Your five 'go to' beers

I love rating a new beer but sometimes I just want to drink one I’ve had many times and know I like. In the last 12 months, which beers have become your ‘go to’ options? (And - if you can be bothered - why?)

Mine are:

Ayinger Celebrator. I love this treacle-like beer. I’m still amazed that I can buy a bottle for just £2.75 - I’d be willing to pay double.

Fyne Ales Vital Spark. A tasty Mild and one of Scotland’s most underrated beers.

Orval. I must have had 20-30 Orvals in my time and even when I drink it now, I seem to notice something new.

Knops Black Cork. By far my favourite beer from this brewery. It’s sweet, sticky and amazing in both bottle and cask.

Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel. For me, this pushes Celebrator very close for Germany’s best beer. I love the sweet cherry and prune quality.

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I don’t drink any of these beers very often, but still, here are my favourites:

Schlenkerla - all of them, depending on the season. Usually Märzen, though. Luckily, I can go to Bamberg rather frequently to have it at the source.

Orval - for the same reason you mentioned.

Aventinus - It was one of my favourites before I started ticking, and still is. Also, it’s readily accessible here.

Saison Dupont

And lately, I seem to drink more Girardin Gueuze than my cellar can keep up with.


For Lagers/Kellerbiers, which are among my favourite styles, it depends what I can get. It varies between homebrew, Witzgall Landbier (one crate a year, although I usually trade a lot of it), Ayinger Kellerbier / Zwickel / Frühlingsbier, Mahrs U, and Urban Chestnut Zwickel, all of which I thoroughly enjoy when fresh. It might still be that the one I drink most often is Spezial U, because I have at least one of it every time I am in Bamberg.

Also, I should probably drink more Schneider Weisse Original.

Is this readily available in Edinburgh? I am looking for Mild ticks.

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That’s a tough question, because I try to only buy things I’ve never had before. I’ll give it a shot:

  1. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
  2. Founders All Day IPA
  3. Old Nation M-43
  4. Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin
  5. Deschutes Fresh Squeezed

Not much variation here but when I think “go-to” I think “beers I don’t have to analyze or think about too much while I drink them.” If I had access to more German beer, I would probably have a few lighter lagers in there.

Fresh Go To would definitely be one of them!

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If we’re talking pure volume, Yuengling and All Day (in that order). Above and beyond that, it’s hard to pinpoint because I’m a ticker and don’t drink the same thing often.

Vital Spark makes the odd appearance on cask but you can definitely pick up a bottle from Cork & Cask - I buy a bottle from there pretty much every week. I don’t think Edinburgh’s other bottle shops stock it.

5 is impossible - you have to leave out something that you don’t want to.
Thomas Hardy, Plevnan Siperia, Schlenkerla Urbock, Fuller’s ESB, and Ayinger Ur Weisse
Because they’re not beer, I also demand access to any Heck’s cider, and any Apis mead.

<3

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Gulpener Ur-Hop
Orval
Schlenkerla Märzen
Bitburger or Warsteiner
Chimay Triple or Duvel or La Chouffe
At multiple-day music festivals: Franziskaner Hefeweizen and Dead Pony Club

Alright, that’s 10 beers but it narrows it down to the core for me.

If you’ll allow 5 from my home state (NC):
Appalachian Mountain Spoaty Oaty Pale Ale
Birdsong Paradise City Session IPA
Green Man Wayfarer IPA
Highland Daycation IPA
Hi-Wire Lager

and 5 from outside:
Captain Lawrence 6th Borough Pilsner
Clown Shoes Baked Goods Pale Ale
Golden Road Wolf Pup Session IPA
Stillwater Micro Pale Ale
Sweetwater TripleTail IPA

Of all these, TripleTail is my new favorite.

+1 to that. Stellar stuff!

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Blvd Saison Brett
Schlenkerla, particular one depends on mood
Rene Cuvee, b/c of cost/availability but many gueuzes
Burton Bridge Empire Pale Ale, the only English beer I feel comfortable buying off the shelf b/c it gets better with time
De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserva, if I can actually ever get/afford it

Hoppy beers are too persnickety for me and there are many to-go Impy Stouts that fit the need.

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Odell Rupture
Melvin Hubert
Snake River Pako’s
Ten Sleep Speed Goat
Deschutes The Abyss

Alaskan Smoked Porter is always a must as well.

Cara Pils.

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I really like these 5 in no particular order

  1. Bourganel Biere au Nougat
  2. Schlenkerla which ever is available
  3. Kasteel Rouge
  4. Avery Liliko’i Kepolo
  5. Founders Mosaic Promise

I would have had Oxfordshire Churchill if it wasn’t retired. I also enjoy frequent Steigl Grapefruit Radlers

Founders All Day IPA
Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin
Silver City Tropic Haze
New Belgium Le Terroir
Georgetown Bodihizafa

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Hey we have two that match. Grapefruit Sculpin is so much more satisfying than regular. Cheers!

  • Alefried Schlawiner - Tasty APA right from where I live, so you usually can get a pretty fresh bottle of APA goodness. If I wanna top it up a notch, I go with Klabauter, his IPA.
  • Trumer Pils - My Pils of choice, refreshing and usually readily available. It’s clean, crisp and well done. Creamier from the tap. What more do you want?
  • Stone Got to IPA - Usually in Summer, when I don’t have a lot of bottles at home, some cans of this will be stashed in the fridge as it’s readily available in supermarkets. Come home, kick back with a can on the balcony, stop sweating so damn much.
  • Stiegl Grapefruit Radler - A can of this is usually around every few weeks in the warmer months. Goes well with spicy pizza. Stop judging me!
  • Brewdog Punk IPA - Whenever I’m at a pub or bar that carries no new ticks, but some belgians and an IPA, this one’s usually it. And it’s a good one.

Haha, for sure! They are awesome beers. They are the two beers in cans that are in my fridge at all times, and are good on any occasion.

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Loads of hote goldes

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