Best (and worst) beers you've ever had

[TigerNBham 3]

Best: Czechoslovakian Budweiser (fresh- had @ Christmas Festival in Berlin) with hometown shout out to Good People, Snake Handler

Worst : Rhinelander and Carling Black label

[augolf1716 21,095]

Memory coming back Colt45 was pretty bad

[WarEagle'04 4]

Worst - Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale. I will give any beer a chance and make it a point to try new ones frequently, but...this was the first one I just could not drink. Think sipping on a bottle of liquid smoke.

Best - Mikkeller Black Hole. Coffee, chocolate, citrus and licorice flavors with 14%abv that is very well hidden except for the nice warming sensation. Most complex beer I've ever tasted.

[SuperNova 0]

Best - Mikkeller Black Hole. Coffee, chocolate, citrus and licorice flavors with 14%abv that is very well hidden except for the nice warming sensation. Most complex beer I've ever tasted.

Sounds like it would be good in the winter, warm you up from the inside out. I have not seen Mikkeller sold in AL.

[au2004ece 30]

My normal beer (except for summer) is Harp. It takes better in cooler weather.

Regular Sam Adams actually tastes bad to me. Way too bitter. I like the Sam Adams Octoberfest.

[WarEagle'04 4]

Best - Mikkeller Black Hole. Coffee, chocolate, citrus and licorice flavors with 14%abv that is very well hidden except for the nice warming sensation. Most complex beer I've ever tasted.

Sounds like it would be good in the winter, warm you up from the inside out. I have not seen Mikkeller sold in AL.

Yeah, don't think you want to drink it sitting by the pool. Not sure about where to get them in AL, or if you even can. Got mine north of ATL, and its the only place I've ever seen them. They have alot of different styles and all the ones I've had were pretty epic.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

Guess I'll go down some styles, some of which I've already mentioned. Most are readily available, all highly rated(high 80s-90s) on BeerAdvocate and/or Ratebeer.

Pilsner: Victory Prima Pils

Hefeweizen: Weihenstephaner("oldest brewery in the world"). I'm not crazy at all about this style, but I love this beer.

Stout: Founder's Breakfast Stout, Bell's Java Stout, Southern Tier Choklat, North Coast Old Rasputin, Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

IPA: Three Floyd's Zombie Dust, Bell's Two Hearted, Founder's Centennial, Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale or Deviant Dale's

DIPA: Bell's Hopslam, Avery Maharaja, Founder's Double Trouble, Weyerbacher Simcoe, Good People Snake Handler, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

Red: Marble Red Ale, Green Flash Hop Head Red

Saison: Saison Dupont, Goose Island Sofie

Belgian IPA: Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel, Lagunitas A Little Sumpin' Wild

Belgian Quad: St. Bernadus Abt 12, Trappistes Rochefort 10

Barleywine: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. I haven't explored this style nearly enough due to the harshness of the alcohol in most recently brewed beers; and I don't have the patience to put it in on the shelf to age it for a year or more.

Sour: Rodenbach Original, Petrus Aged Pale, New Belgium La Folie. This is a new style for me, but I'm loving it.

Brown: Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

Smoked Porter: Yazoo Sue

I rattled all of these off the top of my head, but all are beer that I'll buy again. I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few.

I work at a craft beer store in Chattanooga, so despite some of the limitations due to the law, I do get to have quite a variety at my fingertips. If we don't carry it, there's a nice beer store just 20 minutes away in Fort Oglethorpe, GA. Shoot me a PM if you're ever in town and I'll give you the name of the business and all necessary information to get here.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

Worst - Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale. I will give any beer a chance and make it a point to try new ones frequently, but...this was the first one I just could not drink. Think sipping on a bottle of liquid smoke.

Best - Mikkeller Black Hole. Coffee, chocolate, citrus and licorice flavors with 14%abv that is very well hidden except for the nice warming sensation. Most complex beer I've ever tasted.

That Rogue is far from the worst beer I've ever had. That said, it really wasn't good at all. I bought it out of sheer curiosity and the novelty of it.

I need to start drinking more Mikkeller. I've only had the Beer Geek Breakfast, but it was damn good.

[Tiger Refuge 6,660]

Guess I'll go down some styles, some of which I've already mentioned. Most are readily available, all highly rated(high 80s-90s) on BeerAdvocate and/or Ratebeer.

Pilsner: Victory Prima Pils

Hefeweizen: Weihenstephaner("oldest brewery in the world"). I'm not crazy at all about this style, but I love this beer.

Stout: Founder's Breakfast Stout, Bell's Java Stout, Southern Tier Choklat, North Coast Old Rasputin, Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

IPA: Three Floyd's Zombie Dust, Bell's Two Hearted, Founder's Centennial, Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale or Deviant Dale's

DIPA: Bell's Hopslam, Avery Maharaja, Founder's Double Trouble, Weyerbacher Simcoe, Good People Snake Handler, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

Red: Marble Red Ale, Green Flash Hop Head Red

Saison: Saison Dupont, Goose Island Sofie

Belgian IPA: Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel, Lagunitas A Little Sumpin' Wild

Belgian Quad: St. Bernadus Abt 12, Trappistes Rochefort 10

Barleywine: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. I haven't explored this style nearly enough due to the harshness of the alcohol in most recently brewed beers; and I don't have the patience to put it in on the shelf to age it for a year or more.

Sour: Rodenbach Original, Petrus Aged Pale, New Belgium La Folie. This is a new style for me, but I'm loving it.

Brown: Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

Smoked Porter: Yazoo Sue

I rattled all of these off the top of my head, but all are beer that I'll buy again. I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few.

I work at a craft beer store in Chattanooga, so despite some of the limitations due to the law, I do get to have quite a variety at my fingertips. If we don't carry it, there's a nice beer store just 20 minutes away in Fort Oglethorpe, GA. Shoot me a PM if you're ever in town and I'll give you the name of the business and all necessary information to get here.

Dang, looks like I've got a new homework list. Oh well

[TitanTiger 20,468]

Just picked up Sierra Nevada Autumn Brown Ale. Man, this might be my favorite brown ale of them all. Seriously good stuff.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

Just picked up Sierra Nevada Autumn Brown Ale. Man, this might be my favorite brown ale of them all. Seriously good stuff.

Tumbler is, in my opinion, the best Fall seasonal widely available. I really love this beer. Keep an eye out for SN Celebration(http://beeradvocate....rofile/140/1904)in about a month or so. Awesome Winter Seasonal.

I've tried several Oktoberfests over the past month or so, and Marzens do nothing for me. As far as pumpkin ales are concerned--meh.

Of the Oktoberfests though, Paulaner and Hacker Pschorr are decent. They're a couple of the few beers actually served in Munich Oktoberfest. I've heard Ayinger and Great Lakes are also really good.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

Guess I'll go down some styles, some of which I've already mentioned. Most are readily available, all highly rated(high 80s-90s) on BeerAdvocate and/or Ratebeer.

Pilsner: Victory Prima Pils

Hefeweizen: Weihenstephaner("oldest brewery in the world"). I'm not crazy at all about this style, but I love this beer.

Stout: Founder's Breakfast Stout, Bell's Java Stout, Southern Tier Choklat, North Coast Old Rasputin, Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

IPA: Three Floyd's Zombie Dust, Bell's Two Hearted, Founder's Centennial, Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale or Deviant Dale's

DIPA: Bell's Hopslam, Avery Maharaja, Founder's Double Trouble, Weyerbacher Simcoe, Good People Snake Handler, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

Red: Marble Red Ale, Green Flash Hop Head Red

Saison: Saison Dupont, Goose Island Sofie

Belgian IPA: Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel, Lagunitas A Little Sumpin' Wild

Belgian Quad: St. Bernadus Abt 12, Trappistes Rochefort 10

Barleywine: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. I haven't explored this style nearly enough due to the harshness of the alcohol in most recently brewed beers; and I don't have the patience to put it in on the shelf to age it for a year or more.

Sour: Rodenbach Original, Petrus Aged Pale, New Belgium La Folie. This is a new style for me, but I'm loving it.

Brown: Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

Smoked Porter: Yazoo Sue

I rattled all of these off the top of my head, but all are beer that I'll buy again. I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few.

I work at a craft beer store in Chattanooga, so despite some of the limitations due to the law, I do get to have quite a variety at my fingertips. If we don't carry it, there's a nice beer store just 20 minutes away in Fort Oglethorpe, GA. Shoot me a PM if you're ever in town and I'll give you the name of the business and all necessary information to get here.

Dang, looks like I've got a new homework list. Oh well

Yeah, it's one of those "good problems" to have.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

Also, every craft beer drinker should join UntappD: http://untappd.com/home. It's great for keeping up with beers you're drinking and making notes, as well as rating them. You can upload what you're drinking to Facebook or Twitter, and also upload a picture to go with it. There's an iPhone app for it(dunno about other phones).

I joined in late March and have "ticked" 120 unique beers since.

For those who were unaware of what "ticking" beers is--from BeerAdvocate:

Beer ticking is a sort of self competition to do with beer. All of the rules and background are mentioned in the documentary.

Basically ticking is where a person always orders new beers and after drinking them he or she writes down the name of the beer, the brewer, and the ABV. To qualify as a "official" tick the person must drink at least a half-pint. And that is about it. The main guy they profile in the film is the "champion" ticker and he gets his 40,000th tick in the film.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/257255

Before I even knew of this term, I've been "ticking" beers for years, just mentally. You could place a list of beers in front of me, and without a doubt, I could name any of them I've had since I started drinking (good)beer.

[imsoauburn 0]

Worst - Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale. I will give any beer a chance and make it a point to try new ones frequently, but...this was the first one I just could not drink. Think sipping on a bottle of liquid smoke.

Best - Mikkeller Black Hole. Coffee, chocolate, citrus and licorice flavors with 14%abv that is very well hidden except for the nice warming sensation. Most complex beer I've ever tasted.

Well! So much for that beer! Saw it online a few months back and told myself if I ever saw it I would try it. Doughnuts AND Bacon SOUNDS amazing!

Some of my favorites are so far(just starting out): Fat Tire(easy drinking/go to), Rogue Dead Guy, Sweetwater Blue and 420, Pisgah Brewing Red Devil Ale(If you are ever in Asheville around this time of the year look for it).

Has anybody had that Banana Bread beer? I think it may be by Bells?

[imsoauburn 0]

Also, every craft beer drinker should join UntappD: http://untappd.com/home. It's great for keeping up with beers you're drinking and making notes, as well as rating them. You can upload what you're drinking to Facebook or Twitter, and also upload a picture to go with it. There's an iPhone app for it(dunno about other phones).

I joined in late March and have "ticked" 120 unique beers since.

For those who were unaware of what "ticking" beers is--from BeerAdvocate:

Beer ticking is a sort of self competition to do with beer. All of the rules and background are mentioned in the documentary.

Basically ticking is where a person always orders new beers and after drinking them he or she writes down the name of the beer, the brewer, and the ABV. To qualify as a "official" tick the person must drink at least a half-pint. And that is about it. The main guy they profile in the film is the "champion" ticker and he gets his 40,000th tick in the film.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/257255

Before I even knew of this term, I've been "ticking" beers for years, just mentally. You could place a list of beers in front of me, and without a doubt, I could name any of them I've had since I started drinking (good)beer.

Cool, Thanks for that!

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

Worst - Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale. I will give any beer a chance and make it a point to try new ones frequently, but...this was the first one I just could not drink. Think sipping on a bottle of liquid smoke.

Best - Mikkeller Black Hole. Coffee, chocolate, citrus and licorice flavors with 14%abv that is very well hidden except for the nice warming sensation. Most complex beer I've ever tasted.

Well! So much for that beer! Saw it online a few months back and told myself if I ever saw it I would try it. Doughnuts AND Bacon SOUNDS amazing!

Some of my favorites are so far(just starting out): Fat Tire(easy drinking/go to), Rogue Dead Guy, Sweetwater Blue and 420, Pisgah Brewing Red Devil Ale(If you are ever in Asheville around this time of the year look for it).

Has anybody had that Banana Bread beer? I think it may be by Bells?

I think the Voodoo Doughnut is worth a taste. Buy a bottle and split it with some folks. The smoke comes up front and the maple syrup taste lingers on the finish.

And the Banana Bread Beer is by Wells. It tastes just like thin banana bread flavored water.

[imsoauburn 0]

Worst - Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale. I will give any beer a chance and make it a point to try new ones frequently, but...this was the first one I just could not drink. Think sipping on a bottle of liquid smoke.

Best - Mikkeller Black Hole. Coffee, chocolate, citrus and licorice flavors with 14%abv that is very well hidden except for the nice warming sensation. Most complex beer I've ever tasted.

Well! So much for that beer! Saw it online a few months back and told myself if I ever saw it I would try it. Doughnuts AND Bacon SOUNDS amazing!

Some of my favorites are so far(just starting out): Fat Tire(easy drinking/go to), Rogue Dead Guy, Sweetwater Blue and 420, Pisgah Brewing Red Devil Ale(If you are ever in Asheville around this time of the year look for it).

Has anybody had that Banana Bread beer? I think it may be by Bells?

I think the Voodoo Doughnut is worth a taste. Buy a bottle and split it with some folks. The smoke comes up front and the maple syrup taste lingers on the finish.

And the Banana Bread Beer is by Wells. It tastes just like thin banana bread flavored water.

I'm going to Knoxville to visit the Girlfriend this weekend and I am gonna look for both. Are they both available in Tennessee?

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

We have Wells BBB at my store in Chattanooga, it's a 4 pack. We don't have the Rogue Voodoo at my store because the distributor doesn't have their liquor license. Check liquor stores in Knoxville, if it's in town, there will be plenty on hand. Distributorship varies from city to city. One thing that is uniform in Tennessee is the separation from low gravity brews and high gravity. 6.2% and below must be separate from the store(usually wine/liquor). The store I work at is simply separated by a wall. We are owned by the same person, but it has separate payrolls and different names.

If you're in Knoxville on Friday, find a shop with a growler wall. Green Man from Asheville is doing a kick-off in Tennessee. Nashville, Knoxville, and my store are tapping all of our kegs at 4:20 on Friday. We've got their IPA in Chattanooga, I don't know what the other cities have. If I remember, I'll call the distributor rep tomorrow and see if he can give me a store name.

On the topic of Asheville, yes I have had a Pisgah brew. I believe it was their IPA(it's been a few years since purchase), and it came in my favorite growler that I own:

[AUpocalypse 12]

Worst: Olde English 800

Nightcap to a long day of binge drinking woke up my long-passed out taste buds for an adventure in which I will never be able to forgive or forget. Skunk squirt.

Runners Up: Most run-of-the-mill American beers, Beer in or from a can, Sam Adams Chocolate Bock, Heiney, and don't like Guinness much unless there is a shot of Bailey's Irish Cream sinking to the bottom

Best: I am unable to drink really anymore, probably due to an anthology of stories much like the one above... But it's Oktober and I can't help but crack open any Oktober-themed beer of any kind. All 'Autumn' beers with a hit of orange as well.

Paulaner Oktoberfest-Marzen

Weyerbacher Autumn Fest

Runners Up: Any beer poured from any tap from any pub anywhere in Europe.. went in college, hit many countries, downed many pints/mugs/steins & don't remember having a bad beer of any kind. It was all remarkably good, even a random beer served to us while we were waiting for a ride while sitting on the floor of a train station in Austria. Hard to find anything other than sheer joy over a beer which nearly caused deportation after a half-naked swim in an indoor-fountain. Wish I knew the name of that pour.

Flying Monkeys Smash Bomb Atomic IPA

Unibroue La Fin du Monde

Sam Adams seasonals and Boston Lager classic stand-bys

Leinenkugel Summer Shandy for yard work.

[TitanTiger 20,468]

Just picked up Sierra Nevada Autumn Brown Ale. Man, this might be my favorite brown ale of them all. Seriously good stuff.

Tumbler is, in my opinion, the best Fall seasonal widely available. I really love this beer. Keep an eye out for SN Celebration(http://beeradvocate....rofile/140/1904)in about a month or so. Awesome Winter Seasonal.

I've tried several Oktoberfests over the past month or so, and Marzens do nothing for me. As far as pumpkin ales are concerned--meh.

Of the Oktoberfests though, Paulaner and Hacker Pschorr are decent. They're a couple of the few beers actually served in Munich Oktoberfest. I've heard Ayinger and Great Lakes are also really good.

Hacker Pschorr Dunkel Weiss is some good stuff. Of the marzens, my favorite is Gordon Biersch.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

Unibroue La Fin du Monde

Leinenkugel Summer Shandy for yard work.

La Fin du Monde was one of my first "good beers" I ever had. The End of the World...how can you resist? Unibroue makes some really great stuff.

I dunno how you can drink Summer Shandy. It tasted and smelled like straight Lemon Pine Sol to me. There are so many better "refreshing" beers available during the Summer IMO. But I digress, to each their own.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

Straight to Ale in Huntsville is doing some good stuff lately. Monkeynaut IPA is very solid. However, they're distributing to Nashville...for whatever reason. They're a small outfit jumping to one of, if not the biggest market in Tennessee. I have no clue why they aren't dropping off in Chattanooga first. Even "bigger" breweries, like Dogfish Head for example, expand and then get way in over their head and have to pull out of whole states(12 or 13 including Tennessee). I just don't know how they'll get by.

Saw Works out of Knoxville is preferring to keep it small by expanding to Chattanooga first before moving on to Nashville.

As far as I know, Good People is doing quite well in Nashville. They should be in Chattanooga some time next year.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

I'm assuming most locals heard of this:

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The owner of a small beer, wine, and homebrewing supply chain says three agents from the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board raided his unopened store late Thursday afternoon and took $7,000 worth of home beer brewing supplies, including boxes of beer brewing kits, carboys, immersion chillers, and books about brewing.

UPDATE: ABC Board attorney: brewing equipment seizures were not a 'raid'

Kraig Torres, the owner of Hop City Craft Beer & Wine, said the raid delayed a planned soft opening of the 5,500 square-foot Birmingham store scheduled for Friday.

"It's going to be delayed until Tuesday next week at the earliest," Torres said. "I'm being held hostage by the ABC board."

"They've come into my store with three armed men and threatened to arrest my general manager on the grounds that we have supplies in the store that can be used to make beer."

The agents took the equipment used to brew beer, but Torres said they left the ingredients used in beer brewing -- grain, hops, and yeast -- in the store.

"They said they'll be back at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning and everything had to be -- everything, every pellet of hops, every kernel of grain -- had to be out of the store before they'd be willing to consider our license," Torres said. He said he now plans to get those ingredients out of his unopened store, which is located on 2nd Avenue South near Pepper Place, and take them back to his other location in Atlanta Thursday night.

UPDATE: Alabama beer advocacy organization: 'ridiculous' homebrewing law has to change

Torres said he did "a very large amount of due diligence" before purchasing the homebrewing equipment to sell in his store. He said he doesn't believe that it is illegal to sell homebrewing equipment, although it is illegal to brew beer at home in Alabama.

"We were compliant prior to their entering the store," Torres said.

"We're completely at the mercy of the ABC board at this point," Torres said.

When the store does open, it might be in a reduced capacity. "It's safe to say that until we can resolve this matter legally, we will be a beer and wine only store," Torres said.

"I'm beyond upset about it."

Attempts to reach ABC Board representatives by e-mail and phone were not returned Thursday evening.

Updated at 7:26 a.m. Friday to fix a typo.

Inappropriate post? Alert us.

Related topics: ABC, Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Hop City Craft Beer and Wine

http://blog.al.com/s...ingham_bee.html

I think Hop City had their "soft opening" this past Friday. 64 taps on their growler wall!

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

People like this is why the south is so far behind in craft beer, and why some major craft breweries are shying away from certain states in the south. This is an actual recording from a council regarding the Gourmet Beer Law in Alabama. These people are clueless:

I moved out of Alabama in 2008, after several years of hops oppression. When I got to Tennessee, I realized it wasn't that much better. Surely enough, the hops were freed not long after. Sure, Alabama was limited to 16 oz. until a couple months ago, but they still had more and better access to brews that TN can't touch, and why? Because of these archaic and downright ludicrous laws.

A law was just passed in TN, that if you have a liquor license, you cannot fill growlers. We're working backwards. When you look at Bell's distributorship for a major example , it's just about every state along the eastern seaboard and in the south...with a Tennessee shaped hole in the middle. The idea that TN legislature has in their minds is that, "oh, it's got more alcohol in it, it's bad and people will poison themselves". The reality is, that no one is going to be drinking a case of 10% alc/vol. stouts/IPAs/whatever and going and wrecking themselves into a tree. Take away the cases of garbage beer before simply excluding a huge chunk of great tasting, quality beer.

[BamaGrad03 146]

Lot's of favorites in this thread without the beers you hate list. C'mon take this opportunity to shame as many beers as you can.

Straight to Ale in Huntsville is doing some good stuff lately. Monkeynaut IPA is very solid. However, they're distributing to Nashville...for whatever reason. They're a small outfit jumping to one of, if not the biggest market in Tennessee. I have no clue why they aren't dropping off in Chattanooga first. Even "bigger" breweries, like Dogfish Head for example, expand and then get way in over their head and have to pull out of whole states(12 or 13 including Tennessee). I just don't know how they'll get by.

Good People had this problem in their own backyard. Birmingham is REALLY good about supporting local. And when Good People first came on the scene, it was the only local brew around. So it became the cool thing to do when you were out - order a Good People. Well the owner wasn't big on expanding his staff early on, and they had a really hard time filling their distribution demand at the local spots in town - so they started getting dropped.

I know Jackson's dropped them first, and it was hard for Good People to recover. I'm glad they did. It is an excellent brewery. But now they're feeling the heat from Back Forty and Avondale, both phenomenal breweries in their own right.