The Craft Beer Thread....

[DrockNJ]

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2951/7330 (You should definitely sign up for a Beer Advocate account. Excellent resource for finding new brews).

Love Beer Advocate...that's were i've done all of my trading through

[bigeye21]

Seattle beer snob here.

My favorite local brew:

I'm a Mac and Jacks man myself
It seems the Manny's/Mac and Jacks crowds are the Jets and the Sharks of Seattle...me? I'm just happy to have sooooooooo many good beer choices around here! Also, check out Big Al Brewing - http://www.bigalbrewing.com/ It's my friend Alejandro's brewery, and they're making some REALLY good beers!

I like me some Mac & Jacks too! Thanks for the Big Al's recommendation -- I'll have to check them out. If you ever make it out to Snoqualmie, check out the Snoqualmie Falls Brewery & Taproom: http://www.fallsbrew.com/index.html They make awesome beer and have a good menu for lunch. Watch out for the crowds on weekends though. My favorite is their nitro oatmeal stout: Yummy! Living in North Bend, I'm in there at least once a week.

[_Crazy_Mary_]

Does Dogfish Head make Midas Touch? That's an interesting beer; Barley, honey, saffron - definitely worth a try.
Lately I've been enjoying Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Ale and Speakeasy's Big Daddy, Also Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale. Yummmm

[mca47]

It's only 9:30 here and this thread makes me want to have a beer! Hehehehe!

Not gonna, but I will be watching the clock until it's happy hour!

[DrockNJ]

Does Dogfish Head make Midas Touch? That's an interesting beer; Barley, honey, saffron - definitely worth a try.
Lately I've been enjoying Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Ale and Speakeasy's Big Daddy, Also Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale. Yummmm

they sure do...Official name is Midas Touch Golden Elixir

[pretext]

Sitting in a Denver airport, I recently had New Belgium's (home of Fat Tire) 1558 Black Ale. Damn fine stuff. But the distributors around me in NY can't even order it. Sucks.

I too enjoy Dogfish Head (Raison D'etre, Punkin' Ale), though not the renowned IPAs, since I don't fancy IPAs at all.

A note on the Sam Adams Imperial series: I have not been impressed, and generally I enjoy Sams as standby beers. The Double Bock was alright, but the White Ale SUCKED. A two-second explosion of alcohol and mess of spice, etc.

The Dogfish Head Raison D'etre is so malty good you forget how much alcohol it has. It sneaks up on your ass. Definitely a truly great American microbrew.

I'm having one with my hockey tonight!

Although I can't get so many west coast beers, one of the best things about NY is being able to buy a single beer at a time. Sometimes what I try sucks, but it's only a $2 commitment.

[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]

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]

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]

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.