I'll third The Brew Kettle. It's a must stop whenever I drive through that area.
I'll third The Brew Kettle. It's a must stop whenever I drive through that area.
This is a great example of this kind of brew:
Blood Orange seems to be the latest fad for summer brews. Several have popped up here in Southwest Michigan of various quality. Of the ones I have tried I would say Tapistry Brewing's version is the best around here, although I have not had the one in the picture.
The first Blood Orange pale ale I had was Super Fuzz from Elysian in Seattle about 4 years ago. Then it was Flying Dog's Bloodline about 3 years ago.
I went to the Hermitage Brewing Company today. I bought two flights and tried damn near everything on tap.
I think I need to turn in my beer snob credentials. There was nothing I liked enough to take home, I didn't even finish any given sample glass. Even the pils and the brown ale were too hop-forward for my tastes. The least hoppy was the Wee-Heavy Scotch Ale, which was fine as first, but was so sweet, it was hard to stick with for all that long.
Let's put it this way: each selection just smashed through the ol' taste-buds like a riot of soccer hooligans, and the taste stayed with me long after I put the glass down. Each sip was an intense experience; a bit more than I want from a beer, really. And how many packs of cigarettes a day do you need to smoke for a sour beer to make sense? (The sour beers weren't hop-forward by the way. I don't really know if they were hopped at all, because the sour so dominated I couldn't tell. I'm the type of guy who likes raw sauerkraut, and the sour of this beer seemed only to make sense in the context of a ridiculous dare.)
These guys do a brisk business, have bottles distributed locally, and they collaborate with the local university to run craft beer courses. So while I'm complaining, they have to be doing it right, right? It's gotta be that my tastes are just too damn pedestrian for such things. I need to retreat back to the safety of a pint of Newcastle Brown.
Last edited by notallwhowander; 04-02-2017 at 11:48 AM.
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.
do not despair Notall... while I would have to say that Newcastle is a bit too watery a Brown for me, I *do* share your criticism that brewers have gone too far with all the 'hop madness' of the past 5 years. Hops are ok in moderation, but my favorite styles; Stout, Porter and Brown do not need and are not improved by dumping hops in them! GET A CLUE brewers!
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
I'm fussy about IPA's, honestly. Only a few of the many I have tried have made me want another.
I tend to prefer stouts and porters. I do enjoy an amber as well as a brown on occasion, as well.
My current fave:
where's that one from?
oh BTW ...
Bell's Two Hearted Ale is the best IPA in regular production
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
I'm going to have to be sure to track some of that down next time I'm out in the northern midwest. But it's hard to believe it's as good as my latest go-to, Lawson's "Sip Of Sunshine" (or my other recent favorite, Foley Brothers "Prospect").Originally Posted by MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER
It's all just personal tastes...
Last week while in Minneapolis I bought a 6-pack of Lift Bridge "Hop Dish" which was pretty good and made hotel living nearly tolerable.
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Around 15 years ago I would have agreed with you. 5 years ago, it would have made 2nd best. Now, I'm not certain it's top 5 for me. (I don't normally think about this kind of thing. The "regular production" thing would probably save it.)
Two Hearted is a solid IPA and I'll happily grab it if I don't see something interesting but there's plenty of outstanding IPA's out there these days, the Lawson's Sip Of Sunshine is very good. My go to's would probably be Other Half brewery from NYC and Trillium from Boston (I live a mile from the brewery). Their everyday IPA's and DIPA's are consistently outstanding.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
I was fortunate to have some Other Half IPA's, and I'd recommend Fieldwork Brewing from Berkeley, as well...for that sort of freshness I am not sure larger brewers can compete. I am sure Trillium is stellar, esp. if you live close by. The key to IPA's, I think, is "Drink Local."
"And this is the chorus.....or perhaps it's a bridge...."
I'll check it out.
Foothills Brewing is in Winston-Salem, NC
Of course I am biased since Two Hearted flows like water here in Kalamazoo, but I still think it ranks right up there as one of the best regular production IPA's there is. Oberon used to be Bell's best seller, but Two Hearted passed it by a few years ago.
Generally, Two-Hearted ranks extremely high in beer rankings nationwide. It's far more balanced than those hop-forward IPAs. Last I saw Beer Advocate ranked it World Class.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
In other words, the rough edges have been rounded off enough to appeal to the masses?
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Nah. Most masses would still find it way too bitter.In other words, the rough edges have been rounded off enough to appeal to the masses?
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
No doubt!
I have a question maybe someone here can answer. A coworker mentioned the other day that he finally had a chance to try an "unskunked" bottle/can of a certain beer. The idea is that, the other time he tried it, it was a container that had been allowed to warm up to room temperature and therefore didn't taste right. I've heard others mention they can tell when certain beers have been allowed to warm up at some point.
Is this a real thing? Does it only apply to certain styles? I was in a large beverage store the other day and their huge wall of "make your own 6-pack" was not refrigerated, so....?
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There's a lot of factors going into a beer going bad. If it's in bottles, light through clear or green glass can spoil it. If non-pasteurized, as some micros are, it'll spoil in a couple days if not refrigerated. And unless you're dealing with imperial stouts and the like, no beer ages well. Non-pasteurized can go tits up in five-six months, pasteurized within a year. As far as your chemically enhanced macros, kept in a can, they prolly live longer than plutonium.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Nah……Bell’s has been brewing Two Hearted Ale for years, using the same recipe. It has always had a nice balance to the pallet. When Two Hearted first came out it was kind of unique, especially to the Midwest, but a lot of other breweries have caught up to it over the years. In the Southwest Michigan area pretty much every brewery makes their version of Two Hearted. For example…..Founders has Centennial IPA, Dark Horse has Crooked Tree IPA, New Holland has Mad Hatter IPA and many others. All of these started out to directly compete against Two Hearted with differing degrees of success. Two Hearted is still rated as an outstanding beer on most websites, and overtook Oberon as Bell’s best seller a few years ago.In other words, the rough edges have been rounded off enough to appeal to the masses?
It is World Class. However, imo an IPA should be hop forward. Also, I don't think balance is Two Hearted's strength, but creaminess is. It has an almost Cream Ale-like quality to it which sets it apart. It's a great beer, but for me has been passed by some others.
B-I-N-G-O
and umm... "the masses" still drink piss like Bud/Miller/Coors
"the masses" will never drink Craft Beer
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
Not sure what "regular production", but perfect hop balance for me recently is Face Plant, from Lost Rhino in Northern Virginia. Out west it's been Odell's from CO.
Saw these music-related brews in a liquor store. Will have to try some one day.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
I've had Trooper....its' good.
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