I'm partial to Belgian Ales and Abbey beers. Off the top of my head I'd have to say Duvel takes the cake follow shortly by Delirium Tremens, and Leffe Triple. If you ever run into some snobby bitch that doesn't drink beer get St. Louis Kriek Lambic. In my eyes it's blasphemy to put fruit (cherry) in something as manly as beer but if that's what it takes to bring more to the fold then so be it.
I'm a broke painter so my go to is bud light or PBR. Say what you want about it, but I can get a 12 pack of PBR for $7 even in San Francisco. I can't get 2 pints at a bar for $7. If I'm feeling rich, my absolute favorites are Fat Tire, Anchor Steam, and Mirror Pond. Great great beers.
I've lived in two big beer cities- St Louis and Denver, but Atlanta's microbrews (Terrapin, Red Brick, and Sweetwater) blow them out of the water.
For heavy drinking/games: Coors Light all the way. I'm definitely a seasonal beer drinker. Summer = Gritty's Vacationland, Geary's Summer Ale, and Carib. The first two are from breweries in ME and you can find them throughout the North East and occasionally at stores around the country with a big brew selection. Fall: I drink a lot of Octoberfests but the best I've ever had including beers I had at Oktoberfest in Munich comes from the Pennichuck Brewing Co in lil old Milford NH. They won the gold at the International Beer Festival with their Big O Oktoberfest Lager. It is truly an awesome beer. (Just found out that Pennichuck has a pretty decent following down South so they're distributed in FL, AL, and GA) Winter: Gritty's Blackfly (darkest beer I've ever seen) and Young's Oatmeal Stout. Also I drink a ton of Woodchuck Cider in the winter. Love that stuff. Black Fly Stout
I like Guinness, it's just what I order when it's available. I've met maybe two people who enjoy it. Everyone else say that they hate it.
Corona. I know a lot of people hate it and fuck you, but it's smooth and has a better drunk buzz than any other beer. My only complaint is that it's a "summer" beer and doesn't seem to have the right feel for the cold months. That's what Moosehead and A. Keith's is for, I guess. Runner up: Rolling Rock. The only American beer that generally doesn't suck in my book, and of course itcannot be bought in Canada.
Corona is a beer for people who don't know shit about beer and don’t like themselves much. If you need to put lime in a beer to the edge off the distinctive cardboard/urine flavour it’s not a worthy beer. Also any beer that comes in a clear bottle shouldn’t be drunk by anyone over 21 unless it’s free. (Real hops are rapidly degraded by UV light, therefore clear bottle = no real hops) For an easy slamming session beer Boags Draft is awesome: And was just given 4 cartons of the new Boags super premium, will report back after some rigorous testing. ($280 worth of free beer for the win)
Speaking of Belgium, the St. Bernardus Abt 12 is fucking amazing. Strong (10%) but goes down very smooth. The website says it tastes fruity, but I say it tastes like magic and sunshine.
I'll have to second Fin Du Monde, a great tasting beer for 9%. But my go-to beer for the past year or so has been Old Milwaukee. I started buying it because I was unemployed and needed something cheap. But since then I've definitely become accustomed to the taste. I will take it over any Miller, Molson, Kokanee or Keith's. Plus with me being one of the few people who drinks it among my friends, it's easy to spot if someone tries stealing one at a party. The red ladies never steer me wrong.
My favorite, widely available locally (I don't know about nationally) has to be Four Peaks Kiltlifter Scottish Style Ale. Linky to their beer list Their other beers are all good but the seasonal Pumpkin Porter is fucking delicious. I drive 20 miles a couple times every October just for this, as it is only available at the brewery/restaurant.
Mac & Jacks African Amber - solely distributed in the Northwest. Hoppy, sweet & spicy. Such a great tasting brew. Another new found love: Xingu - Brazilian premium black lager. Surprising smooth & rich. Fucking enjoyable.
I second Abita Amber as well. Their Turbodog isn't too bad either, and it's been getting easier to find around here lately. As ciders go, I absolutely love Strongbow. There is only one bar in town with it on tap, so most of the time I have to settle for cans. It's not as sweet as Woodchuck. I'm constantly surprising the non-believers with it. I tried this little number the other day: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/boulevard- ... uad/71739/ I was very pleasantly surprised.
You come to Louisiana, you start drinking/liking Abita. That's a requirement for residency. Abita Amber is the standard bearer. But alcoholics like me love Andygator, whose 8.0% alcohol level makes it the best thing on tap in a surprisingly large amount of bars around here. I imagine Andygator is a lot like the mythical 'real' regular beer you find on tap in other countries. Despite the higher alcohol content, it's still pretty good tasting. Turbodog is good if you like the more bitter stuff. And you know what? I'll readily admit to drinking the raspberry 'Purple Haze' AND the Strawberry lager. Because sometimes you just want some tasty fruity crap on a hot summer day. That Satsuma crap was the most sour thing I have ever tasted. To the point I think I picked up a bad case or something. ---- I also love New Belgium's Fat Tire, and enjoyed Skinny Dip. ---- The name's escape me right now, but if you're in Albuquerque, there are a couple surprisingly good microbrew/restaurants. They might be a dime a dozen elsewhere, but look em up if you're ever in that area.
I usually don't venture too far away from bud light since it's familiar and usually on special and always within my price range. But a few Thanksgivings ago, my dad sent me to the liquor store with a $50 bill to get him some o'douls. So I grabbed him a 12 pack and then searched for what I was gonna get myself with his money. Then I found a ceramic style bottle of Belgian Ale called "St. Sebastian". It cost about $10 for a pint so I bought it and it was glorious. I've never had another one because for an extra $10 I can get a case of Bud instead of a pint of good stuff, but I highly recommend it. In fact, any Belgian Ale I've ever had, from Blue Moon to Stella Artois has been good to me. I really don't like dark beers or beers with too much flavor (obviously) so keep that in mind if you're gonna try this stuff.
Does Malt Liquor count? Because I still drink that Old English 8ball shit I grew up on. Seriously, given a choice between OE and some shit like Budweiser I'm going take the OE 10 times outta 10. I'm 30 years old, and not poor by any stretch, by the way. Even though if I drive down to the corner store in the ghetto part of the city they usually have it on special 2 40s for $5
How can this go for 3 pages, with Corona and Bud Lite mentioned, with NO ONE bringing up Hoegaarden? If not on tap, pour 2 bottles into a big mug, squeeze half an orange in there, and enjoy. Also, if your ever in Queens, NYC, there is a restaurant on 69th st and Myrtle Ave in Glendale called Zum Stammtisch. Besides the kickass food, they have a fantastic smoked german beer. I used to have an empty bottle until my dumbass roommate threw it away.
Right now my beer of choice is Stella Artois. Pretty light and pretty tasty, I'd recommend it heartily if you haven't tried it. Aside from that, I enjoy myself a Blue Moon as well. While it's not terribly micro or whatever it was the first beer I drank that wasn't Keystone or Labatt or any of that shit. And of course, Magic Hat #9, but shit, everybody likes that beer.
A classic beer with a twist on it. Bud Light's Chelada. It's Bud Light with Clamato Juice mixed in it. Hesitant at first, I didn't want to try because I am not the biggest fan of clamato juice, but after tasting this drink I was in heaven. The Clamato juice tastes somewhat sweet and creates a nice mix of sweet and bitter with the beer. I could drink this stuff all day, but if worse comes to worse: straight up Bud Light is the best.
If you're in Queens, you should also check out the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden, and drown yourself in Krusovice Dark. It's a guaranteed hangover, but it's fucking worth it.