Let's talk about "health-conscious" beer

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

your the first person I know of that admits to drinking Okanagan springs

Seriously though Myka, be carful when looking at the micro breweries, most are not following the law of 1516 (which only Germany has to follow) as the latest trend is putting different stuff in beer, and than god because plain old pilsner is so darn, well just plain.
Steve

No problem admitting to drinking a well crafted product from my local brewery. I find it tasty, to each his own I guess. I like being unique, but you may need to expand your horizons a bit if you've not come across anyone else but me who admits to drinking Okanagan Spring beer. The fact they added capacity recently, seems to indicate I'm not the only one enjoying it. I don't see the folks in the beer store buying OK Springs hiding their faces & rushing home to stash away the brew, lest someone recognize them. It doesn't make your list, but apparently it has some merit to folks who may know a bit about beer.

http://okspring.com/news/okanagan-sp...-second-place/

As far as the 1516 law goes, even German brewers are no longer bound by it. Read the full wiki article I linked to in an earlier post. It has been replaced by the Vorläufiges Biergesetz (Provisional Beer Law) of 1993 and although many brewers still claim to go by the 1516 law, it's mostly a marketing tool & you still need to read the label or do your research on any beer regardless of where it originates to verify the ingredients.

[Rory]

+1 on the innis & gunn! That's the kind of stuff dreams are made of!

[sphelps]

Got to side with Mike there, that 1516 law is weee a bit outdated, pretty sure it was put in place to prevent substitutions for grains and hops which I imagine at the time in Germany were quite rare and expensive. Poison Ivy among other items were often substituted for hops for bitterness and an extra "kick", this was also of course toxic hence the the law. Now a days I'd like to think we have better standards in place plus being in the prairies no shortage of proper grains or hops. I will also point out that all the beers Steve recommended wouldn't meet the 1516 law since they all have fruit in them, which I find strange. What's up with the fruity beers Steve?

I do agree that the worst thing in beer is definitely the alcohol, which would essentially trump any of the "undesired" ingredients. Ultimately if you want healthy beer then you probably shouldn't drink beer or stick with non-alcoholic but where's the fun in that.

Lastly in regards to Okanagan Springs, it's comparable to Big Rock IMO which is no prize these days either. Both make decent beer but certainly not micro brew quality. Around here I find the best beer comes from Village and Last Best, both have awesome beer especially if you like IPAs.

So Steve, next time you're in town picking up purple gas, grab some village and last best.

[Myka]

Monsanto...ugh!!

Mike I don't like really hoppy beer. On the topic of darker beers, I don't know ofbit really counts, but I do also like Rickard's Red. I'm known to buy a case of Alexander Keith too. Maybe I just need to buy some tester cases or something.

[mike31154]

Rickard's Red is tasty. Another originally smaller craft brewery bought up by larger corporation, Molson. When I lived in Ontario, I used to enjoy Rickard's out of the tap at the local pub when it was still an independent brew. "The first-ever Rickard’s, this full-flavoured, Irish-style ale .....", described further as an amber. Most pale ales will be similar, although not quite as 'red'. So sample more pale & amber ales..... or keep enjoying the Rickards, according to their web site, the ingredients seem natural.

I mentioned backhand of god earlier. Very dark stout, but upon searching, they have a web site & looks like additional selection. Not sure they ship out of province, it's difficult enough to find pubs that serve it locally. About as organic as it gets.

http://www.crannogales.com/

[Myka]

Originally Posted by mike31154

Rickard's Red is tasty. Another originally smaller craft brewery bought up by larger corporation, Molson. When I lived in Ontario, I used to enjoy Rickard's out of the tap at the local pub when it was still an independent brew. "The first-ever Rickard’s, this full-flavoured, Irish-style ale .....", described further as an amber. Most pale ales will be similar, although not quite as 'red'. So sample more pale & amber ales..... or keep enjoying the Rickards, according to their web site, the ingredients seem natural.

Yeah, it's hard to say because Molson has openly said they used mixed corn (GMO and non-GMO) in their beers. I should take a closer look though.

[mike31154]

Just in case you missed it, I just edited my previous post with some more info & a link.

http://www.crannogales.com/

[Werbo]

+2 for Mill St if your into organic and all

[sphelps]

Judging by the beers you like it seems to me you've just become accustomed to crappy beer which will pass in time . The best beer you'll find will probably be from your closest micro-brewer, good beer rarely gets exported. So besides the real big names the German beer you get here will actually be pretty crappy over there. What I would suggest is to stay away from ales, those probably contain the flavors you aren't overly impressed with, to lager drinkers these are referred too as off flavors and undesirable. A good lager will be clean and crisp without such flavors favorable in ales, so try some micro lagers but be picky and avoid things like dark or black lagers. Also note many micros won't even brew lager due to the extra complexity involved in the fermentation.

That said be weary of internet articles targeting beers as being unhealthy. There are many that are completely made up which virtually no truth what so ever(the top 8 list comes to mind). Check the author, if it's some generic username you know its BS as a real journalist would put their real name on it.

[Myka]

Well, I decided to take the advice of you guys suggesting the microbrewers. I found 3 local microbrewers, and two of them have a lager. So I will go try them out. If I don't find anything there, I will see what I can find for organic beers - just gotta find a decent beer store around here...