Yes, Adnams of Suffolk is delicious.

BMillersc

Yes, Andechs. Lovely out on the terrace.

I went first when the brewery was up top but now it's a very modern plant at the base of the hill -- still with the crucifix on the wall, however.

The move didn't hurt the Dunkles, a beer
of immense maltiness and dangerous power. It is passingly amusing to sit out on the terrace and watch the Bavarian teenage boys go completely stupid after a quarter liter.

It is less amusing when they retch all over their girlfriends.

Anyone mentioned Hooegarden?

Lovely witte or "white" beer from Belgium.

Pierre Celis came over here and, as far as I know, is still making a good copy in Texas.

Anybody seen the Miller Lite advertising with the "World Beer Cup Gold Medal" winner stuff on it?
For Best American Light Lager apparently.
Hmmm.
I prefer the British Session bitters mentioned on one of the posts above - dead easy to drink, nothing too challenging, nice buzz.

I was out of town for a few days and I come back to see so many great replies to this thread! Thanks for all the input. Let me give you a few of my favorites that I have tasted from Europe:

Finland: Koff Porter
Estonia: Saku both lager and porter
Poland: Hevelius Kapur (lager)
Germany: Schneider's Aventinus (Doppel Bock) Erdinger Hefeweizen
Belgium: Westmalle Tripel
Belgium: St. Bernadus Tripel
Belgium: St. Bernadus 12 Degree
Belgium: Tripel Karmaliet
Austria: Sami Klaus 14% (Wow)

These are just a few of my favorites but there are so many more including ones that many of you have mentioned. Let's keep this rolling!

Mass market American beers aren't my cup of tea (so to speak), but there are hundreds of excellent American beers of all styles produced by smaller breweries all over the country. And, omitting those god-awful lite beers, most American beers have about the same alcohol content as most European beers.

Smithwicks, which sadly can not be bought in US of A....I hear it can be found in our friendly northern neighbor though. It is one GREAT beer. From Ireland by the way.

The "World Beer Cup" (which I have, ahem, judged) includes all the possible categories for style.

Thus, there are categories into which Industrial Lagers fall.

Someone must prevail. Does that mean the beer with worth s**t? Of course not.

The "World" Beer Cup is an overwhelmingly American affair, with prizes going more to American imitators of European beer rather than European beer themselves. The 2002 Gold winners included Miller Lite, Molson Dry and Genesee Cream Ale. Looking at the participants list for 2002, one also sees that there were NO entries from Ireland, only one from Austria, one from Switzerland, one from the Netherlands, two from the UK, and only four from Belgium.
The World Beer Cup is a good event, but it does not truly represent the *world* of beer.
Anyway, since we've been living in Europe for several years now, spending most of our time in the beer meccas of Belgium, Germany and Austria, we've learned to take the European attitude toward beer: drink what one likes and don't worry about the so-called experts.

Whatever works for BTilke I wish him/her well.

The year I judged the WBC, a British Style pale ale from Hong Kong won. It was superb.

Maybe the foreign brewers have opted out in the recent past.

But, yes, beware. The world of wine has long been plagued by phony medals competitions. It wasn't until Robert Parker and Marvin Shanken got rolling that the consumer had a fair shot at picking good wine.

I still maintain the Great American Beer Festival is reliable ON THE DAY.
Remember, brewers point at the festival, brew several times if they must to get a superior batch, package their beers with great care, and MAY NOT have a medal-winner for sale when you buy a 6-pack or order at their pub.

There was a beer in Venice that we drank like water last summer. I think it was called 'Sans Souci' (great name). We loved it.

Well, poop!

I got all the data from the 2002 World Beer Cup and thought I had posted it -- but it's not here.

At any rate, in 76 categories there were scads of foreign winners.

For example, there were 20 German medal beers among a possible 258. Twelve of the 76 categories were specifically "American Style" beers.

Also, American artisan brewers are, in fact, brewing beers that hava all but been extinguished in their nations of origin.

The American "revival" now has washed back across the seas and some old styles are being revived. For example, some British IPASs are now produced but American versions are regarded as being more true to the original style.

The judges for the WBC are the same cadre who judge the Greatc American Beer Festival. In short, you can trust WBC winners.

Thank you Poopa for sharing all your wonderful knowledge of beer. You da man!

Taste in beer is an individual thing. I like the Bavarian beers.

The Bavarians are great brewers and great consumers.

Some of the Oktoberfest hoopla has made some Southern Lagers a bit too middle-of-the-road for me. But, fortunately, the area yet has some wonderul beers.

I've had Alspirsbacker, along with numerous German beers, but the best of the best is Ettal either Dopplebach or Helles. Both are difficult to find and rumor has it that Andechs brews the Helles and Ettal brews the dopplebach for Andechs but I don't know for sure. Ettal is a monastery (Kloister) near Oberammergau in Bavaria.

Velvet Beer. Had it in Prague. Can't find it in the US. Probably a good thing.

Mmmm. Good old thread. Some day, when I have more time and probably more money, I would like to go on a pub tour through the UK, stopping in small villages. For now, I am relegated to a book of English Pubs and travel vicariously.

Ireland's Kilkenny suits my taste very well - I haven't yet had the opportunity to try it on its home ground, but it seems to travel well.

And in defence of American beers, for what it's worth, Sam Adams has won the Australian International Beer Awards (best foreign beer) twice. Boston Lager IMO is a nicely balanced beer that grows on you; by the end of the sixpack it's become excellent.

I'm a wino, but you should try Sierra Nevada "Celebration" Ale during the holidays in the US.
No one could argue with Carlsberg Elephant, Pilsner Urquell, nor any of the great German Weiss(en)biers on a warm summer day.
Augustiner-Brau Munchen and Hacker-Pschor are wonderful, but most beers served at O'Fest are awful!
M