When I want to treat myself to my all-time favorites, I get Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale or Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. Their Imperial Stout is superb too. Their whole line is excellent - something about their house yeast strain I guess - but those are my three champions. If you lean towards the rich and malty side of the house, these are for you. The head on these things is thick and textured and enduring like a glob of oatmeal. Hopheads need not apply.
Lately I can't drink enough Magic Hat #9. It's delicious. And that's just in bottles. On tap it's sublime. So good and fresh. It's a "not quite pale ale" meaning that it's got just enough hops to notice and to give it a subtle perk, but just below the low end of the pale ale bitterness scale so it's not distracting. Something wonderful is going on in there beside the beer taste too. Some say it's apricot. I'm not sure. It's fragrant and wonderful though. Everything I've had by Magic Hat so far has been great. Like the Samuel Smith's line, there's an underlying flavor profile that unifies the line.
I'm on Team Yuengling as well. It's not that it's some amazing beer that is distinctive for some particular reason, it's just that it is priced almost like one of the big 3 but is so much better. Whatever it is that Bud/Miller/Etc. did years ago to crapify their beer down to its current sorry state, Yuengling never got on that train. They just kept making beer the normal way. It's just a quality, basic, workaday, blue-collar, old-style standby American beer. It's the cheapest decent beer in the store by a good bit. When you want to have some beer on hand just in case but not think too much about it, you pick this up. West Coasters, don't feel like you're really missing something. This isn't something you need to come visit just to try or have it shipped to you. If you're in a lame bar and all they have is Bud, Miller, and the usual garbage, and then you see this tap on the end of the row, consider yourself saved. You'll get a pitcher and enjoy it but it won't be a conversation piece like some fancy microbrew would be. It's great too because it's not something you get sick of for having too specific a flavor profile. Like I may go on a stout kick for a while for example but then I'll want to change. Then it's hefeweizen or malty ale or something for a while, but I never want to stick on those for good. Yuengling on the other hand is always fine if that's what they've got. There really isn't a non-Yuengling mood.
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