Go-to, everyday beers

I have just recently gotten back on the arrogant bastard train, lots of malt and a definite hop bite. That might be right up your alley.

 

Unless I deviate to a couple of seasonal styles (Oktoberfests and Maibocks), I keep IPAs in my fridge. No specific brand is a regular, although I'm beginning to always have Head Hunter on hand since they entered Michigan last year. NA beers are also always in the fridge, and I tend to stick with those that declare themselves as an IPA. I try to drink an NA beer every other day, but realistically, it's more like 30-40 percent of my drinking.

 

I quaff a fair bit of Georgetown Bodhizafa when having beers at a bar near work. At home, there's usually something from Pfriem around, depending on my mood.

 

"Wherever the road takes me. The journey itself is the destination."

 

Sierra nevada, lagunitas, cigar City, etc etc are all value beers worth da price.

 

Curiously, this changes with the seasons. For instance I drink less beer in the winter so a go-to in say January wouldn't be the same as the go-to in July. Otherwise Lagers, Session IPAs.

 

On any given week I like to have 2-3 drastically different go-to styles in my fridge to bounce back and forth from day to day. Usually an IPA of some kind and something else. This week it is Celebration and Guiness Foreign Export. Last week it was Smuttynose Findest Kind and several mixed lagers from Notch. Week before that was Trillium Congress Street NEIPA and Pilsner Urquell. I think 1 random day I went to my cellar and pulled a Backwoods Bastard for my daily choice.

 

For me, it really depends on the time of year/weather, etc. Fall/Winter for me is Celebration, a few Hazy's and Stouts, SA's Winter Lager/Old Fezziwig. After the new year I start getting into some of the SA's spring seasonal's as my wife always tells me that I'm a season ahead, lol. So January I might dip into some cold weather seasonal's but then It's beers like SA's Cold Snap, Alpine Lager, tropical hazy's, etc. Then in the Spring...I really get back into SN's Pale Ale and Torpedo. I look forward to it every year.

 

During the winter it's definitely Celebration. In the warmer months it tends to be a helles or pils of some sort. Ideally Bierstadt, but sometimes just whatever is fresh and convenient. If I don't know what I'm feeling, Dale's Pale Ale is my #1 catch-all. It's almost like an American spin on ESB.

 

Brooklyn Brewery (Denmark) ‘Pulp Art’ IPA.
Brouwerij Bosteels (Belgium) Kwak Amber.
Anything Brasserie La Debauche (France) puts out.

 

Harpoon IPA and Montauk Driftwood Ale mostly. Both are moderately priced. Driftwood is not available during the summer, but I stocked up. It seems to hold up well for at least 4-5 months. I'm looking for a regular German-style lager, but don't really have a favorite now. I liked the original Brooklyn Pilsner, but not the new "crisp" one. I usually have a dark beer around, whether a German style dunkel or a stout.

 

An 'everyday beer' is a foreign concept to me. Almost all beers I get are singles to review and probably never have again, though I do keep a cellar of favorites for times when I don't have any to review. My 'everyday styles' are strong BA dark beers (mostly stouts and barleywines), but I could never pick just one specific one.

 

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - I drink more of this than any other beer. I have at least two dozen different beers in the fridge representing all kinds of styles. Second to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is probably Fat Head's Head Hunter IPA. I've also been really enjoying their Yinzer Lager (Helles), which is only available here in the Pittsburgh area.

 

For me: NEBCO Seahag. It's everywhere around here, reasonable priced and really tasty.

 

I drink a lot of Rhinegeist Truth IPA. I almost always have some in the fridge at home. I think it's literally available at every grocery store, gas station, and convenience store in town.

Tons of restaurants and bars usually offer it as well.

 

Stone IPA, Bitburger Pils, Jai Alai, Sunshine City.. etc.. anything 2$ or less a can is a go-to everyday beer for me.

 

Head Hunter IPA is excellent! I always buy a sixpack when I see it fresh at my local supermarket; this happens a half dozen times a year.

Cheers!

 

My summer time go to is Konig Pilsener