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Craft Beer Thread

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T

TheApatheticOne

Member
Did a search, didn't see anythint specific for craft beer.

Living in Cincinnati, the craft beer scene has exploded in recent years. While I definitely wasnt snobby about my beer before then, Ive had so many fantastic brews that drinking a Blue Moon or Coors Light just taste bad now.

I wanted to start a thread with spring and summer coming up for all of GAFs craft beer fans and see what's going down locally in your area!

For me, there are quite a few great breweries nearby. Ill list them, and my recommended beers (some are seasonal).

MadTree Brewing
- Shade (Gose style ale with blackberries and sea salt)
- Citra High (fruity IPA)
- Blood Orange PsycHOPathy (IPA)
- Boysen The Hood (Wit Ale with boysenberries)

Rhinegeist Brewing
- Coconut Panther (Coconut Porter)
- Juicy Truth (variant of Truth IPA, w/grapefruit added)

Ill add more if the thread moves along! :)

And just to add despite not being a "local" brewery, love me some 3 Floyds Brewing in Munster, IN. Permanent Funeral (Pale Ale), Gumballhead (Wheat), and Zombie Dust (Pale Ale) are all delicious!
 
E

ElectricBlanketFire

Member
You referenced my favorite in the OP:

Zombie-Dust.jpg
 
T

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
I'm not really familiar with beer lingo or what constitutes craft beer, but throw me stouts, all day, every day, especially oatmeal ones.
 
A

AllGamer

Member
The craft beer scene has gotten pretty big in Germany in the last couple of years.

himburgs-amarsi_600x600.jpg


This is my absolute favorite :)
 
T

The Albatross

Member
We're in the midst of the beer renaissance and none of us are worthy.

Still mostly been drinking American pale ale sessions over and the last year or so. Some of my favorite APA sessions:

  • Anything from Hill Farmstead, but most noteably the Susan or Abner. Neither are technically sessions, but both are sessionable. Hill Farmstead is pretty hard to come across, but a bar in town has 4 - 5 rotating taps of theirs so... I'm spoiler.
  • Castle Island Candlepin session
  • Newbury Port Melt Away session
  • Maine Beer Company Peeper Ale
  • Wormtown Bottle Rocket
  • Nightshift One Hop This Time, Nightshift Whirlpool
  • Trillium Trillikini

It's just a great time to be alive because even in a small state like Massachusetts, you have a couple of world-class breweries (Trillium, Treehouse), a dozen or more really great breweries (Aeronaut, Nightshift, Wormtown, Castle Island, etc), and then a dozen more tiny local breweries... seems like a new brewery is opening up in every town center around the state.

While I mostly drink sessionable ales and pilsners, I really love simple Gose's like the Lost Nation Gose with sea salt from Vermont. It might not be some world renowned or amazing gose, but it's not too sour, salty and delicious, immensley drinkable.

It's just a great time to be alive.
 
T

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
The Albatross said:
We're in the midst of the beer renaissance and none of us are worthy.

Still mostly been drinking American pale ale sessions over and the last year or so. Some of my favorite APA sessions:

  • Anything from Hill Farmstead, but most noteably the Susan or Abner. Neither are technically sessions, but both are sessionable. Hill Farmstead is pretty hard to come across, but a bar in town has 4 - 5 rotating taps of theirs so... I'm spoiler.
  • Castle Island Candlepin session
  • Newbury Port Melt Away session
  • Maine Beer Company Peeper Ale
  • Wormtown Bottle Rocket
  • Nightshift One Hop This Time, Nightshift Whirlpool
  • Trillium Trillikini

It's just a great time to be alive because even in a small state like Massachusetts, you have a couple of world-class breweries (Trillium, Treehouse), a dozen or more really great breweries (Aeronaut, Nightshift, Wormtown, Castle Island, etc), and then a dozen more tiny local breweries... seems like a new brewery is opening up in every town center around the state.

It's just a great time to be alive.
Click to expand...

Oh man, the bolded name is killing me.
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
Craft beers are the vice of my otherwise healthy lifestyle. I used to be a huge IPA guy, but my tastes have definitely shifted over the years.

Some of my favorites:

Avery Rumpkin (usually around 18%)
desktop_1454460776_Bottle_Rumpkyn.png


Unibroue Terrible
hqdefault.jpg


Boulevard Dark Truth
28462748825_a0b780e582.jpg
 
B

BigDug13

Member
One of my favorite things about living in San Diego. That place has turned into a craft beer kingdom. SDSU (my school) has a bar on campus with 30 taps of craft beer. All craft, not a Budweiser/Miller/Coors product among them.
 
T

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
WeAreStarStuff said:
Craft beers are the vice of my otherwise healthy lifestyle. I used to be a huge IPA guy, but my tastes have definitely shifted over the years.

Some of my favorites:

Avery Rumpkin (usually around 18%)
desktop_1454460776_Bottle_Rumpkyn.png


Unibroue Terrible
hqdefault.jpg


Boulevard Dark Truth
28462748825_a0b780e582.jpg
Click to expand...

Are these all stouts? They look amazing, especially the last two.
 
B

BobNewbert31

Member
In Tampa, FL. The craft beer scene has grown substantially in Tampa and St. Pete with Cigar City, Coppertail, Cycle, and a bunch of smaller breweries opening over the past decade.

Was at Cage Brewing in St. Pete this weekend and, in my opinion, they might have the best beers in the Bay Area. King and Queen Krush, both DIPAs are delicious. Their Peanut Butter Stout might be the greatest thing I've ever put in my mouth though.
 
Z

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
Dangerous man - nitro peanut butter porter
Able - First Light IPA
Indeed - LSD (Lavender, sunflower honey, and dates ale)
Surly - Cynic and Coffee Bender

All in northeast Minneapolis

Castle Danger - Cream Ale also quite good from the Duluth area

There are literally a shit ton of breweries in Norheast MPLS (and elsewhere but there seem to be the most in NE), all of them good, but just some high lights above.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Ekdrm2d1 said:
Tree House Brewing though.
Click to expand...

+1 Treehouse. great beer, can't wait for the new space to open next year.

If you're in Monson, it's worth going the short drive to Sturbridge (you rpobably drive through headed there), and stopping at the very, very small Homefield Brewing. No, the beer is not Treehouse-quality beer obviously, but it's a great little brewery that's hyper-local, very small, and has good farm to table local food. Tiny little space inside but a neat place to hang out and grab a beer.

TheOfficeMut said:
Are these all stouts? They look amazing, especially the last two.
Click to expand...

The Rumpkin is a rum pumpkin ale. i think it's undrinkably strong, but the flavors are pretty wild. Boulevard Dark Truth is a stout, and it's widely available. Worth trying.
 
E

Ernest

Banned
Russian River Brewing is my personal GOAT brewery.
Never had a middling beer from them, much less a "bad" one. ALL their beers are on-point, with this sour being my favorite:

15535365_1231478680223514_1314186067598901248_n.jpg


I know their claim to fame are their Pliny IPAs, but while they're really good, they're also a bit over-rated, in that they're great, but not worth standing in a long line for.
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
TheOfficeMut said:
Are these all stouts? They look amazing, especially the last two.
Click to expand...

All three are amazing.

Avery Rumpkin: Pumpkin Ale
Unibroue Terrible: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Boulevard Dark Truth: American Double / Imperial Stout

The Rumpkin beer clocks in at over 500 calories, and costs close to $20 for a 12oz bottle. I limit the amount of beers I have a week to no more than two or three, also thank goodness I do cardio about 5x a week.
 
SolidSnakeUS

SolidSnakeUS

Member
Ernest said:
Russian River Brewing is my personal GOAT brewery.
Never had a middling beer from them, much less a "bad" one. ALL their beers are on-point, with this sour being my favorite:

I know their claim to fame are their Pliny IPAs, but while they're really good, they're also a bit over-rated, in that they're great, but not worth standing in a long line for.
Click to expand...

I'm still upset that I haven't gotten to try Pliny yet.
 
E

Ekdrm2d1

Member
Toppling Goliath Brewing

- Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout (KBBS)
- Assassin Imperial Stout

15876656_1192848494155524_5510472186416070656_n.jpg


15877250_1196718683717375_3393267005585883136_n.jpg
Click to expand...

Somebody offered my mom $500 cash for the 2016 KBBS. She won the Toppling Goliath lottery/raffle and flew out to Decorah, Iowa for the release party.
 
F

fredrancour

Member
The Albatross said:
We're in the midst of the beer renaissance and none of us are worthy.

Still mostly been drinking American pale ale sessions over and the last year or so. Some of my favorite APA sessions:

  • Anything from Hill Farmstead, but most noteably the Susan or Abner. Neither are technically sessions, but both are sessionable. Hill Farmstead is pretty hard to come across, but a bar in town has 4 - 5 rotating taps of theirs so... I'm spoiler.
  • Castle Island Candlepin session
  • Newbury Port Melt Away session
  • Maine Beer Company Peeper Ale
  • Wormtown Bottle Rocket
  • Nightshift One Hop This Time, Nightshift Whirlpool
  • Trillium Trillikini

It's just a great time to be alive because even in a small state like Massachusetts, you have a couple of world-class breweries (Trillium, Treehouse), a dozen or more really great breweries (Aeronaut, Nightshift, Wormtown, Castle Island, etc), and then a dozen more tiny local breweries... seems like a new brewery is opening up in every town center around the state.

While I mostly drink sessionable ales and pilsners, I really love simple Gose's like the Lost Nation Gose with sea salt from Vermont. It might not be some world renowned or amazing gose, but it's not too sour, salty and delicious, immensley drinkable.

It's just a great time to be alive.
Click to expand...

NIGHTSHIFT. I would drink night shift's Awake every single day if i could afford the dollars in my budget and liquid bread in my diet.
 
W

willow ve

Member
TheApatheticOne said:
Did a search, didn't see anythint specific for craft beer.

Living in Cincinnati, the craft beer scene has exploded in recent years. While I definitely wasnt snobby about my beer before then, Ive had so many fantastic brews that drinking a Blue Moon or Coors Light just taste bad now.

I wanted to start a thread with spring and summer coming up for all of GAFs craft beer fans and see what's going down locally in your area!

For me, there are quite a few great breweries nearby. Ill list them, and my recommended beers (some are seasonal).

MadTree Brewing
- Shade (Gose style ale with blackberries and sea salt)
- Citra High (fruity IPA)
- Blood Orange PsycHOPathy (IPA)
- Boysen The Hood (Wit Ale with boysenberries)

Rhinegeist Brewing
- Coconut Panther (Coconut Porter)
- Juicy Truth (variant of Truth IPA, w/grapefruit added)

Ill add more if the thread moves along! :)

And just to add despite not being a "local" brewery, love me some 3 Floyds Brewing in Munster, IN. Permanent Funeral (Pale Ale), Gumballhead (Wheat), and Zombie Dust (Pale Ale) are all delicious!
Click to expand...
With the 3 Floyds and other brews you mention make sure to check out their Icelandic Pants of the Dead if you get the chance.
 
C

Cymbal Head

Banned
Northeast Ohio has a great craft beer scene as well. I want to put in a special mention for Great Lakes Brewing Company, where they do outstanding work with traditional, unsexy styles. They make a helles lager (Dortmunder Gold) and a vienna (Eliot Ness) that are among the world's best examples of the style.
 
T

TheApatheticOne

Member
Lots of love for Treehouse, never had them! That King Julius looks awesome!

Forgot about this little guy from MadTree...
Madtree-Rubus-Cacao-can-960x640.jpg


A chocolate stout with cacao nibs and raspberries. Its so damn good!

PushTheButtonMax said:
Creature Comforts Tropicalia is heaven.
Click to expand...

That had that exact beer at MadTree Brewing's Grand Opening at their new facility and it was fantastic! Would love to try more of Creature Comforts beers!
 
D

DizzyCaffeine

Member
I live down the street from Tustin Brewing Co. in Orange County, CA. Their Old Town IPA and Red Hill Red are really good stuff, so much so that I got a growler. Growlers are evil btw...I feel like I have to drink them fast or else the beer will go flat.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Ekdrm2d1 said:
They dominate BA's top beer list. Crazy.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/top/

Basically it's always Tree House, Toppling Goliath, Russian River, Cigar City, and The Alchemist.
Click to expand...

If you like Tree House's hazy pale ales, go to Armsby Abbey in Worcester and order whatever rotating tap of Hill Farmstead they have. Hill Farmstead appears throughout the top 25/50 on that list, but they rotate their beers very often so they rarely break the top 10.
 
T

TheLastCandle

Member
I'm a huge fan of the New England stuff that's been posted thus far.

I live in central PA, so I'm close to a lot of fantastic breweries. I actually work for one of the bigger breweries in the state, which is fun. I get to try a lot of tasty stuff.

Hidden River, Collusion, and Tired Hands are my favorite breweries around here.
 
Spuck-uk

Spuck-uk

Banned
TheOfficeMut said:
I'm not really familiar with beer lingo or what constitutes craft beer, but throw me stouts, all day, every day, especially oatmeal ones.
Click to expand...

Sam Smiths Oatmeal Stout, if you can get it where you are (everywhere in the UK), should be the reference beer for this style.
 
Spuck-uk

Spuck-uk

Banned
Ekdrm2d1 said:
They dominate BA's top beer list. Crazy.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/top/

Basically it's always Tree House, Toppling Goliath, Russian River, Cigar City, and The Alchemist.
Click to expand...

That's because they're hard to get, Whales dominate the top of BA and Ratebeer lists not because they're the best, but because they're relatively hard to get.

Westy 12 was hundreds of places above ABT 12 on their lists since forever, despite being 99.999% the same beer, but one is far harder to get.
 
C

CyclopsRock

Member
The Exmouth Arms on Exmouth Market in London is great for this. They change three quarters of their beers every week (there "big" taps stay the same permanently - Camden Hells is about as 'mainstream' as it gets). They aren't all winners, but isn't that the point? The staff are also knowledgeable and friendly, often recommending beers based on what you like or giving you tasters. Alas my office is moving next week and we'll be too far away to go there. That might help my slide into alcoholism though.
 
E

Ekdrm2d1

Member
The Albatross said:
If you like Tree House's hazy pale ales, go to Armsby Abbey in Worcester and order whatever rotating tap of Hill Farmstead they have. Hill Farmstead appears throughout the top 25/50 on that list, but they rotate their beers very often so they rarely break the top 10.
Click to expand...

I want some. Thanks for the recommendation.

ZOONAMI said:
Ah I've had that. Tasty!
Click to expand...

Prairies are sometimes confusing. They have the "pirate" line and then the regular line. Pirates are all BBA. Still confusing :p
 
Z_Y

Z_Y

Member
The problem with the craft scene is that it's so regional. I'm unable to easily get my hands on some of these delicious looking beers you guys post. GAF needs a craft beer trading group. Is that even legal?

Living in North-Cental WV, the craft beer scene has grown exponentially in the last 3-5 years. While Great Lakes, Southern Tier, Flying Dog and a couple others seem to have been distributing around here for years. We've only relatively recently been getting the likes of Founders, Lagunitas, New Belgium and Duclaw. Dogfish Head will be distributing here soon and I've heard rumors of Stone and Ballast Point coming soon as well.

My beer preference changes by the season. Fall/winter is porters/stouts/imperial IPAs and then in spring/summer I tend to go for more lagers and citrusy session IPAs. Hard for me to pick a favorite style or brewery honestly. But GLBC Edmund Fitzgerald has a special place in my heart because I think it was the first craft beer I fell in love with.

As far as suggestions, I will rep my home state and mention Big Timber Porter and Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company's Devil Anse IPA.

Big-Timber-3.jpg


CY1-UCJW8AAA86e.png


Both are excellent representatives of their style. I find myself passing up Edmund Fitzgerald in favor of the Big Timber Porter more and more. Don't tell Great Lakes.

If you even have a passing interest in sours/wild ales and are within a day trip of Pittsburgh...I urge you to check out Draai Laag Brewing Company. Some of the funkiest stuff I've ever had and just absolutely delicious. I think they are the best kept secret in this region.

http://www.draailaag.com
 
F

Futureman

Member
Troegs is probably my favorite brewery.

Perpetual IPA is great and their seasonal First Cut Mango IPA is amazing. Their Scratch Series gose beer got me into sour beers.

First-Cut-Mango-Slider.jpg
 
T

TheApatheticOne

Member
Z_Y said:
The problem with the craft scene is that it's so regional. I'm unable to easily get my hands on some of these delicious looking beers you guys post. GAF needs a craft beer trading group. Is that even legal?
Click to expand...

Ive never done it, but my friend has made over a hundred swaps with no trouble. Its not legal, but not enforced either. Apparently box it nicely yourself, use UPS or FedEx, and if they ask, say its bottles of vinegar or glass art or something.
 
Spuck-uk

Spuck-uk

Banned
CyclopsRock said:
The Exmouth Arms on Exmouth Market in London is great for this. They change three quarters of their beers every week (there "big" taps stay the same permanently - Camden Hells is about as 'mainstream' as it gets). They aren't all winners, but isn't that the point? The staff are also knowledgeable and friendly, often recommending beers based on what you like or giving you tasters. Alas my office is moving next week and we'll be too far away to go there. That might help my slide into alcoholism though.
Click to expand...

Earl of Essex near angel is super good for this as well
 
P

pablito

Member
Ernest said:
I know their claim to fame are their Pliny IPAs, but while they're really good, they're also a bit over-rated, in that they're great, but not worth standing in a long line for.
Click to expand...

I used to think Pliny was overrated. It still might be, in the sense that you don't have to wait for other beers that are just as good. But I'll say this. RR's IPAs stay good, others fluctuate. I may like others more at the time, but after a while I guess my taste buds start liking other flavors, and then I go back to them and they're not as good as I thought. RR stays good for me.

And having done PTY, I'd never go to that event just for that beer. It's not that good. but I still love going for the overall experience. I usually go early and get coffee, breakfast, chat up some new people. It's great.
 
C

CLaddyOnFire

Neo Member
Favorite beer of all time I found once at my local beer place, and never again: Lion Stout. It's imported from Sri Lanka or something, but good lord it's so dark and smooth.

BONUS ANSWER: Worst beer of all time? Sweet Baby Jesus; a "Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout" that tastes nothing like chocolate, peanut butter, or stout.
 
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