10 largest craft brewers

[wacko]

Not just the people I know, but I enjoy discussing beer with anyone who happens to be in the beer aisle with me lol. You've got me interested now, I'm going to talk to my beer people at my store.

 

[I_B_Mongo]

Not just the people I know, but I enjoy discussing beer with anyone who happens to be in the beer aisle with me lol. You've got me interested now, I'm going to talk to my beer people at my store.

I've posed this question to others on this topic, but what BLVD beers have you tried? I agree that their normal lineup isn't earth shattering, but few breweries try to reinvent the wheel with their bread and butter offerings. (Enough cliches in that sentence?) But have you tried any of their Smokestack offerings? All of the year-round ones are great in their own right, but their seasonals in the Smokestack series are down right awesome!

 

[Pappers_]

that they are doing the work in the midwest that they have to do. Palettes there aren't ready or some big pacnw hoppy beers. They're right in the middle of budweiserland. So they tone it down and they bring people over slow.

Yes, we're just not as sophisticated as you cosmopolitans in the NW. Compared to Portland, Chicago is such a hamlet . . . LOL!

 

[wacko]

I've posed this question to others on this topic, but what BLVD beers have you tried? I agree that their normal lineup isn't earth shattering, but few breweries try to reinvent the wheel with their bread and butter offerings. (Enough cliches in that sentence?) But have you tried any of their Smokestack offerings? All of the year-round ones are great in their own right, but their seasonals in the Smokestack series are down right awesome!

I have tried double wide IPA and the bourbon barrel Quad. double wide wasn't anything special and the quad I quite enjoyed. I've also gone to a tasting by the distributer at my local store. They only had about 5 beers, but only the quad stood out for me. Can't remember which keg my brother had, but any craft brew will do when I'm back home visiting family.

 

[wacko]

Yes, we're just not as sophisticated as you cosmopolitans in the NW. Compared to Portland, Chicago is such a hamlet . . . LOL!

Chicago is a great town, I would love to have some recommendations from you on beers to drink. The only brewery i recognized when I did a quick search was Goose island.

 

[Pappers_]

Chicago is a great town, I would love to have some recommendations from you on beers to drink. The only brewery i recognized when I did a quick search was Goose island.

Three Floyds, Metropolitan, Half Acre, Two Brothers, Revolution, Piece and Flossmor Station all make outstanding beers. Other than Goose Island and Three Floyds, I don't know if the others are distributed outside the state.

Metropolitan specializes in lagers, which is unusual for a microbrewery. Its run by a husband/wife team and I really enjoy their beers. Half Acre seems to operate a little like a cooperative - with the result being some very creative/unusual beers come out of there. Their basic pale ale (Daisy Cutter) is really quite good, as is their schwarzbier. Two Brothers makes a rye beer that I enjoy.

Piece and Flossmor Station are brew pubs and there are a couple more in the southwest area of the metropolitan area that I've been told about but haven't tried yet.

 

[I_B_Mongo]

I have tried double wide IPA and the bourbon barrel Quad. double wide wasn't anything special and the quad I quite enjoyed. I've also gone to a tasting by the distributer at my local store. They only had about 5 beers, but only the quad stood out for me. Can't remember which keg my brother had, but any craft brew will do when I'm back home visiting family.

I'm glad you liked the BBQ. It's one of my favorites too! Another couple to try (depending on availability and your taste preferences) are the Imperial Stout, Saison Brett, Wheat Wine, and Rye-on-Rye.

I didn't make my posts trying to say Boulevard is the best brewery in America, but just to defend my hometown brewery. I feel (along with a lot of others) that they make some excellent beers. I've had lots of beers from around the country & world and feel that some of BLVD's beers are right up there with other breweries.

It also seems that there is sometimes a hipster feel for some beer drinkers. Meaning that once a beer/brewery is popular with the masses, some people are reluctant to say they like it. You see this with a lot with bands/musicians. People LOVE to love a beer(band) that nobody else knows about, but once it's mainstream, they no longer like it. I'm not accusing you of this, just my rant on some beer drinkers.

If you ever want to try some other BLVD beers and can't find them, PM me. Maybe we can work out a trade for some NW beers I can't get here in KC.

 

[wacko]

I might be interested in that I B. I'll see what I can find locally.
(Even if you did just call me a hipster )

for the record, I've always been a "drink Local" Beer guy, so I'm sure I'd be enjoying boulevard if I was back in the midwest. Choc? maybe not.

 

[SteveM]

...for the record, I've always been a "drink Local" Beer guy, so I'm sure I'd be enjoying boulevard if I was back in the midwest.

Well said! Beer (good beer) is difficult to ship long distances. Stick with the local product.

 

[remilard]

Not just the people I know, but I enjoy discussing beer with anyone who happens to be in the beer aisle with me lol. You've got me interested now, I'm going to talk to my beer people at my store.

You should talk to people at the Green Dragon. I was there in January, shortly after Boulevard began distribution, and the bar tender was telling me how much she loved Tank 7 and how fast they sold through it.

 

[wacko]

So I went by the New Season's last night. I spoke with the girl that runs the beer and wine aisle and she said that it does OK. Some of the seasonals do quite well and that some of the employees in the store were big fans. The only one available yesterday was a sixer of pilsner and she said she had some other in the back. She had no 22 onces. She said that normally the boulevard was a "hand beer" which means that she or another employess would recommend it based on input from the customer.

I bought the pilsnar and blind sampled it to my neighbor and he said it was good. I agreed. It just wasn't spectaular to make us leave local brews. It also doesn't help that he has a keg of Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier and a keg of Caldera Pale Ale in his garage

 

[I_B_Mongo]

Their pilsnar is okay. If you're really wanting some "wow" beers, you've got to stick to the Smokestack series. BLVD doesn't do bombers, just 12 oz in the regular beers/seasonals and 750ml in the Smokestack series.
Glad to see you making the effort to try it. Very open minded of you.

 

[wacko]

I am open minded and I am not afraid to admit I'm wrong. Thinking otherwise could keep me from trying some good beers

I think what's being lost here is that my original comment was more about the average beer drinker from the midwest (I guess I should have said the southern midwest maybe ) than the ability of Boulevard to make great beer.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

I gotta chime in here too. I love Boulevard Smokestack Series. Blvd, was also the brewery that really got me trying more beers. I used to drink it all the time when I lived in Tulsa. I wasn't able to get it in Dallas for a quite awhile after moving here, so I'm glad to see them growing and expanding their distribution area!

 

[I_B_Mongo]

I think what's being lost here is that my original comment was more about the average beer drinker from the midwest (I guess I should have said the southern midwest maybe ) than the ability of Boulevard to make great beer.

I think that this can be said about the average beer drinker anywhere. There are BMC drinkers EVERYWHERE. They are the Big 3 for a reason...the masses support them. I don't think that it's isolated to one certain area.

 

[wacko]

Well I've lived in oklahoma, new england and portland, so that's about all I know.

 

[I_B_Mongo]

Well, considering those locations I'm sure that Portland has the most progressive beer movement. But I'm sure that the other locations had their pockets of beer savvy patrons. Enjoy your abundance of great beers! My old college roommate lives in Portland and is always telling me about the great beers he's enjoying.
Again, consider my offer of some Boulevard trades. I know I'd love to try some NW breweries!