That's funny, I've been the same way. I had always liked wheat beers, but this summer I found myself drinking more of them (in proportion to other beers).

Leinenkugel is a solid brew.

Are you into Hefeweizen? I had a GREAT organic Hefeweizen by Mueller-Pinkus, a German brewery. It was very crisp and clean, a little different than the hefe's I've tried before, but it was great nonetheless. Plus organic beer supposedly doesn't give you a hangover. Wouldn't know about that, didn't have enough to test that theory.

I love a good Hefeweizen once in a while; there isn't much that I don't like in the beer category (other than Bud or Bud Light, which I'll only drink if it's the only option). I'll have to keep an eye out for the Mueller-Pinkus, although I don't think they sell it anywhere around here.

Long Trail (a Vermont brewery) and Sam Adams both make a good Hefeweizen.

If you ever get to try Wild Blue, that is an excellent blueberry beer.
Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale is an interesting treat. I think it may have to make a Thanksgiving appearance.

I wish I appreciated beer, but I really just don't like it. I'll sometimes have a few sips of someone else's after I've already been drinking. I actually had an entire (crappy) beer a few weeks ago! Lol...

You are kicked out of this thread.

I totally deserved that.

I went to happy hour at the Dogfish Head out in the suburbs last night (I went to the original in Rehoboth, DE over the summer which was cool) and finally tried the Punkin' Ale. I have to say I wasn't terribly impressed. I prefer my autumn ales to be spicier and my favorite of the moment is Saranac's Pumpkin Ale.

http://www.gotbeer.com/content/user_1/50173.jpg

Although the season is still young and rather than enjoying some of the seasonals I've just been drinking a bunch of Miller Lite whilst watching football. Time to step up my beer game!

I'm surprised the Dogfish Head wasn't that good - everything they make seems to taste great. I should try the Saranac, though, as I'm a fan of their other varieties. I got really into it in college, because it was a fairly inexpensive "good" beer, but I haven't had as much of it since then.

I've heard that Post Road Pumpkin Ale is very good as well. They sell it at one of the local package stores, so I'll probably pick up a six of it sometime soon. I'll post my impressions after trying it.

This is the beer I've recently taken a liking to as well. I always told my friends it tasted like a blueberry muffin, but they never believed me until I made them try it. :o

I also really like Shock Top and Blue Moon...

I haven't tried Shock Top yet - I've generally tried to stay away from Anheuser-Busch products. I'm not sure if I'm missing out on something really good, but so far I've stayed firm.

I used to drink a lot of Blue Moon in college, but I've gotten away from that more recently. I've just found that there are a bunch of really good Belgian ales out there, better ones for the same price as Blue Moon. But, if I'm out somewhere, and it's the best stuff on tap, I'd probably still drink it.

Just had an awesome Beer Vs Wine dinner party on Friday. Got the idea from an awesome book titled He said Beer, She Said Wine: Impassioned Food Pairings to Debate and Enjoy. The founder of DogFish Head is one of the co-authors...

Anyways, the dinner was a huge success, everyone had a great time and even the people who aren't beer fans were impressed.

Our beer menu included:

Ommegang Witte (paired with spinach dip)
Weihenstaphan Hefe weissebeer (paired with goat cheese truffles)
Boon Geuze (paired with a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad)
Duvel (paired with a grilled fish with greens dish)
Yeti Imperial Stout (paired with a caramel pecan chocolate upside down cake)

The Yeti and the Boon Geuze garnered universal praise. Even for the seasoned beer pros like myself, the Geuze was a slight shock to the system - absolutely fantastic but unique too. The Yeti from Great Divide Brewing Co in Denver was the best Imperial Stout I've ever had (I'm going to get a couple of my fellow beer aficionados to try the oak-aged version sometime in the near future). We didn't do any formal voting on who "won" each round, but I'm sure that these two were near unanimous choices. The Weihenstaphan was delicious, but was up against an equally excellent wine. The Duvel was good, but the Graves Blanc that was paired with the fish was amazing - I'm not a wine guy but it's my favorite wine ever.

It was a GREAT evening, and I'd highly, highly, highly recommend picking up the book - even if you don't end up throwing a dinner party with it - it's very educational, and it will help your enjoyment of both beer and wine.

Shiner is hands down the best beer made.

Now that sounds like a great dinner; you had a few of my favorite beers (Ommegang, Duvel, Weihenstaphen), and the idea seems like an interesting one. I'll have to be on the look out for that book.

So, I know I'm double-posting, but it's been a couple of weeks...

My wife went into Boston yesterday to meet up with some friends, and I had to stay home to get work done. So, as a little present, she stopped at Wine Gallery in Brookline (the best beer selection I've ever seen) and picked up the following for me:

Rogue Chocolate
Rogue Brutal Bitter
Ommegang Three Philosophers
Old Rasputin Stout
Sierra Nevada Harvest

Old Rasputin and Rogue Chocolate are probably my two favorite beers on earth, and I've talked about them quite a bit here. I'm also a big fan of Three Philosophers. But, I've never tried the Sierra Nevada Harvest before; it's supposed to be outstanding, one of the best beers out there. The guys at Beer Advocate gave it an A+, and I tend to agree with their reviews.

Also - I may get to go to the Ommegang brewery in Cooperstown in January. That would be awesome.

So - anyone have any winter beer suggestions? I'm always a big fan of the Sam Adams and Harpoon offerings, and I tend to buy more Porter Ales and the like during the winter months.