El Toro is a monster IPA which I like even better than it's double IPA brother, the Deuce.

Re: recent comments about the DFH 120/90/60 minute thing...based on reccomendations I picked up a 4 pack of 90 minute today. My opinion isn't changed. It's just slightly too sweet/strong for my liking. As an occasional beer it's marvelous....but the 60 minute is a clearly better session beer. It even comes in a 6 pack which is so rare for a good beer...the value is there, the flavor is there, it's a really well balanced beer...and it comes in a 6 pack! It's an amazing ipa that a guy can afford to drink on a regular basis. AMAZING!

OBV you need to try 75 Minute this apparently began with folks mixing 60 minute and 90 minute in bars that had both on tap.

My most recent favorite beer ... Founders Porter

Pro tip, I'll keep my eyes open for both!

Being from Belgium i live in beer heaven.

I never came across this thread before but am def subscribed now! I'm not really a "connoisseur" or an expert but i do love drinking a fine beer and did taste lots of them so far.
Obviously very fond of our domestic beers. Huge fan of all "trappisten"-beers made by our monks in their abbey's. Of the 7 remaining breweries worldwide, 6 of them are in Belgium and 1 in Holland. Most of you probably know some of them but i'm curious if somebody knows "Westvleteren" made in the St-Sixtus Abbey? It's one of the best. Really tasty strong high quality beer.
I'm wondering if they are exporting because it's very popular here but the monks are not really interested in commercializing the whole thing too much (wich i like). You can only buy the beer directly from the abbey. Since it's so popular you have to make a reservation by telephone and give them your license plate number. Because of too much people (and too little beer) the same person can only come once a month! If you try to phone them with the same telephone twice a month you're automatically disconnected.

Wow, sick brag. The only bottles around here are empties used as trophies of a great accomplishment.

I'm more than happy to pay the shipping and handling if you wanna mail some over, btw

My friend brought 3 bottles back for me...still have one in the cellar. Amazing stuff.

I have tried this beer, but only once (I'm in the US). It might be the greatest alcoholic beverage on Earth. My friend who is a major beer fanatic spent a long time searching and found some on eBay. It is certainly not exported in bulk. I envy anyone who can drink it on a regular basis.

I've had the Westvleteran, while it's great, I don't think it's THAT much better than its similar beers, especially Rochefort 12 and perhaps St. Bernadus

pick 3 or 4 beers for a 200 person wedding. I am thinking

Sam Light (crowd pleaser, lowest common denominater and also a Light beer option)
Brooklyn Lager (in case someone asks for Bud/lager type beer)
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (hoppier choice)

I need to blend cost considerations with picking crowd pleasers while also picking stuff that beer fans will appreciate and enjoy

thoughts?

for people who drink light beer, sam adams seems unnecessary, just give them bud/coors/miller light and save a few bucks.

Brooklyn seems like a good option

I'd go with an IPA over the sierra, but nothing too hoppy.....Dogfish head 60?

I'd throw in some sort of darker beer too, probably newcastle or something along those lines

Agree........sort of. I definitely think that it is a notch better than rochefort/achel/st bernardus/van de kaiser but not by a huge margin.....they are all amazing beers.

location of wedding?

near Albany, NY

You know your crowd best, so Sam Light might be a better option than Corona/Yeungling/Rolling Rock/Miller Lite, although for general purposes I'd typically pick something like a ML that I know everyone would drink.

Brooklyn Lager is a very good option imo. Ommegang has some good beers and is local, but they might be a little much (especially given the quantity I might drink at a wedding).

DFH 60 is a fantastic choice (AA ), but it's marginally pricier and caters more to IPA drinkers and beer aficionados. Sierra Nevada is a very good choice also, and it's more general purpose in the sense that I'd guess that a random sampling of Americans would prefer SN to DFH.

Basically, I think your list of Sam Light, SN, and Brooklyn Lager is a great list for a wedding. And if it's you getting married (I assume), mazel tov.

I agree, I think the fact that it's exclusive and hard to get just adds to the story a little. It's special for us because we have to take some "trouble" to get one.

X-Post

Dogfish pulls distribution from Canada, UK, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Indiana

http://www.dogfish.com/community/blo...erstanding.htm

Obviously these are all fantastic options and I would be happy with any. If we are comparing everything to a run-of-the-mill beer, it doesn't matter much, and the difference is negligible. But Westy is (if memory serves me well) still better by enough of a margin that it's noticeable, and that's what makes it so impressive to me. Sort of like an elite professional athlete can make other professional athlete look like fools, even though any of them would be equally capable of putting me to shame (although the difference between Westy and the others you listed is certainly not as wide).

So glad Budvar dark lager is now pretty easy to get here. Perfect beer for when it's too hot for stout but too cold for lager

Even though it's become mainstream, I guess, Mighty Arrow (New Belgium's spring seasonal) is out and its my favorite beer ever.

I'm a fan, its one that you want to share though. Its exploding with flavor, very rich..... almost tastes a little bit more like a port or something similar and it has very high ABV. Its something I recommend every beer lover at the very least try

Man, the 60-minute/90-minute combo experiment sounds awesome. Never thought to try that.

Beer lovers,

BUMP for this:



They now have this at my Whole Foods (San Francisco). Not sure how wide it's going to be distributed, but I know the standard 21st Amendment cans have pretty wide distribution now. If you love hoppy IPAs, you'll love this one. It's basically a turbo-charged version of the 21A Brew Free or Die IPA.

drinking a hop crisis right now, there was a huge 21a display at the store it bought it at. i remember buying a 4 pack last year and havent seen it in a while. also had one on tap yesterday, liked that better than the cans

Guys, I'll be in the US for most of next month and I look forward to tasting some local beers. However, I'm not really an IPA kinda guy, I prefer Belgians. Which American Belgian-style beers do I absolutely have to try?

I love anything Allagash puts out.