First Pliny

Colorado ski trip, found a bottle in Dillon, CO. Didn't see it on the shelf, asked the guy. He goes to the back, finds 1 bottle. Last one evidently.

Wow. Thats all I can say.

Also had a hop rod rye and several New Belgiums. Loved the hop rod rye. Thought the 1554 was ok but overrated from what I've read.

Moral of the story: Colorado (and I assume the whole West Coast), has a totally different beer culture than the Midwest. Amazing selection, microbrews and brewpubs everywhere. Even the Ski lodges carry breckenridge and New Belgium stuff. Crazy, made me want to move out there (I'm seriously considering it).

b@stard! I have yet to taste the forbidden fruit. They dont sell em here in the south east. Congrats, I look forward to the day I can have one or two. SWMBO's mom lives in LA so hopefully I can get the hook-up when I go out there to visit.
-Jefe-

Was at Stone last week, they have it on tap. Stone is like the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory of beer. I had to be dragged out.

Yeah, we folk on the west coast are spoiled. I can find it pretty regularly in bottle and tap in Seattle (although it sells out pretty quick). There are some great midwest breweries though that I can't get... like Founders.

Okay, I love the microbrews here in the west, but I've had some damn tasty beer in the midwest- Spotted Cow is a personal fave (Hello Madison!) North Eastern breweries are terrific (Harpoon IPA? Backfin Pale Ale? Yes, thanks.)

I think it's all about what you can't get at home.

I LOVED Linenkeugels when I first tried it. -my palate has become a bit more educated since then (and its getting easier to find in the west) but there was a time I though it was the wasp's nipples. The whole premise of Smoky and the Bandit was bootlegging COORS (holy crap, not a good beer) east of the Mississippi.

Familiarity breeds contempt, and there's good beer almost everywhere, even in Utah.

jgbrown said:

Was at Stone last week, they have it on tap. Stone is like the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory of beer. I had to be dragged out.

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You need to get down to San Diego proper. Stone is good, but there are a few bars that blow its doors off selection-wise.

wonderbread23 said:

Yeah, we folk on the west coast are spoiled. I can find it pretty regularly in bottle and tap in Seattle (although it sells out pretty quick). There are some great midwest breweries though that I can't get... like Founders.

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Yeah, and Three Floyds.

I really wish I could get those beers out here.

weirdboy said:

Yeah, and Three Floyds.

I really wish I could get those beers out here.

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...and Bell's

...and New Glarus...

Jolly Pumpkin!

you guys need to start looking into trading with each other. I'm in PA i had PTE, have some jolly pumpkin, founders, as well as the hot rod rye. My buddy gets some three floyds in on trades as well sadly he doesn't like to share them.

I like the hop Rod rye more than Hop Stupid and it cheaper here too

Sure we have some great breweries. Founders is 1 hour from me, bell's 2 hours. But its the culture, most people I know have never even heard of these breweries. There's only one liquor store in town that has a decent microbrew selection where you can find some Bell's and Founder's stuff. A couple places carry oberon and maybe 1 other 6-pack of microbrew but its really rare. Leinenkugels is fairly popular but thats about it, and only a few styles. Summer Shandy is one of the popular summer beers around here and its half wheat half lemonade.

I stood in this store in Colorado in shock, I must've been there for 45 minutes.

PtE, Racer5, HopRodRye are easy to find here in Sacramento, CA. My new favorite is WipeOut IPA by Port Brewing of San Diego, I also like 395 from Mammoth Brewing, it's an IPA spiked with Desert Sage and Juniper.

Not sure you can get Bell's of Founder's here.... but I think a lot of the west coast stuff... Shipping might suck, too...

http://brewforia.com/

Found a 22oz bottle at Fred Meyer in Seattle today. There were only two bottles left. Nearly $5. My wife thought I was nuts.

What a beer! A hop extravaganza and 8%.

Well worth it.

~Diz

Grimm said:

you guys need to start looking into trading with each other. I'm in PA i had PTE, have some jolly pumpkin, founders, as well as the hot rod rye. My buddy gets some three floyds in on trades as well sadly he doesn't like to share them.

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Word up!!!

Dillon Co - wow. Used to live there in the mid 90's- thanks for the trip down memory lane. Really where I got into good beer. Fat tire was pretty new then and only available around those parts and every party we threw or went to was blowing out Breck brew kegs. I still have not had Pliny. Just havent crossed paths with it yet although Im sure its around here somewhere..

Move there quick if you can. You wont regret it.