Sampler Combo

OK I'll take a stab at this and make a few suggestions. I'd like to hear what other people recommend too actually.

Stone Russian Imperial Stout - Stone Brewing Co. Escondido, Ca

North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout - North Coast Brewing Company. Fort Bragg, Ca

Anchor Porter - Anchor Brewing Co. San Fran. Ca.

Samuel Smiths Oatmeal Stout - Samuel Smith. Yorkshire, England

Rogue Chocolate Stout - Rogue Ales. Newport, Oregon USA

Not classified as a sweet stout but a very nice stout - Bells Kalamazoo Stout - Bells Brewery, Inc. Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Hoegaarden White - Brouwerij Hoegaarden. Hoegaarden, Belgium

Pyramid Hefeweizen - Pyramid Breweries Inc. Portland, Oregon

Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale - Sierra Nevada Brewing. Chico. Ca

Anchor Liberty Ale - Anchor Brewing Co. San Fran. Ca.

Never had this one but maybe ... Goose Island Blonde Ale - Goose Island Beer Company. Chicago, Illinois

I've had all the other ones and they are all quite good. Some of these are a little bit more expensive than most domestic brews, but well worth it imo. Most of them should be fairly easy to find ... Bevmo (online or in their store) carries a lot of them.

I'd also recommend trying:

A Doppelbock - Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock - Germany - one of my favorites.

A Barley Wine - Sierra Nevada Bigfoot is pretty damn good stuff!

and maybe a Quadruple or a belgian style stronge ale - Rocheforte Trappistes if you can find it. You'll never look at beer the same way again!

Cheers, Fred

Of course, availablity of the suggestions is gonna depend on your location.

Courage Russian Imperial Stout (difficult to find- but it's around) or Le Cog Imperial Extra Double Stout

The Polish stouts are back in the US (and priced extremely reasonably)- Zywiec or Okocim- lots of alcohol, tho', and they come in 1/2 liter bottles- so watch out. Grab some Perkuna's Hammer from Heavyweight while you can- the brewery is supposedly closing soon.

Mackeson Stout (unfortunately, only the contract-brewed version available in the US- haven't tried the big bottles out of Penna. from The Lion but I was disappointed by the Cincinati version) or Hitachino Nest Sweet Stout (try to get a relatively fresh bottle).

Bluebird or Gale's from the UK.

I've been drinking Ballantine XXX Ale (once my regular "house" beer circa the 1970's) for a "light" beverage this spring. Lower in alcohol than the average micro and half the price. Sure, it's lost a LOT since bouncing from brewery to brewery for the past 30 years (I find the current version lacking in a certain sweetness it used to have, the hop nose is barely there and sometimes the bitterness is now kinda astringent). Buy it in cans and pour it into a glass for best results. I've been meaning to check the date codes on some Chesterfield Ale, too. (Like Ballantine, if you're gonna buy it in glass- do so only out of a sealed case- being light and hoppy, they skunk easily.)

All your choices are exceedingly good.

Then give Blue Moon Belgian White a try. Shockingly good when one realizes it's produced by Coors. Regularly discounted to $6 a sixpak.

To die for.

I recently noticed our local BevMo currently has it in stock.

nb

You know, I thought the Blue Moon Abbey Ale that was out for a brief time in the 90's was *very* good. Miss that one. :^(

It would be helpful to know where you're located. There are a lot of beers that have very limited distribution, and so a lot of recommendations may not be available to you.

Courage from the UK is essentially the archetype of the style. My personal favorite is Old Rasputin from North Coast (CA)

Porters are all over the map. Both Sierra Nevada's and Anchor's are outstanding. Alaskan's and Stone's smoked porters are interesting.

Tougher and tougher to find these. Young's Double Chocolate is good, and while I rarely see it anymore (and haven't had it in years, so don't know if it's changed), Sam Adams Cream Stout is (was) quite good.

If you happen to be in southern California, Oggi's has an export stout that's on the sweet side that is very, very good.

Lots of varieities available here

Belgian: Hoegaarden, Blanche de Brugges and even Blue Moon Belgian White

Bavraian: Schneider. There are others. None are as good, at least of the ones you'll have reasonably easy access to in the States.

American: well, none. They don't really have much flavor to them. (Note when I say American, I'm meaning the American wheat style, such as brewed by Pyramid and Widmer, not American breweries that try to do Bavarian or Belgian styles.)

Two very different birds.

English: Harviestoun's Bitter and Twisted is fabulous. Goose Island's Honker's Ale is more in an English style than American.

American: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale remains the quintessential example. Summit Extra Pale is quite good, as is Left Hand's Jackman's. I also like Smuttynose's pale.

Note I purposely avoided listing American IPAs, as they're going to be quite different from the standard pale ales.

Not in that terminology, but the best beer I've had of that sort is Goose Island's Summertime, which is a Kölsch-style beer. Capital's 1900 is also quite good in this category.

-Steve

Located in Buffalo,NY (on Lake Erie)

Now I've Tried Saranac Kolsch and i found it to have a peppery type of after taste, with a banana like esters is that the norm for a kolsch style beer?

Most of the ones I listed should be available in your area, then, with the possible exceptions of Goose Island, Stone and Left Hand.

Nope, not at all. Very few American breweries get this style right. It's supposed to be very clean and very well balanced. There may be a hint of some fruity esters (it's brewed with ale yeasts at cold temps), but they shouldn't be prominent.

I've seen Reissdorff Kölsch in a few states in the U.S., which is a decent (but not great) example of authentic Kölsch. The Goose is a great example, and very accurate to the style.

-Steve

Great, and thanks for the help! I'll be on the look out for the Reissdorff Kolsch too!