Guinness...now what?

I've graduated from lame beers to Guinness and have been enjoying it immensely. I also like Samuel Smith's. Where should I go from here?

Smith's has quite a few good brews under their belt so you can take your time exploring what they have to offer. What exactly are you looking for in a beer? None-lame just means you don't drink domestic macros and Mike's Hard Lemonade.

Microbrews. There is an incredible variety there. I'm sure you can find some top-notch regional beers at any larger liquor store.

Guinness is a good beer, though. Available at most all bars. I enjoy Newcastle quite a bit, too.

One step up from that are the artisan crafted beers - many fantastic US-made varieties as well as European makers. They have all the complexity of a fine wine, and often cost just as much per serving.

Skalogre among others on this forum are knowledgeable.

Check out the recent 'Belgian Beer' thread.

You embarrass me, VMan

What sort of things do you like? Stouts/porters? The best porters IMHO I have come across are also luckily quite inexpensive; look for Ukrainian (or generally from the Baltic area), some Russian ones are also good. They tend to have nice strong coffee, chicory, chocolatey liquorice notes; Utenos and Baltika come to mind.
St Peters stout (English) is very nice.
Coopers (Australian) makes some seriously good stouts.

Thanks. I've seen the dizzying array of micro brews and that's why I was asking what to check out. There's a shitload of options. Also I've only tried two or three of the Samuel Smith's offerings so I guess I should continue to explore. All of the varieties I've tried were very good.

As far as what I'm looking for...mostly dark beers. Or beers without a thin, bitter aftertaste. I hate that. Guinness is almost equivalent to eating food. I like that.

Thanks for the Belgian Beer thread tip. I'm usually a little better about running searches

I also enjoy Newcastle. Readily available and good.

Easily available:

Guinness -> Beamish, Murphy's, Boddingtons (avoid Tetley's)

Originally Posted by skalogre

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You embarrass me, VMan

What sort of things do you like? Stouts/porters? The best porters IMHO I have come across are also luckily quite inexpensive; look for Ukrainian (or generally from the Baltic area), some Russian ones are also good. They tend to have nice strong coffee, chicory, chocolatey liquorice notes; Utenos and Baltika come to mind.
St Peters stout (English) is very nice.
Coopers (Australian) makes some seriously good stouts.

Thanks skalgore. I'll check those out. I'm new to good beers so I'm not exactly sure what I'm after except for "dark". I do know that stouts fit in that category so I'll try some of your recommendations. Though I have to admit I don't know the difference between porters and stouts (I've been drinking good vodkas for most of my drinking life which is why I don't know dick about beers).

Originally Posted by Chris Rimby

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Thanks. I've seen the dizzying array of micro brews and that's why I was asking what to check out. There's a shitload of options. Also I've only tried two or three of the Samuel Smith's offerings so I guess I should continue to explore. All of the varieties I've tried were very good. As far as what I'm looking for...mostly dark beers. Or beers without a thin, bitter aftertaste. I hate that. Guinness is almost equivalent to eating food. I like that. Thanks for the Belgian Beer thread tip. I'm usually a little better about running searches

I also enjoy Newcastle. Readily available and good.

Newcastle is usually my fallback beer in bars and clubs... while I don't usually buy it, it certainly is much MUCH preferable to many things available around such places IMO... Btw, how the hell could I forget Samuel Smith... Taddy Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Extra IPA are all rather good. OTOH I was disappointed by their more traditional bottom fermented (or was it bottle conditioned? I don't remember) limited edition ale... Edit: re porter versus stout, they describe it better than I do Porter Stout Beeradvocate is typically useful for reference although (IMHO of course) there is a strange groupthink among some bias towards microbrews and New Belgium Brewery in particular (yes I know they are not a microbrewery ). But that is a different rant...

Originally Posted by Chris Rimby

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Thanks. I've seen the dizzying array of micro brews and that's why I was asking what to check out. There's a shitload of options. Also I've only tried two or three of the Samuel Smith's offerings so I guess I should continue to explore. All of the varieties I've tried were very good. As far as what I'm looking for...mostly dark beers. Or beers without a thin, bitter aftertaste. I hate that. Guinness is almost equivalent to eating food. I like that. Thanks for the Belgian Beer thread tip. I'm usually a little better about running searches

I also enjoy Newcastle. Readily available and good.

You and I have similar taste in beer. I can't stand drinking any sort of large-scale domestic anymore. I want something with a full body, and a nice long finish. The darker the better, though some amber beers are very good. http://lakefrontbrewery.com/ I am not sure what distribution is like for the above brewery, but they are a local microbrew (Milwaukee) and have a wide selection of beers you'd appreciate. I have taken the brewery tour several times, and it's always a blast. The Riverwest Stein and Eastside Dark are both fantastic. They also have some great seasonal beers, including a White that is much better than the go-to Blue Moon. You can read all about their beers on the site - and they also talk a bit about what ingredients bring out certain different flavors in various types of beer, to get an idea of what you'd like. They make a Holiday Spice beer that is 11%. A friend used to always get a quarter barrel of that for her Christmas party. I also really enjoy Bell's, which has a wider distribution and is based out of Michigan I believe. Their Two-Hearted Ale is really really good. A little more than what you'd pay for a standard 6-pack - about $9 for 6. They also make a great summer beer by the name of Oberon ale.

Originally Posted by Chris Rimby

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I've graduated from lame beers to Guinness and have been enjoying it immensely. I also like Samuel Smith's. Where should I go from here?

Have you ever tried a black&tan made with Guinness? It has become a fav of mine.

Originally Posted by j

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Easily available:

Guinness -> Beamish, Murphy's, Boddingtons (avoid Tetley's)

All three of those are great. I love the 16 oz tall cans with the special widget inside. Fantastic creamy texture to all three.

Originally Posted by VMan

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You and I have similar taste in beer. I can't stand drinking any sort of large-scale domestic anymore. I want something with a full body, and a nice long finish. The darker the better, though some amber beers are very good.

http://lakefrontbrewery.com/

I am not sure what distribution is like for the above brewery, but they are a local microbrew (Milwaukee) and have a wide selection of beers you'd appreciate. I have taken the brewery tour several times, and it's always a blast. The Riverwest Stein and Eastside Dark are both fantastic. They also have some great seasonal beers, including a White that is much better than the go-to Blue Moon.

I also really enjoy Bell's, which has a wider distribution and is based out of Michigan I believe. Their Two-Hearted Ale is really really good. A little more than what you'd pay for a standard 6-pack - about $9 for 6. They also make a great summer beer by the name of Oberon ale.

Hell yea thanks VMan. I haven't tried either of those...I'll make sure to. When you say long finish that definitely describes what I like.

I'm such a nut about stuff I'm not above flying out to Milwaukee just to take a brewery tour (kind of like I'm planning on flying to London to visit shoe shops).

Originally Posted by LSeca

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Have you ever tried a black&tan made with Guinness? It has become a fav of mine.

You know I spent five years as a bartender and always drank liquor but made a ton of black/tans. Never drank one though. Pretty silly. I'll definitely try one now though. Thanks for the reminder.

Originally Posted by VMan

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All three of those are great. I love the 16 oz tall cans with the special widget inside. Fantastic creamy texture to all three.
I found a place that serves a shot of Black Bush (or other Irish whiskeys) with a 20oz. pint of Boddingtons (or other beers) for $9 nearby. While I've been told that's a lot, for around here, it's a great deal. And a good meal, as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by j

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I found a place that serves a shot of Black Bush (or other Irish whiskeys) with a 20oz. pint of Boddingtons (or other beers) for $9 nearby. While I've been told that's a lot, for around here, it's a great deal. And a good meal, as far as I'm concerned.

Thats not a bad deal, considering a crappy Miller Lite is $4 in most bars, and you're getting a shot of good whiskey in addition to that.

You're probably feeling pretty good after one of those.