OT - Michigan Beers
December 27th, 2017 at 12:28 AM ^
December 27th, 2017 at 5:56 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 7:58 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 8:38 PM ^
Figured "guy calls other guy a snob cuz he likes his list of beers because they're the best" would show up. From what I gather some of those could possibly be bought in one store. 2-3 stores, quite likely. At a Meijer's, maybe not, but certain liquor/beer stores. These beers aren't the rare, limited gems they used to be (does not mean they are 2 Hearted-accessible, either but a little effort and they'll be found).
And hell, WHAT IF he knows people who are into beer and could request a pour of some of them or hits up a local watering hole and could ask a bartender if anything not listed is available for an interested out-of-towner.
December 26th, 2017 at 9:55 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 11:51 PM ^
Maybe OP asked for three to increase the chances he could find one at whichever establishment he is able to patronize.
Seems like a more informative list than throwing out three MI beers that are well-known and almost certainly available where the OP lives (which is what a lot of people did with the standard Bell's and Founder's offerings).
December 26th, 2017 at 10:23 PM ^
I love M-43 (had it very early on when picking up KBS in Grand Rapids and spent weeks tracking shipments to find it again and converted all my friends to NEIPA fans with a "try this"), but Boss Tweed is better, in my opinion. (Boss Tweed > M-43 > Boxer)
You're right - good luck finding it, however. Need to pick it up from the brewery to really be able to get it. It's availability is about where M-43 was on launch - a few 4 packs here and there and need to know when they show up at stores.
December 27th, 2017 at 9:58 AM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 7:30 PM ^
Soft parade (shorts)
Oro de calabaza (jolly pumpkin)
Also griffin claw brewery in bham (hometown bias) is baller
December 26th, 2017 at 7:31 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 7:32 PM ^
December 27th, 2017 at 9:59 AM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 7:40 PM ^
that are hard to find outside of Michigan
1. Founder's CBS. Yeah, might be overhyped, but if you can find it still, this is the most "famous" Michigan beer that is hard to find anywhere else (or any other month). And it's really good.
2. Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza. If you like wild ales, this is a good one for the christmas season.
3. Dark Horse Crooked Tree or Double Crooked Tree.
December 26th, 2017 at 7:41 PM ^
2. Founders - another really safe bet.
3. Oddside - this might be the most underrated of them all. Oddside is great if you’re looking to explore some crazy brews. Definitely the best names/label art around (ex. Fight Milk Stout, Bean Flicker, The Implication, etc.)
December 26th, 2017 at 7:46 PM ^
and was going to add that if you're not in a bottle shop/section with huge selection but are out at a bar and just don't want to miss, this is the definitive list of breweries that have the highest hit rate for quality beers. Anything from these will do.
Oddside is way underrated. They're doing really good stuff.
December 26th, 2017 at 9:18 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 9:46 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 7:47 PM ^
2. Jolly Pumpkin Saison X. Any Saison really.
3. Perrin 98 Problems. Competition is stiff in Beer City. Perrin has stopped making better IPAs than this—in fact it has discontinued more outstanding IPAs than Founders, Harmony, and GR Brew Co combined. The field is strong—I haven’t even mentioned Traverse City beers. But Perrin makes consistently the best IPA in Michigan. Even if they have ghosted most of them.
December 26th, 2017 at 7:47 PM ^
Stroh's, Goebel, and Altes.
December 26th, 2017 at 7:56 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 8:35 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 9:14 PM ^
and proclaiming it as the only 'fire brewed beer in america' right next to this computer. many cool memories.
December 26th, 2017 at 7:52 PM ^
Take it with a grain of salt since I work at Bell's but...
1. Bell's Two Hearted Ale
2. Founder's Breakfast Stout
3. Bell's Wiskey Barrel Aged Cherry Stout (rare beer but so smooth)
Honorable Mention: New Holland's Dragon's Milk
December 26th, 2017 at 7:52 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 8:19 PM ^
I love nitrous beers.
December 26th, 2017 at 7:53 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 7:54 PM ^
1. Bells Two Hearted Ale
2. Founders Breakfast Stout
3. Old Nation M43
If you can find Founders CBS get it!
December 26th, 2017 at 7:56 PM ^
One comment I would make is to try to visit the breweries. In my opinion, Founders, Shorts, Bells, et al. pour their best beers at the tap rooms. They may not have the hops, etc., to mass produce it. But picking from the Shorts or Founder's selections at even the best beer stores is selling short what the breweries can do. To tell you the truth, you should stay as local as you can. I would rather go to the Cedar Springs Brew Co. than go to Meijer and buy a mediocre offering. You can find a local brew pub in many, perhaps most, towns in Michigan.
December 26th, 2017 at 8:47 PM ^
Rockford Brew Co won best small brewery at the Great American Beer Festival. I haven't been since they first opened several years back (it was just ok as they were just getting started) but apparently they've done some good work.
December 26th, 2017 at 9:54 PM ^
December 27th, 2017 at 7:34 AM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 8:01 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 8:33 PM ^
Hearing Juice is Loose is quite tasty. Had an opportunity to buy some from a guy coming from that way back to Iowa but I ended up not doing it, saving some $$ during an expensive month.
December 26th, 2017 at 10:57 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 11:12 PM ^
They sure do. Stopped by there on the way back from Holland this past summer. Not a lot on tap or to-go but a nice berliner-type beer, Foedre #2 I think. Very solid. And some imperial stout, maybe with an adjunct, but good. Brought back a growler of an IPA, I forget what, and it was great!
Opened up a Kentuckley I traded for 2 weeks ago in line at a beer release and it was a little green-peppery at first but after a bit it opened up and was a delicious maple bomb (and that was in 20 degree weather, hard for it to even warm up properly).
December 27th, 2017 at 12:03 AM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 8:02 PM ^
1. Old Nation M43 or Boss Tweed (Boss Tweed is very hard to find)
2. Witches Hat - This Guy IPA
3. Kuhnhenn - Dripa
December 26th, 2017 at 8:17 PM ^
Nope, very tough to get Bell's on the west coast https://www.bellsbeer.com/beer-finder. Very unfortunate for me.
December 26th, 2017 at 9:02 PM ^
85% of the US population. Bell's is widely distributed. Only NorCal, the Pac NW, some mountain states and NE aren't covered.
I live in SoCal and Bells is everywhere. It's more ubiquitous here than a lot of NorCal breweries.
December 27th, 2017 at 2:00 AM ^
December 27th, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^
is the best bottle shop I've been to outside of Belgium. Incredible selection.
They must circumvent normal distribution and get out-of-area brews directly (or the Bell's map is outdated).
December 26th, 2017 at 8:21 PM ^
December 26th, 2017 at 8:25 PM ^
I have been surprised how wide spread it is now
December 26th, 2017 at 9:00 PM ^
December 27th, 2017 at 1:27 PM ^
That's my favorite football Saturday indulgement
A Kuhnhenn DRIPA growler and hopeful Michigan victory
December 26th, 2017 at 8:14 PM ^
1. Founders Dirty Bastard
2. Original Gravity (OG) Primordial Porter
3. Founders All Day IPA
December 26th, 2017 at 8:16 PM ^
One of the most overrated beers is Oberon. Don't buy into the hype.
December 26th, 2017 at 8:21 PM ^
Oberon will always mean summertime.
December 26th, 2017 at 8:26 PM ^
This can all be true and Oberon can be a pretty mediocre beer. Don't get me wrong, there's few things nicer than, say, a summer wedding with Oberon at the bar, but it's been a brew in decline for a very, very long time. Every year 'round about April I'm reminded why I stopped ordering it. With everything else out there on the beer landscape, in most situations when looking at a well-stocked draft menu, I'm choosing something else.
I will say that I got to have the mango habanero-infused Oberon that the Eccentric Cafe had tapped last summer on multiple trips through Kzoo, and it blew my mind every time. A pleasant surprise.
December 27th, 2017 at 12:02 AM ^
Oberon was a very impactful beer on the craft scene 15-20 years ago. A "gateway" beer. It was approachable enough to get people out of their old comfort zones at the time, and for that, it's legendary. But what made it so approachable then, makes it pretty mediocre in comparison to what people have discovered since.
And yeah, it means summertime, but Corona means the beach. Doesn't make either one a good beer just because you associate it with a certain season/situation.