlexGT

Look at a few issues of All About Beer magazine. It reviews different styles with each issue and has apretty good track record (it comes out every other month).

Beer is like most things in life, it depends on what your tastes are like.

As for the Miller, a lot of people I know refer to it and beers like it as "like romance in a canoe" beer (they say it's f-ing close to water). I feel that it's OK to like whatever you like since it's your tastebuds, food or drink. But, like grandma said, try a little bit of eash to see what's out there. Find a bar with more than five beers on tap.

If you go for bottled beers, avoid clear or green glass -- light makes beer go "skunky" so stick to dark glass. Cans used to be bad, but they are now lined so there should be little or no difference in taste.

Some suggestions:

Stronger, more flavorful beers:
Just about anything from Unibroue, a brewery in Quebec.
Anything from Brewery Ommegang (Cooperstown, NY)

Lighter beers for hot, summer days:
Hoegaarden (Good but not as good as it used to be)
Blue Moon

Good all-around breweries:
Yeungling
Saranac
Sam Adams

Prosit! Slainte! Cheers!

The best off brand beer is by far hands down Trader Joe's "Fat Weasel Ale".
At 4.49 a sixer, and 7.1% alc., you really get your money's worth.

My favorite by far is Lagunitas "KroniK" I try go get it on sale for 5.49, it's 7.2%-real beer.

My club serves Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Ew... that gets old

And no Hefeweitzen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Otherwise, even if it is old, stale, or just left over from last night, let me have it!!

Here's the Beer or Flashlights poll.

​

My favorite off brand beer is Fat Tire. Unfortunately, I can't get it where I live. I discovered it when we went to Colorado for an extradition a few years back.

A pint o' Smithwick's is all ya need laddy.
(Pronounced smiddicks)

Ras_Thavas said:

My favorite off brand beer is Fat Tire. Unfortunately, I can't get it where I live. I discovered it when we went to Colorado for an extradition a few years back.

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The 'haters' call it "flat tire".

I have drunk Shiner beer in Shiner, TX, and Guiness on tap in Dublin, IR! I've done Sam Adams in NE. For a desert campout, and CPF get-togethers I prefer a case of Heinie! (Screw you, Bart, I like it! :nana: )

Larry

I find the taste of Heineken the best of all the major beers. Refreshing with a hint of mint.

tdurand said:

A pint o' Smithwick's is all ya need laddy.
(Pronounced smiddicks)

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A very good tasting beer indeed but I think Harp Lager is just as good.

The nicest beer I've tasted in the last few years is Chimay Red from Belgium. It's made by the Cistercian Trappist monks at the Chimay Trappist Brewery, which is located within the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont.

On those really hot days a chilled Tsingtao from China is smooth and refreshing. It's a lighter tasting beer with a mild hoppy finish. It's 4.8% alcohol.

For a Canadian beer I'd have to go with Sleemans Dark or Steamwhistle which are both from Southern Ontario.

drizzle said:

Of the readily available brands I would say that Samuel Adams (American) and Samuel Smith (English) are both excellent makers.

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Man, you guys have it exactly right!

And the other top, more unusal beers are made by Unibroue, the brewery in Quebec. Try them all.

And if you can find one of those huge bottles of Chimay Peres, made by Belgian monks for centuries, many say it's the best beer on the planet. I concur, gulp gulp.

For cheap beer at the bar: Yeungling or Miller Highlife
For buying a good 6pack beer: Tsing Tao,Guiness, Magic Hat #9, Sam Adam's Summer Brew, Warsteiner

my fav's are guiness stout warm and sapporo ice cold...

don't think it's possible to separate your favorite VS best beer as rated by experts (what's an expert?). all you can do is take a recommended list and go try a few...

really like those liquor stores that allows you to mix different brands of beer to make up your own six packs.

best, Wurzberger dark (Germany)
brandname, Samuel (US)
off brand, Leinenkugel (Wisconsin)

:uuuuuurrrrp:

Lindemans Kriek

Quote from their website:
In origin, this sweet-acid drink was obtained by adding fresh black cherries to a barrel Lambic of 6 months young. The addition of fruits provokes a new fermentation in the oak barrels. After another 8 to 12 months, only peels and stones are left and the Kriek-Lambic is ready to be filtered and bottled. The residual sugar can be adjusted with straight-on fruit juice to give a refermentation in the bottle. This traditional type of fruit beer is more acid and less fruity.

Because of the limited availability of the "Schaerbeekse Cherries", just as to brew a less sour and more fruity Lambic beer, Lindemans farm brewery developed an unique natural method using pure cherry juice from unfrozen cherries. This straight cherry juice is blended with selected Lambic of different ages.

Kriek has a pink-red color and a delicious taste of sparkling cherry champagne.

TedTheLed said:

best, Wurzberger dark (Germany)
brandname, Samuel (US)
off brand, Leinenkugel (Wisconsin)

:uuuuuurrrrp:

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Okay several people have reccomemnded the Sam Adams. The Wurzburger is something I will have to locate and try.


What about the lost cost beers carried by the larger food chains like Kroger, Wal-MArt and Publix? Any reccomendations there?

I am located in Georgia so I doubt I will find nice beers like you can get in Wisconsin or Canada.... Hey aren't cheesheads half :hahaha:Canadian anyway ?

Kristofg said:

Lindemans Kriek

Quote from their website:
In origin, this sweet-acid drink was obtained by adding fresh black cherries to a barrel Lambic of 6 months young. The addition of fruits provokes a new fermentation in the oak barrels. After another 8 to 12 months, only peels and stones are left and the Kriek-Lambic is ready to be filtered and bottled. The residual sugar can be adjusted with straight-on fruit juice to give a refermentation in the bottle. This traditional type of fruit beer is more acid and less fruity.

Because of the limited availability of the "Schaerbeekse Cherries", just as to brew a less sour and more fruity Lambic beer, Lindemans farm brewery developed an unique natural method using pure cherry juice from unfrozen cherries. This straight cherry juice is blended with selected Lambic of different ages.

Kriek has a pink-red color and a delicious taste of sparkling cherry champagne.

Click to expand...

Thanksa lot. Go ahead and make my mouth water.


Off the shelf, I like Sol beer. Good taste, small bubbles and high alky content.

I don't drink much beer so I don't consider myself very knowledgeable, but Anchor Steam (made in San Francisco) is certainly one of the best I've ever had.

The worst beer I've ever had was in Ethiopia, name of St. George. The lack of refrigeration and high ambient temperature made it doubly bad.

As we speak, I'm enjoying (not) a Budweiser Select. I fell for their commercial and bought some. Definitely one of those "romance in a canoe" beers.