the drinker's dive

a discussion about beers, wines, cocktails and other spirits

from GalCiv2 Forums
I know some of the conversationalists out there are drinkers, and some even have good taste in alcohol. I thought it'd be fun to have a thread for recommendations and discussion of beers, wines, cocktails, bars, and all that fun stuff.

Know any ways to spruce up boring beers? Want to mention your favorite microbrew? Looking for advice on how to pair wine with a meal? Bored of your standby cocktails? This is the place for you.
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84,333 views 81 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
i'll get it started.

my favorite microbrew is Great White ale by Lost Coast Brewing Co., Eureka CA.

my local bar has $3 pitchers of U.S. domestic draughts (bud, coors, miller or pabst) on Sunday and Monday nights. I usually order Coors light and add a few wedges of lime and a couple squirts of tobasco or tapatio sauce. it's a vast improvement, IMHO.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Beer: Guiness, Kilkinney, Kokanee, and Coors light and Canadian
Canadian Whiskey: the best is Crown Royal by far. with a little lemon.

And yea it is summer, so I will be not really sober until fall or a work occasionaly  
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
i love a guiness when i can't decide what to have for lunch   but i was raised on Corona and Pacifico.

also for microbrews, anything by Balast Point (they're based right here in San Diego), though my favorites are the Yellowtale pale and Calico red ales.

a colleauge of mine told me that Pilsner Urquell is the traditional czech recipie for the beer that eventually turned into Bud in the U.S.

for whiskey i gotta go with Bushmill's, at least for shots. i like crown for mixing, esp. crown & ginger ale (canada dry or any jamaican-style ginger ale).
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Strongbow is an interesting beer. Sort of a light sweet ale thing going with it. Crown Royal is good for whiskey but if you ever find yourself wanting something from Kentucky, Bullett Bourbon is cheaper and very similar to crown and Eagle Rare is a whole other class of whiskey, very smoky and not cheap at all, Knob Creek is good too and Woodford Reserve is decent if you like something lighter. For Vodka I like Grey Goose and cranberry juice. Seagrams 7 and 7up or sprite is another mixer I like sometimes. Only gin I have found that I like is Blue Saphire and I have never had a scotch I liked. I really don't drink much anymore but when I do I try to get a bottle of Eagle Rare and stay up all night
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I like my beer imported! My wines local (Lodi CA). I like my scotch to be Glen Livit. My Tequila is either Herradora or Patron. I call my mixed drinks. My Cran takes Grey Goose.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Strongbow is actually cider, not beer. Tasty, though, in moderation.

My favourites are:
-- Double Diamond (UK)
-- Newcastle Brown Ale (UK)
-- Kilkenny Cream Ale (Ireland)
-- Smithwicks (Ireland)
-- Caffrey's (UK)
-- Chimay (Belgium)

Jamaicans drink ginger beer, actually, Dystopic, not ginger ale. Love the stuff (though I dislike ginger ale). It's non-alcoholic, of course, but still very tasty.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I don't drink alcohol anymore (just to let ya know I'm not current), but I do have some fond memories, which i will strain to dig up for y'all.

"Alt" (usually dark) beers in Germany - Schlosser was one I think. Schlosser Alt. A good alt beer and a schnitzel (there must be 50 different kinds) will put some meat on those bones fast!

Then there were the beer mixers (also in Germany[Berlin]) of half sweet medium (I call it blonde, don't remember a name)/half guinness. Smashing! Ah, der Berlinerstrasse, mmmmmm

Crown Royal, 7&7, or any old scotch&water for likker.

As you can see, I never was much of a conniseur. My younger-than-that days were pretty much limited to Ripple (never mad-dog2020, that was just tooo crude) ... or getting a half-gallon of vodka, sharing it with about 5 other guys, then jumping my dirt bike at high speed off the 30 foot embankments on the curves of the mountain road by the river. Great Fun! never felt a thing. (Hint: always have a buddy with a pickup truck standing by to take your broken leg drunk azz to the doctor and dump yur bike in yur driveway)  
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
i eat a lot of Indian food and there are some damn fine Asian beers. Taj Majal is sort of India's budweiser; Himalaya Blue (?) was really good, but i've only seen it once, and there was a Thai beer a friend used to get but the name completely escapes me at the moment.

my last year in college i took to what my roommate and i called 'the Trader Joe's Six Pack.' we'd go get six bottles of two-buck chuck (charles something-or-other... it's a lot better than you'd expect for a $2 bottle of wine, but it's still a $2 bottle of wine).

also, Atlas Peak makes a superb sangiovese.

Jamaicans drink ginger beer, actually, Dystopic, not ginger ale. Love the stuff (though I dislike ginger ale). It's non-alcoholic, of course, but still very tasty.


now that you mention it, you are absolutely correct.

-- Newcastle Brown Ale (UK)


i swear they watered down New Castle in the U.S. about 5 or 6 years ago... or there abouts. Killean's got poorer here right around the same time.

My wines local (Lodi CA).


Lodi... should i apologize? one of my old roommates is from Lodi.

My Tequila is either Herradora or Patron.


if you ever see it (and haven't tried it), i'd recommend Tarantula Azul.

Seagrams 7 and 7up or sprite is another mixer I like sometimes. Only gin I have found that I like is Blue Saphire


cheers to 7/7s, even if whiskey does make me roudy.

and agreed, the only gin worth drinking is Bombay Sapphire. especially after a big meal, i love a Sapphire martini (extra dry, just a little dirty).

(Hint: always have a buddy with a pickup truck standing by to take your broken leg drunk azz to the doctor and dump yur bike in yur driveway)


ever tried downhill ice plant surfing? hint: use an old board.
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
i
Lodi... should i apologize? one of my old roommates is from Lodi.


I love Lodi nice place to live and if I want culture I can go to either San Francisco or Sacramento.


if you ever see it (and haven't tried it), i'd recommend Tarantula Azul.


I ll get around to it one of these days.... its a bit hard to come by here, without spending a bit more than I want to.


cheers to 7/7s, even if whiskey does make me roudy.


I don t want to, nor do some of my bartenders let me drink Jack Daniels for the same reason.

Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Duff...and Düff...and possibly Redtick Beer....
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Absinthe. Anyone ever hear of this? Don't know if it's legal in the US, but it is in Canada. It's green and very bitter. Pour 1oz. in a glass. Put a sugar cube on a slotted spoon, over the glass. Drizzle 3-5 oz of water over the sugar cube to dissolve it into the Absinthe. A very highly intoxicating drink. Quite different than a normal alcohol buzz. If anyone has ever seen the cancelled HBO show, Carnivale, the character Lodz, is shown perparing and drinking it.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
ever tried downhill ice plant surfing? hint: use an old board.

Nope. Tried to imagine it though. Ice plants must have some kind of waste pile, and it probably gets pretty big. [thinking] Does a new board make an unacceptable dent compared to an older more flimsy one, when it comes into contact with the skull?   
Absinthe. Anyone ever hear of this? Don't know if it's legal in the US, but it is in Canada
If it isn't illegal in the US it will be, unless you pay more for it. Sounds interesting. I wonder if they drink it in South America during Carnival ... [cough-choke][pain-in-chest][stroke]


Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Shit, smoking weed is almost legal in Canada. Women going topless is, I havent seen any worth seeing however.....  (I think only in Ontario)
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Since my personal religion doesn't allow use of drugs or alcohol, and not even medicines unless they are A. homeopathic. or B. justified by a real need to assist my body to heal because nothing else will work; all I can say is - I'm glad to hear someone say Canadians are not frantic about things! I agree!
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Absinthe. Anyone ever hear of this? Don't know if it's legal in the US, but it is in Canada. It's green and very bitter. Pour 1oz. in a glass. Put a sugar cube on a slotted spoon, over the glass. Drizzle 3-5 oz of water over the sugar cube to dissolve it into the Absinthe. A very highly intoxicating drink. Quite different than a normal alcohol buzz. If anyone has ever seen the cancelled HBO show, Carnivale, the character Lodz, is shown perparing and drinking it.


Absinthe is distilled from the ferment of wormwood, which may contain a mildly hallucinogenic mold or something along those lines. that's proportedly why the buzz is so different from other alochols. see: Erowid's Vault and I'm sure there's an article on wikipedia.

Morning Glory wine is similar in that respect. as for Soju (a Korean liquor distilled from the ferment of sweet potatoes), from what i hear it causes a hangover where everything you see has a bluish tint.
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Absinthe. Anyone ever hear of this? Don't know if it's legal in the US, but it is in Canada. It's green and very bitter. Pour 1oz. in a glass. Put a sugar cube on a slotted spoon, over the glass. Drizzle 3-5 oz of water over the sugar cube to dissolve it into the Absinthe. A very highly intoxicating drink. Quite different than a normal alcohol buzz. If anyone has ever seen the cancelled HBO show, Carnivale, the character Lodz, is shown perparing and drinking it.


Absinthe is distilled from the ferment of wormwood, which may contain a mildly hallucinogenic mold or something along those lines. that's proportedly why the buzz is so different from other alochols. see: Erowid's Vault and I'm sure there's an article on wikipedia.

Morning Glory wine is similar in that respect. as for Soju (a Korean liquor distilled from the ferment of sweet potatoes), from what i hear it causes a hangover where everything you see has a bluish tint.


HAHA that almost sounds like toad licking. Anyone in the Western States or Australia have a few to send me? I could charge five bucks a lick. (NO DOUBLE LICKING)  
Reply #17 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Anyone in the Western States or Australia have a few to send me?


i don't have one, and i didn't even think such toads were indigenous to western N. America, but i was wrong. the active chemical is apperently called bufotenine and is much safer to smoke than ingest.

but i'm running a clean bar here, dammit!
Reply #18 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Killean's got poorer here right around the same time.


I agree. I'm a shot & a beer guy. Jack Daniel's works for me, and any beer that tastes like beer. Guiness is a little too strong for me, but I love Black & Tans (1/2 Guiness, 1/2 Harp or Bass Ale). Another personal favorite is Hacker-Pschorr, a great German weiss beer. Great on a summer day with a lemon wedge.

that almost sounds like toad licking.


How about putting the sugar cube on a hallucigenic toad and pouring the water into the absinthe over the sugar & toad? There's a buzz I'd like to try!
Reply #19 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Is that anything like the worm in the bottle of Tequila thing?
Reply #20 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
irish car bombs all around!

Is that anything like the worm in the bottle of Tequila thing?


don't think so. hmm, i wonder what that is all about...

i found this this by googling 'tequila worm':

Dear Cecil:

The other night I was talking with a friend who worked at a bar in Arizona where most of the hicks got shots of tequila. As they got drunker they would ask to have "the worm" (bleagh) along with their shot. My questions are: What kind of worm is that thing? Does drinking/eating the worm make you drunker? And how did the worm end up in the tequila? --Beth L. Grover, via the Internet

Dear Beth:

You probably think this is some ancient Mexican tradition, right? Not unless your idea of ancient is 1950. We even know who invented the practice. Various reasons are given for it, but I say it all boils down to: Let's see if we can get the gringos to eat worms.

First let's get a few things straight. There's no worm in tequila, or at least there isn't supposed to be. Purists (hah!) say the worm belongs only in a related product, mescal. Strictly speaking, mescal is a generic term meaning any distillate of the many species of agave (or maguey) plant, tequila included. Today, however, mescal is popularly understood to mean a product bottled in the region around the city of Oaxaca. For years this stuff was basically home-brewed firewater consumed by the locals, but in 1950, Mexico City entrepreneur Jacobo Lozano Paez hit on the idea of putting a worm in each bottle as a marketing gimmick. Stroke of genius, eh? I don't get it either, but that's what separates us from the visionaries.

The critter in question is the agave worm, which is actually a butterfly larva. The worms bore into the agave plant's pineapplelike heart, and quite a few get cooked up in the brew used to make mescal. Far from being grossed out, Jacobo concluded that the worm was an essential component of the liquor's flavor and color. He may also have figured, Hey, mescal is about as palatable as paint remover, and the only people who are going to drink this stuff are macho lunatics, so why not take it to the max? In fairness, the worms were also said to have aphrodisiac properties, and worms and bugs are sometimes consumed in Mexico as a delicacy. (Supposedly this dates back to the Aztecs.) At any rate, the ploy worked and the worm in the bottle is now a firmly established tradition.

The genuine agave worm is a bright coral color, which fades to pink in the bottle. Some bottlers substitute a species of white worm that lives in the leaves of the agave plant. Connoisseurs complain that the white worm isn't as tasty as the red one, which to me is like complaining that your soup contains the wrong species of fly. To me the whole thing seems pretty silly. I've had a sip or three of mescal in my day, and my feeling is, if you want to get sick, who needs a worm?

--CECIL ADAMS
Reply #21 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
it all boils down to: Let's see if we can get the gringos to eat worms.

Hah hahah hahahhhaaaa   
Reply #22 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I may have eaten some earthworms, which are kinda pink when being a little drunk  
Reply #23 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
irish car bombs all around!


I am suprized I haven t had any of these this week! I usually have one sometimes two during Karaoke and I go two nights a week!
Reply #24 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I liked 4 sister wines, They are a local NJ winery. But since I've moved, I've not tried a new wine.

I do enjoy guiness, epsecially since killian's is getting more watery. I'll admit that Mike's or Smirnoff can be pretty good (I have a huge sweet tooth), but expensive. Same thing with Bailey's, that only gets broken out for special occasions (when someone else is buying) cause I can't afford 20 bucks for a tiny bottle.

ps. I could use some advice as I'm not well versed in alcohol. I am thinking of making homemade "smoothies" (fresh fruit, ice; maybe milk, vanillia, and some spices) and would like to add some to it. A friend suggested "kaluha" but I'm not totally sure what it is (or how it tastes), I was thikning vodka, But I'm not sure if there is a better fitting alcohol.

Any suggestions?
Reply #25 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
ps. I could use some advice as I'm not well versed in alcohol. I am thinking of making homemade "smoothies" (fresh fruit, ice; maybe milk, vanillia, and some spices) and would like to add some to it. A friend suggested "kaluha" but I'm not totally sure what it is (or how it tastes), I was thikning vodka, But I'm not sure if there is a better fitting alcohol.

Any suggestions?


Maybe a Pucker of some sort. Anyway I feel pucker is better deeply chilled.

If you want vodka I suggest Sky's its higher quality than the rot gut and only for like 5 bucks a bottle.

I prefer Baileys to Kaluha but you have stated its out of your price range.