alphaiii

Thanks Brent. I'll add these to my list, and strike off the ones you mentioned dropping.

Thanks john b, I'll look for these too.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Here's a list I've compiled based on suggestions here and some other threads, as well as from friends. Belgian Witbiers - Great Lakes Holy Moses, Hoegaarden, Sierra Nevada Wheat Munich Helles - Great Lakes Locktender Lager German Weisse - Franziskaner Hefe Weisse, Franziskaner Dunkel English Pale Ales - Boddington's Pub Ale, Tetley's English Ale Flying Fish Belgian Dubbel Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout Newcastle Brown Ale Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale Paulaner Oktoberfest Fat Tire Amber Ale (but I don't think I can get this in PA) Acme IPA Mackeson's Stout That should keep me busy for awhile. If there's anything on here that you think would be a real good or real bad choice, let me know.

Yeah that would be helpful huh. I live in Pittsburgh.

Over the past several weeks I've been trying some various brews from craft and micro breweries. Well I've like some and hated others. So I'll throw out here what I've had and liked or not, and would like some suggestions on what else to try. Great Lakes Oktoberfest - loved this Red Hook Hoptoberfest - terrible Dogfish Head Punkin Ale - not too bad, but nothing particularly special Great Lakes Eliot Ness Lager - decent (but hard to judge after drinking the very hoppy Red Hook first) As for some of the better macro brews I like: MGD Bass Ale Labatt Canadian Ale Labatt Blue Dos Equis Corona Honey Brown From what I've had, I'd say I tend more toward Lagers, but do like some Ales too. More important, is that I do not like very hoppy beers (like Red Hook) and prefer the sweeter, maltier ones. I'd like to try some wheat beers as well as some of the good malty craft/micro brews. All suggestions are welcome.

I would say Rehook Hoptoberfest is the beer I liked least - I just don't like that much hops I guess. But for a cheap beer that is really bad - MeisterBrau is probably the worst. I really hate Yeungling Black & Tan too.

I got some Dogfish Head Punkin Ale today and I'm not sure about the taste. Alot of you on here say the pumpkin taste is very present. I don't know that I agree, but I've never had any other pumpkin ales so I have no basis of comparison. My concern is that the beer isn't fresh. The Dogfish website says the brew is available after Sept. 1st. So if the distributor got it around then, it's been sitting, warm (yes the beer was warm when I got it - unfortunately I didn't know until AFTER I paid for it) for almost 2 months. Do you think that would kill the taste a bit? Either way it isn't bad. Its not skunky like beer gets when it's real old. But I just wonder if it'd taste a bit different if it were kept cold the whole time.

I had Great Lakes Oktoberfest the other day and man was it good. The only other I've tried is Sam Adams and it wasn't even close. I'll have to keep my eyes open for some of the ones mentioned in this thread.

I've had the 1800 Anejo, not the milenio though. I would assume the Milenio is a further aged anejo, or blend of select agings or something. I any case, the 1800 anejo I had was very heavy on the whiskey flavors. To me, the oak overpowers the agave, although you can still taste it a little. And yes, agave can taste peppery. Although I've had a couple tequilas that I can only describe as tasting very ashy (Cuervo Tradicional and Cazadores). So apparantly, some tequilas have a dustier, smokier agave flavor. For the anejo I've had, I'd have to agree that the agave flavor is masked, and would assume the same would be true for the milenio. And this brings me to a long standing question of mine. Why is it that those who review spirits almost always give anejos higher ratings that the reposados or blancos of the same brand? I have to think that these tasters are very whiskey/cognac minded, and prefer the smooth oaked tequila vs. the truer tasting reposado or blanco. I prefer the reposados, since you get the added smoothness without the oak overkill. But that's just me. And apparantly the judges at these spirit tastings don't agree. Oh well .

I believe he's talking about the Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon, although the Pappy Van Winkle bourbons are supposed to be very good too. I'm not much of a bourbon drinker, but I've been tossing around the idea of getting the Rip Van Winkle 12 yr Special Reserve since it's gets such good reviews and is actually affordable. I think the reason I'm not a bourbon drinker is the fact I've only tried Old Grand Dad, Evan Williams Black Label, and Wild Turkey 101 - all bourbons I would say are in the budget category, although not bottom shelf trash. So at some point I'd like to try a good quality bourbon.

Understandable. With most people it's all about brand name appeal.

IMO, Level is overpriced and overhyped. Yes it's alot better than Absolut. But, it's not something I'd ever buy at the price. I wouldn't say it's quite as smooth as Grey Goose (never had Belvedere), although it's not a harsh vodka by any means. Actually, I think Luksusowa is a smoother, better vodka (although I may even pick Luksusowa over Goose), and look at the price difference.

Or a Hershey's Kiss depending on what recipe you are going by.

I had a gin and tonic this weekend with Bombay original and I have to say I liked it alot, better than the Sapphire and tonic I had before. It's nice to like a less expensive liquor for a change. I haven't seen anything about Brokers gin on here. It's on sale in a few days for $14 so I'm gonna grab a bottle. It's gotten alot of good reviews so I figure it will be worthwhile for gin and tonics.

Actually, by NY I meant the state. I won't be in NYC, but upstate near Saratoga. I'll check the discount warehouse in that area though.

Are you referring to the Grand Reserve Barbados or the Barbados 1991?

I've heard from a couple people that Sailor Jerry is the best spiced rum they've ever had. I don't know if they tried Foursquare, but since that's not available in PA it's not an option. I'll probably end up givin Sailor Jerry a try, since I like spiced rums (well some of them). Just wondering how strong that cherry taste is. That may be offputting to me. Also, did it go down pretty well for being 92 proof?

I bought some Grand Havana on a whim last week and I do like it. I like it alot better than Private Stock for mixing with coke, and I like it alot better than Flor de Cana for drinking over ice. I'd say it's the best rum I've had to date, but I haven't tried many rums at all. I don't know if I could drink it neat, as it's not quite as smooth as I'd like. Ed, I know you commented that Westerhall Plantation rum is very similar. Would you say one is better than the other? I'll probably try the Westerhall since it's significantly cheaper than the Grand Havana. I keep holding off on the Cruzan Estate Diamond since my brother has some. So, when I can get up to NY to visit, I'll try some of his before I special order it in PA (why it's not available regularly I have no idea).

I found some of the Plantation rums in the PLCB catalog for special liquor order. 1. PLANTATION BARBADOS RUM 1991 2. PLANTATION GRANDE RESERVE BARBADOS 3. PLANTATION TRINIDAD RUM 11 YR OLD 4. PLANTATION TRINIDAD RUM 1991 5. PLANTATION TRINIDAD RUM 8YR OLD (I assume this is supposed to be the Jamaican and is mislabeled but I could be wrong) Has anyone has any of these and if so which did you like/would you recommend? The Grand Reserve Barbados is of interest to me since it's more in my price range and the BTI description made it sounds like a good, sweet and flavorful rum that is good mixed with coke. I am thinking it may be a better alternative to Captain Private Stock. Anyone try it? The other plantation rums would be sipping rums.

You know, I tried Tito's and Van Gogh side by side again twice tongiht. I did the comparison blind - basically I just kept shuffling the shots eyes closed until I couldn't remember what was what. I ended up picking Tito's both times, as opposed to earlier today. My conclusion - Van Gogh is a little smoother, but Tito's has a little better of a taste. Either way, both are very good and it would probably come down to a matter of what's available and the price. Unfortunately for me, neither of them are all that easy for me to find. Next on the list - Pearl, and hopefully Van Hoo at some point.

Well I tried Tito's Vodka today, so I thought I'd update my vodka list. While Tito's is very good, especially for $16 a bottle, I don't think it tops Van Gogh. 1. Vincent Van Gogh 2. Tito's Handmade 3. Grey Goose 4. Ketel One 5. Rain 6. Finlandia 7. Stolichnaya 8. Pinnacle 9. Svedka 10. Absolut 11. Fris 12. Smirnoff

Has anyone tried Stolichnaya Gold, the one with the black label? I saw it for $21/L the other day, which is a real good price, considering it's usually $25 for 750mL. I know it's gotten good reviews from the BTI, but I'm not much of a believer in their ratings anymore. At that price, it's really tempting.

How do you like the 5 star? I remember reading someone saying it is a similar style rum to the Flor de Cana 7 Yr (which you saw in my other post I don't like). Have you had the FdC? If so, how would you compare it with the 5 Star.

As of right now, the only Matusalem listed in the LCB catalog is the Gran Reserva. And I have yet to see it in any of the stores I've been in, even though it's listed as a regular item. I contacted the LCB and they said I'd probably have to have my local store ship it in from their warehouse.

Glad you liked the 1800. I feel its definitely worth the extra 4-5 bucks over Cuervo Especial. I hoping the LCB will put the silver on sale sometime soon. Maybe by them I will have polished off some of my tequila supply.