Sam Adams makes a really great Imperial Stout. I really don't go any lighter than porter these days (Rogue, Bells, Founders are my favorite brewers)

not bad, not something i would make a habit of, but still.....

But it's just maple and smoke on the palate, unfortunately.

Besides being a beer geek, I also adore bacon. I'd eat my own HEAD if it tasted like bacon...

had some at a bbq festival last year.

There's also a commercially available chocolate bar with bacon bits in it. Mo's is the company, I think.

floating in some craft beers.

I do love the chocolate or coffee stouts, perhaps best of all!

too strong a chocolate taste..

...read up on German Rauchbier, then try using smoked malt instead of bacon.

I do enjoy a Rauchbier every now and then, but not too often as I do find it a bit wierd.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoked_beer

God, I was knocked clean on my ass.

I think Sam Adams makes a couple of beers that are fine.
Miller, Coors, or Bud, on the other hand, are all awful.

but just because sam adams now makes large qtys of beer does not make them bad. the others you listed are pure caca in my opinion.

makes a lot of beer, but it's still good beer.

Tell me the last time the Bud/Miller/Coors Axis of Evil ever released a doppelbock with cocoa and ancho chiles?

Some times Sammy misses and sometimes they hit it out of the park. But at least they don't try to get the whole country to drink watered-down shit beer that never changes.

For that alone they deserve credit.

but yes, they do try different stuff..

is Mikkeler Texas Ranger. Trouble is that being Mikkeler it's quite expensive.

Pepper is another odd ingredient in beer. A brewery near me does a pepper stout. It's a beer that's brilliant in food but I'm not so sure about it when it's in a pint glass.

They also do a Cherry Choclate Bock that is dessert in a glass.

I came of age in Wisconsin, and I have sampled beers from countless "good" brewers, and I will testify under oath that when I first tasted Samuel Adams "Boston Lager", in NYC, in the apartmet of none other than Larry Storch, I thought to myself, "this is really good beer".

and it opened my eyes to realize that beer did not have to have such a bland taste.

Never drank it with Larry Storch but still....

I lived in WI for 10 years, triied contless craft beers, the only ones that stoood ot for me were Sam Adams which isn't really a craft beer , and Schprecerr Amber which probably is a craft beer.

I love very hoppy IPAs, the kinds of beer that the mass producers won't make because most people like the bland yellow stuff.

That being said, Sam Adams is my go to when I have to go with a big brewer. It's actually quite good.

you should try to get your hands on this:

Furious
A tempest on the tongue, or a moment of pure hop bliss? Brewed with a dazzling blend of American hops and Scottish malt, this crimson-hued ale delivers waves of citrus, pine and caramel-toffee. For those who favor flavor, Furious has the hop-fire your taste buds have been screeching for.

STYLE: American India Pale Ale
MALT: Pale Ale, Golden Promise, Aromatic, Medium Crystal, Roasted Barley
HOPS: Warrior, Ahtanum, Simcoe, Amarillo
YEAST: English Ale

OG: 15º Plato
ABV: 6.5% v/v
COLOR: 27 ºSRM
IBU: 99
AVAILABILITY: Cans and Kegs Year Round

or this:

Wet
4,800 lbs of hops picked fresh in Washington and shipped to Minnesota immediately. We brewed this beer three days later. This is a hop-forward beer, dry with subdued malt flavors.

STYLE: West Coast India Pale Ale
MALT: 2-Row, Crystal Crystal
WET HOPS: Citra, Simcoe
BITTERING HOPS: Columbus
YEAST: English Ale

OG: 17º Plato
ABV: 7.5% v/v
COLOR: 6 ºSRM
IBU: 90
AVAILABILITY: October

http://www.surlybrewing.com/beer/year-round-beers.html

We've got an awesome little beer store in Raleigh, Tasty Beverage Company, and they may carry them.

As does Schlitz.

but when I do drink it, Guinness Stout is the way to go. I went to Ireland just to sit in a pub and drink Guinness on the tap.

This is my new local favorite.

http://www.surlybrewing.com/beer/year-round-beers.html

I love beer in all of its forms, some just more than others.

Drink what you like. If you like Coors Light, then by all means drink it. Why should I care?

I'm always looking for new imports and domestic craft brews, but I still love a big, cold can of Olde English 800.

didn't seem as flavorful or something. maybe my taste buds changed.

yum! also... bigger sometimes is better

Personally I've only tried their Boston Lager, and I wasn't too fussed by it.

I'm waiting for Odell "Pond Hopper" to get released over here as it's being brewed in collaboration with Thornbridge, who are a very reputable brewery local to me. You may even had Jaipur or Kipling from Thornbridge in the States

Although the owner of Thornbridge has had some unwelcome publicity of late http://www.democraticunderground.com/1088411

Yes, I don't think Boston Lager was special, but they have a wide range, including ales, stouts and so on.

In the 90s, I saw a American bar-restaurant divide its beers into 'domestic' - the mass-produced American pap - and 'imported' - actual imports, plus Sam Adams, presumably because it had an actual flavour.

You can get Brooklyn Lager, Goose Island IPA and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in supermarkets nowadays for instance, and lots of other imported beery exotica from the States in many pubs and off-licences near where I live.

Oh, and Odell have also done a collaboration beer (a smoked porter) with Darkstar in the past, which I think is reasonably local to you.