I figured with such cultured people on this forum I would ask this question?

My favorite style would be double IPA
My favorite brand is Stone Brewing AND Sierra Nevada

I have a lot of favorites... Stone, Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn Brewery, Sweetwater, Left Hand, Sam Adams, Magic Hat... I can't even think of everything ATM

Dark woody ales. No one brand. Flying Bison makes a good one though.

good bavarian style hefeweise Craftsman Heavenly Hefeweisen is good
anything by Stone especially their IPA
A strong Belgium like Delirium Tremens

Yea I guess it is tough as I like so many brands and styles as well.

We have a couple great local microbreweries where I live and they're delicious!
Spring Reign Ale by Ninkasi.
It reminds me of pine trees.

Oakshire's good, my favorite from them is Line Dry Rye.
It's made with flaked and malted rye and it has a great honey/fruity aftertaste.

Beeeeer is liquid bread, it's good for you...

Would it be safe to assume all of you Oregoners are fans of Rogue? Their DIPA is one of my all time favorite brews as well as the imperial pilsner as well.

I defiantly don't drink enough Rogue.
They make just about the only stout I've had that doesn't taste like god damn soy sauce. Great brewery. Awesome selection.

First time I walked in and had the wall of 300 taps towering over me I got overwhelmed, closed my eyes, pointed and said, "Give me that one?"

I wish 300 wasn't an exaggeration...
lol

What a great question!

I would consider myself quite the beer snob. I make my own beer and I also plan, prepare, and host beer and food pairing dinners.

Some of my favorite beers are English style beers. In fact, I am preparing a beer and food pairing dinner for January now, featuring all English style beers. Here is what I have thus far: quiche lorraine paired with strongbow dry cider (I know that's not a beer, but this is actually the amuze bouche so it is a fitting pairing), beer cheese soup paired with whitbread pale ale (this the beer the soup will be made with), espresso marinated short ribs paired with fuller's esb (I'm excited about this one!), and oatmeal chocolate cake paired with young's oatmeal stout (a very complimentary pairing). Delicious!

Some of my other favorites are some local beers we have out here in Kansas City. Boulevard Brewery puts out a special series they call the Smoked Stack Series, and all of them are in the Belgian style (Belgian beers are also some of my favorites-particularly some of the heavier Trappist beers like Rochefort 10). I recently had their Dark Truth Stout, which is an imperial stout. This beer is heavy and beautiful on the pour. It pours thick like whole milk- very filling. It weighs in at an impressive 9.7% ABV, but that alcohol is very balanced in the flavor. The beer has a sort of burnt aroma, with a strong impression of hoppy spruce or cedar. In flavor, the Dark Truth Stout has a lot of dark fruit and a pretty strong but balanced smokey flavor on the finish.

Ohhh how I love those Belgians!! I LOVE Rochefort 10 and the St Bernardus Abt 12 is another fantastic brew. Living on the East Coast we have great breweries and great beer halls to enjoy all of this goodness!!

Where on the east coast do you live? I grew up in Pennsylvania, but I went to school in Boston. I think Penn Brewery out of Erie makes some decent brews (I like their Penn Gold on a summer's day- a very nice helles). In new england, I really like Allagash Brewery out of Portland, Maine (Their Belgian Strong Dark Ales are great, especially their dark barrel aged). Unfortunately, I can't get any of these beers out here in Kansas City. When I go to PA for Christmas I will definitely be picking me up a few and taking them back with me. Of course there is always everyone's favorite brewery out of Milton, Delaware. I featured their Palo Santo Marron (as a brown ale, this is a very deceiving beer) with a panno cotta with reduced pomegranate, caramel, and fresh vanilla bean at one of my dinners. That's another brewery we unfortunately can't get out here, but I have my connections.

So, you're right, there are some fantastic breweries out on the east coast. I'm jealous.

Samuel Smiths Taddy Porter or Oatmeal Stout

I am located in Western Massachusetts. We have Berkshire Brewing Co or more comonly known as BBC. There is also Long Trail, Portsmouth Brewery, Paper City, and many more. Victory out of PA is fantastic as well their Storm King and Hop Whallop are killer. I have more beer glasses than yoyos if that means anything!!

waitwaitwaitasecond---are you me?!? cause if i have a doppleganger out there (or if *I* and the doppleganger) i think we all need to know.

Stouts and porters, I like them dark. Guinness of course but 2 of my favorites are Vanilla Porter from Breckenridge Brewery and Moose Drool from The Big Sky Brewery. If I lighten up on thr color I'll grab a NewCastle Brown Ale or a Shiner Smokehouse.

Brothers gotta unite!

Give St. Peters Pale Ale a try. Subtle, but very English. For IPA's, even though it isn't my favorite can I really say anything but Pliny the Elder? Dry stout is absolutely Guinness. Beamish, Mackesons, and all the others I've had just are not as good. Porter--I can take it or leave it. American lager has got to be PBR (I AM NOT A HIPSTER!). Continental lager is Pilsner Urquell, but only in Prague.

Ambers usually suck. The only brown ale I really like is Newcastle, though the Rogue brown is okay. Hefeweizen is a hard category, since it seems like they can vary bottle to bottle. My fav Hefe's have that diacetyle/banana taste, along with clove. I've had a few that blew my mind, but I can't remember the brands. No USA hefe's have ever had me asking for seconds.

Rogue and Ninkasi in the Northwest are solid on all their selections. Rogue Brutal Bitter and 100 Meter IPA are excellent. Ninkasi Tricerihops is perhaps my fav Imperial of all time. Arrogant Bastard, Double Bastard, and Vertical Epic from Stone are all incredible, but I think Ninkasi is doing it just a little bit better.

As for Lambics and Belgians, I went through a loooong phase with them. I think I've been burnt out. I'll have the occasional Cantillon, but that's about it. Lindeman, while widely dismissed by beer fans, is *excellent* on vanilla ice cream. duchesse de bourgogne is as well, if you reduce it and add a bit of sugar.

as for your common mild, ale, or whatnot? well, it doesn't get much better than Brewers Union Local 180. Ted is an excellent brewer, an excellent Publican, and all his beers are on beer engines.

Ted, if you see this, we'll bring by more mead!!

This is great I was totally hoping there would be some beer geeks on here!! This forum rules. As for some of what has been said about pairing beer with food if you check out the sierra grille out of Northampton,MA they have had some epic beer dinners with Stone, Rogue, Victory, Allagash and many others. A couple of other great breweries are Avery and Great Divide.

yeah, there are beer and scotch (and other) nerds here, happy to show our flags

i actually think it's hard to pair beer with food though. hops and malt shine through so differently with food than does wine. it's almost like the thinking of artichokes or Brussels sprouts--because of the bitterness and earthy qualities, beer isn't as easily suitable to food as wine is. and this is from a beer snob.

with that being said, beer is the *perfect* addition to assertive protein, such as beef, mutton, or ham. as well as rich carb dishes like potatoes, parsnips, or carrots.

Lamb or chicken I prefer wine, and fish I prefer martinis. Artichokes, sprouts, or other brassicas I just wait until I'm done with them to enjoy a drink

However, if I was gonna pick one drink for the rest of my life to pair with food, Fullers ESB would probably be it.

Hmmm, well I'm a fan of a lot of what Sierra Nevada brewery puts out. I like their Pale Ale(although I've noticed some boxes are better than others). I love their Old Chico, and their Summer Fest. I love Arrogant Bastard but I still haven't tried any of the other Stone Brewing ales. I drink Great White and Shock Tops with my girlfriend. I think the only Lager I've tried that I was a big fan of is Red Stripe. But it's been awhile since I've had that, who knows if I still like it