The SDN Beer, Wine, and Spirits Thread

[TimothyC]

I do enjoy a good Woodchuck Hard Cider (and that's about it).

[His Divine Shadow]

Currently brewing my own cider from a buncha apples I picked this summer, racked it a few weeks ago:


When it comes to stuff you buy, I like gin and scotch.

[wautd]

Beer: I can never say no to a good abbey (eg. Leffe, Tongerlo*) or trappist (e.g. Chimay) beer. Stella Artois or Jupiler for when I take something lighter.
* Tongerlo Winterbier (or Christmas) is out in these periods. Get it if you can, it's very tasty with some cheese.
I find Guinness one of the most overrated beers in the world, but that's my personnal opinion.

Wine: always red over white. I like South African wines for their price/quality but I can't say a specific brand.

Whiskey's: Glenmorangie or Glenfiddich are brands I regularly buy. Recently I've gave "The Balvenie" a try and it's my new favorite (very smooth whiskey).

[LaCroix]

As I prefer sweet wines and wouldn't even cook with anything dryer than a 'Spätlese'/late vintage of any kind, I am pretty limited in my options. I usually consumeTokaji aszú with at least 5 puttonyos or sweet Port.

Beer I can't stand - the bitter taste puts me off. But since I learned to make my own mead, I have an acceptable alternative available (although at 15%) - if my friends wouldn't drink me dry every time they come by - I must be doing something right...

Most hard liquor is not my type - Whisky for the similarity to beer in taste, most others for no taste at all. I usually stick to Barack or sweet or spiced rum for my drinks.

[Kanastrous]

Whiskey's: Glenmorangie or Glenfiddich are brands I regularly buy. Recently I've gave "The Balvenie" a try and it's my new favorite (very smooth whiskey).

Have you checked out The Glenlivet?

[Academia Nut]

Beer - not a big beer fan, but I tend towards Rickard's, Guinness, or Hoegaarden

Rum - while this is not applicable to a number of board members because of bullshit American law, Cuban rum is damn good. All of the Havana Club line is quite nice for their own purposes, but thus far in my life the king of rums I have experienced has to be Legendario: Elixir de Cuba. Holy fuck is this good rum. It is a blended rum that is quite sweet, but it is incredibly smooth and goes down easy. This is the sort of rum you hoard and savour. I went to Cuba back in February and during a tour of Havana we stopped by a rum factory where we got free samples and they were selling this rum at 5 Convertible Pesos a bottle (>$6 CDN or USD), and my only regret was not filling my suitcase with it. Outside Cuba, it goes for $50+ if you import from Spain.

[Vendetta]

Whiskey's: Glenmorangie or Glenfiddich are brands I regularly buy. Recently I've gave "The Balvenie" a try and it's my new favorite (very smooth whiskey).

I had a bottle of Balvenie Doublewood last year. It was excellent, and I highly reccommend it. It's also always worth trying a bottle of Macallan, which is not without reason known as the best of the Speyside* whiskies.

I generally go for Islay whisky, which is characterised by being incredibly peaty and immensely flavourful, with my favourite being Laphroaig. I also like Highland Park though, which is much smoother, and very rich and warm.

* Whisky is broadly classified by the region it comes from, though much of the flavour comes from the barrels used to mature it in. Most whisky is matured in bourbon barrels, which can only be used once for bourbon, though Macallan is matured in Sherry barrels (the distillery actually owns the vineyard where the sherry is produced so they can control the output of the barrels), and many like the Doublewood I mentioned are transferred into other barrels for a period of secondary maturation. I've had whiskies that have undergone secondary maturation in Port and Ale barrels as well.

[Vendetta]

Ice? ICE?!

Scotch on the rocks? Its pretty common.

I's also Wrong. If you mix scotch with anything it should be a little water. If it's too cold you'll never taste it, and then what would be the point? If you find it burns your throat then hold it in your mouth longer, chew it a bit, that'll allow it to mix with saliva and not have the same burning effect when you swallow it.

[Kanastrous]

^ word. In fact, I picked up from a friend the practice of sometimes warming the scotch a little bit, which I find brings out its roundness and opens up its complexity a bit (am I using these terms right? I hope I am...)

It's quite possible that there are purists who would find that equally horrifying. I don't know.

[Vendetta]

It's probably not something that most would do with a single malt. Warming it to body temperature in the mouth tends to suffice for me.

[Vendetta]

Currently brewing my own cider from a buncha apples I picked this summer, racked it a few weeks ago:

My parents have some jugs of perry on the go, half from pears from their garden, half from mine. We'll see how it tastes.

[Thunderfire]

Beer: Aktien Zwick'l, Kesselring Schlemmer Weißbier, Kesselring Urfränkisches Landbier, Schneider Aventinus Eisbock
Wine: Riesling, Silvaner, Domina, Tauberschwarz
Sprits: I like sweet spirits & cocktails e.g. Becherovka, Cuba Libre

[wautd]

Whiskey's: Glenmorangie or Glenfiddich are brands I regularly buy. Recently I've gave "The Balvenie" a try and it's my new favorite (very smooth whiskey).

Have you checked out The Glenlivet?

Don't think I have. I suppose it's good?

[Kanastrous]

I very much like it. Enough to recommend it as being worth a try, yes.

[Thanas]

Glenlivet is pretty good. Lagavullin is better, Bowmore 18 as well. Secret tip: Royal Lochnagar, 12 year old. A bit of everything but still smooth and quite cheap.

If you don't have to work the next day I'd suggest a good Cognac or Armagnac as well.

[Kanastrous]

I definitely recommend the Glenlivet 21 Year Old Archive Reserve (as distinct from the 12-year-old, which I also like very much but is, well, not in the same class).

The 21-Y.O. AR is admittedly more pricey than the 12 Y.O. but not horrifying in the general scheme of things, and reasonable if you're going to enjoy it a little bit at a time.

I think I'll try that Royal Lochnagar...Thanas, do you find that a Cognac or Armagnac is a hangover-producer?

[Thanas]

I've had some 21 Glenlivet and was not that much impressed, honestly. It may have been because I immediately had another one before that (the very spicy Lagavullin) so it fell a bit flat.


As far as cognac or armagnac being hangover producers, if you buy the cheap young stuff then sure (Personally, nothing under 8 years for me). The problem with them however is that as they both are forms of brandy they tend to make me oversleep. It is easy to get lost in them and then feel completely unmotivated or drowsy the next day. Why get up when you can sleep for 3 more hours or so....


The Lochnagar suffers from a bit of a problem, namely that he is a very old whiskey (produced since the early 19th century, I think) and like Johnnie Walker is not as distinctive as other more modern whiskeys. It is a good single malt though and definitely better than the others in his pricerange.

[Kanastrous]

Lagavullin instead, then. I like the sound of 'spicy.'

[Thanas]

Lagavullin is both spicy and smoky....and as such is good for everyday, except for when you want the full smoke only a few deliver (Laphroig, Bowmore etc.)

[Danny Bhoy]

Lagavullin is both spicy and smoky....and as such is good for everyday, except for when you want the full smoke only a few deliver (Laphroig, Bowmore etc.)

+1. Islay Single malts for me. Talisker too. For bourbon, it's JD. For the pull stuff, Hoegaarden, Kilkenny's, or Newcy Broon. Out here on the equator, ya gotta have the hard stuff with ice, but I knock it down fast before the ice melts much.

[Darth Tanner]

I'm usually a cider man, either Koppenberg or Bulmers. Alternately if I'm feeling civilized a white zinfandel rose wine does nicely.

I used to love a bit of Rum, especially Captain Morgan but it tends to disagree with me these days and gives me the worse hangovers.

[Frank Hipper]

Beer - I like lambic ales, Celebrator; darks over lights, generally.

Wine - Late bottled vintage and ruby ports are my very favorites, Taylor Fladgate, Fonseca, Warre's, etc....

Liquor - Drambuie, a decent scotch, maybe the occaisional cocktail.

[Mr. Coffee]

Ok, on Thanas' advice I tried Lagavullin 16 year. This stuff is like liquid sex, it tastes of smoke and spice and eighteen year old cheerleader thighs. Say what ya want about Thanas and his German ways, but homeboy knows his whiskey.

[Thanas]

If you liked that, try the Destillers edition (even better) or if you want more smoky stuff: Bowmore 18, Talisker north, Laphroig and Talisker.

[His Divine Shadow]

I sure wish I had more of my Laphroaig Cask Strength, though the Quarter Cask is also good. The good whiskys gotten really stupid fucking expensive lately though.