# What flavour beer do you like?(APA, IPA, or Belgium Dubel etc)



## costanzo (22/9/13)

I often get asked what my favourite beer is. Although I enjoy APA's there is always an occasion for any beer.








What is your favourite beer?

You would be surprised to find out that the most drunk beer in the world is made in China.
Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, England, Australia and of course, the United States have strong drinking traditions. But the No. 1 selling beer in the world comes from China and it's called Snow. It is brewed by China Resources Snow Breweries since 1994 in Liaoning Province.

It even outstripped Budweiser and Bud Light.
The 6 most popular beers in 2011 are (source; _The Drinks Business);_

*1. Snow 50.8 million barrels*
*2. Bud Light 45.4 million barrels*
*3. Budweiser 38.7 million barrels*
*4. Corona Extra 30.4 million barrels*
*5. Skol 29.5 million barrels*
*6. Heineken 26 million barrels*

But craft beer drinkers may scoff at these highly guzzling beers as mass produced, "tasteless" and uninteresting.
Craft beers on the other hand come in various colours, hoppiness, and maltiness, suited to the changing demands of the modern drinker. So there must be large volumes of it being produced. Right? Well no. Not yet anyway.

Boston Beer Co. topped the list of craft breweries in 2012 sales, with around 2.73 million barrels. That's about 1/10 of Heineken production a year earlier. The total craft beer production in the USA in 2012 was about 6-7% of the total beer produced and this is incresing every year.

Although small in volume craft beer is starting to make an impact on the way we drink. There are now more choices of the brew than what we have seen for a long time. Craft breweries are rising all over Australiasia and the world. We know they are making a mark because the big boys are beginning to make similar beers. Even the Australian government is beginning to recognise them because the excise laws are beginning to change in favour of the brewer.

And that means, as craft brewers, we can begin to challenge other beverages such as tea, coffee and wine.

The beauty of beer is that it can match with just about any type of food on the planet. And that is what is most exciting about craft beer. Beer is becoming sophisticated, complex and adaptable yet it is still the elixir to friendship and mateship. It is casual and it is complex in flavours; a perfect combination.

Have you tried a Belgium sour cherry beer. On its own it can be considered an acquired taste. But match it up with a desert and there is a wonderful transformation that allows the sweet dessert to marry perfectly with the sour beer.
Think of sweet and sour pork, and you begin to see the huge diversity of beer.

Another combination is a highly hopped beer with either a spicy dish or a sweeter dish.
And dark porters or stouts can go well with chocolate. Chocolate can also go well with a dryer beer such as a crisp lager or pilsner because it can cut through the fattiness of the chocolate and leave you mouth feeling clean and ready for more (Beware!)

So when next time someone asks you which is your favourite beer ask if he/she means with or without food.
I find that when I do wine tasting at a cellar door I usually buy based of the flavour of the wine iteslf and then when I have it with a meal the taste is not quite right because it does not compliment the food I'm eating.

Beer is the same. And we are still learning about beer and food matching as it is a relatively new gastronomical phenomenon. 
But it is fun to experiment. And best of all we are leaning to combine alcohol with food which makes the pursuit of beer a more responsible and enjoyable habit.

So perhaps we are returning to an ancient way of drinking beer with food like the suggested diet by the Greek writer Sophocles’ (450 BC) who indicated beer's rightful place;
_* "bread, meat, green vegetables and zythos (beer)".*_

So what's you favourite beer?

For me its a beer well made and is consistent in flavour, varied in design so it can suit any dish. That's the beauty of craft beer.

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Want a good recipe for a Red Ale? Click here.

_Brought to you by
Costanzo Brewing Consultants
www.costanzobrewing.com
+61 (0)408 104 176_


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## NewtownClown (22/9/13)

You mean _STYLE, _not flavour


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## CoopsOz (22/9/13)

Porter for mine.


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## MikeHell (22/9/13)

That's like asking a parent to choose a favourite child.


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## bum (22/9/13)

Because they all taste so good?


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## MikeHell (22/9/13)

Waahh!!!


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## djar007 (22/9/13)

I am loving Belgian styles atm. Wit, Pales, Saisons and Stouts.


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## verysupple (22/9/13)

I love anything that's well brewed. But if I really had to narrow it down, probably English best bitter or Bavarian weissbier.


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## slcmorro (22/9/13)

Is Snow super popular because it happens to be produced and consumed in the largest communist state with the largest population in the world?


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## mje1980 (22/9/13)

Is snow the finnish one?. I had a bottle of snow saison yesterday. Average imho


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## slcmorro (22/9/13)

vcostanzo said:


> But the No. 1 selling beer in the world comes from China and it's called Snow. It is brewed by China Resources Snow Breweries since 1994 in Liaoning Province.


It says it's from China, so I'm gunna say no. It's not Finnish.


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## Donske (22/9/13)

During winter I was drinking a lot of Belgian stong ales along with IPAs, stouts and milds, now with the warmer weather lately my keg fridge has 3 pale ales and a cider in it.


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## i-a-n (22/9/13)

English bitters and IPA

Then a decent Porter or Stout


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## Forever Wort (22/9/13)

When I lived in China I drank a lot of Snow. It is not very good, but better than most of the regular Chinese beers. I would put it behind ALL Australian beers.

My favourite style is Wheat, but I am still learning the subtleties.


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## mje1980 (22/9/13)

slcmorro said:


> It says it's from China, so I'm gunna say no. It's not Finnish.


Ok, the writing on my bottle is definately finnish or similar. Certainly not chinese. Either way, it was ordinary

edit. I just re checked. Its actually danish and called "snowball". Maybe i need glasses haha


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## Forever Wort (22/9/13)

Snow is marketed as a Harbin beer in the PRC. Southerners dig it for its exoticness; foreigners dig it because it tastes the least like dirty water.


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## HBHB (22/9/13)

Just refer the BJPC guidelines for my preferences.......yup, that nearly covers it. :drinks:
Martin


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## bmarshall (7/10/13)

American IPAs, hoppy reds, browns and hoppy laggers.


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## GrumpyPaul (7/10/13)

Forever Wort said:


> When I lived in China I drank a lot of Snow.


Stay away from the yellow snow.


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## wide eyed and legless (7/10/13)

Not surprised that the most drunk beers in the world are made in China as the biggest consumers of beer are the Chinese, having said that a Micro brewery has set up in China making clones of Sierra Nevada type hoppy beer which is really taking off/ and they also have a beer drinking competition for how many Duvel's can be drunk in one hour 10 has never been reached I believe.


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## rehab (7/10/13)

APAs, IPAs, IIPAs, IIIPAs, IIIIPAs.... you get the picture


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## Judanero (7/10/13)

Probably easier to say I don't really like lambics, fruit beers, or hefeweizens. 

The main ones I brew are American browns, ambers, pales, IPA's, and dark lagers. ESB's, stouts, Belgians and porters for the winter months.


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## mwd (7/10/13)

IPAs SN Torpedo or Ballast Point Bigeye every day would suit me. Pity I can't brew anything that comes near.


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## Bizier (8/10/13)

GrumpyPaul said:


> Stay away from the yellow snow.


I love Yellow Snow.


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## Yob (8/10/13)

Not surprisingly, I like :wub: hop forward beers, but Im also getting to quite like English beers, stouts and can even go a saison or two every so often.. seems that my tastes seem to be evolving and broadening. Once apon a time, if it wasnt a Coopers Pale Ale, I wouldnt come at it. :blush: (Not to big to admit it)

damn I do love a massive punch in the face from a big IPA though.


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## JDW81 (8/10/13)

Depends on the season, time of day, food, company, etc, etc...

Basically there isn't a style I don't enjoy if it is made well. 

JD


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## ballantynebrew (8/10/13)

Only "style" I don't fancy is megaswill


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## mje1980 (8/10/13)

Loving Belgians at present. Haven't brewed an English ale for ages. Love them too


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## rude (9/10/13)

Had a nice ale the other day Golden nail summer hoppy ale
The more micros the better love the choice
Also bought a wicked elf pale ale with the nail really enjoyed both


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## phettebs (10/10/13)

There are very few styles I don't like but I tend to brew a lot of Belgian and English ales. I brew one or two APAs or AIPAs a year but that's usually just so I can use up my home grown hops.

I've brewed a few lagers over the last couple of years but the amount of work involved vs. the payback isn't that high for me so 1 or 2 a year is plenty.


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## pist (10/10/13)

I dont like to limit myself to drinking one style of beer, I like a range of different styles, however my faves would have to be any of the "pale" ale styles I.E APA, IPA and all derivatives of those, porters, and ive also grown fond of hefeweizens as well, which i never used to like at all - great quaffers on a hot day really quenches the thirst.


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## Thefatdoghead (11/10/13)

I like every style ive tried so far. But my favourite always changes with the temperature. I prefer a nice cold pilsner in the heat or a wheat beer. In the cold im loving the big boozy Belgian's or IIPA's etc....Always got time for a english bitter through the pump.


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## niftinev (11/10/13)

Lots, but I can't stand the shit that tastes like dirty creek water


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## Jessica (11/10/13)

I also don't have any fixed beer which i keep on drink, its depend upon my company what to drink, i am comfortable with 3-4 brands


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## Edak (11/10/13)

Yob said:


> Not surprisingly, I like :wub: hop forward beers, but Im also getting to quite like English beers, stouts and can even go a saison or two every so often.. seems that my tastes seem to be evolving and broadening. Once apon a time, if it wasnt a Coopers Pale Ale, I wouldnt come at it. :blush: (Not to big to admit it)
> 
> damn I do love a massive punch in the face from a big IPA though.


+100,000,000

English malty beers FTW. Saisons in the summer, Weiss in Summer, those clovy christmassy heavy beers in the winter. IPA's all year round. dark beer in winter, Guinness on St Patrick's Day. Lagers when any other liquid is scarce (like in the middle of Simpson desert).


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## Rocker1986 (11/10/13)

Pretty much everything but my favourite styles would have to be APAs, IPAs and English bitters. Also enjoy a porter/stout and German style lager every now and then. I brew a lot of APAs, a few English bitters, one batch of porter/stout a year and also a few German lagers which I'm tinkering with to get it to my taste. One thing I haven't tried to brew yet is an IPA so that one is on the to do list soon.


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## MCHammo (11/10/13)

All winter, I was drinking nothing but porters, with the occasional Belgian thrown in. With the warmer weather coming on, I've been taking more to APAs, Pilseners, with the occasional GB or dry cider. I always match with food, though. Does it make me a bad person if I choose the food based off the beer I want?


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## MastersBrewery (11/10/13)

with that lovely summer warmth pouring sweat down my back, if it's cold, wet, and well balanced, it's good!


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## thedragon (11/10/13)

Until I started brewing in 2010 because I thought that it would be a cheaper option I liked beer that tasted like carbonated water bittered with pride of ringwood served at -1 degree. 

Three years on and now I like anything that's tastes like real beer, although preferably not POR flavoured water. 

But as far as a style that I'd be happy to drink every day: APA. 

(Oh, yes, now 90% of the beer I drink is made by either myself or friends... and I'd spend significantly more on beer and related stuff now than I did back in the day)


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## MCHammo (11/10/13)

thedragon said:


> (Oh, yes, now 90% of the beer I drink is made by either myself or friends... and I'd spend significantly more on beer and related stuff now than I did back in the day)


I've been brewing for about a year now. In that time, I would have spent at least twice as much in the name of beer as in the last half dozen years. No regrets.


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## thedragon (12/10/13)

Please forgive my poor grammatical and typing skills in post 39 above. I'd obviously enjoyed a few glasses of beautiful home brewed APA prior to posting.


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## Gavin123 (13/10/13)

IPA is my favorite.


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## hoppy2B (13/10/13)

Generally anything pale. I've been trying to find a good yeast that highlights hop flavour well.

At the moment though, I have a 14 litre English Ale ready to bottle which was fermented with 'Windsor' and has 80 grams of late Golding hops in it and 150 grams of Caraaroma. :chug:


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## JDW81 (13/10/13)

hoppy2B said:


> I've been trying to find a good yeast that highlights hop flavour well.


You'd be after Wyeast #1272 American Ale II then. Fermenting an APA with it as we speak and the hop flavour on early tasting is a thing of beauty.

JD


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