BEER!!!

[OnAFly]

It seems like everything gets discussed here except drinks. I thought I'd get is started by sharing a nice find I recently ran into.

After a trip to Germany for work a few months ago, I developed a taste for Weiss beer, or what is called Hefeweizen here. I found a few beers that were imported from Germany that were OK but nothing that really tasted like what I had out there until I ran into a Trader Joe's and saw they made a Hefeweizen.

I gave it a shot and it was way better than any of the imports I could find. The best part, it's $6 a six pack. That's 2/3 what Paulaner cost and much, much better. It's the yeastiest, wheatiest beer I've had and I love it!

So, anyone else run into any diamonds in the rough?

[KrabbyPatties]

The beer is made by Trader Joe's? Thanks for the heads up--I was just thinking this week that I really wanted to find a good German or German-style beer.

I'm not sure what qualifies as a diamond in the rough, but here are a couple that a lot of people have probably tried that I really like:

Grand Teton Brewing Company - B i t c h Creek

Sierra Nevada - Torpedo

[S.D. Ice Angular]

Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer

[mainbutter]

I too have developed a strong liking for wheat beers, easy and refreshing, and many are served with citrus. They blow typical "summer" lagers out of the water IMO.

If you ever get up to Anchorage, make sure to hit up the Moose's Tooth restaurant. Best hefeweizen I've ever had.

[goblueM]

There's a few other homebrewers floating around here... a few more of you cooking fanatics ought to give it a go, it is pretty fun! I got 9 gallons of wild fruit wine, 5 gallons of hard apple cider, 5 gallons of IPA, and 5 gallons of russian imperial stout going right now

[muskiemanAD]

I am a big fan of Surly. Furious being my favorite.......mmmmmmm, beer!

[Gordie]

I too have developed a strong liking for wheat beers, easy and refreshing, and many are served with citrus. They blow typical "summer" lagers out of the water IMO.

If you ever get up to Anchorage, make sure to hit up the Moose's Tooth restaurant. Best hefeweizen I've ever had.

If your are ever in New Holstien Wis. there is a a little bar in the middle of town on main street that has some of the greatest home brewed Wheat I have ever tasted. I wish I could remember the name of the joint but the beer was really to good to remember things like that.

[mrklean]

There's a few other homebrewers floating around here... a few more of you cooking fanatics ought to give it a go, it is pretty fun! I got 9 gallons of wild fruit wine, 5 gallons of hard apple cider, 5 gallons of IPA, and 5 gallons of russian imperial stout going right now

I am making wine now beer is the next step is it harder or easier to make then wine?

[SkunkedAgain]

I outsource my homebrewing!

[goblueM]

I am making wine now beer is the next step is it harder or easier to make then wine?

Beer is slightly harder than wine, but not by much. A little more temp control, a longer brew day (not just dumping in fruit + yeast and additives), but that is just about it.

[Eric_Kruger]

Try the shell's Hefewiezen new to the market as far I know ( just got it on the shelves in the last week or two).

Ive been getting into the micro brews this year and have tried so many I cannot remember them all but some that stand out were the sam adams cherry wheat, brewers cave - black barley ale, third street brewhouse - cream ale, theres a few from mankato brewery, and then Lienies creamy dark.

I know thats all lover the map, but again if your just getting a taste for craft beers head to your local store, Not all do it but a few will do a pick six, six pack. you can pick any bottle of any brew and make a mixed six pack for ten bucks. So your not stuck with 5 extra beers for every kind you dont like! lol

[OnAFly]

Shells Hefeweizen is a really good one too, probably 2nd on my list of ones I can get here. The problem is I can never find it anywhere.

[B. Amish]

i had a scottish ale from the new fargo beer company. outstanding.

i also homebrew. the stuff i've made so far is just great.

[Harmonica Bear]

I've tried alot of them over the years. Franziskaner is my favorite.

[ThunderLund78]

Have been a fan of Leinenkugle's Summer Shandy for quite some time now. Seems to go down much easier when it's really hot than a standard lager. So I thought I'd try Shock Top's new Lemon Shandy. Not bad, but I think I still like Leinies better. But that also led me to try Shock Top's Raspberry. I gotta say, I'm not a huge flavored beer guy - but that's some tasty, refreshing stuff. I'll be going back for more before the summer's over.

On another note, my local liquor store does a "Build-your-own 6-pack" for 9.99 with a bunch of micro-brews. I have a bunch of stuff waiting in the fridge for sampling right now. I will report back if I ended up stumbling across something good.

[BuckmasterG]

I like Lakemaid plus its the "fisherman's lager"

[Slabasaurus]

I had my first summer shandy at Phish this year when it was 107 degrees out. I had to double check that I was not drinking lemonade. Definitely not my kinda beer, but it was quite refreshing nonetheless.

I recently discovered Deschutes beer, their Inversion IPA is pretty smooth. I do have some of their White IPA to try out tonight, i have heard good things though.

My typical beer-fridge contains: 12 Sierra Nevada, 12 two hearted, and a 6er sample pack of something...

OnAFly, G-will in blaine ordered Maifest for me when I was looking for it earlier this year, so I'm sure they could probably help ya out with some schells beer. I'll have to give that Hefeweizen a shot.

I have 5 gal of IPA

That in St. Paul or in VA?

[OnAFly]

Thanks for the heads up Slab. I'll have to check it out in the spring. I heard it's a seasonal only beer that Schell's does.

I've had Franziskaner, that's a very good one, but I've never seen it in the US.

White IPA huh? I'll definitely have to look into that.

[Eric_Kruger]

Have been a fan of Leinenkugle's Summer Shandy for quite some time now. Seems to go down much easier when it's really hot than a standard lager. So I thought I'd try Shock Top's new Lemon Shandy. Not bad, but I think I still like Leinies better. But that also led me to try Shock Top's Raspberry. I gotta say, I'm not a huge flavored beer guy - but that's some tasty, refreshing stuff. I'll be going back for more before the summer's over.

On another note, my local liquor store does a "Build-your-own 6-pack" for 9.99 with a bunch of micro-brews. I have a bunch of stuff waiting in the fridge for sampling right now. I will report back if I ended up stumbling across something good.

If you see a fat guy behind the counter in a purple or white shirt named eric.....thats me! Give me a shout next time your in and we can chat about beers!

[pike79]

I don't have much expierience with craft beers but one I have tried a few years ago was John Henry three lick spiker ale, it had a bold flavor and a high alcohol content. It was made by cold spring brewery now third street brewhouse.

[solbes]

I like a good weiss beer in the summer myself (homebrewer here). Lots of good ones out there. I made a blueberry wheat that was semi-similar to Sunset Wheat but with tart German based yeast (instead of Leinie's clean lager yeast). We kicked that keg in 2 weeks flat. Raspberry wheats are good too, but I really didn't care for the ShockTop version. Way too sweet for me and not tart enough. For commercial Raspberry Wheats I like the Alaskan and Breckenridge beers.

Another popular style that constrasts slightly to German Hefe's are Belgian Wit's. Malted wheat in Hefe's with suspended yeast vs Raw wheat in Wits with suspended yeast. Wits can be a tad sour. Some good examples are Hoegaarden from Belgium (modern recipe) and Celis White from Tx (based on original Hoegaarden recipe). Wits usually have a bit of corriander spice that give a lemony/citrus flavor.

Craft and nano/micro brews are a hot thing over the past 3-5 years. If you follow the industry you'd see that Miller and InBev (Bud) are buying up these craft breweries at an alarming rate. That seems to be where the revenue growth is at.

Homebrewin is way too addictive (don't do it!!). I have 3 batches fermenting, one fruit wine clearing, and 6 batches in consumption phase.

[picksbigwagon]

My wife and I just got back from a five day tour of Portland, Widmer has been our favorite hefe for many years now. Weiss beer and hefe are kind of similar styles of beer but not the same. My sister in law sent me a link to a retro beer night at wildfire in EP, they are matching courses of food with pabst, old style, schlitz, stroh's and some other beer. While the beer is retro, the food isn't,,still trying to talk my wife into going

[ThunderLund78]

Quote:

If you see a fat guy behind the counter in a purple or white shirt named eric.....thats me! Give me a shout next time your in and we can chat about beers!

Eric, You're at Coburn's, I'm guessing? I'll definitely make sure to say hi next time I'm in. Small world!

[OnAFly]

Absolutely nothing wrong with a little PBR It's the only traditional American style beer that I like.

[solbes]

What about a Grainbelt Premo? That's my go to corn lightened lager.