The Beer Forum - It's really a thread but we're too drunk to notice. - Page 79

Caligula · 11/07/07, 3:48 PM

Originally Posted by Denogran

Odd. I actually took a tour of the Redhook brewery two weekends ago and learned that Anheuser Bush actually owns a third of Redhook and because of this, the Redhook beers are tied to the Budweiser distribution network. This is apparently (if you believe my tour guide) the largest distribution network in the world, surpassing even coca cola.

I've never really spent time in the center of the country, or in the south, but I do know it's pretty easy to find Sierra Nevada in Boston and NYC. Same with Redhook. I might think it's more to do with the actual beers themselves, as a Sam Adams is still a lager, and not particularly strong, while Sierra Nevada doesn't really make any beer without a signature taste. Redhook's ESB is pretty mild though, so I can't explain that.

I work at Pease here about 1/2 mile away from the brewery. I actually drive by it on the way out. After work sometimes we stop in for drinks and get the stuff on tap direct.

Denogran · 11/07/07, 5:19 PM

Originally Posted by Humbaba

I was just at the grocery store and they had a shelf sign for the Sam Adams winter classics, but when I picked up the beer it was actually the brew master set, not the winter classics. Much gnashing of teeth ensued and I put it back on the shelf.

More anecdotal evidence: I can find Sierra Nevada in Springfield, MO, but not at every grocery store in town like I can Sam Adams. It doesn't get much more "middle of America" than here and Sam Adams Boston Lager is available pretty much anywhere Bud Lite bottles are available. Any grocery store in the area will have the Boston Lager and probably the Brown Ale and Hefeweizen as well.

This is a classic example of why anecdotal evidence isn't very useful. If we look a little closer, we discover that Boston Beer Compay(which I earlier incorrectly referenced as Boston Brewing Company, my mistake), has two breweries (and is looking to buy a third). One of these breweries, appropriately, is located in Boston, Mass. The other is in Cincinnati, OH. Springfield, MO is a little less than 600 miles from Cincinnati, OH, basically the same distance between me (San Diego, CA), and Sierra Nevada's brewery (Chico, CA). And while I see a ton of Sierra Nevada, including their Pale Ale, Porter, Wheat, Stout, seasonals and Bigfoot if I'm lucky, I hardly ever see a Sam Adams outside of the Boston Lager, the Light, or their seasonals. So your situation doesn't really help prove Sam Adams' mass marketness, especially when the national numbers just don't match.

Originally Posted by Caligula

I work at Pease here about 1/2 mile away from the brewery. I actually drive by it on the way out. After work sometimes we stop in for drinks and get the stuff on tap direct.

I was visiting a buddy in Woodinvale(sp?), so it was quite convenient. I would definitely recommend their Nitro Stout if it's still on tap. Man was that good.

Kaubel · 11/07/07, 5:40 PM

OK, fine. Sam Adams isn't the only American "mass market" beer that doesn't suck. Let's just agree that none of the beers discussed in this thread can be confused with crap like Miller, Coors, and Keystone.

Denogran · 11/07/07, 6:03 PM

Originally Posted by Kaubel

OK, fine. Sam Adams isn't the only American "mass market" beer that doesn't suck. Let's just agree that none of the beers discussed in this thread can be confused with crap like Miller, Coors, and Keystone.

Agreed. And thankfully for us, that craft beer segment of the market is actually rising, compared to a somewhat stagnating and even declining market of light shit...errr...beer.

Also, my plan for this weekend is to make my second batch of home brew, I'm thinking an IPA or some sort of dark beer. Well that and farm for heroic badges. Any suggestions from the homebrewers out there on good tasting beer that's hard to fuck up?

Kakistos · 11/07/07, 7:09 PM

Originally Posted by Denogran

I was visiting a buddy in Woodinvale(sp?), so it was quite convenient. I would definitely recommend their Nitro Stout if it's still on tap. Man was that good.

Woodinville. Right down the road from my house, actually. Great selection of wineries plus the Redhook brewery.

Humbaba · 11/08/07, 9:10 AM

I just assume that if I can get it in a Springfield gas station it's either a midwestern regional (a la Boulevard) or nationally distributed. The biggest attraction in this town is Bass Pro Shops; we're not exactly the height of culture. It is good to know that there are other drinkable beers besides Sam that are widely available, however. In fact, I'll have to pick up some more Sierra Nevada Pale Ale the next time I go beer shopping.

As an aside, I had another bottle of Anchor Steam a week or so ago and it was damn tasty. I don't know how widely available it is, but I recommend it. It's in the same tier as Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada.

Maligne · 11/08/07, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by Kaubel

OK, fine. Sam Adams isn't the only American "mass market" beer that doesn't suck. Let's just agree that none of the beers discussed in this thread can be confused with crap like Miller, Coors, and Keystone.

Agreed.

Also I think part of the reason we're struggling with this is the fact that big name grocery stores (Kroger and Food Lion for me) are starting to carry more and more craft beers, making trying to distinguish between them and massmarkets that much harder. Now I think we can all agree that this is universally a Good Thing (for us and the industry), but makes the "it's not a micro cause I saw it in x grocery store" argument harder to pull off. Which isn't much of an argument anyway, because really that's about distribution networks, which are often complicated and make little sense anyway.

flankersteak · 11/08/07, 12:23 PM

When it comes to English beer, my personal favorite is Thomas Harding. Not something to go out and drink when you party, but a spectacular after dinner beer.
My personal favorites are the belgian beers. The brands I like are Corsendonk dark abbey ale (the pale ale is too dry for my taste). I also like Dutchess. Very high alcohol content (at least 10%).
For rasberry flavored beer (I saw a couple of posts earlier about that), I recommend Lindeman's Lambic Framboise. You'll like them a lot. My favorite is the rasberry. I like having a 750ml bottle while I raid.
One set of beers that we are neglecting are the French Canadian beers. Not to be confused with the English Canadian like Molson. These are a completely different brand of beer. Strong stuff, the lightest have alcohol content of 8%, the heavier ones have >9%. The highest content is one called (aptly enough) Terrible'. >10% content. ouch. The ones I like are Maudite, La fin Du Monde, and Trios Pistoles. Hopefully my french canadian counterparts will post further about these. I love this as much as I do the Belgian ones.

Caligula · 11/08/07, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by Denogran

I was visiting a buddy in Woodinvale(sp?), so it was quite convenient. I would definitely recommend their Nitro Stout if it's still on tap. Man was that good.

Ah, you were at their other brewery then. The one I'm talking about is in NH. I"ll check out the Nitro Stout if they have it.

Kalman · 11/08/07, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by flankersteak

When it comes to English beer, my personal favorite is Thomas Harding. Not something to go out and drink when you party, but a spectacular after dinner beer.
My personal favorites are the belgian beers. The brands I like are Corsendonk dark abbey ale (the pale ale is too dry for my taste). I also like Dutchess. Very high alcohol content (at least 10%).
For rasberry flavored beer (I saw a couple of posts earlier about that), I recommend Lindeman's Lambic Framboise. You'll like them a lot. My favorite is the rasberry. I like having a 750ml bottle while I raid.
One set of beers that we are neglecting are the French Canadian beers. Not to be confused with the English Canadian like Molson. These are a completely different brand of beer. Strong stuff, the lightest have alcohol content of 8%, the heavier ones have >9%. The highest content is one called (aptly enough) Terrible'. >10% content. ouch. The ones I like are Maudite, La fin Du Monde, and Trios Pistoles. Hopefully my french canadian counterparts will post further about these. I love this as much as I do the Belgian ones.

The Unibroue beers have been addressed in this thread before; the three you mentioned are excellent, as is Don de Dieu.

Evy · 11/08/07, 1:57 PM

Originally Posted by flankersteak

One set of beers that we are neglecting are the French Canadian beers. Not to be confused with the English Canadian like Molson. These are a completely different brand of beer. Strong stuff, the lightest have alcohol content of 8%, the heavier ones have >9%. The highest content is one called (aptly enough) Terrible'. >10% content. ouch. The ones I like are Maudite, La fin Du Monde, and Trios Pistoles. Hopefully my french canadian counterparts will post further about these. I love this as much as I do the Belgian ones.

I had Trios Pistoles visiting a buddy in Montreal last year, it's really great stuff. I will have to see if I can get a hold of those others.

Cuddlypoo · 11/09/07, 3:02 AM

My first batch of homebrew is bottled

Only thing left is to try it here in a couple weeks.

Humbaba · 11/09/07, 5:31 PM

Originally Posted by Cuddlypoo

My first batch of homebrew is bottled

Only thing left is to try it here in a couple weeks.

Did you end up needing a blow off tube? I'm bottling a batch of my own Fat Tire tomorrow. I'm going to try a bottle for Thanksgiving even though it's not long to condition, but it should be in excellent shape by the time I eat Christmas dinner.

Cuddlypoo · 11/09/07, 7:23 PM

Originally Posted by Humbaba

Did you end up needing a blow off tube? I'm bottling a batch of my own Fat Tire tomorrow. I'm going to try a bottle for Thanksgiving even though it's not long to condition, but it should be in excellent shape by the time I eat Christmas dinner.

No, I ended up just babysitting it every couple hours or so for the 24hours it got really aggressive. It was massively overpressured relative to the surrounding air, so I wasn't really worried about contamination, and it was in a 6.5 gallon plastic tub, so I didn't need to worry about it shattering. Just a bit of a mess.

macka · 11/09/07, 7:57 PM

figured the weather has finally gotten cold enough to opt for the darker, warming beers, so i caved in and got my first twelve pack of old chub. i'm not a huge scotch ale fan, but this is about as good an example as i've had. i have a strange thing for craft beer in cans (ie: sly fox).

the 8% abv is quite deceiving