ZD was my first thought as well. One caveat, though: bottled, not canned. Because I am the James Bond of American Pale Ales.
The variety of answers given in this thread will be thought-provoking. The first thought I had when I read the title of your post was "Nothing sour." Then I read the post and your friend picks a Flanders Red Ala, ha. Different strokes for different folks. Then again, I don't like sours ever, let alone at "every occasion."
My thoughts for this thread were also aimed at Belgian styles, especially if in a corked bottle. I consider Belgian ales to be a step above all other beers for classiness, and would fit well for special occasions while also be a great daily drinker.
“…after work, yard work, tailgating, barbecuing outdoors, cooking indoors, friends over, night on the town. Christmas, Independence Day, New Years. Burger and fries, surf and turf, caesar salad, apératif, night cap. Below zero (F) wind chill, one hundred degrees (F) outside, weddings, gastropubs, dive bars, fine dining, or drinking on its own at home.” That is a very wide variety of occasions. I will not specify a brand but instead a beer style that would work well for all of the above: Pilsners. Pick your favorite sub-style(s): German Pilsner, Bohemian (Czech) Pilsner, Classic American Pilsner, Alsatian Pilsner,… Cheers!
I would say a Pilsner, like Urquell or a Belgian Blonde Ale, if I'm spending big. German Helles works great for multitasking as well. Genesee Cream Ale for budget friendly purposes though. Myself personally though, it's Yuengling Black and Tan. It's not a great beer by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a very serviceable brew. Dark enough to have some character, but easy drinking enough to chug after a day of marathon yard work. Plus, it's cheap, by beer standards these days. It's cheap, refreshing and goes with everything.
don't make me say it ok, you made me say it. The barrel aged version can go off into the night and i would never miss it. very few true RIS , the heavier hopped kind, are better Barrel Aged than the base .
Might be that I’m not doing it right, but there is no one beer for me in all those situations. Not that I wouldn’t drink any one of those if it was the only option in any of those scenarios. To those of you who have that one beer, I salute you; maybe I’ll get there someday. Cheers!
I could see how someone could interpret it as such. When I use to live in California, Sculpin was my default go to beer, and it is a delicious beer. However, I feel Spotted Cow is better suited for any situation you could think of than a Sculpin.
Likewise, which I think is the point of the OP. I think that's why so many on this thread are picking AALs and other lighter style lagers (pils, etc.) as a suitable accompaniment. Because no one beer is suitable for every occasion listed in the OP, it makes sense to pick something light, innocuous and inoffensive as a beer of choice. Personally, I still wouldn't pick an AAL (because I don't like them), but a pils or helles lager makes complete sense to me as a beer for every occasion. Fortunately, we don't live in a world where it's necessary to pick one beer for every occasion. So this is all just idle conversation.
Since you said surf n turf and including all scenarios I would say a red ale or amber lager. I think those would go well enough with just about anything. Cheers!
