Why do all the new fancy-schmancy micro brews have bitter orange additives? To me it really spoils the taste of what would probably be perfectly good beers. I mean it's one thing to add a slice of lime to a corona, but that orange overbite is driving me nuts!
Hmm, which beers exemplify this trait? I ask only because I'm having trouble thinking of any, but perhaps I just misunderstand your description.
Shock Top is advertising with oranges in the picture. I swear every micro label I've tried since I've been in Boise has that same flavor. Oh by the way, the once legendary Coors serves as the local cheapo brew with 6 packs of 16 oz. cans going for just over $6.
Some American brand of hefe-beer (yeast beer) has citrus via lemon. This kills the massive foam head! It's a smile on the Mona Lisa for the love of God! WTF?
we seem to be getting lots of citrus beers here too - fosters have one, and carling, and bud lite,... not to keen... i like blue moon though. I tried a rose-beer the other day - that was really nice!
That's CHEAP?? I can get a 6 pack of 16 ounce cans of Pabst for $4.49.. We only get 12, 18 or 24 packs of Coors here.
Well, it is Pabst...however, I will concede that Pabst is easier on my taste bud than a lot of those frou-frou brews.
PBR is a great beer for shooting my bow in my backyard, cleaning fish, etc. Any task where you can set a can down without worrying if it spills or having a glass break or needing two hands to pour it, etc. Slam it down and get back to what you are doing. I like PBR super-cold, almost to freezing.
...and that's another thing, why do those beer snobs insist that getting beer too cold hurts the flavor? If a beer ain't cold, it ain't worth drinking. Of course Coors Light sells itself as being better cold. I'd rather drink Listerine (I think it's got more alcohol) than Coors Light, but at least they're on the right track. Now if we could get one of those custom brewers to come up with something that's designed to be consumed while it's so cold there's ice chips floating in it, they'd be on to something.
Actually, no. I had a beer slushie once in Mexico, and it was fantastic. the only safe ice you can get down there for one thing.
The more full-bodied the beer is, the less cold it has to be. If it's thin, cheapo American in-a-can beer, drink it just above freezing IMO. A thick German hefe still tastes good when barely chilled.
A little orange or citrus flavor goes great in a Belgian style witbier. Tons of breweries make great ones, my favorite probably being "Allagash White."
See I guess I am just not a beer snob. I like a good cold "Lawnmower beer". Pabst, Genesee, even Coors (Not light). But I like my beer to TASTE like beer, not fruit of coffee or chocolate. But that's just me. Everyone is free to drink what they like. If you open my fridge right now you'll find, cans of Schaefer Light, Genesee, Budweiser, and Rhinegiest. Oh and a can of Labatt Blue.
In my fridge you'll find a hefeweizen, a stout, a pale lager, some bud light, and homebrews. Also, adding fruit flavorings or chocolate flavorings to a beer doesn't make it taste any less like a beer. If they're doing it right, it doesn't overpower the beer with it.
To me it does, Beer (To me) has unique flavor, I grew up with the CLASSIC beers of the 70's and 80's like Stroh's, Olympia, Schlitz, Blatz, Goebel, Wiedemann, Hamms, and Burger. My Grandmother always let me have a little of her beer. My Dad did too. It's just what I like. Drink what you like. I'll keep some cold for you.
For me this is a rather weird discussion since there is a lot more difference between a lager and a porter than there is between a porter and a dark chocolate-flavored porter. Do you just not like the bitterness of the beer or is it specifically bitterness caused by special artificial additions? How do you tell?
@armalyte: the American alt-grain lager is a distinctly different flavor from probably anything you would call beer. I don't mind it on certain occasions, but to me, the beverages Larry listed taste nothing like beer.
To me It's gotta be an equal amount of bitter to sweet, I don't like sweet beers either. Some beers (Like Sam Adams) are just too bitter for me. It's also gotta be smooth. Some beers are harsh and leave a bad aftertaste. What I like about my favorite beer (Genesee) is you can taste both the bitter and sweet. It's brewed with corn grits which come through in the flavor. Sounds weird but other beers also use corn or in Budweiser's case they use rice. That's why Budweiser is kinda bland to me. As you can see in my reviews, I will try almost anything ONCE. But I know what I like 99.9% of the time.
I tend to like red beers. A local pizza chain in the Tampa Bay area has a house brew called "Westshore Red". To me the flavor just gets better the colder it is. There was also a trendy restaurant chain called "Hops" that brewed their own beer on premises. Their "Hammerhead Red" was killer. Too bad the owners over-expanded and ended bankrupting the chain.
To me, the best beer doesn't have to be ice cold to taste good. In fact, if the beer has to be super cold to be drinkable, it isn't quality beer.
Yep... when I see a place that makes a big deal out of how cold its beer is, or a brand that consistently advertises with phrases like "ice-cold," my assumption is that it's shitty beer.
I don't necessarily disagree with that. The fact is that, for one example, Guinness is brewed for serving in Irish and U/K pubs at what is called "room temperature". However it's worth remembering that room temperature in the storage areas of those pubs is quite a bit cooler than what we could consider "room temperature" over here. On the other hand forcing it down into the 30s range would definitely void the warranty. I"m an American and REAL Americans like their beer cold damn it! However, there is enough room in my beer drinking world to accommodate other traditions.
