I'm hoping to seek out some obscure and new beer brands for our coming Christmas family get together since the usual ones we always have every year are getting a bit tiring for me. I'm asking early so that I'll have sufficient time next month to seek out any good recommendations. Also, I'd love to hear of some other alternative types of beer that I might not know of since I'm not that much of a beer nut. I know there are darker ones, ale, etc. but I honestly am not educated enough to know the differences. Any obscure beer brands or types that you guys would recommend? Perhaps some independently brewed ones?
I think you should order a couple of bottles of bitter called Black Sheep Bitter. They also do Black Sheep Ale and Golden Sheep. It is incredibly difficult to get hold of in shops here in London and even rarer to see on tap in pubs, but the bitter is my favourite tipple ever.
I like a Thai beer called Singha. I also think the Japanese beers like Sapporo and Kirin Ichiban are pretty good. I don't know of any really weird and obscure microbrews because beer isn't my favorite alcohol.
Lots of craft breweries release sample packages of their seasonal offerings. You could get a pack with 6 different beers in it. For smaller breweries, I like Stone (CA), Bell's (MI), Victory (NY?), Lagunitas (CA). What is available to you depends on what part of the country you are in. If you have a store near you like Total Wine, they sell hundreds of bottles individually so you could just go ask someone or pick some out that look good to try.
