If you could only buy one brand of beer, what would it be?

[Chadwick]

I thought this would be an interesting discussion.

Basically, if you could only buy one brand of beer. Which brand would you chose? Most every member here has well refined tastes in beer. I don't expect too many people to say "Budweiser!" Not that there is anything wrong with that. Hey, whatever floats your boat.

With that noted. It's my goal to move away from buying any "brand" beer again. I have my favorites. But it is based not entirely on their beer, but rather their bottles. I like to reuse their bottles for my beer. Still, they make some mighty good beers too. I just cannot afford to buy them all of the time.

With that noted. I'll cast my vote for Sierra Nevada.

 

[catdaddy66]

One brand? Probably Samuel Smith...


One beer? Either Bass pale ale or Pilsner Urquell

 

[looneybomber]

Avery Brewing.

Honorable mention:
Boulevard Brewing.
Unibroue.

 

[nasty_rabbit]

Sierra Nevada for the bottles. Terrapin for the beer.

 

[amandabab]

Samuel Smith

 

[stevo4361]

Samuel Smiths for both good beer and sweet bottles. But would miss Westmalle for the same reasons.

 

[Devin]

Odell's.

 

[Tupperwolf]

Stone.

 

[Brewsader1]

I'm thinking Bell's or Short's

 

[dbrewski]

Sierra Nevada is a good choice. I would also take Lagunitas.

[Edit] I meant SN or Lagunitas. But both would be OK too.

 

[overdbus]

it would be a hard pick for me Lagunitas or New Belgium or SN
I could live with any of them.

 

[BrutalBrew]

Sam Adams. They have a lot of good beers . I know they arnt hip these days but who cares. Funny how ive read in past post "that beer is so last year" and if a beer was good last year why is it crap now? Berr is becoming like underground art/music. If to many people also like it then you must change to something else to stay COOL.

 

[PastorofMuppets]

boston lager for me

 

[NeighborsBrewingCo]

Firestone walker, you have double jack, sucaba, parabola ect...

Second, the bruery they keep it interesting.

 

[AnOldUR]

Gotta say Dogfish Head for no reason other than Sam Calagione constantly comes up with new, interesting ideas.

You might not always like it, but you'll never be bored.

 

[brewmaster12]

Cigar City for sure. Their regulars are great and the special releases are phenomenal

 

[turvis]

I would pick Ranger Creek in San Antonio because they make great beers but also do whiskey.

 

[Totes]

Domestic: Deschutes
(can't exist w/o my Abyss)

Import: St. Bernardus

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

One brand: Firestone Walker
One Beer: Union Jack or Heady Topper both brewed fresh everyday of the week of course!!

 

[llvllayhem]

+1 for Stone!

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

Sam Adams. They have a lot of good beers . I know they arnt hip these days but who cares. Funny how ive read in past post "that beer is so last year" and if a beer was good last year why is it crap now? Berr is becoming like underground art/music. If to many people also like it then you must change to something else to stay COOL.

ACTUALLY...Breweries are constantly changing seasonal recipes to get up with hop shortage/malt availability/consistency in malting in that year,
For instance i heard a lot of claims that hopslam was not the same this year.
I for one am seeing Goose Island IPA fall off the map dramaticly with hop punch and malt balance also...sux used to be a staple in my fridge!!

Also if this is the way YOU see the craft movement, maybe your looking/drinking the wrong beers? I for one dont know anybody that says...
"Oh crap, I used to love pipeworks but after they were named best upcoming brewery at GABF im moving towards drinking something else"...

 

[BigRedHopHead]

Oskar Blues has my vote!

 

[cdelucia1]

One beer till the day I die...gotta say Guinness. If there is a food shortage I will be able to live off my beer gut fat reserves drinking nothing but Guinness. Would have to be out the tap or out the can, none of that bottled crap!

 

[APendejo]

Ballast Point.

AP

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Domestic: Deschutes
(can't exist w/o my Abyss)

For a single brand, they have everything I NEED to survive (Pale, IPA, Porter)

 

[Joker]

Ninkasi or Deschutes and I would probably have to flip a coin to decide.

 

[brewbobaggins]

If have to do a brewery that does both clean and sour beers, with an broad range if European styles as well as American, with an adventurous side that goes beyond just the "style guidelines" as well.

To me, that's Russian River. No question. Dozens of styles, three if my favorite beers (PTE, Consecration, & Damnation), and always something new to try that's pushing the limits.

Honorable mentions: The Bruery, Boulevard, Lost Abbey, and New Belgium.

 

[brewbobaggins]

Domestic: Deschutes
(can't exist w/o my Abyss)

Import: St. Bernardus

Agh. Deschutes! Yeah. That'd be tough. They're amazing. And have such a broad scope of beers. All delicious.

 

[joshualoomis]

russian river.

but, since i can only get it while on vacation, my vote would be sierra nevada. pale ale, torpedo, celebration, ruthless, hoptimum, bigfoot, tumbler... what a lineup.

and oskar blues as runner-up.

 

[Spartan1979]

Another vote for Sierra Nevada. A wide variety of beers and I usually like what they come out with.

 

[Ondori]

I think I would have to go with some local breweries here. I love Cigar City and Tampa Bay Brewing Co. The Moosekiller Barley Wine is absolutely delicous at Tampa Bay brewing, along with everything else.

 

[Bierliebhaber]

Lagunitas!

 

[stjackson]

Avery Brewing.

Honorable mention:
Boulevard Brewing.
Unibroue.

I thought I'd see more people choosing Avery. Maharaja is one of my favorite beers ever. I think I'd have to pick Avery based off of that alone.

 

[BryceL]

Tough call between Firestone Walker and Deschuttes.

 

[Xpertskir]

3Floyds, overall quality and range of styles, too bad they don't have more sour production.

Honorable mention, Alpine

 

[Hermyweizen]

Bells or 3 Floyds....probably Floyds for Robert the Bruce

 

[theblaster]

If I could only have what is available in bottles where I live, Lagunitas. Love the house style, love the diversity inside that house style.

If I could get whatever was on tap at the brewery's tasting room, Union Jack. There is a TON of stuff on tap at the tasting room that you will never see in the marketplace. And the tour is pretty good as well.

 

[Bierliebhaber]

If I could only have what is available in bottles where I live, Lagunitas. Love the house style, love the diversity inside that house style.

If I could get whatever was on tap at the brewery's tasting room, Union Jack. There is a TON of stuff on tap at the tasting room that you will never see in the marketplace. And the tour is pretty good as well.

It's the same at Lagunitas tap house...check out what's on tap on their web site. Almost all the taps are non-distribution. Firk'n Friday is pretty cool, too (cool, maybe not great every time).

 

[HerbieHowells]

It would probably come down to Avery or New Belgium.

New Belgium has a more diverse Belgian style offering, and their lips of faith offerings would assure you that you never got board.

That said, sometimes I just want a nice easy drinking dark malty beer, and you really can't beat Avery's Ellie's Brown for that. They still have a nice wit, Belgian pale ale, and strong golden.

But could I really live life knowing that I had tasted my last New Belgium Biere de Mars or Biere de Garde? That's a tough call...

Good thing this is just an exercise.

 

[Malty_Dog]

Founders

I love their Stouts, I love their Scottish Ale, I love their Porter, I love their Rye PA, I can live with their Centennial IPA, and I'm sure I'd like all their other varieties I haven't tried yet.