Favorite American beers

Tommy · Post by **Tommy** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:08 am

There use to be several more breweries here locally than there is now. Back when a can was fifty cents.
On any random night they would send out what was know as the hospitality men. Some how there knew when each other were out and about. Generally there were between two or three of them that would walk into a bar and ''set the house up'' with their brand. They would walk around conversing with the patrons saying anything that would make the patron feel good. Almost like a politician. You never knew what bar they were going to next, but when they left if you left and went someplace else the odds of getting another beer increased. I don't remember all the brands that sent these hospitality men about. But one brand did rise to the top, ''free beer.''

hyldemoer · Post by **hyldemoer** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:02 am

peeplj wrote:
mahanpots wrote:Budweiser seems to be a favorite American beer in Ireland.

Michael
It may get drank by preference in Ireland; in Arkansas, most people I know who drink Bud are drinking it because it's cheap.

Same here in Chicago, but I've also noticed that Budweiser sponsors a lot of events like Irish festivals here in town. Its a no brainer that they'd be easily accessible at events if doing that.

Since Illinois went gone smoke free this past January I've been able to catch a lot of acts in bars. I've never had to settle for a "Bud" when ever I've asked what's on tap. There's usually several micro brewery products on tap at most bars and if I'm not enticed I can alway ask to see the establishment's beer list for what they have in bottles.

Its been quite entertaining.
The music's been good too.

Souradaos · Post by **Souradaos** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:30 am

mahanpots wrote:Budweiser seems to be a favorite American beer in Ireland.

Michael

Isnt Budweiser Czech?

Cork · Post by **Cork** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:39 am

Souradaos wrote:
mahanpots wrote:Budweiser seems to be a favorite American beer in Ireland.

Michael
Isnt Budweiser Czech?

Although Budweiser is a famous American brand of beer, I believe you are correct, in that somehow Budweiser could be Czech in origin.

The Czechs do make excellent beer, such as Pilzen.

Oops, I forgot that the Czechs tend to avoid vowels, so maybe the correct spelling could be Plzn. :-D

Anyway, they do make great beer!

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:43 am

pipersgrip · Post by **pipersgrip** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:59 am

I really don't drink American beer. My favorite is Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks, New Castle, and Spatan. Is Blue Moon American? That is a pretty good beer.

Cork · Post by **Cork** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:13 am

The Whistle Collector wrote:I really don't drink American beer. My favorite is Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks, New Castle, and Spatan. Is Blue Moon American? That is a pretty good beer.

Just for the fun of it, try Pilzen, a Czech beer, but cool it to about 5 degrees C, or about 42 F. That is a first class beer!

Well, even the Germans copied it, as Pilsener. Yup, it's just that good!

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:28 pm

swizzlestick · Post by **swizzlestick** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:32 pm

The Whistle Collector wrote:I really don't drink American beer. My favorite is Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks, New Castle, and Spatan. Is Blue Moon American? That is a pretty good beer.

Blue Moon is not bad. Although it is brewed by the "Blue Moon Brewing" company, you are looking at an award winning premium product of the Coors company. So it is most definitely is an American beer. (A lot of people right here in Golden, Colorado don't know this.)

WyoBadger · Post by **WyoBadger** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:40 pm

I'm no expert, but in my book it's hard to beat Fat Tire.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:45 pm

Souradaos wrote:
mahanpots wrote:Budweiser seems to be a favorite American beer in Ireland.

Michael
Isnt Budweiser Czech?

Yes, the original one was, from the town of Budweis (sp?).
Most typical American beers are VERY loosely based on the Pilsener style of beer from Plzn,Czechkoslovakia. If you want to see what that style is supposed to taste like, try Pilsener Urquell ("Original Pilsener") which is supposed to be the first of it's kind. Tast test it next to Bud, and the difference is night and day. Pilsener Urquell is one of the classic beers of the world and is widely available.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:42 pm

WyoBadger wrote:I'm no expert, but in my book it's hard to beat Fat Tire.

I just had Fat Tire for the first time last week.

I agree--very good beer!

--James

Charlene · Post by **Charlene** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:24 pm

So what is the difference between ale and beer? I know, I could Google it, but I figure it will make interesting reading this way!

Usually beer makes me sleepy but a couple of weeks ago I had 2 glasses of wine then 1-1/2 glasses of ale in the same evening, and I wasn't sleepy at all. (I figure a lot of that was due to the company I was in that evening.)

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:58 pm

Charlene wrote:So what is the difference between ale and beer? I know, I could Google it, but I figure it will make interesting reading this way!

Usually beer makes me sleepy but a couple of weeks ago I had 2 glasses of wine then 1-1/2 glasses of ale in the same evening, and I wasn't sleepy at all. (I figure a lot of that was due to the company I was in that evening.)

They're all beer: the difference is between ale and lager.
One difference is the type of yeast used. The yeast used for ales ferments from the top of the batch, while lager yeast ferments from the bottom. Ales are typically fermented at warmer temperatures than lagers, producing a more "fruity"flavor as opposed to a drier,crisper flavor for lagers.

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:51 pm

Lager generally uses different hops to top-fermented beer, the Hallertauer variety being typical. This gives a pretty distinctive flavour to the brew. Any beers in cans, and most beers in bottles, have been pasteurised to allow them to keep, and have oodles of horrible artificial fizz added. This drastically alters the flavour of the brew, nearly always for the worse in my view. These days, if I can't drink cask-conditioned ale, I drink bottle-conditioned. This is unpasteurised beer (though filtered usually it has to be admitted) that has a small amount of live yeast in the bottle, which gently adds conditioning and preserves the flavour the brewer was striving so hard to achieve. Your canned or bottled mass-produced beers or lagers range from the revoltingly undrinkable (most of them) to the barely tolerable. In the latter category you can, at least, find the odd few that don't have chemical flavours and which finish fresh and clean on the palate, but there aren't many. Mass producers don't like bottle conditioning because it requires careful, expensive filtering and the sort of hygiene standards that most bottling plants don't aspire to (to exclude wild yeast and vinegar bacteria for example), and this costs money. Go for bottle-conditioned brews and pour carefully, then swig the remaining brewer's inch from the bottle to give you all those B vitamins. If a supermarket is piling it high and selling it cheap, it's shti, guaranteed, and will at best give you the farts and a bad head and at worst will put your marriage in jeopardy.