# Off Topic > The Water Cooler >  >  Americas favourite beer/lager

## Blake 7

Hey guys - good evening...........it's not quite a hall pass but my wife has taken the children to her sisters for the night! 

So, what's the first thing I do when I get home from work? Check what ales/alcohol we have in the house of course....... I check the pantry and find an eclectic mix (i'm an ale drinker) so naturally I have a couple of Theakstons or Black Sheep there) but I also find 2 Heiny's, a bud and bottle of kroney so I quickly whack a Bud in the freezer. 10 mins pass, pizza in the oven coleslaw on the plate, film downloaded, I crack open a bud....... as I am going to watch an American film, quick sip! pfffff, tastes very chemically !!! Give me an ale any day. So, my question to our American contingents is; is Bud really Americas best selling lager or do they just have the best marketing Dept? do you guys have any ales?

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## NBVC

One of my favourites is Rickard's Red.. a dark ale by Molson Coors Company.

As far as international ales.. I used to love ordering an Irish beer called Caffrey's... a nice smooth beer... either I don't frequent pubs much anymore or they don't bring it here anymore.. I can't seem to lay my hands on it anymore  :Frown: 

Other popular beers in Canada are made by Moosehead, Alexander Keith, Labatt and Sleeman...  all have some pretty good brews... although, I don't really like Labatt beers all that much.

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## Blake 7

wow caffreys, thats a blast from the past........ I'll keep my eyes peeled and if I find some i'll send you a 4 pack, disguised as maple syrup of course!

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## davegugg

Personally, I don't even consider Bud, Miller, or Coors to be real beer.  They are merely beer-flavored beverages.  The people that drink them are not interested in taste, but rather in drinking something, anything that has alcohol but won't get them smashed right away.

I have to give a plug to Molson; although I don't think it was an Ale, when I was in Canada a while ago I had Molson Dry, and it really hit the spot.  They don't sell it in the US though.  I also really enjoy La Fin Du Monde, which I believe is brewed in Canada.

We have some great beers here, but most wouldn't be internationally known.  I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is the beer capital of the US, if not the world.  Some of my favorite craft brews are Capital Island Wheat, Oso Rusty Red, and New Galarus Stone Soup.

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## Blake 7

Hi Dave - Sunday Monday .......... Tuesday Wednesday....... forgive me but i've always associated Milwaukee with the Cunningham's.!!

I think that I will check out Molson for sure, I reckon that you might enjoy a trip to belgium! they offer a world class selection of beers (blonde und braun). 

Oso rusty red sounds good!! ummm

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## alansidman

There are lots of small craft beers being produced in the states now.  In Chicago, there is Goose Island.  In Maine, there is Geary's and ShipYard.  I mustn't forget Allegash.  I ran into a Chocolate Stout in Montana a couple years back that was produced in a brew pub.  Don't recall the name, but I can still taste it.

The big guys mass produce for the masses.

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## Mordred

I don't drink too much beer and tend to stick to the light beers because I can drink more and keep up to the couple of 'drinkers' that I know.  However, on two occasions I've had dark brown ale; the first occasion was horrible, the guy that gave me it had it really cold and it tasted quite bad.  It took me about 1.5 hours to finish it (I didn't want to be rude and not drink it) but as time went on and it warmed up it seemed to taste better.  I had another friend give me a glass (pint?) of dark ale that he kept in a cupboard under his bar.  It was just a little cooler than room temperature and I loved it.  All that being said, the best alcohol to ever cross my taste buds has been cognac, preferably Hennessy, mmmmm!

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## day92

I went to school in Pennsylvania and Yuengling is very popular there. I never had it before I moved there but I must say that it is a very good American lager and that not because it was only a dollar!  :Smilie: 

Blake you are right Budweiser has a great marketing campaign but did you know that Budweiser started in Czech Republic? I was there a few years ago and stated their Budweiser and I must say it was very tasty. Not sure how true that is but the local Czech people were very sure about it.

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## Domski

A friend had bought a case of Budweiser 66 when I went to see them at the weekend. Probably the worst beer I've ever had the misfortune to taste in my life! A couple of mouthfuls was about all I could stomach before I threw the rest away.

At least I don't have to work out what to do with the rest of them.

Dom

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## arthurbr

> I reckon that you might enjoy a trip to belgium! they offer a world class selection of beers (blonde und braun).




Ha , a true believer !

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## ChemistB

I imagine that it's true that Bud is one of the best selling beers but, as others have stated, it's not for its taste, more like lack of one (similar to Coors).  Mini breweries are huge in the USA now and most good beers are coming out of them.  Of the non-mini's, I think Anchor Steam ale is probably one of the best and Sam Adams (was a mini brewery but I think has moved past that).  Yuengling is a surprisingly good beer for the money, I agree.  I'd pick Moosehead and Molson from our neighbors to the north.  From across the pond, I like Harp, Guinness, and Samuel Smith among others.  From down south, there was a Brazilian beer from the Amazon called Xingu Black Beer.  It looked like it came straight from the Amazon, totally opaque and mmmm, good.   :Wink:

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## Mordred

> Mini breweries - Anchor Steam ale - Sam Adams - Yuengling - Moosehead and Molson - Harp - Guinness - Samuel Smith - Xingu Black Beer.



  I'm thinking that you really love your beer if you have a 'like list' like that!   :Smilie:

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## ChemistB

I don't drink much (any more) but if I'm going to have a beer, I like to enjoy it.  I think my favorite on the list is Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout (although there's a good Oregon Oatmeal Stout also).

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## martindwilson

im a uk camra member,
http://www.camra.org.uk/
 beer beer beer more than you can shake a stick at, went to a local beer festival a couple of weeks ago
32 beers + 12 ciders/perries, as well as bottled beers 
 tried 6 different brews the strongest was 5,2 % then tried an hecks perry at 7.5% bit strong that! so went back down to some reasonable 4% ones tnat i'd tried earlier, felt a bit dizzy so i left and went off to watch the champions league final instead, accompanied by several pints of youngs special, great day but i dont really remember much of the match or going home.

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## TWent

I live in Wisconsin as well as davegugg and we seem to be right on the same idea of what makes a beer, well a beer. Although I have not been sampling brew for long I am still going to throw an opinion into the mix. 

Wisconsin have a plethora of small craft brewers scattered throughout. We are know nationwide as a melting pot of different ales and lagers.

My favorites are New Galarus, Capitol, Becks, and a new cheap favorite Boxer. Boxer comes in a 36 case of cans for about $11.50. Although at first glance this is looking like a steel reserve or Natural Ice wannabe, Boxer has a smooth almost dark beer taste. I would drink this over Bud or Miller any day.

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## Mordred

> great day but i dont really remember much of the match or going home.



I guess.  How can one person's body handle that much alcohol in one day?  LoL,do you have any blood left in your veins or is it all alcohol? :Wink:

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## martindwilson

i read a Stephen king novel. i think it was the Dark Half, the character drunk half a case/pack of Coors and was completely bladdered.please! thats no intake at all. nope 10-12 pints in one day is NOT an exceptional thing,just a high tolerance for alcohol. I'm getting older and don't do it every day but tonight just had 7 pints and now i'm on the wine hic.

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## Domski

> How can one person's body handle that much alcohol in one day?



You haven't seen some of the capacious bellies at these Camra events  :Smilie:  Leeds Beer Festival takes place about 500 meters from my front door and is an experience to say the least.

Dom

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## scottylad2

Bottled ale, Newcastle Brown Ale used to be a fav. John Smiths bitter is ok as well but as an earlier poster mentioned, tempreture of the beer is paramount to it tasting as it should. Over chilled and the tastes not quite the same.

Going to Nerja in Spain soon and they don't have much in the way of ales, but the reliable San Miguels will help keep me cool while sat beside the pool

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## Mordred

I went out with some good friends last night and was drinking Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale and Amber Ale.  Great beers, I'm hooked!

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## Mordred

I'm a novice drinker though because I had 6 glasses in total plus one very nice glass of cognac and I had a good glow going for me.  Another 4 or 5 more glasses and I would have wound up under the table.

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## clayton8424

I personally like New Castle!

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## Marcol

Beer Yum! Yum!......I'm of the the pub for my nightcap....a gallon of good ale might just fit the bill.... :EEK!:  ....  :Smilie:  .... I might be some little while.

American "beer" does at a push, but can't say I would queue up for it. And as for Nuclear Brown ......

Slainte
Alistair

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## darkyam

A mini-brewery on the northern Atlantic coast of the US is Dogfish Head.  They have a good variety of brews, most of which I haven't tried yet (not too common to see them in stores where I live), but what I've had, I've liked.  I also like Widmer Hefeweizen.

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## davegugg

I've seen the Dogfish Head in stores, but never tried it.  I usually look for sales, and I have a hard time paying more than a dollar a bottle from a liquor store.  $8+ for a six pack is a little too pricey for me.

I agree Newcastle is a great beer, that and Smithwicks are probably two of my favorite imports.

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## Mordred

A six pack of Labatts Lite here (a common tasteless beer but good to drink when on a mission) costs over $12 per pack.

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## davegugg

Yikes!  I don't know about Manitoba, but I know in Ontario there are a bunch of crazy rules for beer purchase.  I was surprised when I went up there the only place you could get beer was a government "beer store".  You couldn't pick up the beer yourself, you had to tell them what you wanted and they'd send it up front on a conveyer belt with rollers.

Quite a bit different from picking up a six pack from a gas station here in WI.

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## day92

Pennsylvania has the weirdest laws ever! You can only buy beer at a Beer Distributor and you can only buy one 12 pack at time. If you want to buy a case, you have to buy the first 12 pack and sit it outside the door and then go back in and buy another one. And you can only purchase one keg every 45 days. 

If you want to buy liquor and wine you have to go to a state store - that's all they sell is liquor and wine. Lets say you are having people over for a little get together, you would have to go beer distributor for beer and then state store for some liquor and then the market for cokes, pepsi, etc..

Here in California you can buy anything you need at 7-eleven.

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## ChemistB

Several states (in USA) have only state liquor stores.  In many states, beer and wine can be purchased in any grocery store.  In NJ (where I live), sales are not allowed in grocery stores and require a liquor license which can be very expensive and also require expensive insurance.

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## Mordred

Here in Manitoba alcohol can only be purchased at either a government approved beer vendor or at a government run liquor commission.  I think that Alberta is changing (or has changed) their laws so that alcohol can be purchased anywhere ie: 711, Walmart, and etc...  That's the way it should be everywhere with the appropriate age restrictions still in place.

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## darkyam

Virginia has a state liquor store, too.  We can get beer or wine at a grocery store, but all other liquor is sold only through the state store.  It's really dumb, not just in general, but particularly when you consider a few of the things sold only at the state store, like Bailey's, actually have a lower alcohol content than some wines you can get.

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## Mordred

A good documentary to watch is called Beer Wars (see here).  It shows in detail why small micro brewing companies don't have a hope in hell to market their ales across the USA.  At any rate, it is an interesting documentary.

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## darkyam

Found this, thought I'd share: http://www.alcoholcontents.com/fun_facts/fun_facts.htm

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