The Craft Beer Thread....

jimed14

This thread seems to come up about once a month ... might want to do a search to see more opinions ...

Anyway, I'll post my #1 of the bay area ... I'm a big amber beer fan, so, this is always in my fridge ...



when I'm back home in Boston, this is the the one i'll go for (note, this one is seasonal ... sping)

pretext

I was thinking about some good Michigan beers. Motor City's Ghettoblaster. Bell's (out of Kalamazoo, I think) Oberon. You can get Bell's on the east coast, but I haven't seen a Ghettoblaster since I left Detroit.

Lukin2Not4You

Here are some brewerys that do special things

Russian River
Founders
Troegs
Victory
Unibroue
Avery
Bells
Lost Abbey/Port
Jolly Pumpkin
Three Floyds
Dogfish Head
Deschutes
Bear Republic
Stone

there may be a few bad beers sprinkled in like the 09 aprihop but those are few and far between, chances are your favorite beer is somewhere up there even if you dont know it.

Brain of mJ

intodeep wrote:

The great thing about craft beer is it is so regional. The worst thing about craft beer is it is so regional.....

I have a buddy out west and we ship some beers to each other. Which is illegal i think, but so is speeding.

He has turned me onto Russian River beers. The Blind Pig and Elney are two of my favs. I have a Damnation in my fridge that i'm saving for this weekend. It is gonna be awesome! I wish i coudl get those beers here is the south.

I like some of what Terrapin is doing out of Athens GA they have some neat stuff.

For my national craft beer Dogfishhead and Flying dog are probably my favs. Both of their IPA's are very nice.

Asheville NC and the surrounding NC area has some very good stuff going on. I love going there and trying all the new beers.

Oh and Ommegang usually has very quality beers. I like their 3 Philosophers A LOT, but i've enjoyed all of theirs i have tried ( Hennepin, Abbey Ale, Chocolate Indulgance & Ommegeddon) Although Ommegeddon is just not my style of beer

You're right on about regionality. And Terrapin is great, I love the side project series; Dos Cocoas, and Gamma Ray rocked. Have you seen the new craft beer store in West Midtown, Hop City? It opened up last week and is suposed to be pretty good.

_Crazy_Mary_

I had never been to beeradvocate.com before seeing it in this thread. I love that website! It has every beer imaginable!

pretext

Just bought a six-pack of Left Hand Sawtooth Ale. Hoping for good things!

intodeep

Brain of mJ wrote:

intodeep wrote:

The great thing about craft beer is it is so regional. The worst thing about craft beer is it is so regional.....

I have a buddy out west and we ship some beers to each other. Which is illegal i think, but so is speeding.

He has turned me onto Russian River beers. The Blind Pig and Elney are two of my favs. I have a Damnation in my fridge that i'm saving for this weekend. It is gonna be awesome! I wish i coudl get those beers here is the south.

I like some of what Terrapin is doing out of Athens GA they have some neat stuff.

For my national craft beer Dogfishhead and Flying dog are probably my favs. Both of their IPA's are very nice.

Asheville NC and the surrounding NC area has some very good stuff going on. I love going there and trying all the new beers.

Oh and Ommegang usually has very quality beers. I like their 3 Philosophers A LOT, but i've enjoyed all of theirs i have tried ( Hennepin, Abbey Ale, Chocolate Indulgance & Ommegeddon) Although Ommegeddon is just not my style of beer

You're right on about regionality. And Terrapin is great, I love the side project series; Dos Cocoas, and Gamma Ray rocked. Have you seen the new craft beer store in West Midtown, Hop City? It opened up last week and is suposed to be pretty good.

Nope. Looks like i'll be making trip into the city sometime soon!

I heard and confirmed that New Belgium will have distribution in Georgia soon (like within a month). It will be nice to have their beers here.

Brain of mJ

intodeep wrote:

Brain of mJ wrote:

intodeep wrote:

The great thing about craft beer is it is so regional. The worst thing about craft beer is it is so regional.....

I have a buddy out west and we ship some beers to each other. Which is illegal i think, but so is speeding.

He has turned me onto Russian River beers. The Blind Pig and Elney are two of my favs. I have a Damnation in my fridge that i'm saving for this weekend. It is gonna be awesome! I wish i coudl get those beers here is the south.

I like some of what Terrapin is doing out of Athens GA they have some neat stuff.

For my national craft beer Dogfishhead and Flying dog are probably my favs. Both of their IPA's are very nice.

Asheville NC and the surrounding NC area has some very good stuff going on. I love going there and trying all the new beers.

Oh and Ommegang usually has very quality beers. I like their 3 Philosophers A LOT, but i've enjoyed all of theirs i have tried ( Hennepin, Abbey Ale, Chocolate Indulgance & Ommegeddon) Although Ommegeddon is just not my style of beer

You're right on about regionality. And Terrapin is great, I love the side project series; Dos Cocoas, and Gamma Ray rocked. Have you seen the new craft beer store in West Midtown, Hop City? It opened up last week and is suposed to be pretty good.

Nope. Looks like i'll be making trip into the city sometime soon!

I heard and confirmed that New Belgium will have distribution in Georgia soon (like within a month). It will be nice to have their beers here.

Yeah, New Belgium is coming out next week I think. They're going to start by sellling 22oz. bottles, then roll-out draft and 6packs later this summer.

fotd

Almost all the New Belgium beers are really good and O'Dell Brewing Co. just started selling a few of their beers here in AZ and I think their IPA is the their best beer that's available outside of CO. Dale's Pale Ale is pretty damn tasty aswell. seriously out of the hundreds of beers I've enjoyed I gotta say the ones from CO take the cake. A couple summers back a cousin and I spent a week driving around the CO trying various beers.
Here in AZ Four Peaks brews some damn good brews including Kilt Lifter. San Tan Brewing Co. has some really tasty ones as does Nimbus down in Tucson.

carolinabeerguy

_Crazy_Mary_ wrote:

I had never been to beeradvocate.com before seeing it in this thread. I love that website! It has every beer imaginable!

It's very rare to find a beer that isn't on Beer Advocate. While I only use the ratings as guidelines, it can be very helpful when you want to try something new. I usually try to make a list from BA then go to my local Total Wine to create my own six pack.

DrockNJ

adam42381 wrote:

_Crazy_Mary_ wrote:

I had never been to beeradvocate.com before seeing it in this thread. I love that website! It has every beer imaginable!

It's very rare to find a beer that isn't on Beer Advocate. While I only use the ratings as guidelines, it can be very helpful when you want to try something new. I usually try to make a list from BA then go to my local Total Wine to create my own six pack.

i love using the beefly option they have on there to find places when i'm out of town...and their calendar is pretty useful too...

Ridin The Wave

There are quite a few good ones North of the Border too....

My favorites:

St. Ambroise, Apricot Wheat Ale - Brasserie McAuslan Brewery - Quebec

Taps, Red Cream Ale - Niagara On The Lake, ON

Red Leaf - Great Lakes Brewery - Toronto, ON

Tankhouse - Mill St. Brewery - Toronto, ON

I could go on forever here.....

We took a trip out to Delaware last summer for a Dogfish Head Brewery Tour as my brother's a HUGE fan, but I find it too hoppy.....I am however really wanting to try their Punkin Ale....Anyone know if it's really hoppy like the rest of their beers?

fotd

Ridin The Wave wrote:

We took a trip out to Delaware last summer for a Dogfish Head Brewery Tour as my brother's a HUGE fan, but I find it too hoppy.....I am however really wanting to try their Punkin Ale....Anyone know if it's really hoppy like the rest of their beers?

I would have to say it is their least hoppy beer. The Punkin Ale is my favorite beer to drink in October and November.

intodeep

I think i am going to try a 4 pack of midas touch (dogfishead) this weekend. I watech beer wars an i think i remember the owner saying it is based on an old recipe from hundreds of years ago or something.

Yefa

I took the brewery tour at Deschutes (Bend, OR) in 2003. Mirror Pond Pale Ale is one I always drink when out West. Deschutes beers don't have distribution here in the East yet.
Weyerbacher (Easton, PA) makes some really good beers. I recently tried the Fireside Ale which was delicious.
Alaskan Amber is superb. It isn't sold here in the East yet though.
I've had Sweetwater 420 in Atlanta which is good.
Dogfish Head is high quality beer - they tend to be very hoppy as others have mentioned.
Rogue Dead Guy Ale (OR) is a favorite of mine.
Cisco Brewers on Nantucket, MA makes Whale's Tale Pale Ale which is yummy.
Allagash in Maine makes tasty beers as well.

A friend recommended a documentary about U.S. craft brewing called "American Beer: A Bockumentary" which I ordered, watched, & recommend. Learn more at the link below.
http://sixhundred.com/films/american_beer/

_Crazy_Mary_

intodeep wrote:

I think i am going to try a 4 pack of midas touch (dogfishead) this weekend. I watech beer wars an i think i remember the owner saying it is based on an old recipe from hundreds of years ago or something.

yep. It's a replica of some ale they found in old barrels (or something like that). Saffron, barley & honey are the forefront ingredients.

bigeye21

Good brew for a relaxing day at the lake!

intodeep

_Crazy_Mary_ wrote:

intodeep wrote:

I think i am going to try a 4 pack of midas touch (dogfishead) this weekend. I watech beer wars an i think i remember the owner saying it is based on an old recipe from hundreds of years ago or something.

yep. It's a replica of some ale they found in old barrels (or something like that). Saffron, barley & honey are the forefront ingredients.

Thankfully i found it as a single bottle because i did not care for Midas Touch much at all.

I did get a bottle of Old Rasputin's Imperial Stout that i thought was very tasty and i'll be trying more of that one

intodeep

Picked up a couple six packs for the pool tomorrow. I love flying dog's pale ale. So i grabbed a 6er of that and a 6 pack of #'s by red brick here in atlanta.

the pool is just more fun with tasty beer.

mca47

bigeye21 wrote:

Good brew for a relaxing day at the lake!

They actually have Alaskan Amber on Alaska Airlines!

I was pumped and had two of 'em!