Official HB Good Beer Thread

[StPaulHusker]

Had the Left Hand (Longmont, CO) Milk Stout this weekend. So good, you guys.

[carlfense]

We tried Borgata Beer and Spirits in the Old Market this weekend. Their Oatmeal Cream Stout and IPA are solid . . . the Imperial Stout and Hefe aren't really my style.

 

http://www.borgatabeerandspirits.com/

[BigRedBuster]

Drank a lot of Old Style at Wrigley Field this weekend.

 

Great time!!!!!

[carlfense]

[StPaulHusker]

A parent from my son's little league team gave me a 40 oz bottle of Miller High Life as a coach gift. Not sure how I should feel about this.

[PaulCrewe]

Rebel IPA. Works for this guy's buzz

[GSG]

Every state in the USA, ranked by its beer

 

44. Nebraska

Luckily, the Cornhuskers' 22 spot in the preseason AP poll is the only ranking this state really cares about.

 

42. New Jersey

All sorts of silly laws, plus a statewide Red Bull-vodka addiction, stonewalled the development of Jersey breweries for years, but even though things have freed up a bit, they still don’t make Taylor Ham beer. Someone make Taylor Ham beer! If anyone answers that ridiculous plea, it’ll be ballsy up-and-comer Carton.

 

34. Iowa

If Ray Kinsella had started a hop farm instead of a corn farm, brewing in Iowa would probably be... exactly the same, since he plowed over the bulk of said farm so he could have a catch with Ray Liotta. The bright side? Toppling Goliath, which five years ago brewed a half-barrel at a time, and now has road-trippers from all over the Midwest stopping by their taproom to drink that much in a sitting.

 

18. Indiana

The NASCAR set might account for beer drankin’, but it’s hard to overlook the presence of Three Floyds, whose Dark Lord Imperial Stout, Zombie Dust, and Dreadnaught IPA represent some of the Midwest’s most beloved beers. Throw in Shoreline’s bourbon-barrel stout and Upland’s lambics, and you’ve got enough powerhouse brewing to make it impossible to ignore Indy.

 

16. Minnesota

The most famous beer-beard in Minneapolis belongs to the guy behind Dangerous Man Brewing, who, by all accounts, is a totally nice dude. And considering that he’s pledged in a Hill Farmstead-y way to simply running a primo tap room and never bottling or distributing a drop, he’s also the perfect one to cement the Minnesota brew movement -- a quiet but supremely burly scene that most people outside the state don’t even know exists. Surly’s locally famed cans just made it to Chicago, but to drink many of the rest -- Summit, 612Brew, Harriet, Lucid, and the next big thing, Fulton -- you’ve gotta make a trip to the Twin Cities. Might be worth staying a few days.

 

13. Illinois

It marked the end of a craft beer era in Illinois when Goose Island was bought out by the big boys, but it remains a local fixture, and all the whimpers about “selling out” seem to mysteriously vanish anytime they’re releasing a special Bourbon County Stout variant as everyone scrambles to get their hands on some. That’s not to say Goose was the only game in town (which felt like the case not all that long ago). Half Acre, Revolution, and Pipeworks are all expanding their reach at an impressive clip, and Chicago has gone from a bit of a behind-the-times beer town to quickly accelerating towards the front of the pack.

 

12. Ohio

Great Lakes. That’s all you need to know. Except not really, since you should also be very, very aware of IBU boundary-defiers Hoppin’ Frog, the newly dominating Rust Belt, Cinci’s Christian Moerlein, rapidly expanding Fat Head's (they’re not just life-size wall stickers of NFL players and the Jonas Brothers anymore!), and barrel-aging fiends Thirsty Dog. Yes, much of Cleveland’s economy is based on LeBron James. But thanks to joints like Nano Brew and open fermentation hideaway Indigo Imp, it's only a matter of time before beer catches up.

 

8. Pennsylvania

Tröegs, Stoudt’s, Yards, Victory, Voodoo, Sly Fox, Weyerbacher: all always fantastic. Iron City: one of the world’s most lovable crappy beers. Yuengling: maybe not what craft-heads crave, but it’s the country’s oldest brewery (wait, you haven’t had someone drinking Yuengling tell you that?!?), and the very stuff that splashed out of dance-floor Solo cups all night at my cousin’s wedding in a barn on a PA sheep farm. Part of William Penn’s ‘’Great Treaty” to secure his land involved giving up a barrel of beer; we all got plenty back in return.

 

7. Wisconsin

There was a time when Milwaukee made approximately every beer consumed by every man who came home from work with grease on his shirt. Today, those canned brands of yesteryear are dead, or sold off and made in, like, California. But the Brothers Leinenkugel are statewide icons, New Glarus’ Spotted Cow is the first beer referenced by cheeseheads everywhere (even though nobody can get it outside the state), the baseball team’s name is the damn Brewers, and there used to be an urban legend that Miller Park’s taps were fueled by a beer pipe that ran directly from the brewery. An urban legend we will perpetuate, right here. Miller Park’s taps are fueled by a beer pipe that runs directly from the brewery!

 

4. Michigan

The Great Lakes State may not be a prolific hops producer, or contain one brewery for every man, woman, and child (they do have about two for every 100,000 adults, according to the Brewers Association). But mittens were meant for holding cold brews, and Michigan happens to host some of the best damned breweries in the country.

 

There’s a reason that the annual release of Bell’s Oberon is like a state holiday, and why its Two-Hearted is consistently ranked among the best IPAs in the world, even as many drinkers don’t realize it’s an IPA. Or why Larry Bell’s neighbors to the North, Grand Rapids’ Founders, has become one of the nation’s most respected brewers, so much so that Grand Rapids is now on the map as a destination beer city. Why, folks set up shop in the tiny lake town of Bellaire just to sip Short's, or head South to Dexter for a look at how Jolly Pumpkin is made.

 

Beer in Michigan is a way of life, an economic booster that’s helping Detroit pull out of the apocalypse and a soul cleanser up in the UP, where long winters are made better with a growler from Ore Dock. And if that’s not convincing enough, consider this: in Ann Arbor and East Lansing, when the chaos of a tailgate clears, you’ll see as many empty bottles of craft beer scattered about as you will tallboys with holes punched in the side. In Michigan, beer love starts early.

 

3. Colorado

Everywhere you look in Colorado -- literally everywhere -- there is beer. There is no escaping the beer. This is a good thing. Everyone with a beard brews beer, and everyone has a beard, which, by the law of syllogism or something, means literally everyone brews beer. And, damn, do they do it well.

 

Oskar Blues started the craft can revolution, and if you haven’t had a GUBNA, change that. Avery has an entire run of bombers called the Dictator Series. New Belgium is distributing with the big boys thanks to an amber ale and a cruiser bike. Crooked Stave is souring things that man previously assumed un-sour-able. Great Divide has proven once and for all that the Yeti exists, and he will eff you the hell up. And the whole state’s in on it -- even the guy who just had a frozen chocolatini with dinner can rattle off 10 upstart breweries you won’t hear of for years. Beer is everywhere. Everywhere is beer.

 

 

 

I just picked out states with Big Ten schools in them and Colorado

[NUance]

Every state in the USA, ranked by its beer

 

44. Nebraska

Luckily, the Cornhuskers' 22 spot in the preseason AP poll is the only ranking this state really cares about.

I was in Nebraska this past weekend. Finished a round of golf, and asked the waitress at the 19th hole for a Rolling Rock. She said, "What? I've never even heard of that?" Not only that, but none of the four guys I was playing golf with had heard of it either. WTF? Not that Rolling Rock is anything special. But nobody had even heard of it? There might be something to that #44 ranking.

 

 

/ not sure if this post belongs in the good beer thread, since it pertains to Rolling Rock. lol

[sd'sker]

new belgium's tour de fall is pretty good, you guys.

[SandhillshuskerW]

 

Every state in the USA, ranked by its beer

 

44. Nebraska

Luckily, the Cornhuskers' 22 spot in the preseason AP poll is the only ranking this state really cares about.

I was in Nebraska this past weekend. Finished a round of golf, and asked the waitress at the 19th hole for a Rolling Rock. She said, "What? I've never even heard of that?" Not only that, but none of the four guys I was playing golf with had heard of it either. WTF? Not that Rolling Rock is anything special. But nobody had even heard of it? There might be something to that #44 ranking.

 

 

/ not sure if this post belongs in the good beer thread, since it pertains to Rolling Rock. lol

 

I've never actually tried a Rolling Rock, but I sure as hell have heard of it!

[MLB 51]

Not a fan of pale ale's

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

Probably because Rolling Rock sucks.....I mean what

[suh_fan93]

If you're ever in the Chicagoland area give this a try. I love me some Goose Island. Tasty...

 

[GSG]

new belgium's tour de fall is pretty good, you guys.

 

I TRIED IT AT TOUR DE FAT. I DIDN'T LIKE IT THAT WELL. PART OF THAT COULD BE DUE TO THE BEER SITTING OUT IN THE HOT SUN

[StPaulHusker]

I picked up the fall sampler case of Blue moon from Sam's Club last weekend. Going to give it a try this weekend. Anyone else had this? It's 6 different beers, 4 each.