beer for the beach

[phillyheel1]

renting a house in nags head. Looking for a good refreshing beer to serve my guests. any sugestions are welcome.

[soupkitten]

no bottles on the beach.

surly furious in the pint-can :)

[MGZ]

I anticipate dissent, but I will go forward anyway. Simply put, beer tastes different fresh out of the surf. Salt water taste in your mouth – slight sting from the sun on your back, you see? No sir, at that moment, I want a painfully cold can – fished from the bottom of a cooler. My choice, Coors Banquet, even Budweiser tastes great at such a moment. Yeah, shoot me!

I have posited the theory that memory jades taste and maybe that’s way I feel this way. (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/623176) Regardless, I have drunk an awful lot of beer on the beach and cannot be dissuaded on this issue. If nothing else, please keep whatever beer you choose in a cooler outside – Trust Me!

[Jim Dorsch]

Would I be correct to assume that you drink another type of beer when not at the beach?

[MGZ]

Absolutely, it’s a time and place thing. Otherwise, I was quite impressed by the Magic Hat Summer Beer this year. Very different, very food friendly. I’ll nominate it for the barbecue later that night.

[phillyheel1]

i agree with you about the cooler. i got a big one for the rental and a smaller one to bring to the beach. why is a can better than a bottle? I really want to know.

[MGZ]

Perhaps it’s the mythical belief that cans got colder and stayed that way longer. Maybe it was the fact that we were usually barefoot and broken glass was more threatening. Ultimately, however, it may have been the way cans stack, permitting you to grab and drink two at a time with one hand. A particularly useful trait at a beach party when the cooler is not close by!

[phillyheel1]

I hear you. past memories are such a part of current enjoyment. i will get at least a sixpack of domestic goodness and try out your idea.

[MGZ]

Ultimately, it's fun to revel in the diversity available to us. There are times when I will answer the question of "What kind of beer do you want?" simply with the word "Cold." It's all good, right? Why not see what the host has to offer?

In the 80s, in college in Reading, PA, I discovered a beer only bar with 200 flavors, quite a lot for that time. What a fun way to gain experience. The micro/craft thing was just beginning to happen. By the time I graduated, there were 4 breweries within a short distance from us; including, Yeungling and Stoudt's (still probably my favorite).

Ahhh, my friends, celebrate the glory of the variety - an Anchor Steam with a table full of Blue Claws, a Chesterfield Ale with a plate of wet ribs, a Brooklyn Summer and a fried clam platter, a pint of Guiness before noon on a rainy weekday . . . .

(Maybe I should start a new thread "The Best Beer Ever - A Matter of Time and Place")

[Josh]

Good gravy, some odd replies here.

There is one simple and obvious reason that cans are better than bottles (apart from frequent laws banning glass at beaches): cans are opaque, which means the beer doesn't get light-struck. Bottled beer exposed to sunlight will get skunked, quickly. Canned beer does not suffer from this problem.

[MGZ]

Well, I may never have Mr. Dorsch’s knowledge of beer, but I damned sure love the stuff!

[Jim Dorsch]

You seem to know your way around, and you can rest assured there are others on this forum who know a heck of a lot more than i do about it!

[chuckl]

agree with Josh, and the worst bottles are the greens, like Heinekin. I'm not a huge fan, but their beer tastes much better from a can. their bottles produce some awful skunky stuff. the other factor is that cans and their liners have improved a great deal. I won't be surprised to see some regional brewers putting more of their beer in cans, like 21st amendment does in SF with their ipa and wheat beer (quite a good summer refresher to boot)

[tofuburrito]

I don't know if you can get it where you are but I was thinking last night that Great White from Lost Coast is an excellent all occasion beer that won't terrify the Corona crowd and probably wouldn't cause too much grumbling from the double IPA crowd.

[Flaco]

In July I was in sweaty Barcelona and almost every bottled beer I had (Voll Damm, Moritz, Estrella etc.) was not really cold enough and kinda skunky... the cans I bought in the markets were generally much fresher tasting. We need more options in cans here... can't live off Dale's alone.

[MGZ]

SlyFox - A Pennsylvania brewery has some tasty offerings in cans.

[ihor26]

If you can get your hands on it, Allagash White is a great summer beer. It's light but very multi-layered and flavorful, and will impress the seasoned beer snob and the uninitiated alike.

[juantanamera]

Simple, well made lager: Sierra Nevada Summerfest, Full Sail Sessions Lager
A bit more flavorful: Full Sail LTD Recipe #3, Victory Prima Pils, Paulaner Pils
Unusual and super refreshing: Dogfish Head Festina Peche
Belgian style saisons are another summer favorite of mine, but I don't know which if any might be available to you there. Just look for the word saison on the label.