Dos Equis Ambar - Corona's More Sophisticated, Ultimately Cooler Older Brother

This week I ask the attention of those of you who are fans of Corona Extra – the beer that gives you the beach, the sand and the crabs.

Anyone who enjoys Corona tends to do so with a lime stuffed into the bottle. The reason isn’t just aesthetic; any self-respecting beer drinker will tell you that Corona without the lime tastes like Chihuahua urine. Just trust me on this. It does.

Why? Corona is sold in those wonderful clear glass bottles, which allows all that sunlight to hit the beer and cause the hops to react adversely – which creates that skunkiness that people associate with a limeless Corona.

A lot of people don’t care about that. As long as the lime is tucked in the bottle, the taste is almost non-existant, making a completely inoffensive and safe beer that you can slam down all night. Plus, the neat logo makes you look cool doing so.

I don’t mean to completely single out Corona. You can insert the name of your favorite beer that you must turn into a fruit salad in order to stomach it.

Stone Smoked Porter - It's Devilicious

EXCEPTIONAL BREW #1

Stone Smoked Porter
Concocted by: Stone Brewing Co.
Awesomeness by Volume (ABV): 5.9% alcohol
Chuggable in: 22 oz bottle
Get it at: Happy’s Market

Let's look at a big, bad, arse-kicking beer: Stone Smoked Porter, by Stone Brewing Company of Escondido, Ca. They’re the company that makes the big bottles with gargoyles on them. You may have seen some of their other concoctions, like Arrogant Bastard or Ruination IPA. They’re fans of complex, unruly, dangerous beer.

Why’d I pick this? I really like beer that holds my taste buds at gunpoint. I love beer that dumbfounds them, forces them to figure out exactly what it is they are tasting; beer that makes my brain come up with interesting ways of describing the experience.

I admit, I’m not exactly a beer snob, and thus don’t know all the technical jargon and whatnot – but I’m sure you’ll get the idea. So let me describe what my brain tends to conjure up when I drink this week’s Exceptional Brew.