Beerkrump, I am pretty sure the area is labelled bourbon country because one, as I am sure you know there is a ton of whiskey distilling there, and if you look at the map there are very few breweries in that area. So that is the person who drew the map's little joke/explanation of why there are so few breweries in the south.
I can't imagine that the US members of this forum are representative of the average beer drinker here in the US.
This is an excellent point.
Living in the middle of Illinois, the two closest craft brewer's I am aware of are Goose Island in Chicago and Schlafly in St Louis. As you all likely know they make some really good beers, goose island 312 being my favorite summer beer. Their bourbon county stout is also the best stout I have ever tasted, though I am not normally big on stouts.
I also think Sierra Nevada PA is somewhat overrated, but they are also credited with inventing american pale ale so you have to give them their due. I had their summer earlier this year and would highly recommend that as well.
Fat tire has been mentioned as a good amber, and i agree, but it is also the only good beer i've had from new belgium. The skinny dip summer was pretty good, but really should have been called fat tire light as it tastes very similar. The mothership wit was undrinkable to me. The leinenkugel amber is also comparable to fat tire and in my opinion maybe a bit better. Their sunset wheat is like a candy beer and really gross but seems to be pretty popular.
As for all the elitism talk, you have to take things for what they are. The people on ratebeer never seemed to learn this lesson. Don't compare 13 dollar a case beer to a 15 dollar a six. Pabst is good for what it is. So is old style, so is budweiser. This is like comparing a good five dollar bar burger to a fifty dollar porterhouse at a nice restaurant, which is to say there is no point and any time you make the comparison a reasonable person is going to think of you as an elitist prick who is missing the point.