MOTHAFUCKIN' BOOZE TIME

[luna]

as someone who also didn't like beer at one time i would like to recommend:
-any sort of cream ale (which is technically a lager, not an ale)
-hefeweizen
-any sort of fruit beers, my most recent favorites have involved apricot, mandarin orange, raspberry, huckleberry

most of what i like is canadian microbrew so it's probably not available where you are so i won't recommend specific kinds but if you've never tried hoegaarden you must go try it right now

[rynne]

I'd also suggest Belgian and Belgian-style beers for beer newbies.  They're generally complex, refined, not too bitter and quite different than most brews that a casual beer drinker would've probably come across.

[doom]

two i often offer as suggestions are

-Sea Dog's Blueberry Beer (wheat ale)
-Strongbow (Cider Ale)

[tim]

or just come to England and have some proper beer.

Mike said he now knows what he's been missing all his life.

[Naylzie]

Sadly, though I would LOVE to go to England for a myriad of reasons, that one's not in the budget.  I shall have to settle for things we import from places that make good beer or local places that can approach that status.

[tim]

English beer doesn't travel that well. For imports, stick to Belgian beer as Rynne suggests - that travels much better.

[kristin]

some co workers brought some michelob ultras over to my place yesterday to celebrate the end of the school year. We all put a TON of beer away and were bloated and not buzzed at all after about 8 hours of drinking. Hahah.

[tim]

Had a friend's beer last night & the night before, and a decent Thwaites & some beer from Manchester that wasn't very good tonight.

[rynne]

La Fin du Monde last night. Also got a bottle of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, which I will be saving for a special occasion.

[Goose]

La Fin du Monde last night.

Totally jealous, that stuff is delicious and I haven't had any in far too long.

[Naylzie]

Tried Ithaca Beer Co.'s Apricot Wheat beer this weekend in my never-ending quest to find that goddamn apricot beer my friend introduced me to and promptly forgot.  This one was much less fruity than the beer I seek, and still tasted very much like beer.  The search continues.

Also learned a valuable lesson about mojitos: don't order them from big chain restaurants.  Maybe it was just a bad day, but goddamn, I ordered this strawberry mojito at Applebee's after settling in at the hotel and it was fucking TERRIBLE.  The mint was wilted (presumably having come out of the freezer) and the drink itself had no flavor to speak of at all.  Ugh ugh ugh.

Did enjoy the dark beer on tap at the cousin's shindig though... Yuengling's Black and Tan (not to be confused, as the internet was, with a half and half of a dark beer and a light beer, this was the NAME).  Lighter than Guinness, but still full flavored and tasty.

One of their SCAdian friends also broke out her private stash of mead, whose brand heartbreakingly escapes me...  seriously, I could have crawled into that glass forever.  It was such a warm, delicious flavor.  I was VERY upset that there was not more of THAT to be had.

And realising this post makes me sound like a mega-lush, the apricot beer and the bad mojito were one night, and the rest was over the course of an entire day (though I am glossing over the reisling and pinot grigio because neither struck me as being particularly exceptional because I am a total fail when it comes to fancy wines)

[Goose]

Also learned a valuable lesson about mojitos: don't order them from big chain restaurants.  Maybe it was just a bad day, but goddamn, I ordered this strawberry mojito at Applebee's after settling in at the hotel and it was fucking TERRIBLE.  The mint was wilted (presumably having come out of the freezer) and the drink itself had no flavor to speak of at all.  Ugh ugh ugh.

Actually, I'd say that's been my experience with pretty much everything on Applebee's menu.  Freeze-dried, recently re-heated, overprocessed flavourless crap from top to bottom.  I know a few people who absolutely love Applebee's, and I feel like punching them in the tongue.

[r00]

I never order a mixed drink at any big chain restaurants.  They are always weak as hell.

[boom]

We're under a heat advisory until tomorrow night, I believe ice cold margaritas are called for 

[individualzero]

I never order a mixed drink at any big chain restaurants.  They are always weak as hell.

I admittedly like some of their steaks, but Chili's is (IMHO) where it's at for a big-ass steak when it comes to big chains in my area. Of course, the only other shit we have is Applebee's and Outback, so there's probably far better out there.

I'll shut up now since this isn't the food thread. lol