Best Beer vs Favorite Beer

My favorite style is Tripel. My favorite Tripel is Chimay White. I think La Fin du Monde is the best Tripel.

 

I’m surprised you’ve never had Westmalle

 

I have.

 

I think it changes over time, but I think we all can get into a groove of taste, availability, and price that makes us reach for a beer for comfort over something special. Right now mine is Altstadt Lager out of Fredericksburg, Texas. Nothing fancy, high quality Helles, readily available (in Austin!)

 

To me, the "best" beer would probably be Keesmann Herren Pils. Trick is, you can't normally buy it outside of Germany. It isn't even particularly common outside of Bamberg.

So my "favorite" beer would be something I can buy pretty much anywhere. To me, that's Dale's Pale Ale. Been drinking it for 20+ years and I still like it as much as ever. I'm sure they've tinkered with the recipe over the years, but it still tastes the way I want/expect.

 

The OP asked: "Can anyone else relate?"

I can most certainly relate!

From my perspective an aspect which can distinguish favorite from 'best' is a drinkability factor. A 'best' beer could be highly complex flavor profile (e.g., Val-dieu Grand Cru like mentioned above). A beer to be savored perhaps for a special occasion (e.g., happy birthday to me).

A favorite beer would be one that after I am done drinking that beer I have a smile on my face and I really, really, really want to drink a second one.

Cheers to favorites and cheers to 'best' beers!

 

I’d like to get my hands on one of those Keesmann Pils, but it sounds like that’s a long shot. How would you compare it to Rothaus Tannenzapfle?

 

I like to say, "One I haven't had before".

 

Good question. I love TZ, too. It's probably my second favorite pils. I actually did a side by side with bottles of them a few years ago. They're quite similar. The Herren is the hoppier of the two, but it never heads into sharp or bitter territory like some can. The Rothaus is slightly less bitter and hoppy in general, but the flavor profile is headed down the exact same path. To the point that they taste like they're potentially using the same ingredients in different concentrations. The only thing I'd mention is that draft Herren has a texture that the bottled one doesn't replicate. It has a thickness that partially mimics a Lukr tap...only it seems to be coming out of a normal ol' tap as far as I can tell. I've had it at 3 different places (all in Bamberg, though) and it has always been that way.

 

My best beer would be a barrel aged Imperial Stout. This week it is Goose Island Kentucky Branch

but I live close to Fiddlehead (2 miles) and I’m able to get Second Fiddle DIPA at a somewhat reasonable price. So it is pretty much my daily go-to beer.

when I got back from vacation with lots of weird beers, I had immense satisfaction cracking open and smelling then tasting a second fiddle

 

I love fresh Wormtown Be Hoppy. Certainly not the best that I have ever had, but a personal favorite.

 

Absolutely, these are two different things.

When I enjoy a beer new to me and rate it with a reality high score, doesn’t necessarily mean I want to sit there pounding them until the bar closes. In fact I rarely order a second one.
I also tend to buy new high-end beers as singles in a store if possible, just in case they are not what I expected.

As for a favorite, right now I’m really enjoying the English Bitters. I know of three brewery/Tap houses close by right now that have them on draught.
They’re hard to come by in the stores, so I’ll enjoy them when I can until they become scarce again or my tastes change.
None of these I’ve rated very high, but I really enjoy them, and sometimes that’s all that counts.
Cheers!

 

So the best beer would be my list of perfect 5 scores I’ve reviewed…so about 30 or so across many styles. My favorite beer is elusive to identify. That is because over the course of my craft beer consumption across decades, any craft beer I repeat too frequently loses my enjoyment for it. So I really never have a “go to” or favorite because it’s always just a fleeting idea in my head at any given point in time.

 

FTFY.

It's the ONLY thing that matters ever. Some folks enjoy insipid, fizzy, yellow, horsepiss beer, and that's fine. enjoying what you're drinking is what matters, everything else is just chatter.

 

To me a Best Beer is just that - the best beer that you've ever had. That would be Pliny the Elder for me.

A Favorite Beer is the first beer on your Best Beers list that is readily available to you. Fat Head's Head Hunter is probably that beer for my tastes.

 

Agreed.
I have to add that I believe Judging should be somewhat impartial.
I see a few on here that seem quick to give an extremely low, or extremely high score seemingly based on their personal likes/dislikes.
But that’s only part of it.
Example: I don’t particularly care for Hazelnut flavors like I once did, but if I try a beer that says “Hazelnut Porter” on the label, and it tastes like Hazelnuts, that’s got to count for something whether I like it or not.
It’s supposed to taste that way, for the name or style or whatever.
I actually had one recently that was damn fine.
I believe some people miss this aspect about judging something for what it is and is supposed to be.

The same could be said about the inverse, I would tend to judge a beer lower with inappropriate ingredients or hops for the style, even if it was something I kind of liked. If they are going for something different, the name or labeling shouldn’t forced into a style category where it doesn’t belong.
We have standards called “styles” for a reason.