Good beer

Here's a list of some suggestions on good beers many have offered.

A great first beer to try is a Williams favorite: Milwaulkee's Best aka "The Beast". Excellent, full flavor--it's a real beer experience. Yet light enough to play Beirut or Flipcup with. Very well priced for such a great beer. It's especially enjoyable if you burn off your taste buds on any given night.

Belgian Beers

Try one of the Belgian offers that are usually available at Cole avenue and Spring Street:

Hoegaarden Witbier (the King of white beers) 5%alc.

Blanche de Bruges (white beer, which you are obviously supposed to have in a «grail» with a lemon. awesome)

Duvel (golden ale, absolutely amazing, the King of Belgian Beer, period. This is what people in Bruxelles drink) 10%alc.

Grimbergen (pretty darn sweet! abbey/trappist ale)

Lindeman's Lambic ale (flavored with cherries, peaches, etc...it's a highly unique beverage)

Commentary on the above: Hoegaarden > Blanche de Bruges. Duvel and Grimbergen are tasty. Lindeman's tastes very different from normal beers, but there is no essential difference in the method of brewing. For a nice selection of Belgians, try the Beverage Den on Rt. 7 in Bennington. They've got Orval, Chimay, Rochefort, Witkap Pater, Cantillon Gueuze, Saison Dupont, de Ranke xx Bitter, and some other stuff. However, they do not have Brugse Straffe Hendrik, which is unfortunate. For cheaper belgian style beers, Allagash, Unibroue, and Ommegang are all awesome.

Other Imported Beers

If you hate the Belgians (and, after all, who doesn't?), here are some other great imported brews:

Samuel Smith - Oatmeal Stout, Imperial Stout, Taddy Porter, Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale, and Winter Welcome Ale. (UK)

Unibroue - Le Fin du Monde, Trois Pistoles, U2, Ephemere, Terrible and others (Canada)

Celebrator Doppelbock (Germany)

Spaten - Optimator Doppelbock, Oktoberfest, Pils, and Premium Lager (Germany)

Newcastle Ale (UK) - One of my favorite brown ales. For those who like a slightly sweet beer with a just-bitter-enough aftertaste. Yum.

Guinness Brewers (Dublin): Guinness (Irish stout), Harp (Lager), Smithwicks (ale) are all excellent. If you like a black and tan, Gunness and Harp is where it all started.

Domestic Beers

Craftbrewed/Microbrewed Beers

Stone Imperial Stout

Otter Creek is absolutely fantastic. I especially recommend the Vermont Lager or Pale Ale, but all varieties are very tasty.

BBC brews up some mean beers. Almost anything by them is great, except for the Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale (whoever wrote that the Steel Rail is bad is a moron!). Support local beer! The BBC Imperial Stout is easily one of the best Imperial stouts you can get anywhere.

Tröegs Brewing Co. from PA brews a wonderful American Pale Ale.

The Long Trail Ale Brewing Co. (near Killington, VT) brews some great beers, the Double Bag (dusseldorf altbier 6.7%) is excellent.

Macrobrewed Beers

Sam Adams Boston Lager is one of the best domestic macrobrews out there.

Rolling Rock - Perhaps not deserving of the "good beer" title, but it's one of the most drinkable cheaper beers out there. A 30-pack will set you back about 20 bucks, and it isn't half terrible. (also light enough for Beirut or similar games)

Yuengling is a good macrobrew, though hard to find in the Northeast.

Sierra Nevada is an excellent beer which has gotten big enough to count as a macro. Try the Pale Ale, you won't regret it.