Since then I've come to appreciate other flavorful beers, and I've found I have a particular liking for Stouts. Especially Oatmeal Stouts and Sweet Stouts. Yes, I do have a sweet tooth, why do you ask?
Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout has been my staple favorite beer for a long time now, even though I've never found it on tap. Sometimes a draft beer will taste better to me. In particular, I had a Young's Oatmeal Stout, draft, and even served at the right temperature (miracle!). This was the best beer I've ever had.
Recently at the Sunset Grill in Boston, I had the occasion to taste four stouts side-by-side. Dogfish Head Chicory Stout was a disapointment - I generally like Dogfish, and if anything they tend to overdo things a bit, but this stout was actually thin and bland as stouts go. Perhaps I would have liked it more by itself, but probably not -- it's the one I tasted first, and my reaction was "not very stouty". Two Brothers Northwind Imperial Stout at least tasted like a stout, but didn't impress. Middle Ages Black Heart Stout was a good stout, worth getting again. But my favorite of the four was Sebago Lake Trout Stout, which was excellent, with a nice strong flavor.
Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout was recently available in a single 12-oz bottle for ten dollars (yes, $10). Described on the bottle as a beer with ridiculous amounts of barley, you should know that it also has ridiculous amounts of alcohol (18% by volume, so it's like three beers in one). This was worth buying to experience it, but it was frankly not that drinkable. Too strong, syrupy, or perhaps mediciny. Now I know what too much barley does, so it was worth it for that.
Other beers I've liked:
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