East coast vs West coast

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I have to go with Midwest too. I'm not knocking West Coast or East Coast at all. They make great beer, but Founders Breakfast Stout, Kentucky Breakfast Stout, and (The best!) Canadian Breakfast Stout are made in Michigan.
However, Southern Tier (Creme Brulee!) is in New York. That's East Coast, so I'm leaning, BUT Avery is Colorado, which is West, but I'm not sure it can be called West "Coast", so I'm lumping it in with Midwest, and I'm throwing in Three Floyd's, Bell's, New Glarus, Two Brothers, New Holland, and Dark Horse. MidWest!
 
That's why I said around here ;). Apparently Hoplife could pass by my place without a glance.

I know, but you have to admit it does raise the bar. It's like being proud of your new 2-keg mini-fridge and then seeing some guy's 12-tap basement brewpub!

I've actually been there - a pretty cool place!

Also, I think the conversation was about bottle shops, not bars!

LOL - I missed that part. I do love Cap Ale. $2 burger nite on Mondays is unbeatable...even if they only have 300 beers :mug:
 
+1 to Revvy and all others on the Midwest. Being in Chicago gives me quick access to WI brews (i.e. New Glarus) and MI brews (i.e. Founders, Bell's, and also Odd Side Ales in Grand Haven) and even Goose Island if I want quasi-quenchable (used-to-be-craft) beers. Cheers.
 
HawksBrewer said:
+1 to Revvy and all others on the Midwest. Being in Chicago gives me quick access to WI brews (i.e. New Glarus) and MI brews (i.e. Founders, Bell's, and also Odd Side Ales in Grand Haven) and even Goose Island if I want quasi-quenchable (used-to-be-craft) beers. Cheers.

Don't forget 3 Floyd's.
 
Considering there's 100 craft breweries in the state of michigan alone, I say midwest represent!!!! :)

i'm with this. take MI, WI, and MN into account and you have a pretty solid craft beer movement in the upper midwest. and as great as some of those west coast beers are, many pale in comparison to some of the beers being brewed in this part of the country.
 
Count me as one of the overly hopped West Coast IPA lover's. I like other styles too but Pliny has been the best beer I have had. I'd love to keep trying to find one that would top it- IPA or not.
 
Considering I grew up in the county were Pizza Port, Stone Brewing, Ballast Point, lost Abbey, (To name only a few) were all founded I'm gonna have to stick with the west coast. Not to mention up north from me, Rogue, deschutes, etc...

By the way didn't the west coast get a tri-fecta for the best brewerys in the US, I think Washington, oregon, and California were all ranked in the top 3.

With that being said I so wish I could get my hands on beers that we dont have here that are all over the US.
 
Count me as one of the overly hopped West Coast IPA lover's. I like other styles too but Pliny has been the best beer I have had. I'd love to keep trying to find one that would top it- IPA or not.

pliny is stellar beer, one of my faves. there's a few from our neck of the woods that are just as good. Flat Earth's NW Passage, Surly Furious or Abrasive, Bell's Hopslam are all great IPA's that rank up there with the west coasters like pliny or stone's ruination.

i digress, Deschutes has to be one of the better breweries in the nation. :mug:
 
I like both styles but I tend to drink the East Coast beers more often because they aren't as in your face but then again it depends on my mood.
 
Biggie > Tupac

Just Kidding! Don't wanna start that type of turf war on a beer forum! haha

Unless you think otherwise... :p
 
Third coast all the way! Gotta go with West over East though. Russian River & Firestone Walker top everything I've had from the East.
 
Biggie > Tupac

Just Kidding! Don't wanna start that type of turf war on a beer forum! haha

Unless you think otherwise... :p

I intentionally posted it that way. Was curious if anybody would notice. :mug:

Officially no comment on the tupac / biggie...I don't even like rap all that much.


I am flying back west tomorrow. Even though I am a left coast guy, It will be a shame to leave some of these great east coast brews. Terrapin Hopsecutioner is freakin awesome.
 
LOL...even folks in Europe mention some places, Germany especially are mired in old ways of thinking, and a lack of adventure.

Perhaps, but I'd still rather drink the old beers of Bamberg, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Czech Republic, and Belgium than most American beers. There's quite a bit of adventure happening in Italy and parts of Scandinavia. There's an under-documented (at least in the English-speaking world) scene blooming in France right now as well.
 
I have to agree about Italy. I was shocked recently when I saw the Italian section in a beer "mecca" that I found recently in Brooklyn. Easily 4'x7' feet of shelf space just for Italian beers in single bottles.
 
I love how none of us on the west coast are even wasting our time with this argument. Different strokes for different folks, this is a total waste of time.
 
Wait- Eugene, OR/ Carlsbad, CA/ Seaside, CA are all no longer part of the west coast??

Why can't we have fun on this site? Besides if you thought it was a waste of time, why would you bother respndong?
 
My point was that there was 5x as many people on the east coast responding. I was talking in generalities.
 
Ah- Got it. No worries. I thought it was kind of a cool way to learn about a few brews I should try. I pointed out that I liked Pliny and the retort was then you should try these Eas Coast beers. There is some trash talk but it's all in good fun, I think...
 
I've viewed the East v. West thing similar to how I see pizza around the country. Here in NY, pizzas loaded with all kinds of crap aren't as popular. Why? Because the pizza is good enough not to need all kinds of toppings. Same thing with our beer. We don't need to over-hop to make good beer. ;)
 
No love for the dirty souf? Third coast?

We have Shiner, Saint Arnolds, Rahr Sons, Jester King, 512, Real Ale...

I'd have to say Colorado takes the cake, Denver, Boulder, Longmont, and Fort Collins are meccas! But there isn't a coast there, so the east gets my vote.

Sweetwater, Terrapin, Dogfish Head, Flying Dog, Clown Shoes, Allagash (which is freaking fantastic) just to name drop a few.
 
I am not a pizza connoisseur so I'll give you that one. But us West Coasters are not covering up poor malts, more like letting the hops shine. And personally I don't like overly malty beers.

I propose a swap. I can source a few of my Fav's around here and will send them in exchange for some on the East Coast that I can't find. Pliny is 3.5 hours away but there is a great bottle shop right down the street from my house. If they can't source it, I'll get something really tasty. I'd say 2 or 3 bottles- An IPA cause I love'em and 1 or 2 bottles of another style or 2. Any takers?
 
I've viewed the East v. West thing similar to how I see pizza around the country. Here in NY, pizzas loaded with all kinds of crap aren't as popular. Why? Because the pizza is good enough not to need all kinds of toppings. Same thing with our beer. We don't need to over-hop to make good beer. ;)

:off:This is going to get ugly.

Chi town has the best pizza, hands down. Gino's East is a real pizza pie.
 
I am not a pizza connoisseur so I'll give you that one. But us West Coasters are not covering up poor malts, more like letting the hops shine. And personally I don't like overly malty beers.

I propose a swap. I can source a few of my Fav's around here and will send them in exchange for some on the East Coast that I can't find. Pliny is 3.5 hours away but there is a great bottle shop right down the street from my house. If they can't source it, I'll get something really tasty. I'd say 2 or 3 bottles- An IPA cause I love'em and 1 or 2 bottles of another style or 2. Any takers?

Sure, what do you want from Texas?

And I really want to try Pliny, we don't get RR down here.
 
:off:This is going to get ugly.

Chi town has the best pizza, hands down. Gino's East is a real pizza pie.

Different pizza, I always found that to be a strange comparison. To me comparing Chicago pies to NY pies is the equivelent of comparing chicken noodle soup to clam chowder. Yes they are both soup, but not really comparable because they are completely different. If I'm trying to make NY pizza, I don't make it 3 inches think. Likewise if I'm trying to make Chicago pizza, I don't make it thin.

While one can choose a prime rib over filet minon, can one really compare the two cuts? That's how I view the Chicago v. NYC pizza argument.
 
As a person who lives in one of the most frustrating beer areas in America (oklahoma), I thought I could weigh in on this subject from a very non-biased perspective. My personal opinion/observation is that the west cost has a severe hop obsession that ruins a lot of beer. Beers from the east coast or anywhere outside of the west coast, seem to be more balanced and have a specific style that they are going for other than hoppy. I know these are pretty generalized statements, but it seems like everytime I buy a beer and it is from California, Oregon, or Washington, it is too hoppy for the style and it drives me crazy.

To me it is like when a chef has to make everything spicy because they like spicy foods and to them hotter is better. This is not always a good rule and it seems to be the rule for most west coast brewers and their hops.

IMHO the best place for craft beer is Colorado. This may be a little biased since it is close to OK, but we can't even get some of the best Colorado brews because of our completely worthless and outdated liquor laws. Outside of there I would generally say east coast, but I sadly only get a lot of east coast beers when I am on vacation.

Either way, that's my 2 cents.




AS a Ny'er in Denver I say AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I am not a pizza connoisseur so I'll give you that one. But us West Coasters are not covering up poor malts, more like letting the hops shine. And personally I don't like overly malty beers.

I didn't necessarily mean it that way. I guess the way you described it is slightly better. Pizzas loaded with toppings are trying to showcase the toppings. Plain pizza is practicing the art of simplicity.

I propose a swap. I can source a few of my Fav's around here and will send them in exchange for some on the East Coast that I can't find. Pliny is 3.5 hours away but there is a great bottle shop right down the street from my house.

I just tried a Pliny less at than 2 weeks old from a swap. I wasn't blown away at all. What's the draw to the beer? I've had much better west coast IPA's. I think that beer has the whole "rare" reputation build up thing going on.

The only well-known west coast beer I've never had is Pizza Port. I'd workd out a trade for that if you're interested.
 
You realize this statement alone subtly perpetuates the "argument" right? You're basically saying that we have an inferiority complex.

No, you missed my point. As I said, different strokes for different folks. For example, west coast IPAs are bigger, drier, more bitter, and more hoppy. East Coast IPAs are a little smaller, more balanced bitterness, a little maltier, and less hoppy.

West coast ambers: Much bigger, much more bitter, basically like an amber IPA. East coast ambers: much more balanced, more like an amber pale ale.

Is one better than the other? That completely depends on your tastes. That's why I find these threads silly. I could shout until my face turns blue that west coast beers are better, but if you don't like big, dry, hoppy beers, the point is moot.
 
I just tried a Pliny less at than 2 weeks old from a swap. I wasn't blown away at all. What's the draw to the beer? I've had much better west coast IPA's. I think that beer has the whole "rare" reputation build up thing going on.

The only well-known west coast beer I've never had is Pizza Port. I'd workd out a trade for that if you're interested.

Man Pizza Port was awesome! Unfortunately its a good 7 hour drive for me to get it so I couldn't swap for that... Sorry! It was definitely a fun place to try because we were driving through for a family visit. If I can get the family to come up this way, I'll have them stop and pick some up then PM you.

I just like Pliny- it is a real hop bomb but pretty balanced as well. There are really some other great IPA's out there but you're right, they are not as hard to find- Highwater and Drakes to name a few.
 
The only well-known west coast beer I've never had is Pizza Port. I'd workd out a trade for that if you're interested.

Send him the hot rocks lager. Great beer with some cool history behind the brewing. I just saw that geer357 can't get it for you. It's 5 minutes from my house and I also use to work there. Let me know if you want something and maybe we can work something out.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSiWfOkECTE]Making Hot Rocks Lager - YouTube[/ame]
 
Too bad it's a casserole and not a pizza.



The East/West beer dialog is ridiculous, but not the pizza debate.

New York style is good, but it's not a pizza pie. It's more like a pizzokie from BJ's. Chi town pizza looks like a slice of pie and has to be eaten like one as well with a fork and knife; no option for folding.
 
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