Joseph Spelt Ale

Tried this one in my quest for a decent gluten-free beer to share with a friend. No dice on this one. Spelt does not make a good malt.

London Porter

When I began my beer year, I was no big fan of porters, but by this time in my beer year, I've had enough (the count says 15 at the time I drank this one, probably 25 by the time of writing) that I've developed a reasonable taste for them. I've had the microbrew everybody recommends (Black Butte Porter) and a pretty good selection of variations on the theme.

But of all the porters I've had, this is my favorite. The flavors are bold and the texture is silky. None of that stankiness you often get with imported beers. You know what I'm talking about. This is just a purely great tasting beer with strong malts and just enough hops to keep it from sagging at the back end. This is one of those beers I probably commented seven or eight times, "I really like this beer," and was very sad when I finished it. I really wished I'd picked up a six pack.

Foret

My first Belgian saison. A couple of generous friends got me a bottle of this as a Christmas present, and I thought it the perfect beer to have with Christmas dinner. So I bought a second bottle to share. I was not hugely impressed, and neither were the others at the table, mostly because it had the strong sour character that seems characteristic of a lot of imported beers.

I have been told that it's better in the summer, and since no one else drank much, I have a second bottle I'm saving for the dog days.

Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw

Well, if you like strong, liquory-tasting Belgian ales, then this one might be for you. For me, though, I thought this was pretty nasty.

Lion Stout

Salvator Double Bock

Pretty tasty German beer.

Beck's

Birra Moretti La Rossa

Heineken. A pretty reasonable beer. I'd probably pick it over Peroni if I'm in a ristorante with only themed beer choices.

Twisted Thistle IPA

Belhaven. This is my first imported IPA, and I dunno whether the Brits just have a very different sense of the form (of course they're right, just like with English), or mine was off because it was definitely stanky.

Franziskaner Weissbier

Franziskaner

St. Pauli Girl

St.Pauli Germany's Funtime Beer. They promote the girl as much as the beer and encourage you to download and share the poster, so here it is:

Paulaner Hefeweizen

Paulaner

Vitus

Weihenstephaner

Newcastle

Heineken

Bass

Guinness

Pacifico

Dos Equis Amber

Tecate

Heineken