Any cold beer in a frosty mug is good for me OR a bottle when on the beach.

The one I buy most often is Milwaukee's Best Light... but I doubt you'd want that to serve guests.

I like a lighter beer so some other more acceptable choices might be Miller Lite, Miller Lime and Coors Light.

You shouldn't be keeping beer around for too long. I'd drink it within a couple of months. We like Fat Tire. Maybe look for a local brewery in your area.

Blue Moon, a Belgian white ale, with an orange slice.
Stella Artois, a nice Italian beer.
Then there's always the old stand by, Corona, a pale
lager commonly served with a lime wedge.

Asahi.

I love Guiness. When we have company we have Sam Adams and Yuengling. I love Shiner Bock but the price is ridiculous in FL. When we were in Houston St. Andrew's was the fave. Can't buy it in FL mail order.

I like Fat Tire and others from that same brewery~~I also like Moosehead beer~~we like most Hangar 24 brews, a small brewery by us. My kids are all crazy now for any brew from the Stone Brewery. New Castle is another fave, Red Stripe a Jamican beer. My DD#2's BF is starting to brew his own, so that should be interesting.

I drink very little beer maybe one a month, if that and yes I do not think you can let it sit around for months~~when we get fresh brew pulls, we have to drink them in a week.

If I am having company, I just buy what's on sale;)

I love Red Stripe beer from Jamaica.

If you don't know much about beer, I suggest you go to a place like Costco, which often has a 24-bottle case of decent beer which includes four different styles. No one beer is going to satisfy a group of beer drinkers.

I don't have a favorite; there are several I really like.
Asahi
Kirin Ichiban
Pacifico
Dos Equs
Salva Vida
Tecate

Not a beer person at all except on a hot summer day it tastes really good when it's nice and cold.
The new low calorie Budweiser is very good. It comes in a clear bottle and has about 90 calories...think it's Bud?

These are interesting, thanks! I've heard of many, but not all. In Pennsylvania beer isn't sold anywhere but at beer distributors (cases) or beer stores (6-packs), usually attached to a supermarket, but separate. You can't buy beer or wine in a supermarket or Sam's Club. We don't have a Costco.

No, beer doesn't hang around long here--although I bought a cheapo 6-pack some time ago for cooking, and really should use it up.

As for no one beer satisfying a group of beer drinkers, I guess my friends have too polite to indicate dissatisfaction. :-)

When my son entertains he often buys a small keg. He talked me into that once, and it turned out only one of my guests was a beer drinker--and she had only one glass. So my son got all the leftovers . . . which could have been his ulterior motive all the time. LOL

If I were to have a beer, it would have to be a Yuengling - a real lager.

Blue Moon "Brewed with white wheat and oats, Blue Moon features a crisp wheat finish and the perfect combination of orange peel and coriander" - might not be for everyone. Yuengling or Yuengling Light is usually what I grab for a crowd.

Corona, with a shot of tequila in it and the lime (Tequiza was the original beer made this way. I loved it so much, I continue the tradition. Budweiser doesn't make Tequiza any more) One is enough!

Kirin Ichiban
Yuengling

Old Speckled Hen
Newcastle Brown Ale
Tucher Hefeweissen
Schlafly Pale Ale

My daughter is a beer connoisseur...she likes all kinds...including Chocolate Stout (is that a beer?). My favorite is root beer.

Yuengling Black and Tan
Yuengling lager
Negra Modelo

I haven't have a Kirin or Ashai since I was in Japan 30+ years ago but I remember them fondly.

Yuengling is made in PA, Alisande and is Harry's favorite. I like cheapo Natural Lite. Harry also likes craft beers from the various beer makers that are popping up. He particularly likes one called Stumpknockers.

How about Shock Top ? It seems to be popular around here.

I'm voting with the beer store clerk...I don't drink it.

Never had a beer in my life and neither has my daughter.

My old standbys are Coors Light and Bud Light. However
Woodchuck Ale has different flavors available and their green apple cider is so delicious.

I don't really care for beer and usually avoid it, but I do occasionally like a small glass of Pacifico with a healthy squirt of lime juice, very refreshing in summer. And Samuel Smith's Organic Raspberry Beer is also pretty good, almost soda-like, but not too sweet.

I like Michelob Light when I drink a beer which is not very ofter about once a year maybe. I'm such a beer conniseur, that when I went to a casino and they had beer for 1.00 I think it was I thought MGD was Michelob Golden Draft. It was MIller though I think.

I'm a beer lover! LOL
I have never heard of most of the above mentioned beers. I'm a Michelob Altra Lover. So that is what I recommend, oh ya, bottles for sure!

The only beer I drink is rootbeer.

That was helpful, Lily and Sheilajoyce. LOL

But that's okay, because I got lots of good ideas from other KTers. Thank you! I'm gonna head for the beer store with a list in my hand next time.

I don't like beer, no matter how much I try to like it. However, when my sons are going to be around I get Yuengling and Heineken. I have a bunch of old bottles in the fridge that need to go down the drain.

In the summer I love a Leinie's summer shandy-has a slight taste of lemon and is super refreshing. Otherwise, I'm a miller or bud light drinker. I don't mind the mild taste and love the lower calories. My family, however, are beer connoisseurs, and they love a lot of the micro brewery beers. There is a beer you can only get in Wisconsin which is New Glarus beers, and they have spotted cow, moon man, and some IPA's--I don't know all the different kinds but they are very popular. People travel from the neighboring states just to get the beer.

I like Bud Light Lime..Hubby drinks Coors Light

LOL I haven't heard of most of the beer mentioned except for the imports or Coors. I love beer but can't drink it, maybe the odd one in the summer because if I have more than 1 bottle or draft I pay for it with a flaming gout episode. We have some wonderful craft beer in Canada Most everyone I know drinks beer from Molson or Labatts. I really like Molson Golden Ale. Canadian beer has a higher alcohol content that American beer

Oh, no.....does beer cause gout flareups? I had a bad case of gout in my knees a few years ago, and had to give up asparagus. That was almost as painful as the gout!

I've been surprised about how many people are non-beer drinkers or don't like beer. I've been wondering if it's because the experience most of us have is with the common American brands, many of which I don't like either because they seem so thin and relatively flavorless. Big breweries in this country used to make some great beers, and then they moved on to make more mild tasting brews to appeal to a broader range of people. In seeking a broader market they sacrificed flavor and character. It might have been a smart move from a marketing perspective, but it gave us a bunch of generic beers that are nearly indistinguishable in taste. If you think you don't like beer, it may just be because you haven't experimented outside the Pabst-Bud-Miller spectrum. If you don't like beer, maybe you just don't like beer...and that's fine. But if you haven't tried some craft beers or some of the better European beers, I encourage you to take a risk: you might just change your mind. I once thought I didn't like cheese because all I had growing up was Velveeta!

Ditto kudzu9! People who have only drunk Bud, Coors, Millers (and even worse, their "light" varieties) don't know how good beer is goooood! My DS & DDIL have been brewing some really yummy beer. I'll be brewing with my DSIL in about 2 years when the babies (5 mos. and 21 mos.) aren't consuming so much of our lives. Until then: Sam Adams and Yuengling.

i dont drink anything.

Susan, I get gout flare ups in my knees too and it is painful. Funny asparagus doesn't bother me as much as beer does. Cauliflower causes flare ups too but I still eat it just not as much as I would like. Beer affects me the most causing an immediate flare up. I love beer but know enough to stay clear of it most of the time haha

Re Sam Adams, I'm recalling a time way back when my son was in college and I walked past him when he was on the phone talking to one of his friends. I heard him say "Sam Adams," and I thought, Isn't that nice? He's taking a real interest in history.

sleeperblues: I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I do remember first traveling to Wisconsin with my son and discovering New Glarus Raspberry Tart. I love raspberries to begin with and this beer was heavenly. My son liked it so well that he has made several trips (from here in Alabama) to New Glarus especially to get some.
Now he brews mead (a fermented honey drink)with the honey from his own bees. I'm not a fan, but he's having fun making bunches of different flavors using herbs, fruit and such.

That's a long way to go for beer, Maxmom, lol. But like I said our neighbors in other states make monthly pilgrimages to get their fix. Thanks for that story. I'm not much of a drinker of anything, but I prefer wine to beer. His mead sounds yummy, though.

Sleeper: My son belongs to a beer club, and for a while would pick up unusual beers and find a recipe that he would pair with it and send them to others. He's a good cook also.

Far to travel for beer? Apparently, and I really don't know too much about this, there is a brewery in Chicago that releases its very popular Dark Lord (I believe is the name) only one day a year and people come from all over to make sure they get some. He has gone up several times on a turn-around trip to get some.

I too, prefer wine, and not even good stuff. I will have my one glass of cheap red wine with dinner, for medicinal purposes, you know!

As an avid beer fan, this discussion sounds to me like I imagine a discussion of the relative merits of Ernest & Julio Gallo, vs Franzia Boxed wines vs MD 20/20 vs 2 Buck Chuck might sound to a self-anointed wine connoisseur.

I'm always annoyed when I go to a catered event, and they have three different red wines, two different white wines, and then for beer they have Heiniken, Amstel Light, Bud, Bud Light, MGD, Miller Lite, and Coors and Coors Light, as if there is any difference between any of them. Bah! They may as well all be brewed in the same industrial vat.

I've had most of the beers mentioned above (except for the Raspberry Beers and the Tequiza) and of those, other than the Stone Brewery beers, Newcastle Brown Ale, Blue Moon, Tucher Hefeweissen, Negra Modelo, Stella Artois, Guinness, or Yuengling Black and Tan, I'd probably politely decline and have a glass of wine, or just water thanks.

As a way to introduce the idea that different beers taste different, and go with different things, a Brother-in-Law had a beer/cheese pairing at a family gathering a couple of years ago, that was a bit hit.

I'd have trouble picking a favorite beer, just like I'd have trouble picking a single favorite food, but a list of "best beers" for me would be:

Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout
Delirium Nocturnum from Belgium
Westmalle Tripel a Belgian Trappist Ale

Apologies to all. In reading over my message it sounds much harsher than I intended it to. I was hurrying trying to leave work so I could finish packing and leave for a weekend ski trip, and wanted to post before I left.

The point I was trying to make was that you are showing more concern for potential future beer-drinking guests than many professional catering organizations. There are a wide range of beers available and trying to find one that will please all potential future beer drinking guests probably won't work. So Kudzu's suggestion about buying a sampler pack containing two or three bottles of several different beers would be a good approach to accomplish your goal.

For the beers I listed at the end, although they are outstanding beers, I probably wouldn't buy them except for a special occasion at with other beer aficionados.

Not to worry, Bob. Your post wasn't harsh, and my question wasn't all that deep. Most of my friends prefer wine, but I like to keep some beer around for casual use, especially in summer. My son likes Stella Artois, Guinness, and Pilsner Urquell, and my son-in-law's fridge always has something interesting in it, often from Asia. Although I don't have a sophisticated palate for beer myself, I like to try new things. I learned more with this thread than I have in my attempts to question the beer clerks. :-)

It's okay to be a bit of a beer snob. I understand completely. I'm a bit of a red wine snob. I'd rather drink none than accept a glass of cheap bar wine. It tastes awful to me. My son, I discovered recently, is a bit of a vodka snob. He gave me a hard time for buying Pinnacle. I redeemed myself only when I pointed out that the Pinnacle is for "fancy" cocktails, but I keep Grey Goose for martinis.

I really should learn more about beers, given my Belgian heritage. (I also have a Scottish heritage, but those single-malts are too expensive.)

Incidentally, what's the alcohol content of Delirium Nocturnum? Someone told me recently about a beer called Delirium Tremens. What an awful name! It has a scary alcohol content.

Thanks to you and the others, I will branch out and get into the extensive beer menu when going to a local draft house to hear some jazz. I promise to stop ordering Amstel Light. LOL

While reading this, I am drinking a Sam Adams Maple Pecan Porter from a sampler. Delish! I have never had anything I didn't like from Sam Adams, but I still prefer Guinness. And I only buy SA on sale, otherwise it's Yuengling Black and Tan.

I don't drink beer but will sometimes take a taste from my husbands, now he is a beer drinker. In fact at the original Garfields restaurant in Norman, OK back before it was a chain, they had lots of beers and if you tried them all you got your name on a plaque on a bar stool if you had a certain amount you got your name on a plaque on the bar etc.
He had his name all over that place LOL.
But we did go there quite often especially after a hot day spent at the pool.

The ones that come to mind that he has really liked and I gave my taste approval to were Bluemoon, ST.Pauli Girl, Michelob Ultra, he really likes Miller Genuine draft ~ MGD, Fat tire, Shiner, Abita made in Louisiana, Corona, Rolling Rock
thats about all my brain can recall. Currently he has maybe a couple a week and it is usually MGD when he can find it.

I didn't think your post sounded harsh at all, Bob. I found it very informative and would love to be invited to one of beer tastings!

Delerium Tremens and Delerium Nocturnum are made by the same company in Belgium, and are both something like 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) which is quite strong for a beer, but given that most wine is 12%-14% ABV its not really scary. The Delerium Tremens was voted "Best Beer in the World" in 2008, but personally I like the Nocturnum better.

The Westmalle Tripel I mentioned is stronger still at 9.5% ABV but it is hard to find, and rather expensive. The last time I found it, (at Whole Foods) the price was $7.99 for a single 11.2 oz bottle.

At the tasting pictured above, I felt that the first beer paired best with the fourth cheese and vice versa. The second cheese we nicknamed "stinky feet cheese"

Delerium Tremens and Delerium Nocturnum are made by the same company in Belgium, and are both something like 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) which is quite strong for a beer, but given that most wine is 12%-14% ABV its not really scary.

Yes, but wine isn't typically served in 12-oz. glasses. :-)