Beer!

[Precise1]

Maybe it depends upon where you are at. Like a can of soda, or pop, or coke(generic term). At least beer is beer everywhere. A universal icon...

 

yes and no... what you Americans drink isnt beer!!!

 

Well, I had to disprove this silly Canadian misconception...

Buttwiper, Poors, Molsen Golden Showers, etc are not beer. They are a way of disposing of the municipal sewage sludge in small percentages so they are not represented.

 

Check out this link...

http://beeradvocate.com/top_beers.php

 

I live in a major wine and beer area (Sonoma, Napa, Mendecino counties) and can happily report that about 75% of the beers on the list are from the US, about 25% are from California and almost 15% are from within 60 miles of my home. This explains my belly growth...

 

While no list or tally is complete (and while this is a US list, other countries are represented though) and many micro brews are not available out side of an area/state/country, it is a place to start. Compare beers, make comments and what is your favorite? Please site your references!!!

 

Personally, this is my favorite stand by and I buy 2-4 4 packs a week.

http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-Pranqster.htm

 

 

B

[tekazgtr1984]

Stella Artois Blonde Lager and Kirin Ichiban Shibori...

 

'Nough said.

Edited January 15, 2009 by tekazgtr1984

[headpeace]

Corsendonk is a great Belgium dark

[tekazgtr1984]

Hoegaarden is also good. Witbier I think it's called... Orange peel in it!

[adamzan]

My friend said this place http://www.beaus.ca/ was pretty good. I think I'll have to check it out.

[GrimGreg]

Budweiser Select is my water, but when I go to specifically drink beer I like stouts/dark ales; Smithwicks(Irish), Beamish(Scotish), Hopin Frog(Ohio), Dragon's Milk(Michigan)...

[Precise1]

Did anyone even peruse the list?

 

Hopin Frog(Ohio)

That's on the list. #70-80ish

 

Hoegaarden is also good. Witbier I think it's called... Orange peel in it!

I have had that one many times ans Stella is always acceptable...

 

 

B

[TruTaing]

:puke: all beer tastes bad :x

[vengeful]

Then you clearly haven't had good beer!

[GrimGreg]

Did anyone even peruse the list?

That's on the list. #70-80ish

 

 

B

 

95 actually. And The stout is good, the IPA tastes like week old piss! (At least what I would imagine week old piss would taste like.)

[nige]

Pabst blue ribbon is my cheap choice - but only in cans!(i have only tried the stuff brewed by sleeman's in guelph)

Creemore Springs used to be good before it was purchased by Molson

Anything that comes out of the Neustadt brewery

I also like Red Cap Ale from Brick Brewery, but i think it's more the novelty of drinking it out of stubbies than the taste

I really like the Bow River (lager?) i had while in Calgary. They have better water out west and you can taste the difference it makes in the beer

 

If you guys want to try some nice euro beers, here are some of my favorites:

 

Staropramen (CZ)

Radegast (CZ) although it's hard to find in Southern Ontario (Thanks Brewer's Retail )

Kozel (CZ)

Warstiener Dunkel (Ger)

Stella is good for a 'treat' beer (no more than 2 tall cans in one session)

Edited January 15, 2009 by nige

[nige]

Here is a little blurb on why the Brewer's Retail sucks a$$. (copied from wikipedia)

 

Brewers Retail Inc., doing business as The Beer Store (TBS), is a privately owned chain of retail outlets in Ontario, Canada, founded in 1927. Ontario government regulations regarding the sales of alcohol gives the chain a near-monopoly of domestic retail beer sales in Ontario. These regulations stipulate that Brewers Retail cannot sell "hard liquor" (spirits), or consumer goods (like groceries). Its only legal competition is found in the beer sections of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) stores, government-owned outlets which stock beers outside of the Brewers Retail system, and retail outlets at breweries.

 

Forty-nine percent of the company is owned by the Labatt arm of InBev of Belgium; forty-nine percent is owned by Molson Coors Brewing Company which has headquarters in both the United States and Canada; and the remaining two percent is owned by Sleeman Breweries, an arm of Sapporo of Japan. [1]

 

Although founded by the Government of Ontario, it is only linked by a relationship with Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). As of November 2006, the company operates 450 retail stores which sell beer to the general public. [2] TBS also has the government legislated exclusive right to sell domestic beer to Ontario bars and restaurants, of which more than 17,000 are licensed to sell alcohol. The LCBO sells imported beer to bars and restaurants. Imported beer is available for sale at The Beer Store, but this product is actually imported by the LCBO and then sold to Brewers Retail.

 

Workers are currently represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).

 

Most Canadian provinces have since allowed privately owned stores to compete for sales of beer and wine while retaining tighter controls over the sale of spirits, while Alberta has privatized all retail liquor stores. However, in Ontario, no changes have been made and Brewers Retail continues to sell over 90% of the beer sold in the province. Despite its near-monopoly, it is permitted to charge non-shareholding breweries substantial listing fees for each beer carried in stock (currently more than $45,000 per brand no matter how many stores the brewery actually stocks beer in) [3]. This practice has been criticized as restricting competition in the huge Ontario beer market, especially from smaller brewers who often cannot afford the fees especially for multiple brands.

 

Although the province-owned LCBO also sells beer to the general public, Brewers Retail is the main distributor to restaurants and bars (Ontario-based craft breweries may sell to licenced establishments directly).[4] The company refuses to grant either quantity discounts or credit to any customer, meaning that even the most solvent establishments in Ontario must pay cash on delivery for their beer. This is a constant source of friction between Brewers Retail and the hospitality industry.

 

Despite their unpopularity,[citation needed] the BRI-aligned AGCO conducts a heavy-handed enforcement of the laws proscribing off-sales by sending undercover agents to perform random spot-checks. Observers have frequently noted that AGCO agents often seem more concerned with off-site consumption than they are with enforcing the legal drinking age. Bars can be heavily fined (and even lose their liquor licences) if they fail to take stringent steps to ensure that the beer and liquor they sell is consumed on-site.

 

Representatives for Brewers Retail claim that not offering either credit or quantity discounts means that everyone is treated the same way and also ensures that Brewers Retail and The Beer Store do not have to pass on costs associated with bad debts to consumers. They also offer free delivery of orders province-wide, but only if the licensee orders a very large amount by small business standards, otherwise there is a $25 delivery fee. The company claims that unlike the LCBO, it does not outright refuse shelf space to any eligible product approved for sale in Ontario.

 

The company claims that the Brewers Retail monopoly generates significant economies of scale and that most of the savings generated compared to the systems used elsewhere are passed on to the consumer. [5] The company claims that allowing corner stores to sell beer (as is done in neighbouring Quebec where about 20,000 stores sell beer compared to 1,250 in Ontario - about 25 times the number of stores per capita) would cause increased distribution costs of about $4/case that in other provinces have been either passed on to consumers or absorbed by the government in the form of a tax cut. However, these claims are dubious at best and have been vehemently refuted by officials in both Quebec and Alberta. As of June 2007 the retail price for a case of 24 of some brands of beer sold in Gatineau, Quebec has been proven to be more than $10 cheaper than the price for 24 of the same brand in nearby Ottawa, despite the fact that the differences in taxes are less than half that amount for that volume of any particular brand.[6]

 

Brewers Retail further claims that selection is greatly reduced in the more liberalized jurisdictions, especially outside the major cities. They reason that a small, independent store will only have space and cash flow to stock a few major brands as opposed to the hundreds on the shelves of The Beer Stores. These claims have developed a hollow ring with the recent changeover of many Beer Store outlets from the Self-Serve format to the “Ice Cold Express†format.[neutrality disputed] Critics of this change claim that its only logical purpose is to discourage customers from buying brands other than those of the Brewers Retail shareholders.[citation needed] One survey found that 78% of The Beer Store’s customers are opposed to the format change.[citation needed]

 

The price difference of approximately 40 cents per serving between stores in Eastern Ontario and Southwestern Quebec is sufficient enough to make illegal smuggling (or "bootlegging") of beer across Ontario's unpatrolled eastern border for re-sale on the black market a highly profitable enterprise,[citation needed] especially for anyone who can find both a vendor in Quebec that will negotiate discounts (which at least some will do in exchange for the convenience of selling beer by the pallet) and can also find (or simply be) one or more high-volume customers in Ontario (such as unscrupulous bar owners who might simply looking for a feasible way to fight what they see as an unjustified monopoly). BRI has lobbied the Government of Ontario to name interprovincial bootlegging of beer as an irritant in intergovernmental relations with Quebec. However, BRI and the unions representing employees of both the Beer Store and the LCBO have been criticized for falsely and/or misleadingly claiming that it is against the law for consumers to bring alcoholic beverages from Quebec or (less commonly) from Manitoba under any and all circumstances.[7] In fact, it is perfectly legal for consumers to import alcoholic beverages from other provinces into Ontario provided it is not intended for re-sale.

 

Supporters of more open competition counter that average Canadians are not normally connoisseurs of obscure beers and usually prefer the increased convenience that limited or full privatization has been responsible for in other provinces. They also contend that as the purchaser of all imported beer in Ontario, the LCBO has the facilities, contacts and resources to satisfy the needs of those consumers who want the less common brands (most of which are imported and thus handled by the LCBO in any event).

 

Brewers Retail has become politically controversial especially following the Molson-Coors merger, which placed the majority of its ownership in the hands of foreigners. In 2005, Ontario's alcohol laws were reviewed and proposals to allow the sale of beer in grocery and convenience stores were put forth. However, although some Liberal backed the idea of changes of some sort the Liberal government rejected the proposals and refused to change the laws. The government has received considerable criticism for perpetuating a virtual monopoly on Ontario beer distribution by a foreign-owned cartel.[8] An online petition was started by a private citizen, Derek Forward, to ask the provincial government to end the monoply enjoyed by the Beer Store. See [ipetitions.com/petition/nobeerstore]ipetitions.com/petition/nobeerstore. The petition has received coverage in the Toronto Star [9] and has generated enough support to allow it to be formally presented to the provincial legislature in the fall of 2008 for consideration (petition No. P–146: Practice and arrangement of retailing beer. )[10] An official response from the government is expectd in December, 2008.

 

Brewers Retail has waged an ongoing battle with the Brick Brewing Company of Waterloo since at least 2002, when it used monopolistic tactics to force what is now Ontario's largest independent brewer to stop offering beer in "Stubbies" by withholding supplies of industry standard "long-necked" bottles. This dispute was finally settled in favour of Brick in September 2008.[11]

 

Following Sapporo Breweries' purchase of Sleeman Breweries Ltd. for approximately $400 million, no portion of Brewers Retail is now held by any majority Canadian-owned entity, which has increased pressure on the government to force an end to the Brewers Retail near-monopoly, or at least to return it to Canadian ownership. [12]

 

At the start of the 2007 provincial election campaign, Brick again made headlines when it cited a number of discriminatory BRI practices and policies (such as restrictions on price advertising) for causing a decline in company sales. BRI representatives deny that their policies are hurting small brewers and implicitly questioned the timing of the Brick Brewing Company's statement, suggesting that in their view it is unethical for a brewery to openly criticize BRI policies in the middle of an election campaign.[13]

 

In response to the growing unpopularity of the Brewers Retail monopoly, the main opposition party in Ontario now opposes the status quo with regards to Brewers Retail, although radically different alternatives have been proposed:

 

* The official opposition Progressive Conservatives propose abolishing the Brewers Retail monopoly and initiating a licencing process that would allow private retailers such as corner stores who meet the necessary qualifications to sell beer and wine. It appears that distilled beverages would not be included in the program, thus the LCBO monopoly on those products would likely remain in force. The policy was re-iterated by PC leader John Tory on September 23, 2007. [14] BRI would be permitted to continue operations. The previous PC government of Mike Harris mused about complete privatization of the retail liquor industry, although the PC's did not carry this out during their time in office.

 

* The social democratic New Democrats strongly oppose any relaxation to the government-legislated monopolies in alcoholic beverages. Some NDP MPP's have responded to the relevant foreign acquisitions by demanding the nationalization of Brewers Retail by means of expropriation, with the company and its assets then being absorbed into the LCBO.[citation needed] It is not clear if that is official party policy, but if it were to take place then most Beer Stores would presumably be converted into LCBO stores. In places where Beer Stores are too close to existing LCBO stores for it to make sense to maintain separate LCBO locations, the outlets would presumably be merged with one store, shut down, and sold. The LCBO would hence become the sole distributor of alcoholic beverages in Ontario.

 

* Re-elected Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty also rejected Tory's suggestion, and has said nothing to suggest he supports any change to the status quo with regards to the LCBO or the Beer Store. He has criticized during the campaign for making a disingenuous argument that focused on the importance of maintaining the "safety" of alcoholic beverages available in Ontario when in fact there is negligible difference with regards to the quality of the relevant product sold in Ontario compared to any other province.[citation needed] It has been reported that in recent years, the Liberals have received sizable donations from several individuals with close ties to the province's three major brewers. [15]

 

Ontario Craft Brewers is the main lobby group for Ontario's smaller brewers and has been increasingly critical of the current system. The 29 OCB members currently employ several thousand Ontarians. OCB wants to either acquire shares in BRI or be permitted to set up their own competing chain. Premier McGuinty responded by saying that his government would not even consider any application to form a competing chain, and that his government would not consider compelling BRI's shareholders to sell any shares although some Liberal and Conservative backbenchers have said they would expect BRI to at least negotiate in good faith with craft brewer who made a serious offer. BRI responded by saying that it was not considering and would not consider selling shares at any price, and that they do more than enough to accommodate non-shareholding brewers already. Canada's National Brewers (the lobby group that represents the BRI shareholders) further said that in the event OCB did get to set up a competing chain, they would refuse to stock their products there. [16]

 

As mentioned above, the BRI monopoly became an election issue of at least moderate importance in the first half of the 2007 campaign. BRI representatives have warned that it is unlikely they would be willing continue doing business as before if they have to compete with corner stores. They contend that since corner stores offer products they are not allowed to sell to attract customers, they would have an unfair advantage over the Beer Store model.

 

What really pisses me off is the Beer Store is only open between 11am-10pm most days and 11-5pm on sundays. The LCBO has very similar hours so you are pretty much screwed if you need to restock your fridge in the middle of a party after 11pm, or if you want a beer with your dinner on sunday. So inconvenient

Edited January 15, 2009 by nige

[unccpathfinder]

i like most beer...I have a hard time with things like guiness that taste like coffee (i hate coffee)...I don't really care for heiniken either...

 

I really like german and belgium beers (heres 2 of my favorites)

 

 

This is a little late for the season but I came across it today in my library of music and thought i'd share

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSUHxFjcQlQ

[FUELER]

Warstiener Dunkel (Ger)

 

mmm i love warsteiner.

 

also LOWENBRAU (GER?)

 

also czechwar (CZ) but when i went to czech, turns out its called BUDWEISER over there, and has been for hundreds of years, unfortunately they cant call it budweiser in USA for obvious reasons so they call it czechwar over here

[FUELER]

oh, and i just discovered an awesome russian beer, its BALTYKA #7 and comes with a different kind of pop-top like youve never seen before

 

pop top not shown

 

[Precise1]

I really like german and belgium beers (heres 2 of my favorites)

 

YEAH, DT is hard to beat!!

 

pop top not shown

Good one...

 

B

[lakeside707]

wow! and i thought i liked beer.

 

i like and drink many types of beer, from the so called "piss or water" types Bud, Coors, Miller, Tecate. to Widmer Bros., Pyamid, Sam Adams, Bridgeport and Rogue. my all time favorite is a local seasonal, very hoppy IPA from Rogue River Brewery. it's called Independence Hop Ale, the hops are grown and harvested in Independence (hence the name) then immediately driven 77 miles to the brewery and tossed in the brew kettle. it's good, clean, crispy, hoppy flavor that's not to sharp. delicious, sucks it's seasonal tho.

 

Pranqster huh? i'll have my brother grap a six for me when he comes up in June.

[TruTaing]

Then you clearly haven't had good beer!

 

Ya know... My Coworker hated beer too... He said he had never liked a single one. Then he went to Germany for a few months and all that changed. Either Germany was REALLY hard on him and he had to do a lot of drinking or the beer there was amazing.

 

I dont doubt there are good beers out there - I just have yet to meet one. It doesnt help that I quit drinking too.... lol.

[GrimGreg]

It doesnt help that I quit drinking too.... lol.

 

There are NO good non-alcoholic brews either.

[lakeside707]

There are NO good non-alcoholic brews either.

 

very much agreed!

 

whats the point?

[TruTaing]

There are NO good non-alcoholic brews either.

 

hahah.. thats called alcoholism jk jk jk.

 

To each his/her own! Im sure one day, I will find an enjoyable beer/wine. Until then, I will stick w/ juice.... and coffee... :x

[GrimGreg]

Can't have a beer thread without:

 

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[lakeside707]

a drunkin manly stud! yes!

[vengeful]

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA and Dogfish Head World Wide Stout - both 18%+ Alc/Vol. Unfortunately, they're also sold in singles, and it's $10 for a 12 oz bottle!

 

Best black and tan I've ever had.

[Precise1]

I didn't know you could get beer yeast to live past 12-14% max...

 

B