Best Mass-Market American Beer

[burgundy]

Originally posted by Stone
Drinking Coors makes me feel like a Republican, but I don't like the taste much. I've never had Summit - but when I said mass-market, what I meant were the macrobreweries - the huge, huge domestics.

Coors Light is pretty benign - three in, and you'd swear you're drinking seltzer water. Easy to get drunk off of, despite the low alcohol content, because you can literally drink gallons.

[Saint of Killers]

Originally posted by CynicalSphere
Well, most Germans I know hate Heineken (which should tell the "All German Beer Is 1337" people something)

Heineken isn't German. It's Dutch.

and Corona is created by Mexican farm workers pissing into a tubs that Grupo Modelo Breweries left lying out there by the farms,

Gotta love urban legends.

[CynicalSphere]

Originally posted by Saint of Killers

Gotta love urban legends.

What urban legends? I was joking about the fact that Corona tastes like piss. If that's really an urban legend then that's entirely a coincidence...

[Stone]

The problem with Corona is that is doesn't taste like much of anything - and then people further fuck it up by putting lime in it. Limes don't belong anywhere near beer - they belong in gins and tonics and other good things like that.

[Calliander]

Pabst is the only one out of the many Stone has handed me that didn't leave a terrible aftertaste in my mouth.

Which isn't to say it tasted good beforehand.

Hehe. I'll take some "Old Fortran" any day.

Originally posted by Stone
The problem with Corona is that is doesn't taste like much of anything - and then people further fuck it up by putting lime in it. Limes don't belong anywhere near beer - they belong in gins and tonics and other good things like that.

You know the lime was originally to keep the flies away? Then people were like, "Oh, you're supposed to squeeze it in!"

They also put gay stuff in their Coronas, like Grenadine. Heh.

[stormy]

Pabst and Old Style are the primary beers in my household, as far as 40s go it's Heffenreffer and Mickeys.

So in other words, i drink basically what stone drinks

sidenote, I'm not a fan of Heineken but the new Heineken Dark is pretty good

[cigsthecat]

Limes don't belong anywhere near beer - they belong in gins and tonics and other good things like that.

Amen to that. Speaking of Gin and Tonics, care to recommend some drinks that a person partial to them might like Stone? I'm getting somewhat tired of beer, and I need to expand my mixed drink portfolio, so to speak.

[Opaque]

never drink a Dr.Comfort, its Dr.Pepper with Southern Comfort, very gross...

[680x0]

Cigs, have you ever had good scotch? It has a very deep almost smokey flavor, and its very nice at the end of a long day. I think liquor should be unadulterated myself, with the exception of adding soda/tonic or anything relatively flavorless.

[Stone]

There's definitely a lot to be said for drinking liquor neat, or with ice...I like Scotch, most any type of Scotch: my favorite single malt is Laphroaig, but I like a lot of the "La"s, like Lagavulin. I'm not one of those single-malt freaks, though, I just enjoy it.

Straight Bourbon is good, too, Maker's Mark isn't that expensive and it's fantastic.

As far as drinks like Gin and Tonic - it's hard to say. The tonic really gives the drink a unique flavor, something pretty hard to duplicate. It's basically a highball, though (generic name for liquor + soda drinks).

My favorite highball is a Brandy and Soda - 2oz brandy, maybe 6 or 8 oz of soda. Just good, simple, I think the flavors of the brandy make it through the soda better than they do with scotch. As far as which brands of brandy to use: you don't really want to use an expensive Cognac. I drink it with Martell VSOP at the local bar, but if I was making them for myself at home, I wouldn't use anything more expensive than a Spanish brandy like Tres Cepas. I think a cheap Armagnac could be fantastic with soda, but I've never actually tried it. Spanish brandy is less dry than French cognac, which works well.

Um, Tom Collinses are a key summer drink. That's 2oz gin, about half of a lemon squeezed into a glass, and about 1-2tsp of sugar. Shake it up (or stir it), and then pour it into a tall rectangular glass (Collins glass). Ice, and fill it up with soda. Just an absolute classic drink, really good, everyone who drinks a properly made one loves it. Calliander can contest to that. Problem is, in bars, they tend to use sour mix/Collins mix, which is a stupid waste - how hard is it to squeeze a lemon and toss in sugar? Sour mix tends to have an artificial taste that can ruin the drink. They're worth making for yourself.

Gin rickeys are good if you like something drier. 2oz of gin, half of a lime, squeeze the lime into the gin, toss the hull of the lime in the glass, and fill up with soda. No sugar. More bracing than most highballs, really tasty, and one of the best hot-weather drinks ever.

Whiskey and soda can be a good bet, too, not to dismiss that because I like Brandy and soda.

There's a type of Italian Bitter (I think it begins with a C) that is heavily flavored with quinine (the same stuff that's in tonic) - I can't remember the name right now, it might've had artichoke flavoring too. I once made this drink with it, gin, and lime (no soda, like a Martini) that ended up tasting a bit like a very compact Gin and Tonic. That's pretty obscure though.

Hrm. Yeah, I'd give a try to whiskey sodas with Scotch, Bourbon, Rye (Rye is hard to find but I think that's probably the best out of the three with soda).

It's hard to recommend a cocktail because most places aren't any good at making them. Unless you seek out places that can make real drinks all the time, it's probably better to stick to simpler, common drink like a G&T or beer.

Actually, becoming a good bartender is really easy, and you'll quickly learn how to make drinks that taste far better than what the average professional makes, simply because you care about the results.