Craft Beer Fanatics

JSaint

Ive been drinking craft brews since I turned 21. Loved everything about them. Better than the main stream beers anyday. Since I received my tax return I have been hitting my local liquor stores and damn Ive been finding amazing beers. . Anyone else into craft brews? Favs?

Luko

I had a great one th either day...something nugget? They said it's only released in February. I tried to buy a case last week and they said it sells out way fast. I like craft beers but I also love my old stand-by, yuengling.

Luko

Also, I like hop devil quite a bit, I think that's a victory, right? There a local craft beer brewed here in pgh called pious monk ( it's brewed in a former catholic church) and it's awesome. It's a nice amber ale.

ljl

I like a little bells 2 hearted or New Glarus spotted cow (really anything they make is pretty good...

Mephisto

Beautiful collection! I don't know if you can find them up in IL, but two of my favorites right now are the Duck-Rabbit Porter (OMG!!!--"with oats for a silky mouth feel") and the Highlands St. Therese Pale. Hdoublehockeysticks, most everything from these breweries are excellent.

Mephisto

PS congrats on the auspicious post count !

dennisking

I see you have some Rogue in there. good choice. Northwest owned and made.

JSaint

dennisking:

I see you have some Rogue in there. good choice. Northwest owned and made.

Actually Ive had tons of Rogue and one in there is the Rogue 21 ale =p. Cant wait to have it. And Dang missed my 666 post count LOL!

JSaint

Mephisto:

Beautiful collection! I don't know if you can find them up in IL, but two of my favorites right now are the Duck-Rabbit Porter (OMG!!!--"with oats for a silky mouth feel") and the Highlands St. Therese Pale. Hdoublehockeysticks, most everything from these breweries are excellent.

Havent heard of them. Ill keep my eyes peeled. I travel up to WI sometimes to see what I can find up there.

JSaint

ljl:

I like a little bells 2 hearted or New Glarus spotted cow (really anything they make is pretty good...

Ive got a New Glarus in the back of the fridge. Its a framboise. Raspberry Tart I think? What do you think of their other brews other than Spotted Cow? Love Bells too omg. lol That Double Cream Stout is amazing.

JCizzle

Try mixing the Cream Stout with the Framboise.

JSaint

Why would I do such a thing? lol

ljl

JSaint:

ljl:

I like a little bells 2 hearted or New Glarus spotted cow (really anything they make is pretty good...

Ive got a New Glarus in the back of the fridge. Its a framboise. Raspberry Tart I think? What do you think of their other brews other than Spotted Cow? Love Bells too omg. lol That Double Cream Stout is amazing.

New Glarus has a great stout and wheat when they're in season.

j0z3r

Wow, nice collection...though collection would imply you don't intend to drink them all . I've only just recently been getting back into beer and working my way through Stone Brewery's offerings, found a huge cache of everything Stone at a local liquor store, most of the ones I've been to only have one or two brews despite the fact that the brewery is only an hour away.

JSaint

Stone has a good amount of brews that Id love to try. Can barely find anything from them around here though. I could only find the Ruination and something that Stone and Brew Dog collaborated on. Cant remember the specific name. Loved em both though. And oh I definitely intend on drinking everything lol. The two Avery beers with the foil on them are 5+ years old and I have another Grand Cru that Ive aged 1 year. Patience is key lol.

JSaint

ljl:

JSaint:

ljl:

I like a little bells 2 hearted or New Glarus spotted cow (really anything they make is pretty good...

Ive got a New Glarus in the back of the fridge. Its a framboise. Raspberry Tart I think? What do you think of their other brews other than Spotted Cow? Love Bells too omg. lol That Double Cream Stout is amazing.

New Glarus has a great stout and wheat when they're in season.

Any ideas on the names? I know the Janesville and Beloit woodmans have New Glarus. Might make a run wednesday. I also wanna goto this one liquor store down in Dekalb called Lundeens Liquors. Heard tales about the Craft beers there lol.

ejenne87

Mephisto:

Beautiful collection! I don't know if you can find them up in IL, but two of my favorites right now are the Duck-Rabbit Porter (OMG!!!--"with oats for a silky mouth feel") and the Highlands St. Therese Pale. Hdoublehockeysticks, most everything from these breweries are excellent.

Both of those are made right here in NC :-) While it is very small, and majorly unknown, NC has a REALLY great craft brew culture! You have to travel, and ask the locals, but there are plenty of microbreweries all over the state. I've started to recently discover some of the smaller, hidden gems (especially around the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area) and I have been very pleasantly surprised! I have been in to craft beer since the day I turned 21. Craft brews are a kind of passion of mine, one that I hope to make some money with in the near future. Unfortunately, I have given up the bottle for a little while now due to my new diet/exercise routine I have just started, but when this is complete I plan to jump right back in the beer culture with both feet and try to learn everything else there is to know. Be on the lookout for my brew pub in the south west some time in the next 5-10 years!

zoom6zoom

Did NC finally pass that "pop the cap" bill and get rid of the limit on the strength of craft brews?

Ken Light

Oooooh, King Goblin. Man, that was tasty. A little odd with the brewed under a full moon deal, but still great beer. If you can find some Stone, the entire *** line is great, the Vertical Epic series is amazing, and their Smoked Porter is another must try.

Ken Light

Wow, it bleeped B-a-s-t-a-r-d

JSaint

I really wanna get my hands on some dang stone! Sucks living where there really isnt a fantastic beer culture. King Goblin was good huh? Awesome. Im trading one for an Avery brew thats why I have two.

shamrocked

These are hands down my favorite craft beers right now:

Kona Brewing Co - Pipeline Porter
Lagunitas - A Little Sumpin' Wild
Flying Dog Brewery - Double Dog Double Pale Ale
Stone Brewing Co - Cali-Belgique IPA
Ballast Point Brewing Co - Dorado Double IPA
Airdale Brewing Co - Bombshell

I have so many more that I love but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head...

shamrocked

JSaint:

I really wanna get my hands on some dang stone! Sucks living where there really isnt a fantastic beer culture. King Goblin was good huh? Awesome. Im trading one for an Avery brew thats why I have two.

Stone is coming to Minnesota - They're having a huge release event there so maybe you'll be able to find more of the beers soon! Here's a link if you want to read about it: http://www.stonebrew.com/stoneweek/

shamrocked

Also, I forgot to mention, you can buy most of the main stone brews through websites like www.bevmo.com

ejenne87

zoom6zoom:

Did NC finally pass that "pop the cap" bill and get rid of the limit on the strength of craft brews?

Heck no they haven't! I'm pretty upset about it too. There are so many good beers out there that I can't get easily enough every season that I am just dying to try. Luckily I have a brother up in VA that is willing to help me out.

JSaint

shamrocked:

Also, I forgot to mention, you can buy most of the main stone brews through websites like www.bevmo.com

Yea I saw something at my local place about is coming to Rockford but I just checked bevmo and Illinois has stupid stipulations. Hate this state.

dennisking

JSaint:

Sucks living where there really isnt a fantastic beer culture.

You are truly deprived out there in the land of crappy domestic beers. I live outside Portland, home of many amazing breweries. Oregon produces tons of hops and our culture is really Microbrew oriented.

If I can recommend some local breweries to you it would be Ninkasi Brewery, Laurelwood Brewery, Deschutes Brewery, Bridgeport Brewery, Widmer Brewing (especially the new W-11 Russian Imperial Hopped Stout), and Hopworks Urban Brewery.

Jetmech_63

Russain imperial hopped stout!?!?!? I just got wood . I like a ton of craft brew, Avery puts out good stuff as does north coast and lost coast. I've been collecting stone imperial stout for 4 years now and aging it. I'm an imp stout whore big time. Luckily I have a micro brew a few minutes down the road that rotates handles about ever other month. Currently I'm stuck on my dwindling supply of Firestone Velvet Merlin, a really rich oatmeal stout. Another one I'm stuck on is Hermitage Ale of the 2 tun and Irondale double chocolate stout.

ljl

"Coffee" stout and "Dancing Man" wheat. The link below will help. Lundeens is pretty darn good as far as picking up some nice crafts. Can't go wrong with a Sam Smith whilst your at it, Porter is the BUSINESS!

http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/beerschedule.cfm

JSaint

I need to make a road trip out to Lundeens one of these days. I cant wait for Founders KBS to be released and thats when Ill be running around trying to get some lol. I might just go out there tomorrow and see whats what. The places near me have good stuff but it doesnt rotate as often as I would want it to. Oh man Sam Smith was one of the first beers I started on. Good old Oatmeal Stout. Love that stuff. Another one that I love is Youngs Double Chocolate Stout. So good. Hate being sick and not able to enjoy anything!

shamrocked

dennisking:

JSaint:

Sucks living where there really isnt a fantastic beer culture.

You are truly deprived out there in the land of crappy domestic beers. I live outside Portland, home of many amazing breweries. Oregon produces tons of hops and our culture is really Microbrew oriented.

If I can recommend some local breweries to you it would be Ninkasi Brewery, Laurelwood Brewery, Deschutes Brewery, Bridgeport Brewery, Widmer Brewing (especially the new W-11 Russian Imperial Hopped Stout), and Hopworks Urban Brewery.

I second deschutes - they brew amazing beers! The black butte porter is another of my favorites!