Best Commercial Beer

[glennheinzel]

Pumpy, Sam Smiths is notable for having cheap and nasty beer! For some reason it has a cult following in the US though.
If I was going to a Sam Smiths pub, the reason I am going there is because the beer is 1.95 a pint, not because its good!

:icon_offtopic:
I was at one of the Sam Smiths pubs early last year. They had their cheap beers on tap and their premium beers (Oatmeal Stout, Taddy Porter etc) in the bottle.

Regarding the topic at hand, current favourites include LCPA, Jamiesons The Beast, Murrays 2IPA, Duvel and Sam Smiths Taddy Porter (I can't wait for the importer to get a Sydney distributor).

 

[Bribie G]

Living in Newcastle on Tyne many years ago, Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Bitter was a real ale oasis in the Newcastle beer desert of the time. John Smiths weren't too bad until they were taken over by Courage in the late 70's early 80s and the dark coloured 'mid strength' bitter became the standard brew. It was really the equivalent of the seventy shilling 'scotch' ales of the North East and Scotland - in other words not the best bitter. John Smiths did, and probably still do, a top of the range Magnet bitter but very hard to find.

Back on Topic.

My favourite ale of all time in the UK which I used to drink in copious quantities is Brains SA (Skull Attack), Cardiff.

 

[trevc]

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba here (one province over from Ontario)... I was thinking the same thing about the Carling Black. Surely not?

 

[HoppingMad]

Not the infamous Carling Black Label from Ontario Canada I hope.
Went International and nasty swill available in the U.K. back in the 70s
The choice of a generation NOT
Cannot be the same surely not.
Thought it died out with Gary Glitter.
Haven't seen it in decades like Watneys Red Barrel and Double Diamond.

Don't worry I am only neeenineteen in my dreams :super:

I should qualify my comments.

Might have my wires crossed but am pretty sure it was a Carling Beer that I tried the Hightail Ale side by side with. Admittedly it was about 7/8 years ago (I think?) now and may have been the Black Label Premium (hard to remember). You're probably right that the Carling Black is not readily available anymore (I think its around in the UK in a widget can?), and one of the Carlings is more of a Lager which would not be comparable to an amber Ale like the Hightail. The Carling I bought was in a brown bottle with a black label (at King & Godfree bottle shop in Lygon St, Carlton - Melb) and the stuff at the time was remarkably similar to the Hightail variety of the time.

Just checked Wikipedia and they said Carling of Canada is sold now as Molson Ice. The beer I sampled definately wasn't an Ice/Cold Filtered beer but more of an ale with amber colour.

Did talk to Cam & Dave (the Mountain Goat brewers) about it in the early days when the guys were starting out in Melbourne and they did acknowledge that there were characteristics that matched Carling. Raised it with them at a tasting they had. The guys used to do them a fair bit of these around the traps when they were gauging what people might be willing to buy as a commercial beer. So the beer was very much in the early stages and the recipe could well have changed a fair bit from the 7 years ago when I did the comparison.

I should probably stick to comparing what they've got in the bottle here and now, eh?!

Hopper.

 

[slacka]

Any Guinness in Ireland :chug:

+1 - Especially "North Star"

 

[Mantis]

Guinness or Kilkeny on tap at pommy pubs and recently the range at JS in the city at Melbourne

 

[Zizzle]

Well the yanks seem to have beer sorted.

You can go anywhere around here and get a Sam Adams Boston Lager. Puts any of our megaswill to absolute shame. This beer has heaps of malt flavour. Nice hoppy finish.

I can go into a supermarket like Whole Foods and have a better selection of Belgian beers than Dan Murphy's. More local APAs and IPAs than you can poke a stick at.

Now the Stone beers are just awesome. You can go wrong with any of them. I'm partial to the Ruination IPA.

http://www.stonebrew.com/beers/

And to answer the original question I think my favourite so far has been the Stone 12th Anniversary Ale. I don't see it on the page, but I'm pretty sure I had it at the Blind Tiger the other night. They call it a Black IPA, or India Black Ale.

Speaking of which, the Blind Tiger is a bit of a mecca for beer lovers. Check out the list of beers on tap:

http://blindtigeralehouse.com/page/o9a9/Draught_List.html

The lineup is constantly changing too. My liver hates this pub.

And I'm guessing brewers don't have to pay tax on how much alcohol is in the beer. An 9% Dopple Bock, or IPA or whatever usually cost the same as a 5% APA (depending on quality)... and I haven't seen any Mid Strength beers either.

Bloody Aussies need to get our act together!

Oh and I've got a spare bed for anyone who finds themself in NYC

http://gotham-imbiber.com/demystifier.pdf

 

[browndog]

Now the Stone beers are just awesome. You can go wrong with any of them. I'm partial to the Ruination IPA.

You've changed Zizzle, my how you have changed

cheers

Browndog