The 1000 Best Beers In The World (and where to find them in Calgary)

[cmyden]

Meh, Apparently the people who voted think there's only 10 countries in the world and they took the taste test in the middle of europe.

Well, the best beer in the world does come from certain countries (Belgium, Germany, etc). Here are some that made the list that come from countries normally not known for making great beer...

Lion Stout (Sinha Stout) Sri Lanka Foreign / Extra Stout 4.015 (70)
Baltika 6 (Porter) Russia Baltic Porter 3.722 (58)
Apis Jadwiga Mead Poland Mead 3.871 (11)
Okocim Porter Poland Baltic Porter 3.831 (32)
Zywiec Porter Poland Baltic Porter 3.662 (27)
Okocim Palone Poland Dunkel / Dark Lager 3.546 (10)
Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition Norway Imperial Stout 4.012 (14)
Nøgne Ø Imperial Stout Norway Imperial Stout 3.922 (24)
Nøgne Ø #100 (Batch 100) Norway Imperial IPA 3.920 (22)
Aldaris Porteris Latvia Baltic Porter 3.554 (22)
Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout Japan Stout 3.786 (11)
Hitachino Nest Celebration Ale Japan Spiced Ale 3.785 (10)
Hitachino Nest White Ale Japan Witbier 3.521 (21)
Eisenbahn Dunkel (Escura) Brazil Dunkel / Dark Lager 3.509 (10)


Belgium tops the list with 189 beers, which sounds right to me, they have so many amazing beers over there. I think Germany is next with 47. I'd say Canada does pretty well with their 40 beers on the list.

[yads]

This won't help you, but you won't find Baltika 6 anywhere. The only Baltika that's sold in Canada is Baltika 3. Which is pretty good as well. Baltika 7 is better, but the best one I had when there was Nevskoye. That you definitely won't find here.

[troutman]

Belgo had many unique beers last Saturday:

http://www.belgo.ca/ir/clients/belgo/i/biermenu.pdf

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Matata

I hate to say it, but after my euro trip a few years back, our beer is kind of awful. I'd rather drink room temperature czech beer than any big brand canadian beer. Problem is, beer doesn't travel well, so we're stuck with what we've got, thats why I drink whisky now.

Amateur..

I brought 27L of beer home from Germany last summer, and my travel friend who came with me brought 47L home the Christmas of 2007. When asked by customs if he had anything to declare, the guy was so impressed he let him go.

Big name brews are OK, but the best stuff is the micro-brew.

[cmyden]

Just finished searching for the top 10 beers on that beer searching site.

I've updated the spreadsheet with where each of them can be found.

So far, not bad, I've found 5 of the top 10 here in Calgary.

The leading liquor stores so far...

Co-Op Dalhousie (5)
Crowfoot Liquor (5)
Kensington Wine (5)
Willow Park (5)
Centre St North Liquor (4)
Kawa Espresso Bar (4)
Zyn The Wine Market (4)

[GreenLantern]

They forgot Heroine beer.

[icarus]

There is only one Australian beer on the list and it is Cooper's Best Extra Stout? It's a pretty good beer, but it's not the best in Australia by a longshot and certainly doesn't deserve to be the only Aussie beer on the list.

There are plenty of great Australian beers that deserve to be on this list. For starters, just about anything made by Redoak is fantastic. I'd put them at about the same standing as Unibroue in terms of consistency of quality throughout their beer catalogue.

http://www.redoak.com.au/02_00.html
http://www.redoak.com.au/SpecialBeers.htm
Now I want a beer.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Matata

I hate to say it, but after my euro trip a few years back, our beer is kind of awful. I'd rather drink room temperature czech beer than any big brand canadian beer. Problem is, beer doesn't travel well, so we're stuck with what we've got, thats why I drink whisky now.

Agree, a nice cold Czech pilsner is hard to beat. Definitely my favorite.

There must be a lot of American reviewers on that site. While there are some great little microbrews in the states, there's no way that so many of those beers actually stack up against what you have in Europe.

I also think it's totally normal for a small select group of countries to be represented. Everyone has their speciality, it makes sense that you see countries with a rich beer history excelling over those who are new to the game.

[Cactus Jack]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Agree, a nice cold Czech pilsner is hard to beat. Definitely my favorite.

There must be a lot of American reviewers on that site. While there are some great little microbrews in the states, there's no way that so many of those beers actually stack up against what you have in Europe.

I also think it's totally normal for a small select group of countries to be represented. Everyone has their speciality, it makes sense that you see countries with a rich beer history excelling over those who are new to the game.

I now have an aversion to Czech beer from drinking so much Urquell, the real Budveiser and various other pilsner. They're strong but not that tasty. No doubt the best beers in the world are Belgian and German but I think Canada ranks pretty highly, I'd say top 5 in the world easily. We have some delicious beers.

I tried some US beers when I was down in the States last month and found them to be grossly overrated. Especially the chocolate stout from Rouge. It was not chocolately at all or very good. They also had 6 different pumpkin ales, of which only one tasted like pumpkin and was drinkable. The rest were nasty. I get the US has a gigantic microbrewery culture in certain cities but for the gems like Lagunitas IPA, there are 10 bad ones.

For the record, Quebec makes Canada's best beer. I love Unibroue, my favourite brewery on earth! Vive le Canada!

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

I now have an aversion to Czech beer from drinking so much Urquell, the real Budveiser and various other pilsner. They're strong but not that tasty. No doubt the best beers in the world are Belgian and German but I think Canada ranks pretty highly, I'd say top 5 in the world easily. We have some delicious beers.

I disagree, I think the Czech pils taste great. Then again I'm a big fan of beers that follow the purity law, so I really don't like my beers to have any sort of fancy flavoring. No fruits, flowers, pumpkins, chocolates....just good clean beer taste.

Czech and German is my favorite. Belgian is great too, but I find there are too many flavorings/things happening with them, so I tend to not be able to have too much of it. It's a great special beer, but definitely not what I crave to drink with a good meal.

[Hammertime]

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I disagree, I think the Czech pils taste great. Then again I'm a big fan of beers that follow the purity law, so I really don't like my beers to have any sort of fancy flavoring. No fruits, flowers, pumpkins, chocolates....just good clean beer taste.

Czech and German is my favorite. Belgian is great too, but I find there are too many flavorings/things happening with them, so I tend to not be able to have too much of it. It's a great special beer, but definitely not what I crave to drink with a good meal.

A good German hellis goes down so nicely in maß format. Weißbier is still my favourite though. No one knows it like the Germans.

[JFK]

IMO, beer connoisseurs are some of the most snobby people around. They're almost as bad as those people that only like music if nobody else has ever heard of it.

One of these days, I'm going to do a taste test. I'll line up atleast a dozen different beer, with 3 of the bottles containing the same product (for arguments sake, we'll say Budweiser). Trick is, one will be in a Budweiser bottle, one in some unknown Irish branded bottle, and another in a German bottle (with a little story on the label of how it was brewed in some privately owned brewery, in some small town).

After all were tested, I'd love to compare the rankings of these 3 Budweiser.



*ducks*

[StoneCole]

I thanked 201-300 because it contains the following:

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier

...probably the best beer I've ever had.

[EN FUEGO]

I live directly above the best bar in SF, La Trappe. My landlord also owns the place. They have 300 belgian style beers, many of which are on that list. I must say the best I've tried so far are the Russian River Temptation and the Rodenbach Grand Cru...then again I'm partial to the belgian sours. If you're ever in SF send me a PM and I'll try to walk downstairs and meet you for a beer.

[V]

I'm happy to see Unibroue get all that love. I've been a fan for a couple years now, I just some beer stores close to me stocked them.

[cmyden]

I'm happy to see Unibroue get all that love. I've been a fan for a couple years now, I just some beer stores close to me stocked them.

It's strange but that Alberta Liquor Guide search engine can't find any results for Unibroue

http://www.alberta-liquor-guide.com/...n?OpenFrameset

[V]

That beer store in Kensington by the Safeway stocks it. Also the Liquor Store in the plaza with the Burger King at Memorial and 52 ST in the SE. Those are the only places I've seen them so far.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by JFK

IMO, beer connoisseurs are some of the most snobby people around. They're almost as bad as those people that only like music if nobody else has ever heard of it.

One of these days, I'm going to do a taste test. I'll line up atleast a dozen different beer, with 3 of the bottles containing the same product (for arguments sake, we'll say Budweiser). Trick is, one will be in a Budweiser bottle, one in some unknown Irish branded bottle, and another in a German bottle (with a little story on the label of how it was brewed in some privately owned brewery, in some small town).

After all were tested, I'd love to compare the rankings of these 3 Budweiser.



*ducks*

Lol. I kind of agree that beer snobs are amusing, but I guarantee that I'd be able to tell the difference between Bud and any Euro beer. Not just because I drink Bud like it's going out of style, but because Euro beer has a completely different taste.
But not all Canadian beers taste the same. I'd pick Moosehead out of a beer line up pretty easily. Mmm. Moosehead.

I think tonight I'll seek out some of Italy's national filth, Nastro Azzuro or Peroni. Love those beers. Kinda funny that no matter where you go, the locals think that their beer is inferior and that the obscure country far away has a spectacular beer that makes them cooler for liking and drinking.

[Table 5]

There's a difference between being a snob and wanting to drink something tasty. I really doubt my tasting abilities are any different from the regular guy, but the difference between good beer and crap is pretty obvious I think.

Crappy beer sure has it's place though. There's a pub down the street that sells $1.50 Bud Light all day, every day. Sure it tastes like dirty water, but I can get toasted on 10 bucks and still have enough money for a slice, so who am i to complain.