Beer in the new era

I think Anchor Steam should be #1, in addition to being good (then and now) it seems to have been the priming that got the entire craft beer pump going. I liked it from the first time I tried it (possibly in the 70s, def by early 80s). It was literally the only good American beer available.

I've only had 10, at least according to my untapped which only goes back to December 2010. So probably more, since I know I've had many of the Anchors and Boston lagers, but since they weren't log, I just can't count them.

I've only had three of them #merica craft beers.

#1 was what I'd expect to be #1 as a non-American. For as a non-American, that's the first beer ya think of when someone says American craft beer.

The nice thing about that list is how not rare and common many of those are, which just goes to show how much great beer is out there that doesn't involve trading, black market, waiting in lines, lotteries, etc., Heady Topper and Dark Lord aside. It's nice to know that even your corner grocery store has got the goods these days. (That said, my wife is working on the Miller/Coors account right now, and I can barely feign interest.)

I have had more of those than Jeff has?!?

It is interesting to consider that most of the "important" ones are things you can buy in 12ozx6 format.

I haven't had many of those. Drank a lot of #1 (fnarr) when I lived close to Chico, CA. I was happy to see La Folie on the list — maybe my favorite beer of all.

Xp

I avoid anything i can get a 6 pack of

Which was gonna say no wonder ive not had many of these?

http://appellationbeer.com/blog/10-beers-that-changed-america/

Compare with this list written in 2007.

7. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout – A rarity in 1995, but if BusinessWeek is right then barrel-aged beers have reached the tipping point.

lollllll

http://www.foodandwine.com/beer/craft-beer/25-most-important-american-craft-beers-ever-brewed

― Jeff, Thursday, January 26, 2017 4:54 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

great list imo

i've had about 15 or 16 of those, all of them pretty solid. i need to remember to buy more anchor beers. their bock (which i don't think they brew anymore) was one of the best bocks i've ever had

first time i had #1, SNPA, i was pretty blown away

pretty excellent list i agree. never had the Dark Lord but am most intrigued by that one out of the ones i'm unfamiliar with.

It seems like the most hit or miss. Hard to tell if people are disappointed each year or just sour grapes.

victim of its own hype imo, unrealistic expectations

Dark Lord itself has this kind of salty note on the finish that has lead many people to start calling it "soy sauce" over the past few years. That said, the bourbon barrel aged variants of Dark Lord that I've had are among the best BA stouts I've ever had (esp: "Marshmallow Handjee") but the base beer has definitely taken a hit in reputation. 3 Floyds has just hired Todd the Axe Man away from Surly so I expect them to start winning over more people.

i've had it a couple times and did find it varying from outstanding to pretty good. wish i could remember the ages and vintages.

It kinda shows the hivemindness of this new era, 3 years ago Dark Lord was considered a top 10-20 charts beer on all the aggregator sites. The needle keeps moving.

the #1 beer on beer advocate hasn't actually been released since november 2015, lol

You had that one right?

i did. i was unmoved.

Hah. I had CBS when it was in the top 3 and was similarly nonplussed.

cad is tree house brewing new? i never heard of them when i lived in MA

treehouse's coffee stouts to me were considerably better than good morning.

treehouse has been around for maybe 4+ years now. they always had a little hype but since they started canning in early 2015 it's been a complete explosion.

Anyone have opinions on BA Old Rasputin? 20 bucks at my local.

don't do it

^^^Curious why you say that, although online reviews seem kinda mixed...

Also, for Chicagoans* -- a bartender friend is organizing this, should be p sweet: https://m.facebook.com/events/1285111024865343/

*except Jeff who has 6 years of BWB already ;)

Big article in Cleveland SCENE this week on our growing brewery scene and whether there's a bubble: http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/excitement-over-clevelands-brewery-explosion-has-given-way-to-questions-of-a-brewery-bubble

xxp it's just not a very good example of barrel aging and it's extremely expensive. seemed like a soft, muted version of the base beer.

I was already prob p drunk when I tried it, but I really liked the kona Hanalei ipa -- its their take on the fruity ipa style f/ guava and passionfruit or something idk. in fact, I think ive liked all konas ive tried

huh someone was talking to me abt treehouse just a few days ago, had never heard of it before but p'haps unsurprisingly as im not really an aficionado like that

Big article in Cleveland SCENE this week on our growing brewery scene and whether there's a bubble: http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/excitement-over-clevelands-brewery-explosion-has-given-way-to-questions-of-a-brewery-bubble

― Lauren Schumer Donor (Phil D.), Wednesday, February 1, 2017 11:55 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha was just going to post that. it was interesting. i've been wondering about platform for a while. new cleveland palesner is a great beer. i like their porter a lot. but everytime i go to a beer store i see a new platform beer and many of them are not good. too many experiments with fruits that just don't work out. tbh that article made me like them a lot less too, it made me admire the conservatism of all the great lakes brewing people. GL has been around forever and all their beers are good and consistent

i remember liking the barrel aged old rasputin but i wouldn't buy it again, iirc it's not even a 750ml bottle. the OG is just so great on tap i'd rather have it like that.

xp Yeah, Platform is more miss than hit, but I do like a lot of theirs. The dry hopped cider they had out in December was really good, and last summer their grapefruit Veloracer was terrific.

Bottlehouse makes no attempt to sell in stores but their beers and ciders are pretty uniformly good. Their Rising Star Coffee Stout is probably the best coffee stout I've ever had.

yea i need to visit bottlehouse!! i live in lakewood. i was excited to hear that rising star opened a temporary shop within the brewery. their coffee is outstanding

phil have you been to griffin cider works?

No, not yet, but I hear a lot of good things about it. Definitely go the Bottlehouse, the Lakewood location needs the business! The Cle. Hts. location is about a mile from my house so in the summer we bike over there all the time.

Anyone have recommendations for Atlanta? Going there in March and will have a bit of time to kill.

I spent an afternoon at each of these and they were quite nice but this was several years ago:
http://www.theporterbeerbar.com/
http://www.brickstorepub.com/

The former was in Little Five Points which I kept hearing about like it was going to be some insane hipster/hippie mecca full of crazy shit...and it was like two blocks with some record stores and stuff. But man the cross section of weirdos hanging out there on a really nice Saturday afternoon in the spring was kind of ridiculous.

The latter was in Decatur and had lots on tap and the guy gave us a mini tour of his aging cellars and cask area and such.

https://twitter.com/brew_york/status/826647192173678592

should have named names

Agreed.

for real though--guy says he's been to 750 breweries and 150 of them shouldn't have been making beer! ppl with tenuous beer "journalism" gigs are so hilariously scared of pissing anyone off.

Haha, I had beers very recently with the beer guy from Paste Magazine (scroll upthread for numerous links to Paste's blind tastings/best IPA/IIPA/Stouts/etc. list-baits).

While we were in the hotel room, no fewer than 3 brewers came by and joined our smallish share (8 people) dropping off beer and chatting. All three of those brewers (admittedly all are great brewers) made his top 10 list from that event unsurprisingly.

:thinking guy emoji:

lol, and those paste lists are pretty good as far as beer writing goes!

Re: Hopslam, no kidding, they really did up production, because it is sitting around everywhere.

I just picked up a 4-pack of Half Acre's DIPA called ... Navaja? Like the idea of stuff like this, Ninja Vs. Unicorn, even Chillwave being easy to get. But then, I still like IPAs.

^i really like that Navaja, very citrus-y.