Jack is indeed a beer snob, but his daily beer is American. His favorite used to be Rolling Rock until Anheuser Busch took it over and moved its brewing out of LaTrobe. Now he drinks another PA beer, Yeungling lager. He tends to like pilsners like Urquell and Grolsch (even though the label says "premium lager," it's a pilsner) and an occasional witbier like Hoegaarden. He'll drink a stout now and again but doesn't go looking for them.

Quick Lesson in Beer:

There are two kinds of beer: Ales and Lagers.

Ales use a yeast that ferments at the top of the batch. Usually done at temps from 65 to 75 deg. F. Higher in alcohol. more bolder in flavor and mouthfeel. Drank fairly young (not aged overly)

Lagers use a yeast that ferments at the bottom of the batch. Usually done at lower temps from 45 to 55 deg. F. Lighter in flavor and easier to drink. "Lager" is german for "to store". Traditionally, they were aged in caves for several months to smooth out and blend the flavor.

Pilsener is a style of lager that was started in the Pilsen region of what is now Czechoslovakia (Pilsner Urquell means Original Pilsener and is a kick ass example of the style)

There are vatiations on this (Bock beer can be a strong Lager, or Anchor Steam uses lager yeast brewed at ale temps), but it basically comes down to Ales and Lagers.

(now back to your regularly scheduled forum...)

Well said Karithna! I'm forever telling people that lager is a process, not a type of beer. Have you ever tried any of the dark lagers? Certainly in Madrid there is a local brew called "Cervisa Negro" (sorry if that sounds non-PC but that's what they call it!), black as Guiness but made by a lager process. And delicious!

This is one of my favorite beers. Lobotomy Bock is a dark (enough) lager. I can't get it here, but someone is bringing me a case next month. I have one left from the case I got in June.

And yeah, that says 10.5% Alcohol.

And yeah, that says 10.5% Alcohol.

My God! That's almost a Barleywine!

It's s smooth and flavorful, you don't realize it's so strong until you get a few in you.

When I first moved to PA, I loved Yuengling. I'm more than a little over it, now. Sam Adams and Hoegaarden, though, are delicious.

Which Sam Adams? I thought their Revolutionary Rye was quite tasty, but their best is the Boston Ale.

That's one thing that sucks about the west coast. You guys have a lot of historical beers. They're hard to find around here. There is a new place in town called BevMo (http://www.bevmo.com/), but they are INCREDIBLY expensive when it comes to beer. They do have a great selction and good sales on wine. I'll have to go see if I can locate some Yuengling or Ybor.

The cool thing about the west coast is that there are numerous small regional breweries that put out a large selection of seasonal beers. There's always something new to try.