7 Beers to Try Before You Die

Whoa, whoa, whoa–you drink Natty Light? Okay, I know, it’s freshman year in the dorms, money is a bit tight, and the beer pong championship tourney is just a few days away, but you have to hold yourself to some higher standards from time to time. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for low-grade, bottom of the barrel American light lagers, with their relative tastelessness and paltry alcohol content.

That time and place, however, is usually reserved for frat parties, keggers, and all day drinking festivities (which are all the same thing anyhow). But, when you’re not slamming brews with the bros on a kamikaze mission for Operation Blackout, trying out some finer, more expensive beer is quite the treat. You like beer, right? Well, it doesn’t get much better than these 7. 

1. Ellie’s Brown Ale, Avery Brewing Company, Colorado

This American style brown ale has a roasted taste, with hints of chocolate and grains. Ellie’s Brown is perfect during Fall season and is a great companion to a nice steak. It’s 5.8% alcohol and finishes very smooth. It’s the type of beer that has a lot of flavor, but can be thrown back with relative ease.

2. Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, Wells & Young’s Ltd., United Kingdom

Although a bit of a heavy beer – heavier than Guinness – Young’s Double Chocolate Stout is a smooth-as-velvet milk stout with heavy chocolate overtones. With a 5.2% alcohol content, it’s essentially Guinness with chocolate, albeit less bitter. It’s the type of beer you have one or two of to wind down from a long day, and those one or two are pretty damn blissful.

3. Bell’s Oberon Ale, Bell’s Brewery, Michigan

Bell’s Brewery is undoubtedly one of the best breweries in America. It’s a slim chance I’ll find a beer of theirs that I don’t like. Their flagship product, Oberon (5.8%), can be found in just about every hipster dive bar across the country. But don’t let the trendiness fool you, this American pale wheat ale is one of the best options for a BBQ companion. Oberon has a very clean start with a bit of citrus, and is very easy to grab a 12 pack of these and not get full.

4. Pranqster, North Coast Brewing Co., California

North Coast is yet another one of the great American breweries in operation today. But, unlike Bell’s, their beer is typically more exotic and thus a bit tougher to love from the get-go. However, once you develop a taste for one of their brews, it’s an achievement of the taste buds.

Pranqster, a strong Belgian pale ale, is a perfect example. Packing a slightly higher alcohol content of 7.6%, Pranqster is a punchy, golden beer with tinges of caramel and molasses. It’s hard to drink a whole lot of these, but if you can get a hold of one, be sure to.

5. Founders Breakfast Stout, Founders Brewing Company, Michigan

Another hefty brew, Founders Breakfast Stout is a black-as-black, 8% imperial stout that smacks the grin right off your face. This is a beer not for the faint of heart, fusing flavors of coffee, chocolate and oats into a thick form. It’s a beautiful, full bodied beer. I’d be hard pressed to have more than two of these in a sitting, but it’s still a wonderful stout.

6. Shiner Bohemian Black Lager, Spoetzl Brewery, Texas

Back when I first got into trying out new beers, I foolishly wrote off lagers since I’d been accustomed to Bud Light, Coors, etc. However, it is more than possible for someone to make a great lager, and the Shiner Bohemian Black Lager was one that brought me to that realization. This beer pours a dark brown with a nice foamy head. You’d never guess it was a lager looking at it. Its got a rich, roast flavor, and finishes about as clean as any light lager so many of us are used to drinking. This is a very easy to find beer, so make sure you pick up a sixer (or more).

7.  Chimay Première (Red), Bières de Chimay (Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont), Belgium

Likely the most exotic beer on this list, Chimay Red is a 7% dubbel style ale I immediately fell in love with. Like its name says, this ale pours reddish and smells fruity like so many other Belgian counterparts. The taste is incredibly complex; it’s all very balanced but there’s a medley of citrus and fruits that work very well with the hops, alcohol, etc. This is the type of beer you impress art curators with. It’s a bit expensive, and maybe not a staple in your weekend beer run, but in moderation this is one of the best beers in the world.