OT: Beersnobs! Nonscientific survey; 25 best craft brewers
http://www.thedailymeal.com/25-best-craft-breweries-america-slideshow?tab=3
From Daily Meal, survey of 15,000.
Nice discussion point, regional breweries making the top25 include Great Lakes at 24, Bell's at 8, Founder's at 4. Not a bad showing.
Dogfish (Yay somewhat local!) is #1, Stone #2.
Wouldn't say it's terrible, just not a whole lot going on there, though I thought their Nut Hugger Brown Ale was decent. People's out of Lafayette is a better Indiana beer IMO.
Flat 12 and Triton are two I get when I'm down there. However I am sure they are too local to get much attention in a national survey.
One thing Indiana does have is quite a few options though. All states are really growing in micros, so it's nice that if people have different tastes there are tons of options pretty much anywhere you go now.
Ommegang is way underrated in my opinion and I do not even like Belgium beers in general. They had a good selection and by far the coolest brewery I have ever seen. So glad to see Boulevard in the top 5 as they have the best wheat beer I have ever had.
I am disappointed that Clipper City (Heavy Seas) out of Maryland is not on the list.
Holy Sheet - mahogany ale in brandy barrel, Siren Noire - chocolate stout in bourbon barrel, Winter Storm - nice ESB; and even their standards, Loose Cannon, Peg Leg Stout and Small Craft Warning, are great beers.
Sierra Nevada, contrary to some, deserves to be on the list for items like Celebration and Ruthless Rye.
Bell's, Founders, Stone, Boston - all great breweries. I need a beer now just thinking about them.
That said, to ease into brewed beverages, I'd suggest hard cider (angry orchard is my favorite of the widely available) or Belgian ales (look for a "tripel" style). These are fruity and yeasty without a lot of bitterness.
For good beer that's not too bitter but still tastes like traditional beer, try an amber ale like fat tire, or a red or Scottish ale. These tend to be much more malt heavy with less assertive hopping.
Sour ales are expensive and tend to be hard to find, but are a good way to get into beer drinking for someone who doesn't like beer initially(I have great confidence that you will learn).
I think Bells and Founders really excel at making the more standard IPAs, stouts, etc. However, they don't really make many sours, Belgians, etc, whereas other breweries really kick ass at making some of those styles and still make great more regular beer styles.
Deschutes and Firestone-Walker not being on this list is strange. I also have no idea how Russian River is outside the top 3. Everything that brewery makes is phenomenal.
New Belgium isn't even top 3 in the city of Fort Collins, let alone top 25.
I don't think they were worthy of being in the top 25, at least right now, but I do love me some New Holland Brews.
Two Hearted Ale FTW. Seriously could only drink that and my life would be complete
Fat Tire's rep is built on something it's not really anymore. Back in the day, when New Belgium had three beers -- Fat Tire, Sunshine Wheat and Old Cherry, all in bombers -- there'd be a little bit of yeast in the bottom of the bottle. It's still plenty drinkable though, and there's a lot more to New Belgium than just Fat Tire anyway (or just beer; there's much to appreciate about the way the company is run imo). I drink a lot of Shift in the summer.
Upslope in Boulder is a good newer brewery. Their take on Biere de Noel last winter was killer.
Living in CO, I think Oskar Blues is pretty overrated -- or maybe I just don't get the fancy beer in a can gimmick. Odell could be higher IMO, and Lefthand should be on there, if only for the Milk Stout.
Left Hand's Twin Sister DIPA is a pretty good beer. If you get a chance to pick one up I would recommend it.
Yes.
Lists are silly, so here is another one. Here are some decent breweries that are not mentioned in that short list of 25 -
Schlafly
Two Brothers
Shorts
Smuttynose
Sun King
Flat 12
Brooklyn
Harpoon
Yazoo
Greenbush
Fat Head's
The Alchemist
Firestone Walker
Dark Horse
There are good beers just about everywhere I go now. I have all these great breweries to be thankful for all their hard work and sacrifice for that.
Oskar Blues is far too low on the list.
Lists like these are always debatable as beer tastes are purely subjective. However, I do believe that sites like Beer Advocate which crowdsource beer ratings from beer drinkers across the world, tend to get closer to the truth about who is making the best beer. Which I suppose begs the question does best brewer = people brewing best beer? I think that's what really matters.
The beer landscape is changing rapidly. Old guard craft brewers like Boston Brewing and Sierra Nevada are sentimental choices, but frankly have been surpassed by many, many new brewers. Even the next wave that displaced them, looking at you New Belgium and Dogfish Head, are not really in the top tier IMO.
What I really like about craft brew industry is how someone can seemingly come out of nowhere and brew some mindblowing beer that's light years beyond what most are brewing. Looking at you Toppling Goliath.
Brewers not mentioned on the list that I would include:
- Hill Farmstead (perhaps best brewer in the world)
- Alpine
- The Alchemist (if you only brew one beer, why not go for #1 rated beer in the world)
- Firestone Walker
- Surly
- Toppling Goliath
IMHO, the best on that list are:
- Three Floyds
- Founders
- Russian River
- Cigar City
- Stone
- Bell's
- Lagunitas
Overrated:
- Boston Beer
- Dogfish Head
- New Belgium (although they have a decent sour program)
- Sierra Nevada
- Rogue
- Devils Backbone
- Anchor
fan of Bell's and Founder's, but the lack of Short's on the list is shameful, IMHO. Huma, Pandemonium, Nicie Spicy and Controversiale should put it up there. (Figures my 500th mgo point would be about beer...)
A few I like not on the list:
Fitgers Brewhouse, Duluth MN
Schells, New Ulm MN
Caldera Brewing Company, Ashland OR
Lazy Magnolia, Kiln MS
Lb. Brewing Company, Hays KS
So many beers, so little time.
reminds me of Las Vegas billboards. 'Voted Best Surf and Turf on the Strip!' They neglect to say it was the venue's owner who voted it that way.
I really don't have much constructive to say here other than I've had many beers in many places all over the country and the fact that 75% of this list isn't comprised of OR, WA and CA beers is ridiculous.
Sadly, many of the west coast beers on the list are not worthy of being among the 75% mark I suggest. I didn't read all the responses but did not see Ninkasi mentioned which is a bit surprising albeit they're somewhat new.
At least the beers east of the extreme west have been getting better over the years. I remember taking a 6mo road trip back in '99 from OR back to Michigan, down to the SE and back across the southern states and up into CO... it was around this time that I had my first fat tire. I was so excited to find a beer that might not be equivalent to American Pilsner Water for the first time in a while, but I was sadly disappointed. And that brewery is ON THIS SAD LIST.
Truly, beer preferences are subjective, but this list has New Belgium brewing in the top 10. All credibility gone.
Anyway... some western craft brewers I'd recommend if you can find them:
Ninkasi, Burnside, Gigantic, North Coast...
Also, Deschutes may be pretty big for a craft brewery and I don't like the owners politics, but they make consistently really damn good beer across most standard categories... IPA, Pale, Porter and ESB in particular.
Only one Wisconsin craft representative? I'd like to invite everyone to Milwaukee to any of the dozen craft beer festivals, especially Ms. Marcy Franklin (author of this article).