The only beer more "poundable" than PBR is Guinness.

I prefer Old Milwaukee to PBR. I did an A/B comparison a couple of years ago at the river using three cases of each and a spongy beer cozy. Old Milwaukee all the way.

You guys are killing me. Stop it. I mean it.

Okay, I was in Florida on business recently. It is a beer wasteland. Talk about a complete lack of beer culture. There was virtually no market penetration for ANY kind of draft beer in typical restaurants. Bottles of Heineken is about the best you can do. Pitiful. I like my beer living, please.

I came home and finished off some Sierra Bigfoot to compensate. Totally luscious. Didn't somebody say it was too hoppy? I'd disagree; it needs that many IBU's to balance out the huge malt/alcohol profile.

I had a Rogue Shakespeare Stout and a Fish Mudshark Porter last night. Huge, remarkable, wonderfully rich beers from the Northwest.

Thanks for the bump. I really enjoy hearing the stories about what everyone is drinking. Except that bullsh*t about PBR.

hey in defence of the cheap beer, it gets me pants-sh*#ing drunk just as well as a case of fancy lager. And in the end, isn't that all that really matters?

Sid, sid, sid. You know I can't let that slide

"cheap" beer is inexpensive (and tastes bad) because it uses less malt, hence fewer fermentables, hence less alcohol. It simply costs more to make strong beer because doing so requires more ingredients.

Most budget domestic lagers (Budmilloors, PBR, etc.) are 3.2% alcohol by volume (ABV) because that is the maximum strength allowed to be sold in grocery stores is many states. The vast majority of craft beers whether lagers or ales, exceed that amount, some by 300% (like Sierra Bigfoot and other barley wine style ale).

So, yeah, you CAN get just as blasted on cheap beer, but you have to drink many more of them, ingesting more fermented adjuncts (like rice, which gives me a screaming headache), and dispensing more, um, by products.

So, for me, even if I'm just trying to get loaded, I'd rather drink three good beers than nine bad ones. It's more enjoyable and more efficient.

Tom
you're quite right. We're lucky here in Canada where really the weakest beer available is 4%. Most is around 5%. I'm actually blessed with a resistance to hang-overs so the extra beer consumption never hurt me.

Unfortunately, what I find in Manitoba (and especially rural MB) it is really difficult to find any kind of specialty/microbrew beers, and when you do, they're usually very expensive. Very few rural bars have anything on tap (Coors or Bud best case). When I'm in the big city (Winnipeg) though, I won't touch anything but 'live' beer. Harps is my fav!

No, if you want to get drunk, buy a bottle of 151. Enjoy your stay in the hospital!

Besides, drinking isn't all about getting drunk. Taste does enter into this...

good choice Ken. You could always try the Everclear too if you want to forget your worries (or who you are, or where you live, or control over your mind and body) for an evening.

Another great option that I like to partake in is home brew from a local Hutterite Colony. They can make just about anything into wine - dandelions, rhubarb, rasberries, chokecherries, and the list goes on. They often mix it up using old 5 gallon plastic oil containers (probably cleaned out first, but likely not well) and bottle it in old liquor bottles. The alcohol content varies wildly, but one thing is for sure - it'll knock you on your A!

My thoughts exactly, Tom. Thanks for reminding me about barleywine again. My last was an Old Crustacean -- and I had no idea it was as potent as wine. I'd like to try some others to compare and contrast.

Hi Peter - Don't they still have a barleywine festival at some brewpub in SF? The Toranado maybe? You should check it out.

I once had the great good fortune of judging barleywines at a very prestigious homebrew competition in Seattle - at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. My co-conspirator was renowned beer writer Larry Bausch. We did a great job, and I loved the beers (most amateurs willing to invest the time in a barleywine know what they are doing), but my palate and my equilibrium were both pretty much shot well before lunch time.

The Rogue you mentioned is fabulous. I really like the West Coast style, which is massively hoppier than traditional British counterparts.