51–60 of 65 posts
While the beer is great, their story of perseverance over adversity is what really matters here.
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Sam Adams is not a craft brewery. I understand that term is subjective, but really truly not in this case. I wouldn't say Dogfish Head is either anymore.
There is a formal definition of what is or isn't a craft brewery from the Brewers Association. A craft brewery makes less than 6 million barrels per year, less than 25% is owned or controlled by a non craft brewery, and the majority of their alcoholic drinks are beer. Sam Adams and DFH both satisfy those requirements.
http://beerpulse.com/2011/01/brewers-association-enacts-sam-...
I've tried a Heddy Topper (it was offered to me in a restaurant in Burlington), I live near Goose Island, and I've consumed New Glarus in Wisconsin. To me it's all about the scarcity. People waiting overnight for limited-edition brews, crossing state lines to buy exclusive brands...it adds this psychological value to the beer. When you strip that away you're left with another 100+ IBU beer that my palate eventually c…
Part of the problem is that you're in Chicago, and Heady Topper doesn't travel well. Also, you already live in one of the country's three centers for Double IPA production. :)
On a meta-level I was amused by the number of brewers and coffee roasters in Vermont, given the fact that neither hops nor coffee beans are grown anywhere even remotely local to the state. But hey, it's a hip thing to do right? 802ers gotta be who they are and that's cool.
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False dichotomy, it really is just a great beer as well. To your credit when it first hit the scene it stood out a lot more than it does now (there are three craft breweries in my area that release cans of NE-style IPA every month).
I agree that it's great, but being 8th on Beer Advocate (4th amongst hoppy beers) is to me too high.
who? what?
Never heard of this on the west coast. You mean there is beer made east of the beerocracy states of Washington & Oregon? At least the hops must come from here, right :-) I wish it was available around here, but the legally required liquor industry beer industry middlemen have too much power in what gets imported. In the Seattle area there are dozens of brewerys in the city, plus zillions in surrounding areas. There a…
http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2016/01/22/new-england-craft-b...
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I agree that it's great, but being 8th on Beer Advocate (4th amongst hoppy beers) is to me too high.
I think it deserves it.
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Part of the problem is that you're in Chicago, and Heady Topper doesn't travel well. Also, you already live in one of the country's three centers for Double IPA production. :)
The gist of my story was that I just placed Heddy Topper in that bin with all the other hops-bombs that really did nothing for me. On a meta-level I was amused by the number of brewers and coffee roasters in Vermont, given the fact that neither hops nor coffee beans are grown anywhere even remotely local to the state. But hey, it's a hip thing to do right? 802ers gotta be who they are and that's cool.
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/resurrecting-hops/Content...
Most of the US is in the wrong climate to grow coffee, do people drink it across the country just because it's "hip"?
Agree that Heady Topper is the best. Love Pliny the Elder and Zombie Dust (which are almost as hard to get where I live) but Heady stands alone for me. My favorite widely available IPA is Jai Alai. What is yours?
The sales lines at the new brewery work incredibly efficiently and it was staggering to see how much money, mostly in cash, was being handed over every 20 seconds as the line moved forward. These folks are geniuses and I am happy to reward them.
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Heady Topper isn't sold outside of Vermont, so that is perhaps why you haven't. I was able to purchase one when visiting there after learning the beer has a score of 100 on beeradvocate.com [1] 'Most loved' probably isn't the right wording :) 'Highest rated' probably would be better. [1] https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27039/16814/
>> Heady Topper isn't sold outside of Vermont And yet it's "America's most loved"... Never heard of it myself. Beer hype. I've no doubt someone's gone off the deep end to get their hands on some; people do a lot of stupid things on behalf of the cliques they aspire to. There just seems to be a lot of this when it involves crafty beer stuff.
> And yet it's "America's most loved"... Never heard of it myself.
I would interpret this as, of those who identify themselves as enjoying good beers, Heady Topper might rank high among their favorites. The general American public does not enjoy quality beers /opinion.