TNL Pub 2010

[Josh]

I personally am not that big of a beer drinker. I prefer hard liqueur over beer. That said though I've come to really appreciate Guinness in the last few months. I find most beer to be just a bit too bitter for my tastes. Guinness how ever has a really nice creamy smooth flavor to it, that I really enjoy.

If you ever want to branch out (and you should... there are a lot of very interesting, and delicious stouts out there) you have come to the right place! If not... enjoy your Guiness.

[Shin Johnpv]

I'd be interested in hearing suggestions for other stouts to try out. Where do you suggest starting?

[Josh]

Dogfish Chicory Stout. You should still be able to find this for at least another month. Do it, I enjoy this one. Coffee and a bit of chocolate flavours.
Southern Tier Java. This is a serious beer. Split it with a friend.
Southern Tier Chokolat. This might be currently impossible to find... doesn't mean you shouldn't try!

I also really enjoy the Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout, but it's kind of out there... it's also pretty fucking hard to find.

Flying Dog Porter... not a stout but you should try it anyway, it's pretty damn close, and it'll open up some other options. Regular or the Gonzo variety is acceptable.

Honestly, for a beer you can probably find everywhere, Michelob Porter is not half bad. Their Amber Bock is also an acceptable beer. I'm trying to steer you in the direction I went in...

[Hubbitron]

Left Hand Milk Stout

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Old Rasputin

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

[Drewbacca]

I was over at a family friends eating one of those multiple meal sort of things, and it really opened my eyes as to using the proper wine for the proper food. The family was from chapagne with their own winery, so we got to try a bunch of different types of wines with different types of food at each course, and the difference was just incredible.

We had a set of foie gras that was not very good by itself (too rich maybe?), and then a wine that was way too sweet for my tastes, but when put together were just excellent. Mismatching was the worst too, putting the wrong wine with the wrong food made things inedible.

I remember reading somewhere on here some of the rules for wine drinking, but it was something simple like white with white, red with red. There has to be more too it than just that.

It's truly amazing how much different a good drink is with your food. I love foie gras by itself, but with certain wines it helps lighten the palette and meal entirely (although most foie gras is part of an overall meal). Usually you have white with fish, and red with meat. That's the standard North American rule. However this is just a rule. There are a bunch of delicious Italian and Portuguese deep red wines that go amazing with fish. So don't get stuck in the mentality you can't break the rules.

There's a rule when cooking with fish that you can't add cheese, either. This has become a modern myth. The first time I heard it said in north america was the early 90's during Mario Batali's first sitcom cooking show. The problem was people took him out of context. He meant you had to be very careful what kind of cheese you paired with fish because cheese typically overpowered even the heartiest fish. But now all you hear everywhere is a blanket condemning when cheese and fish are married in a dish. As if they'd never heard of a tuna melt.

Edit: For drew, kroenbourg seems to be the most popular beer in france. That doesn't say much about its quality though, as the French and beer tastes are nothing to write home about.

Maybe it's light? I don't know I drink it a lot when I eat. It's just gaining popularity and I really dig it. You can pair beer with food just the same as you can wine. I don't know much about it. I think we've had others like Firstblood and arjue chime on the subject with some idea of what they were talking about.

I'd be interested in hearing suggestions for other stouts to try out. Where do you suggest starting?

These are Canadian. Made by Ontario Craft brewers, but I like them all and Canadian alcohol typically gets exported to America in high volume so you might have luck tracking them down:

- Keefe's Irish Stout
- Mill Street Cobblestone Stout

[Tones]

Shin John,

If you like Guinness, I would suggest Giving Samuel Smith beers a shot. I really like their oatmeal stout.

I recommend looking for a store that sells by the bottle. A place I go to will sell any beer at its fraction of a six-pack price; I'm a lot more willing to experiment when I'm only out a few bucks.

[Shin Johnpv]

Dogfish Chicory Stout. You should still be able to find this for at least another month. Do it, I enjoy this one. Coffee and a bit of chocolate flavours.
Southern Tier Java. This is a serious beer. Split it with a friend.
Southern Tier Chokolat. This might be currently impossible to find... doesn't mean you shouldn't try!

I also really enjoy the Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout, but it's kind of out there... it's also pretty fucking hard to find.

Flying Dog Porter... not a stout but you should try it anyway, it's pretty damn close, and it'll open up some other options. Regular or the Gonzo variety is acceptable.

Honestly, for a beer you can probably find everywhere, Michelob Porter is not half bad. Their Amber Bock is also an acceptable beer. I'm trying to steer you in the direction I went in...

Left Hand Milk Stout

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Old Rasputin

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm gonna try and hit up the liqueur stores this weekend and see if I can find any of these. I know the one closest to me is going to be a no go, if its not a name brand the fuck wits don't carry it. They also don't let you use any form of credit/charge/debit card.

[Frogacuda]

Victory Storm King is a pretty mean stout as far as American brews go. More in the style of Russian stouts. It's not as sweet as something like Guiness, though, which is no problem for me, but you say you don't like bitter beers.

[Hubbitron]

My sister in law is Korean, so every bday she gets me a huge bottle of soju. I'm crushing this motherfucker by myself. RIP Chris Penn.

[Mr-K]

Left Hand Milk Stout

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

I am seconding the first two, the Milk Stout is really smooth and the Brooklyn just has a really nice flavor--strong too. I haven't tried the Ten Fidy, but knowing Oskar Blues other beers (of which there are what, 5?), it's probably really good.

The canned Young's Chocolate Stout is pretty good too.