The SDN Beer, Wine, and Spirits Thread

[Mr. Coffee]

Seems we don't have one of these yet, so here goes. Rattle off your favorite beers, wines, spirits, mixer recipes, ect. Tell us what's caught your attention recently or name your favorite poison. If you can, list a website to the company that makes your favorite booze so the rest of us can try and get some for ourselves. To get us started...

Recently my local grocery store started carrying Wild Blue Blueberry Lager. Stuff is pretty damn tasty. Has a nice crisp start, smooth blueberry follow through, with a decent kick at 8% alcohol by volume (yeah, yeah, I know there's stronger beers out there). You can visit there site here. If you're after something different in a good lager I highly recommend giving this stuff a try.

[Knife]

I'm a Guinness guy, particularly the stout. I like my beer dark and full of flavor. Just the opposite for wine, I believe a good pinot gricio, chilled, goes with just about any food you can think of. Bolle is my favorite label at the moment, but I'm not a snob, I'll try others. Ok, I'm a snob, I don't like wine from a box. I don't drink too much hard stuff anymore, one a year I'll have a whiskey sour, or if I'm somewhere snooty, I'll order a Mojito.

[Mr. Coffee]

Another great beer to try is Tarrapin Beer Co.'s Rye Pale Ale. It's a good, flavorful ale with a nice rye bite at the start followed by a hops laden kick in the taste buds with one hell of a smooth finish. Terrapin Beer Co. is a micro out of Ahtens, Ga., so finding their wares outside of the Southern US might be a trick, but they make a lot of damn fine beers (If you like Hops their Hopsecutioner IPA is probably the most hops having beer ever. Stuff makes Sam Adams Boston Lager taste like Bud Light). You can find them on the web here.

[Col. Crackpot]

As far as beer goes Shipyard Pumpkin Head Ale is my all time favorite, but is now out of season. Wild Turkey American Honey is delicious. Wild Turkey Bourbon cut with honey. Very nice for sipping on the rocks.

[CaiusWickersham]

Beer -- Guinness, Yuengling, Sam Adams, Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, G.L. Edmund Fitzgerald

Wine -- Sutter Home White Merlot in general, others depending on food

Liquor -- Tanqueray, Kahlua, Smirnoff

Mixers -- Gin & Tonic, Tom Collins, amaretto sour, Moscow Mule

[Alferd Packer]

As an expert in beer, I could rattle off dozens of excellent brews. But I will cut the crap and simply say this: Trappist beers are the best beers in the world, and I will fight you if you say anything different. Of these, Westmalle Tripel is the best you can commonly get. Westvleteren 12 is hands-down the best, but they unfortunately do not export that beer, and it's essentially impossible to get your hands on one legally, unless you live in Belgium and feel like driving out to the countryside.

Presently, I have about a dozen bottles of the former resting in my basement, where they have been for the past 2+ years. On special occasions, I crack open a bottle and see how the flavor palette evolves. See, the best part about Trappist ales is that they tend to mellow with age, picking up subtle fruit flavors as the yeast slowly consumes bits of the remaining fermentable sugar in the beer. Some people say you can store them indefinitely, as long as you regulate temperature and humidity. I suspect that five years is an upper practical limit.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Back when I had a liver that worked at 100%, I made my own bacon vodka. Great with orange juice.

[phred]

Beer: Guinness, or any beer who's shelf life is based on the integrity of the bottle it comes in.
Rum: Sailor Jerry
Wine: I'm partial to a good Cabernet.
Other: Ouzo, or whatever looks good.

I honestly don't drink much anymore. Stupid stores want me to pay for the stuff.

[Kanastrous]

Beer - Heineken (not a big beer drinker, but if I'm drinking it...) or that Hefeweitzen (sp?) they have at Gordon Biersch (sp?)

Wine - A good Bordeaux - the 2003 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild is darned tasty.

Whiskey - Glenlivet 21 Year Old Archive Reserve. Scotch that's old enough to drink itself. Accept no substitutes.

Never developed a taste for vodka, gin, rum or white wines.

[Highlord Laan]

Sam Adams is my go to beer for pretty much anything. The basic Boston Lager is awesome, and their seasonal brews are amazing as well. Their Noble Pills is simply heaven in a glass, Ocktoberfest is something I could happily drink to liver failure, and Winter Lager is outstanding.

My favorite though, is their Chocolate Bock. At first I was very skeptical, as the words "chocolate" and "beer" simply don't sounds right together, but Chocolate Bock is an amazingly tasty, smooth and awesomely flavorful brew that I now adore beyond all others.

Not a fan of their Summer Ale though. To me it tastes the way a freshly mowed lawn smells.

[Eternal_Freedom]

LAger is generally whatever is cheap (being a student), although if possible I'm partial to Staropramen (sp?).

I never liked wine, but a good Irish whiskey (Jameson's) or Scotch with ice is always welcome. When my grandad died we inherited a bottle of Scotch that was from about 1930 or so. Damn that stuff was good.

[Kanastrous]

Ice? ICE?!

[Eternal_Freedom]

Yeah. My dad was a bit strange, but at the tender age of 12 anything alcohol-related is pure AWESEOMENESS, so it kinda stuck. I've been trying it neat lately, and that's good too. But Dad still insists on ice for reasons best known to him.

[Dartzap]

Ice? ICE?!

Scotch on the rocks? Its pretty common.

I tend to be more of a cider drinker these days, used to be a real ale drinker, but my buds seems to have changed for the worse.

This being the west country, you can find scrumpy everywhere, and it'll be different in each pub.

[darthdavid]

Wine - It's actually hard to pick. There's a lot of good local wine. Tugboat Red by Lucas Vineyards is pretty much my go to wine. It's really good for the price. I have to give a shout-out to Hosmer Winery as well, I actually know the family that owns it. They're cool folks and they make some damn good wine. Also, while not strictly wine, Bellwether makes some delicious hard cider. I like Sake but I haven't really been able to dig deep enough there to come up with favorites yet.

Beer- I really like Magic Hat #9, locally the Ithaca Beer Company is really good (Especially Flower Power). Yuengling (Traditional Lager or Black & Tan) is my go to cheapish beer. It's a lot better than most of the pisswater you get for the price, though I hear it's well nigh impossible to find outside of the North-East/Mid-Atlantic.

Liquor- I'm not super picky, but I like shots and mixed drinks. My selection method is generally along the lines of, interesting, cheap, high-proof. I do have a taste for Irish Coffee though. Screwdrivers are another favorite. White Russians are delicious but I don't have them very often.

[Kanastrous]

Ice? ICE?!

Scotch on the rocks? Its pretty common.

I know; it's just something that I think of as doing, with -bad- scotch

[Eternal_Freedom]

Ice? ICE?!

Scotch on the rocks? Its pretty common.

I know; it's just something that I think of as doing, with -bad- scotch

Like I said, Dad's a strange bloke. He said it made the good stuff just right. Oh well.

[Col. Crackpot]

Beer - Heineken (not a big beer drinker, but if I'm drinking it...) or that Hefeweitzen (sp?) they have at Gordon Biersch (sp?)

Wine - A good Bordeaux - the 2003 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild is darned tasty.

Whiskey - Glenlivet 21 Year Old Archive Reserve. Scotch that's old enough to drink itself. Accept no substitutes.

Never developed a taste for vodka, gin, rum or white wines.

When did you drink a $700 bottle of wine?

[Kanastrous]

Celebrating getting my Art Directors' Guild card. Also, did not pay $700, although I expect that's about where a bottle would retail.

[Col. Crackpot]

Celebrating getting my Art Director's Guild card. Also, did not pay $700, although I expect that's about where a bottle would retail.

i never 'got' wine. I'll have beaujolais nouveau at thanksgiving. A nice Aussie Shiraz with a steak dinner now and then.. but i can't see spending more than $30 on a bottle. Scotch or Whiskey on the other hand... That's different.

[Patrick Degan]

My basic go-to beer is Killian's Red, a favourite of mine from my days at O'Flatherty's Irish Pub in New Orleans. Recently, I've discovered Kohstrizer Swarzbier when on a visit to the Deutches Haus back in the Crescent City —another smooth, chocolate beer; full, rich flavour and no aftertaste. A sweet brew in more than one sense.

For hard liquors, I stand by either scotch or a smooth brandy, E&J brand for the latter.

[The Spartan]

Beer: Christ, where do I start. I'll stick with Texas brewed (that are not mine). St Arnolds: Amber Ale; their Kolsch; their Hefe, which they call Lawnmower. Real Ale: Rye Pale Ale, Blond Ale and Brown Ale. Shiner: Bock, Black Lager, Alt Bier, Hefe, their holiday beer. All of the above have a tasty Oktoberfest

Liquor: Top shelf tequila (especially in top shelf margaritas); Dripping Springs Vodka (for mixing); Whiskey... still a newb: Jack Daniels and Glenlivet, depending on what I'm doing with it.

As an expert in beer, I could rattle off dozens of excellent brews. But I will cut the crap and simply say this: Trappist beers are the best beers in the world, and I will fight you if you say anything different.

Then put on your boxing gloves; we're going to throw down. I like Trappist ales, but best in the world? You're going to have to beat out all the great beer brewed with in 4 hours of me before you can call them best.

[loomer]

Just pass me a handle of Gordon's gin, a bottle of vermouth, and an onion.

Or a bottle of Jack Daniels. That's good too.

[Dread Not]

I don't drink very often, but when I do I mostly stick to cider. I'm *hic* drinking some right now. Clearing some room in the fridge after a party. The two ciders carried by most liquor stores in my area are Growers and Okanagan. Since Growers tastes like bug spray I stick with Okanagan. Preferably peach or pear.

I very occasionally like wine, but only with meals. When I was still living with my parents they would usually drink Australian Shiraz, so I've mostly stuck with that. Champagne is always good too.

I spent several years in Greece and quite like the flavor of ouzo.

Everything else, including every beer I've ever tried, I can't really stand. When I was younger I liked vodka coolers but they just taste awful to me now. Though at a birthday celebration a few months back my girlfriend kept bringing me shots of whiskey and something or other that I found quite agreeable.

[GuppyShark]

Beer - Heineken (not a big beer drinker, but if I'm drinking it...) or that Hefeweitzen (sp?) they have at Gordon Biersch (sp?)

I love the wheat beers ( a la Hefeweitzen, Hoegaarden, etc ). There was an attempt at a mass market version here (Hahn White) in Australia but I think it was a commercial failure and it's being discontinued. A shame, because cheap, readily available wheat beer would be pretty handy.