ale or lager

[spade2you]

The only thing I'll add is that there's a lot more bad lagers out there than there are bad ales. Partly because most cheap beer is lager and partly because lager (especially pilsners) is hard to get right.

Lagers are very difficult to brew and challenging to store. Compared to most ales, they take a lot longer to ferment and there are a lot more steps, with diacetyl rest, and the lagering temps.

What bothers me about a lot of lagers is the use of green bottles. The photo reduction leads to a lot of the skunky off flavors, especially if it's not as fresh as possible. Temperature changes during the transportation and storage phase can also lead to more off tastes.

That being said, I'm much more of an ale guy since most lagers tend to have a somewhat limited palate.

Good beer dosen't need to be cold, all that the cold does is deaden your tastebuds, this is why bad beer is usually chilled, makes it harder to notice the horrible taste.

It's true that colder temps hide some flaws. I still need my beer a little colder than usual cellar temps, but not by a whole lot.

 

[skwee]

Definitely into variety. If there is something local or seasonal, I'm bound to try it. My favorites are stouts though--the original light beer! (a pint of Guinness is only 125 calories!)

 

[MatticusMania]

I'm more of an ale guy, myself. And you?

Mike

+1 Pale or Dark is good for me. The only Lager I really like is Red Stripe.

 

[MatticusMania]

Anybody tried Pete's Wicked Ale?

Its not bad. Go for the Strawberry stuff.

 

[ausf]

Summer: Dogfish Pale Ale.

Winter: Guinness Draught.

Never met a Lager I really liked. Closest would be a Weissbier.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

Someone, who shall remain nameless (but you and I both know the name of the culprit), left the lion's share of a 12er of Bud Light in my fridge.

My girlfriend (now wife) decided that out of a sense of being efficient, she would drink the Bud Light, and let me drink the palatable brew, thus extending the life of our good brew.

She took a sip....made a face, made a smacking noise with her mouth, took another sip, and poured the Bud Light down the kitchen sink.

I remarked that the only reason that act was appropriate was because it was a closer walk than going to the the toilet that horse pee belonged in, and getting it out of the house faster was a good thing.

You know how a lot of people remember their first taste of beer and they don't like it? I remember my first experience with beer and not liking it. I'm also pretty sure the first beer I was really exposed to was Bud. That'd explain a lot. If all beer tasted like Bud, I'd never drink beer.

 

[Joe Gress]

I was 8 when I had my first beer. It was the shizz cause I was with all the cool people, and it made me feel like I was six feet tall. They consisted of all the older men that I looked up to very much. It was only a sip, but it rocked, and the taste of beer has since been the nectar of the gods for me.

 

[Thunderscreech]

PBR

HA HA HA THAT'S A LAGER.


I'm a stout man, myself, but I love me some IPAs.

 

[UncleFluffy]

Wasn't there an OT thread for TB homebrewer rambling? If someone remembers where, please bump it. If not, we should start one.

 

[jp58]

i second the start of a homebrew thread as I'm going to research it most of the summer and brew some heading into the winter. Hooray for first beers...

 

[Popsicle Pete]

Mmmmmm...

 

[lunarpollen]

Mmmmmm...

Believe it or not the Chimay Blue goes great with a nice meatball parmigiana sub....

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Scottish Ale !

 

[Gard]

You know how a lot of people remember their first taste of beer and they don't like it? I remember my first experience with beer and not liking it. I'm also pretty sure the first beer I was really exposed to was Bud. That'd explain a lot. If all beer tasted like Bud, I'd never drink beer.

Yup, when I met my wife, she did not like beer. Her father (now no longer with us) had worked at the local (Winston-Salem, NC) Stroh brewery, and THAT was what she thought beer was.

She's learning how wrong that is now.



She has a preference for lighter ales, and some of the better lager/pilsners, but has shown an interesting affinity for Guinness recently!



And she has learned that life is far too short for bad "beer" (I won't really consider anything "Bud" as "beer", ever).

 

[jp58]

And she has learned that life is far too short for bad "beer" (I won't really consider anything "Bud" as "beer", ever).

Man I refused a bud the other night watching the Mayweather fight... You'd have thought the world was ending.

 

[Gard]

Man I refused a bud the other night watching the Mayweather fight... You'd have thought the world was ending.

I usually reply to such an offer with:

"Thanks, but I'd rather have a beer."

 

[4Mal]

Pilsner. Specifically, Kolsch from Double Mountain Brewing in Hood River, Or. After that it's Lager as in Sessions from Full Sail Brewing, also in Hood River. If neither of those two is available then something from New Belgian. Sunshine Wheat, Fat Tire... one of those will do me fine.

 

[UncleFluffy]

Pilsner. Specifically, Kolsch from Double Mountain Brewing in Hood River, Or.

In the interests of preserving your life expectancy if you ever visit Cologne, where this can be somewhat of a religious issue, Kolsch is actually an ale, but it has a long period of cold-aging that gives it some lager-like characteristics.

 

[jp58]

I usually reply to such an offer with:

"Thanks, but I'd rather have a beer."

Well played sir... I took a couple of Extra Stouts over and when I ran out, they assumed that I would want to continue to drink their yellow water with them.

 

[Bassman316]

If it's Samuel Adams Boston Lager, or Winter Lager I'm down. Other than that, I'm usually an ale/ IPA guy.