For all you beer drinkers/connoisseurs, here is an interesting article.  I heard the longer story on the radio this evening.  They mentioned the big two are on such a microbrewery buying frenzy, the small time brewers are viewing their business in a similar vein as the tech start ups of the recent past.  I wonder if there is really any difference (other than names) in the regional "micro-brews" being bottled and sold by the 2.  I can't see it making economic sense for either to produce small batches of beer.  Clearly, the value is in the scale, and fooling the consumer into thinking they are getting something "special".

I started brewing my own beer when I was 16 and did it for 30 years. I had a beer refrigerator with 2 types of beer 5 gallons each for several years. I was told by a Dutch friend that it was some of the best beer he had had.

There are so many different brands of micro brews I have given up on trying them. Fancy labels and cute slogans do not make beer good.

Mostly if I drink beer I drink Polish imports

Hevelius Kaper
Zywiec Porter
Warka Strong

I started drinking them we we lived outside of Chicago. These are very good.

truth is, it's hard to beat homebrew. unless you want something much much lighter. homebrew has more body, and more mouth feel. and you can tailor make it the way you like it. 

having said that big brewery like Bud makes very consistent beer batch after batch. it's rather amazing how they do that. and they can pump out beer like.. water in the ocean. 

with so many micro brews around now day, the big brewery losing some of their business. so they are trying to buy out the small guys to more or less stump out the small guys. soon, the beer will be back to what it was in early 80. bud and miller and other piss water.

like what we are doing on this forum with figs, brew beer at home. it's not that hard, and it's much better tasting... you can even brew nice lager, if you have place to cold store them for few months. 

now days, i just don't have time or the energy to brew them at home. but with all the imports and micro brew, i can get something that will satisfy me. english ale are what i enjoy most.. if i can find them. otherwise, Guinness does the trick every time. i still haven't had nice sour stout that matches Guinness. it's just amazing. 

If you guys have a great beer, have a sip or two for me.  Beer messes up my blood sugar in a nasty way (then I get to try to dose out insulin while loopy, LOL).  I always laugh at the light beer commercials which tough how low carb the beers are.  About the only thing that has more of an effect on b/s levels is watermelon, but watermelon requires only a slight adjustment to my normal dosage.  The adjustment for beer is not slight, not even close.  I'll have to stick with my diet root beer for now.

James, what's you favorite diet root beer?  I like Dad's Root Beer.  It's pretty good.

Have you ever had a coke from Turkey?  It's made with beet sugar.  It's very rich and taste like the real coke back in the 70s.

Pete, around 1978 or 1979 I toured through the Anheuser Busch plant in Fairfield, CA.  It was part of a college class tour, Fermented Foods.  The course was very popular so the instructor varied the curriculum from quarter to quarter (I was lucky and learned about wine for 7 weeks and then beer for 3 weeks while my wife got to deal with things such as sauerkraut, etc.).  This plant did not give tours nor was it set up for it but our instructor had a history in the brewing industry and pulled some strings.  Our instructor had indicated that a brewmaster for a large brewer typically earned more than the company CEO because of the critical nature of their ability to produce a precise product.  I very much doubt that is anywhere near the case today.  It was very impressive how they controlled things so precisely with particular yeast strains, various hops, etc.  Our class crowded into the brewmaster's tasting room where we got to sample the various brews made there.  The brewmaster explained that they strive to create a product that is both visually stimulating and tasteful.  He said that all brewmasters strive to create a beer that has a nice head of foam on it and suggested that we not pour our beers down the side of a glass to circumvent this effort.  He explained that they employed particular hops that aid in foam retention while Miller used a chemical additive.  One of my classmates indicated he preferred Miller so the brewmaster had one of his employees get out a Miller for this guy.  We compared the head of foam and the Miller didn't do so well but the Brewmaster admitted that it was partly due to it being less fresh since it was bought off a store shelf but that even comparisons between store-bought brews had fairly similar results.  He had most other brands on hand and I guess they monitor what others in the industry are doing pretty closely.  Overall, we were very impressed with the process.

At one time (maybe mid-1970s or earlier?) Coors was in limited production and supply was less than demand and Coors used this to their advantage to require that all merchants keep their product refrigerated at all times to help maintain freshness.  This is no longer the case but it still reminds me to try to select beer from the refrigerated section instead of sitting on a shelf.

I believe I only made one batch of brew in college.  I didn't have extra refrigerator space in our apartment refrigerator so I kept my 5 gallon bottle in the bathtub with a trickle of water running constantly.  That didn't go over too well with my roommate since he had to ask me daily to remove it so he could take a shower.  It wasn't very good but we did tolerate it enough to drink it anyways.  I think there are a lot more resources to help home brewers today but don't drink enough beer to make it worth the time and trouble.

there are tricks to consistency. but unless you are an anal home brewer, you won't bother with it much.

for awhile, i used to brew 1 gal batches. consistency went out the window really quick. trying to measure yeast didn't work too well for me. not much room for mistakes.

but it's a good way to sample your ideas.

james, my blood sugar usually drops when i'm drinking. i just don't take insulin on those days.next day, i catch up. i know, not very healthy. 

Harvey, the story about the A-B brewery tour reminded me of my grad school years in St. Louis.  If the wind was in the right direction you could always catch the hoppy smell of the wort coming from the riverfront.  This was in the 80's and there were no microbreweries or brewpubs in St. Louis then.  That has changed now but what do you bet they are owned by A-B?  Anyway, my housemate and I made a lot of home-brew back then.  I'd love to get back into it but gardening takes up too much of my time plus I also question whether I drink enough beer to make it worthwhile.

Dennis,

I do not have a favorite.  I seem to like certain ones at different times and there are some I do not like.  Here is my break down:

• Barq's: In general I like a sharp root beer with good carbonation.  This is the one I go for most since it is also easy to find.  I keep thinking I'm going to take an ice cold one to the Indian restaurant, but I never remember.
• Dr. Brown's: I wish more places carried it.
• Mug's: Is a bit milder in flavor, but one of the girl's likes it so we buy it.  I'm good with it most days.
• A&W: As kids we only had access to this (maybe it was my parents).  It still puts a smile on my face.
• Big K (Kroger brand): I was pleasantly surprised when I tried this many years ago.  It is easy on the wallet as well.
• Stewart's: Is very good but to my taste not worth the extra expense over Barq's (same with Frosties).
• IBC: Is not at the top of my list, but I will gladly drink it if there is nothing else.

tonight, it's jack and coke. two pints and i'll be sleeping like a log.

Shots to take the edge off
A Spanish red with our sushi
Salute!

Not a beer person, but really enjoyed Ch'ti Ambree (a biere de garde from Castelain Brewery) when I was in Paris several years back. Very rich, malty type...more of a "dessert" beer. So good...but can't find a distributor who services Alabama.

lot of amazing beers in europe. i only been to london and paris... london is like beer lovers dream. every beer i had there were great. then again, they are served properly, not freezing cold like here. just the right temp to bring out the flavor the the beer. way we serve the beer here will hide the true taste, we serve is so cold, can't taste anything.. might as well.. not sure if i want to really taste some of them. 

Had a Desperados -tequila flavored beer - yesterday. Unfortunately it was a bit warm to my taste. Still a good beer.