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Best Beer States

now i want a beer. should not have started this thread at 10 am.
 
Bar downstairs has $3 Nugget Nectar pints starting in 1 hour and 40 minutes....
 
NOM NOM NOM

defs gonna run to grab a burrito and a beer for lunch. i wonder what big boys the grocery store has right now.
 
Stone IPA is pretty close to the best beer I've ever had.
 
Bells Two Hearted is about the best I have ever had...at this point.

Anybody had Kona from Hawaii? Pretty solid stuff.
 
Craft beer is obviously really exploding. It's gotten so great here in Dallas. Peticolloas, Deep Ellum, Lakewood, Community, Revolver etc. This doesn't even take into account the Austin area and South Texas.

I was skiing a couple of weeks ago in Steamboat, and the beer choice totally sucked compared to Dallas. Maybe it's because it's a ski town and touristy.

Bottom line is beer is awesome and always drink local.
 
I dont really have an answer other than Bells pretty much kills everyone else.

I just discovered Ballast Point Brewery out of San Diego. Their Sculpin IPA is apparently rated one of the top in the country. Its really good.
 
DeacWatcher said:
Bells Two Hearted is about the best I have ever had...at this point.

Anybody had Kona from Hawaii? Pretty solid stuff.
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Kona is great if you buy it in Hawaii. Their mainland-brewed beers are nowhere close in quality.

Maui Brewing Company is starting to show up more on the mainland. Their coconut porter is delicious.
 
grabbed a triple voodoo 8 tentacles dipa. pretty mediocre dipa for bay area beer.
 
61raddeac said:
Bottom line is beer is awesome and always drink local.
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Hard to drink local when the hometown brewery is not your favorite and RJ Rockers in downtown Spartanburg & Thomas Creek in Greenville are not that good. Luckily Asheville is 60 miles away.
 
Alaska getting slept on in this thread
 
deacphan said:
racer x. i havent been to stone yet.
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Still a novice when it comes to beer (feel like I am cheating on my first love) so take my opinion for what it's worth but I was blown away by Stone. When I was there one of the owners tapped an oak jalapeño stout that he was testing...no bigger than a pony keg. It was very interesting (and good).
 
The beer scene is due for a major collapse in 2-3 years, if it takes that long. The growth is unsustainable. In NC alone you could drink from a different brewery every week and not try them all.

http://www.ncbeer.org/brewery-map/

Shelf and tap space is limited and the craft market is still a small % of the total beer market. I just don't think the economics work for NC to have 84 breweries long term.

That being said, the new one to watch for is Double Barley... their Wilma's Wandering IPA is 14% yet tastes like maybe 7 or 8%. Unreal. They are landing major distribution deals out of the gate...have some deep pockets.
 
Dillon Fence said:
The beer scene is due for a major collapse in 2-3 years, if it takes that long. The growth is unsustainable. In NC alone you could drink from a different brewery every week and not try them all.

http://www.ncbeer.org/brewery-map/

Shelf and tap space is limited and the craft market is still a small % of the total beer market. I just don't think the economics work for NC to have 84 breweries long term.

That being said, the new one to watch for is Double Barley... their Wilma's Wandering IPA is 14% yet tastes like maybe 7 or 8%. Unreal. They are landing major distribution deals out of the gate...have some deep pockets.
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It may slow down, but the craft beer market isn't going to collapse - they are taking more and more shelf space from major retailers - but that really isnt that big a deal, a lot of small/medium sized breweries will make a fine living selling to local restaurants and only being in select/specialty stores.

Also, living in Pennsylvania, the idea of limited shelf space is amusing - we can only buy beer in beer only stores that are usually the size of a walgreens. It is also a pain in the ass that I cant buy beer at a grocery store.
 
DaDeacs said:
It may slow down, but the craft beer market isn't going to collapse - they are taking more and more shelf space from major retailers - but that really isnt that big a deal, a lot of small/medium sized breweries will make a fine living selling to local restaurants and only being in select/specialty stores.

Also, living in Pennsylvania, the idea of limited shelf space is amusing - we can only buy beer in beer only stores that are usually the size of a walgreens. It is also a pain in the ass that I cant buy beer at a grocery store.
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Yup. That's what's going to happen. There's room for a LOT more microbreweries in this country, as long as the breweries are happy selling locally and not TOO far outside of their home city/region.
 
DaDeacs said:
It may slow down, but the craft beer market isn't going to collapse - they are taking more and more shelf space from major retailers - but that really isnt that big a deal, a lot of small/medium sized breweries will make a fine living selling to local restaurants and only being in select/specialty stores.

Also, living in Pennsylvania, the idea of limited shelf space is amusing - we can only buy beer in beer only stores that are usually the size of a walgreens. It is also a pain in the ass that I cant buy beer at a grocery store.
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PA has the most fucked up alcohol laws of any state I have been in. The way they distribute wine is awful. It would be nearly impossible to be a wine drinker in PA.
 
I love craft beer and I hope I am wrong. But, I don't think the economics will work to only sell to local restaurants and specialty stores. For one, that would require a conversion of bud / miller drinkers to craft beers at a steady rate, and most studies show that is a high hurdle to overcome. For Raleigh-Durham area alone there is like 12-15 breweries now. There just aren't enough drinkers to support the volume to only be in a small footprint long-term. If you own the brewery, you'd be barely scraping by...certainly not getting ahead of the game. Second, some (many?) of these smaller & new breweries aren't business people, which makes long-term success that much more unlikely.

Also, at a certain point, the variation between brands and special seasonal brews will not be distinguishing enough to continue to try every new beer that comes out. For instance, I've probably tried 10-12 different pumpkin beers over the last two falls. Probably 4 were great, 4 were average, and 4 were awful. Next year, I am sticking with 2 or 3 of the great ones and not bothering with the others.

If craft brew does eventually steal a measurable number of bud & miller drinkers, you will see the big boys step even more in buying the regional brands (ie, like they have done with goose island and leinenkugel) to crush the locals.

Lastly, pay attention to the pricing. Prices are going up quite a bit and are not sustainable. 6 packs prices on a per bottle basis are approaching pint at the bar prices. 22 oz bottles used to average $6.99 to $9.99. Now most run $10.99 and up. They are at the breaking point where folks are going to pull back on what they buy.

To clarify, collapse was probably too strong of a word. I can see Raleigh area with 5-7 micros in a few years...12-15 as they have now? Or more? I will be very surprised.
 
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