US Expectations of Beer

To speak to the OP's original point, there are actually some Pale Ales here in the US that are not "hop bombs" that he might enjoy.

In my neck of the woods (West Coast) Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Pike "Heirloom Amber" Pale Ale and Redhook ESB are three with flavorful malt profiles with enough hops to keep the tongue awake and are also "easy-drinking".

By contrast, my favorite bottled beers from the other side of the pond are Fullers ESB, Belhaven Scottish Ale and Young's Special London Ale.

Cheers!

I haven't read much of this thread but...the top 3 breweries according to Zymurgy magazine are: Dogfish Head, Stone, and Sierra Nevada. The top 3 beers are: Russian River Pliny The Elder, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, and Stone Arrogant Bastard. This is according to people from the states so there it is...

Ah! Thanks for the reminder!

Stone's Arrogant bastard is another "quality brew" the OP should try!

Synovia said:

I like a good pale ale, and I despise SNPA. Don't understand all the love for it here. Different strokes I guess.

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I know this is close to blasphemy but...I'm also not a huge fan of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Its all well and good but I like something more assertive. I feel like American craft beer is about taking styles to the edge and beyond (RR Pliny). Thats what has put the US in the forefront of craft brewing. Just my opinion (west coast)...but try RR Pliny or Alesmith Speedway or Deschutes Mirror Mirror. These beers are the Americanized version of old European beer styles. BTW...3 of my favorite beers too.

My first taste of SNPA was a sixer that I picked up in a convenience store - I thought it was pretty nasty.

After reading all the laurels it's received here and on other brewing forums, I decided to give it another try and picked up a 20 ouncer from a beer specialty store. It was a delicious, well-balanced ale!

Since then, it's been hit-and-miss getting SNPA that wasn't "ruined" by maltreatment (room temp storage, too long on shelf, etc...) before getting it into my hands. It's possible it just doesn't travel well.

Now I'm only willing to buy SNPA at a couple places where I know it's fresh.

I've had similar experiences, though not as pronounced, with some Rogue and Stone brews at my local supermarkets - I think they're "stored warm" before going into the cold displays.

This might have already been said, but there are so many different types of people in the US with different tastes preferences, that there is no one "good tasting" idea from the US. With all the people and all of the difference preferences, there is also an abundance of breweries so that there is something for everyone.

This map shows you how many breweries there are (look at the number of breweries in California alone!)

Ha ha! I love that the only labeled area of the nation is "Bourbon Country"! I think we've got a sign outside our county "Welcome to Whiskey Town".

That's pretty bad. Why don't they label the west coast "Hippieland", Florida "Retirement Community", or Utah "Mormonopolis"? Why? Because it's easy to rely on a stereotype to get a cheap laugh.

beerkrump said:

Ha ha! I love that the only labeled area of the nation is "Bourbon Country"! I think we've got a sign outside our county "Welcome to Whiskey Town".

That's pretty bad. Why don't they label the west coast "Hippieland", Florida "Retirement Community", or Utah "Mormonopolis"? Why? Because it's easy to rely on a stereotype to get a cheap laugh.

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Oh come on! Don't stereotype us as hippies! We have tons of rednecks, cowboys (there is a difference between those two), pseudo-intellectuals, and fake vein shallow uptight broads.

I can't imagine that the US members of this forum are representative of the average beer drinker here in the US.

So...to speak as a voice for maltier American beers, my recommendations to the OP include...

Bell's Brwery Kalamazoo and Expedition Stouts - great American renditions of the stout style.

Bell's Oberon Ale - American take on a standard wheat beer

Rogue Brutal Bitter - an American take on a classic ESB

Ommegang Hennepin - an American take on Saison

Full Sail Brewing Session Lager - a true pre-prohibition style American lager, what BMC should taste like.

Sam Adams Summer Ale - a bright and citrusy American wheat, great for those hot, sunny days. Pretty unique in my opinion.

Unfortunately for the OP, I fully believe that the very best and most creative American beers are currently being turned out, not so much by our large craft brewers like those listed above, but our microbreweries - places like Cigar City Brewery hear in Tampa, FL that are producing some amazing beers shortly after opening and really incorporating the local culture into the product. I say unfortunately, because most of the people on this forum can't yet enjoy these beers, much less our friends overseas.

Anyway...this is the future of American beer, truly blurring the style lines...

Guava Grove Ale - Guava Grove is a Saison which is fermented with guava. The guava adds sweetness and acidity to the prodigious fruity esters imparted by the warm fermentation temperatures of the Belgian yeast strain.

Humidor Series Wood Aged Beers - The Humidor Series is a rotating offering of Cigar City Brewing beer aged on cedar. We change the offering for every release so that more of our beers get to luxuriate in cigar box cedar.

Cuban Espresso Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale - Maduro is a Northern English-style brown ale with some American affectations. It is unlike the typical American Brown Ale, as it doesn’t have the big hop character common in American-brewed Brown Ales. And Maduro is higher in alcohol than the common English brown ale. This release adds locally roasted Cuban-style Espresso (the Imperial Stout of coffee).

Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout - In Mayan myth, Hunahpu gave cocoa to the Mayans. The base recipe is Marshal Zhukov Imperial Stout. It is aged on pasillo and ancho peppers as well as vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa nibs.

Regardless, if you can find any of the craft brews above, give them a try and let us know what you think.

- Chris

MBasile said:

Oh come on! Don't stereotype us as hippies! We have tons of rednecks, cowboys (there is a difference between those two), pseudo-intellectuals, and fake vein shallow uptight broads.

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Kind of the point I was making( note: tongue in cheek). By the by, I'm a native Californian and I grew up on a small ranch in the foothills east of San Jose, in the shadow of Mt. Hamilton and Lick Observatory. I remember when it was referred to as 'Orchard Valley', not 'Silicon Valley'. How's that for dating ones self?

danlad said:

There is though a specialist beer importer in Edinburgh with a pretty good range.

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Just out of curiosity, where would one find this specialist beer importer? And do you have any idea of what they might have in stock?

To everyone else in this thread, is it really worth seeking out hoppy beers? Assuming they probably won't be terribly fresh.

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.

MikeG said:

I can't imagine that the US members of this forum are representative of the average beer drinker here in the US.

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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.

Dougie90 said:

Just out of curiosity, where would one find this specialist beer importer? And do you have any idea of what they might have in stock?

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It's Cornelius on Easter Rd. Loads of other beers elsewhere and wines too. They don't seem to have a website though, so you can't check what they have online so far as I can find. Lots of beers - British, Belgian, German, Czech, American...

if you can find it, I recommend anything from ballast point. I've never had a bad brew from them and I find all their styles really well balanced. My favorite IPA is their Sculpin IPA, but it's a specialty brew they only release in limited quantities and locations a few times a year. but if you can find their Big eye IPA or their yellow tail pale ale I would highly recommend giving them a try.

MBasile said:

This map shows you how many breweries there are (look at the number of breweries in California alone!)

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For a state as large as Texas, it's ridiculous the small number of breweries and brew pubs we have

Kpetersen said:

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

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True there are big distilleries in Kentucky and Tennessee. However, try and google "distilleries in Alabama", or Georgia, or Mississippi, or Arkansas, and you'll find two, maybe three. If you do check KY and TN, make sure those distilleries are active. Many of the smaller stills have closed.

Kpetersen said:

, and if you look at the map there are very few breweries in that area.

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Yes, I can see the map that's why I made the comment.

Kpetersen said:

So that is the person who drew the map's little joke/explanation of why there are so few breweries in the south.

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Are you the person? If not, you cannot make this statement. The "Bourbon Country" comment is more likely to be a slight at the history of illicit stills and moonshiners. It was cheap. The producers of that map also made this one.

http://www.sloshspot.com/photos/blog/full/photo_1246056700.png

If you look to the bottom of this one, you'll see "Comedy Zone Beer Trivia."

True, we don't have many breweries. We also have fewer large cities and industries and the population is largely blue collar. In other states fitting these criteria you'll find a similar ratio between people and breweries with out the jab.