E. Carl Speros wrote:

> I have tried stouts so intense I coudn't drink them. because of
> intensity bitterness. As an Irish Brigade reenactor I'm ashamed to say
> that Guinness is foremost among those.

Well, if you find Guinness "intensely bitter" then you probably don't
like Irish Dry Stouts, so no use even bothering with Murphy's or
Beamish. UNLESS, you're drinking Guinness Extra Stout rather than the
Draught Guinness (in bottles and cans with a "widget"). Most people
here are just going to shake their head if you find the Draught Guinness
"intense" or "bitter". There are several different styles of stouts:
Imperial Stout
Sweet Stout
Irish Dry Stout

Seems like your best bet is a sweet stout- unfortunately, in the US
they're rare. The classic is the UK's Mackeson's but that only
available in the US as a contract brew out of Cincinati. Most US takes
on the style tend to be higher in alcohol and priced similar to the
Chocolate stouts you find too expensive.

If you just want to look like you're drinking something dark, find a UK
Mild. Again, expensive and the versions we get from the UK (Gales and
Sarah Hughes) are on the high alcohol end of the style.

I guess Dos Equis is my favorite,
> but I'd like a darker richer version.

Your favorite what? It's not a stout and is on the light side of "dark
beers" in general.

I've heard of Chocolate Stouts ???
> why? are they sweet malty?

Named after the use "Chocolate Malt" in the brew (sometimes), a malt
that's been roasted to the color of chocolate. Others (Youngs, some US
micros) do use actual chocolate to the brew. They tend to the malty
side (rather than bitter) but, again, you might find them equally
"intense".

> they are to expensive to take a chance on.

Too expensive? C'mon, all the money you guys put out for authentic
costuming and gasoline, you can't buy a 4 pack of Young's? Surely, it
won't go to waste if you don't like it, there must be some Rebels on the
other side of the line that'd trade you a six of Coors Light for it...

I
> do like some porters, but none that I've tried are as good as Dos Equis.

Dude, you don't like dark beers if Dos Equis is better than the porters
you've tried. If you just want to LOOK like you're drinking stout then
add some food coloring or switch to Coca-Cola...

wrote:

> If you just want to LOOK like you're drinking stout then
> add some food coloring

This wise ass remark of mine got me thinking about home brewing in the
early 70's (pre-legally), when their was one book in the US available on
the subject (usually referred to by the author, Beadle, IIFC) but a
handful of British imported paperback manuals, which contained all sorts
of strange additions (which, since many in the US were trying for "real
beer without chemicals and preservatives", seems backwards to us)-
salts, sugars, acids (many of which were supposedly available at my
local "chemist"*). The one additive I thought of after I wrote the
above was "Gravy Browning" to darken stouts <g>.

* So, once I was going to brew a sweet stout which called for lactose.
I went down to my local drug store, looked around on various shelves and
finally just asked a clerk. She asked the druggist, who came out,
suspicious, asking me all sorts of questions, etc. (Now, remember,
brewing was technically still illegal in the US.) Couldn't understand
HIS interest in me until he let on that lactose was used by drug dealers
to cut drugs...ok....
>

(E. Carl Speros) wrote in message >...
> I have tried stouts so intense I coudn't drink them. because of
> intensity bitterness. As an Irish Brigade reenactor I'm ashamed to say
> that Guinness is foremost among those. I guess Dos Equis is my favorite,
> but I'd like a darker richer version. I've heard of Chocolate Stouts ???
> why? are they sweet malty? they are to expensive to take a chance on. I
> do like some porters, but none that I've tried are as good as Dos Equis.
> Can one of the expert tasters help me out? E mail me if possible. A
> fellow beer lover in need.

Guinness is an acquired taste to a lot of American tastebuds Carl
especially if you are drinking Extra Stout. The draught cans and
bottles are a lot milder but can still take some getting used to. You
might try Murphy's and Beamish if you haven't already but they are dry
Irish Stouts as mentioned. You might try Sam Adams' Cream Stout. I
haven't had it since the early 90s but as I recall it was sweeter than
I normally like and the hops were a dead put off. Still you might
like it and it is more affordably priced.

If you are determined to drink stout than my suggestion would be to
make a half and half using Guinness and a dry hard cider like
Woodchuck's Dark and Dry. Otherwise enjoy your Dos Equis and complain
about the sutler watering down his beer.

Walt
>
>
> --

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 11:26:21 -0500 (EST),
(E. Carl Speros) wrote:

>--WebTV-Mail-8026-1760
>Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit

Please turn off the HTML formatting. It doesn't belong on Usenet.

>I have tried stouts so intense I coudn't drink them. because of
>intensity bitterness. As an Irish Brigade reenactor I'm ashamed to say
>that Guinness is foremost among those. I guess Dos Equis is my favorite,
>but I'd like a darker richer version. I've heard of Chocolate Stouts ???
>why? are they sweet malty? they are to expensive to take a chance on. I
>do like some porters, but none that I've tried are as good as Dos Equis.
>Can one of the expert tasters help me out? E mail me if possible. A
>fellow beer lover in need.

Help out, yes. E-mail, no. Post on Usenet, get answer on Usenet.
It is the Tao of Usenet.

In typical WebTV-user fashion, you give no indication of where you
are, or what's available in your area, so I'll just assume you can
get anything you want. If you can get your hands on some Deschutes
Black Butter Porter, do so. If you can sample some Koestritzer
Schwarzbier from Germany, do so. And what is this "too expensive
to take a chance on" thing? Unless you live somewhere like
Pennsylvania, where you have to buy cases of any beer you want to try
(with certain exceptions), you shouldn't have a problem finding a
single can or bottle of the stuff. I'd guess you'd have no problem
with the canned Young's Chocolate Stout; it's mild, a bit sweet, and
the chocolate flavor isn't overwhelming. Whether it is appropriate
for an "Irish Brigade reenactor" to fake it with a British beer is a
matter for you and your conscience.
--
Nobody You Know

(E. Carl Speros) wrote:
> I have tried stouts so intense I coudn't drink them.

You might want to try Old Australian Stout, Sheaf Stout, or
Dragon Stout. They're not Irish really, but maybe more up
your alley. And if you're serious about the sweet part,
definitely try Dragon.
--
//*================================================= ===============++
|| Russ Perry Jr 2175 S Tonne Dr #114 Arlington Hts IL 60005 ||
|| 847-952-9729 [NEW!] VIDEOGAME COLLECTOR! ||
++================================================ ================*//

"E. Carl Speros" > wrote in message
...

> I have tried stouts so intense I coudn't drink them. because of
> intensity bitterness. As an Irish Brigade reenactor I'm ashamed to say
> that Guinness is foremost among those. I guess Dos Equis is my favorite,
> but I'd like a darker richer version. I've heard of Chocolate Stouts ???
> why? are they sweet malty? they are to expensive to take a chance on. I
> do like some porters, but none that I've tried are as good as Dos Equis.
> Can one of the expert tasters help me out? E mail me if possible. A
> fellow beer lover in need.

Didn't we go through this exact same question with you a couple months ago?
(Googling....) Why, yes, we did. You may want to go back and take a look at
the thread again to refresh your memory:

http://tinyurl.com/2qujn

If I remember right, you found Dos Equis through those recommendations. You
might want to go back and try out a few of the others. And you may want to
skip the stouts altogether. There's a lot more to dark beer than stouts, and
if you find Guinness too bitter (I'm guessing it's actually too roasty, as
it's a common reaction to perceive that as bitterness), I'm guessing other
stouts won't go over well. But rich, malty beers like bocks and dunkels
could very well do the trick.

-Steve

Oh, Guess > wrote:
>Whether it is appropriate for an "Irish Brigade reenactor" to fake it
>with a British beer is a matter for you and your conscience.

True, that. A *real* "Irish Brigade reenactor" would brew
his own using historical recipes.
--
Joel Plutchak "Senza la birra tutto diventa orfano."
plutchak@[...] - Italian proverb (slightly revised)

"Joel Plutchak" > wrote in message
...
> Oh, Guess > wrote:
> >Whether it is appropriate for an "Irish Brigade reenactor" to fake it
> >with a British beer is a matter for you and your conscience.
>
> True, that. A *real* "Irish Brigade reenactor" would brew
> his own using historical recipes.

A *REAL* "Irish Brigade reenactor" would drink ether.

--
Lew Bryson

www.LewBryson.com
Author of "New York Breweries" and "Pennsylvania Breweries," 2nd ed., both
available at <www.amazon.com>
The Hotmail address on this post is for newsgroups only: I don't check it,
or respond to it. Spam away.

"Oh, Guess" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 11:26:21 -0500 (EST),
> (E. Carl Speros) wrote:

> to take a chance on" thing? Unless you live somewhere like
> Pennsylvania, where you have to buy cases of any beer you want to try
> (with certain exceptions), you shouldn't have a problem finding a
> single can or bottle of the stuff.


I live in Pennsylvania can buy beer in much smaller quantities all the time.
Just last night I was able to buy a great quantity of the stuff one pint at
a time. :-)

Jon