Beer! What do you drink when you play?

[TheRealQ]

Beer: one of my favorite subjects.
I like beer...it makes me a jolly good fellow!
Stuck in Maryland where you have to find a liquor store to find beer and then there is limited selection, less than 50 varieties, has got me longing to be home and select from over 100 varieties at my grocery store. I have traveled all over this country ('cept New England for some reason) and have found a plethora of microbrews out there that rock the house. But in addition to those I have found several good ol' standbys that I can count on to be most anywhere I go.

Guiness-Out of all beers this is the one import you are almost guaranteed to find on tap in a bar if they have any imports at all.

Fat Tire-rich but without the heaviness or bitterness of darker beers. Technically New Belgium is still a microbrewer but you can find FT in all the surrounding states. The usurper to Fat Tire is Avalanche by Breckenridge but I have only found it in Colorado. It has more depth of flavor and costs a buck less per 6 pack.

Now back to Texas. Everybody loves Shiner Bock and I don't live far from the brewery. (yes, its true I live in the heart of beer and barbeque) I use Shiner as a back-up when I buy draft, every bar in Texas has it on tap it seems. But I prefer another bock that I may get a heresy suit slapped on me for mentioning. That beer is Zeigenbock. I have a 12 pack sitting ice cold at my house at all times. The back blast comes from the fact that Shiner is a Texas tradition and Z is owned by Budweiser. Too many people are so enamored with their microbrews that they refuse to give the big breweries a chance. Zeigenbock is only brewed and sold in Texas unlike other Bud products and I simply think it tastes better than Shiner...not a little bit better, a lot better.

Now Zeigenbock is my standby back home but when I'm on the road it isn't available. I have locked onto a couple imports that I am finding in more and more locations. They are both completely different and great in their own way.

Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse: this has a strong wheat flavor and causes me to reminisce about eating fresh baked bread. No bitterness, even a touch of sweetness, yet full flavored. I'm drinking one now.

And my number one pick: (I only keep a six-pack of these at home, they cost a little more)

Warsteiner Dunkel: Imagine all the flavor of Guiness with absolutely no bitterness. This beer goes great with food. It goes great on the back porch with a cigar. It goes great sitting around a Heroscape battlefield. I love it and recommend it to every beer drinker out there (no minors mind you).

Now, what do you like to drink when playing?

[hextr1p]

I'm partial to Mike's Hard. Any flavor really. A fun drink for a fun game, you know? I want to try the new Apple flavor.

[bobofett]

I like a good sunkist(softdrink)(too young for beer).

[Grungebob]

Dogfishhead Raison Detre' is my current fav. I am also into Paulaner Salvator.

If you want Texas beer, I say St Arnolds is better than any of them. Try the St Arnolds stout!! Excellent.

[skyknight]

Heroscape requires thought to play, therefore you needing a thinking mans beer, this almost always means a slow sipping hearty stout. While I do love the Paulaner as well I am truly in love with Chimay grand reserve. This is probably my favorite beer of all time. As far as stouts go it used to be Samuels smiths oatmeal or imperial stout. I have since been drinking Brooklyn breweries chocolate stout. This is Heaven, I guarantee. Another great beer is Ommegang wheat ale called three Philosophers. Friggin scrumptious. I belong to two beer clubs so I drink good beer as well as good wine :P

[shakey_snake]

Beowulf says, "Mead."


Honey Brown is my prefered cheap beer.

otherwise it's:
Great lakes - Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
Dogfish head - 90 Minute India Pale Ale
Yuengling - Black and Tan
Sierra Nevada - Stout
Anything in Sam Adams Brewmaster Series

I only drink Guiness on tap, and I have never and will never drink beer out of a can.

[Grungebob]

Originally Posted by shakey_snake

Beowulf says, "Mead."


Honey Brown is my prefered cheap beer.

otherwise it's:
Great lakes - Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
Dogfish head - 90 Minute India Pale Ale
Yuengling - Black and Tan
Sierra Nevada - Stout
Anything in Sam Adams Brewmaster Series

I only drink Guiness on tap, and I have never and will never drink beer out of a can.

I see Dogfishhead is on your list. The 90 min is good but has too many citris qualities for me, Have you tried the Raison Detre'? Siera Nevada stout and porter are decent but they do not blow me away. Try Young's double chocolate stout it will absolutely change the way you view stouts because it has about 10 times more flavor than Guiness. If you are only drinking Guiness on tap you are truly missing out. Many places around here offer selections on tap that are very noteworthy.

And Sam Adams double bock was one of my all time favorite beers. Too bad it is seasonal.

[POP mARTy]

Always my first choice....

[Hahnarama]

Anything Harpoon, My buddy is a Master Brewer there

Anything Pyramid....

Mac and Jack's African Amber

and always the "Champain of Beers"

[TheRealQ]

Eventually I will try every selection here except the IPA, I just can't get into IPAs. I had Paulaner Salvator draft the same day I had Warsteiner Dunkel for the first time, (a couple places in Austin have over 300 beers on tap) it was good and smooth. I agree with skynight though that you have to have a slow drinking beer for Heroscape. If I was drinking Coors Light I could have a dozen+ in me before the game finished.

The first on my list when I get home will be St. Arnolds. This is about the 4th or 5th time it has come recommended. Since I am up north for now I am going to see if I can find a couple of skynight's recommendations.

Its a shame you have never had a beer out of a can SS. Down in Texas during the heat of the summer after mowing the lawn nothing is as refreshing as pulling an ice cold brew from the cooler, touching it across your neck and face then poppin' that big-mouth tap and chugging it down in just a couple gulps...then sittin' down with the rest of them. If you go rafting, boating, camping, hunting, etc you are going to want cans. When Guiness first came in cans with the cartridge I had bought 6 cases and had a Guinness party...everyone was pleased. Admittedly the draft is still best but there is a time and place for most any beer...just like wine. Admittedly cans are never my preference (all my beer at home is bottled) but there is a time for them.

Skynight, I am only slightly envious. I hadn't ever thought of joining a beer club; I haven't even heard of such a thing until you mentioned it. I have been looking into joining a brewer's club though, Austin has a couple of them. I recently made a friend who brew's her own beer and was shocked at how inexpensive it has gotten and how good the quality of materials that are available. The group that I am more interested in has an association with the SCA which might add a bit of entertainment but the head brewmeister is a genius and has been highly honored by several homebrew associations.

Thanks guys for your input

[Rodriquez]

Originally Posted by Grungebob

Dogfishhead Raison Detre' is my current fav. I am also into Paulaner Salvator.

If you want Texas beer, I say St Arnolds is better than any of them. Try the St Arnolds stout!! Excellent.

we can always count on good ole GB to find some oddball beers!!
if Im drinkin...and aye Ry I do drink!!...it's usually coors light or such..


cheers

[skyknight]

Originally Posted by Rodriquez

we can always count on good ole GB to find some oddball beers!!
if Im drinkin...and aye Ry I do drink!!...it's usually coors light or such..
cheers

Oh that seems.......nice