What beer do you get for a very special occasion?

I have about two cases of various vintages of Thomas Hardy's Ale, plus another two cases of various other "big beers" (JW Lees Harvest Vintage, Samichlaus, Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, SN Bigfoot, Dominion Millennium, etc.) and a case of a couple big homebrews of my own, mostly a 1997 black-cherry-and-lots-of-honey stout..........

Plus a couple special big Belgian bottles.

Only problem is, even when I have a special occasion to celebrate, like a friend's wedding, I bring a wide selection, and I'm lucky if I even make it to even one of those bottles (usually the "least special" one). Just never enough of a "critical mass" to bother opening a 1987 Liefmanns Goudenband or that 25-year-old bottle of mead or the like.

In reality, what I end up celebrating is my actual willingness to finally crack open the damned things. That's probably as "special" or rare as anything I ever encounter, to be honest. (^_^)

I like to get a case of (quite pricy) British Porter. I like the malty rich taste of some of these & can't handle the intensity & bitterness of your average stout. I love porters with pork (or brats) with sauer kraut & potatoes.

I like to get a 6 pack of Bud light. If its a really special occasion (like my wedding) one of those large Heineken bottles is something I look forward to opening.

Okaaaay... If you get a sixer of Bud Light for a "very special occasion," what do you drink normally? I gotta know.

And I didn't even know Anchor made baseball caps for Old Potrero. Have you seen 'em?

Maybe, during a "very special occasion" he doesn't want get distracted by the taste of beer, or spend more time enjoying a good beer and miss some of the event. Instead, he'll buy something tasteless, something he might drink a mouthful or two of just to get the dryness out of his throat and not something he'd drink enough of to feel a bit tipsy (maybe he's the designator driver and once he "tastes" Bud Light figure he's better off not drinking at all tongiht) or even get so drunk that he might not remember the occasion.

You guys are right on! Bud ligh does not demand attention (and neither does Heineken for that matter). If things are not going to well however, and I want to focus on my beer, I'll have a Sierrra Nevada Pale Ale, if its real hot out there I'll have the stangely named in heat wheat by the flying dog dudes.

Re: Old Potrero caps. Well, Anchor steam and Old Potrero are really one and the same company as it turns out. I am sure the same subcontractor (probably a sweat shop in asia) made the Old Potrero Caps and the Anchor Steam caps. THe search goes on...

Dude... It really sucks to be one of your special occasions.

The brothers at the brewery aren't at all happy about that. Buy it up now, 'cause who knows when it'll be there again?

Me, I'm fine with the St Bernardus 12 - it's the most accurate copy of the real thing out there.

I don't use one beer. I use several. When I "celebrated" my birthday, not quite a month ago, I went on a pub crawl - two breweries, to multi- tap pubs - and finished the day with a brewer's dinner. Beers included Hale's Mongoose IPA, Hale's Abbey Ale, Hale's Red Menace Amber, Maritime Pacific Flagship Red (dry-hopped), MP Vienna amber lager, Gouden Carolus Triple, Far West Bottleworks #6 Abbey Ale, St Bernardus 12, Kwak, and... more. I lost track. Guess I'll have to go try again.

">> I am fortunate to have access to Westy 12 at a retail store locally....

I do know that is the tale, yes. But more and more people over here say there's something stinking about the whole business. To make it worthwile to ship over the Westvleteren to America - unless it would be sold at the price of truffle - a pallet would hardly suffice. And yet, every beergeek in the whole USA has gotten hold of the beer, usually two or three versions. It just doesn't add up. One distributor (or importer?) had enough to develop an "illegal" label for the beer. And we have to believe it is all done without their knowing and understanding? B*ll*cks. What is true, is that they are loathe to step up their production even by the smallest of percentage. And since 'De Vrede' has gotten so big, it just vacuums up the production, especially the Blonde in summertime. They are standing on the brake, yes. But I don't buy their protestations uncritically any longer.

Joris

Were your taste buds shot off in the war?

I like porters, too, but there are good ones made in the USA unless the concept of an import adds to your experience.

The original distinction between porter and stout has blurred with mislabeling. Originally there was a tax on malt (used in porter) so brewers switches to roasted grain (stout). Now brewers openly admit to using malt in their stout. Not that that's a bad practice, just untraditional. A lot of stouts use IPA levels of hops, although not the same hops or hopping schedule.

Hey now. It's not polite to make fun of crippled taste buds like that.