Been drinking mostly SNPA and the Torpedo of late. I'm not sure what it is, but alot of the beers I can find around here and that I used to like, I find myself really hating now. There's just something about those 2. Wonderfully hoppy and well balanced.
Had to pour out half a glass of a couple Magic Hat brews last night (#9 and Blind Faith). They just don't bring the hops the way SNPA and Torpedo do. #9, in particular, is so fruity that I just can't take it. For some reason, it sort of tasted like trying to drink cigar smoke. Blind Faith isn't terrible. Just not as hoppy and delicious as Torpedo, which I couldn't stop comparing it too.
I'm finding Single Chair really boring too.
Still working through another Sam Adams summer sampler, but the only ones I care to drink are the Boston Lager and Latitude 48. Both nice, but not SNPA and Torpedo. The rest either seem too boring or too fruity right now.
Just picked up a couple of others that I'm hoping will break me out of this Sierra Nevada funk of sorts.
It sounds like the Smuttynose IPA has alot of fans on here and I'm excited to try it.
Also got some Heavy Seas-Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA (Copper City). Anyone ever try it?
See I feel this way about the Torpedo IPA, tastes like pine tar to me. I bought a six pack last year and still have 2 int he fridge.Smuttynose and Loose Cannon are
AWESOME. Loose Cannon is probably my most favorite IPA ever. They are considerably different than Torpedo, not nearly the dry, hop bite at the end. Almost syrupy going down but I love those kind of IPA's. Enjoy!
When it comes to good beer, I'm still just getting started (drank good beer in college, but was usually too drunk to pay much attention, then settled for macrobrews for far too many years). Still figuring out exactly what I like. So far, I seem to prefer the drier, hoppier beers that I try. I'm so new to decent beers that this could just be a phase.I don't like sweet foods at all and I tend to find many beers far too sweet. So Torpedo is my kind of beer, with SNPA being perfect, when I want to tone down the hops a tad (or don't want to end up plowed). I'm excited to try Smuttynose and Loose Cannon, but I have a feeling I may not like them quite as much. Sounds like they could be a bit too sweet for my tastes. We'll see.
I'm pretty upset that it took me so long to start drinking better beer. Somehow, when it came to picking a food for my dog, I didn't want to settle for feeding him corn-based food, but I settled for drinking corn and rice based beer for many years.
The money I spend doesn't end up really being that much more. An $8-10 macrobrew isn't that cheap when you can plow through 6-8 of them without catching a buzz. At $14.50 a 12-pack (around here, SNPA), a decent craft beer is really a better value. They take me twice as long to drink because they are actually enjoyable to drink and if getting inebriated is the goal, they'll get you there twice as fast. Not to mention, the buzz is much better.
Update: Had the Smuttynose. Loved it.
It's certainly a more balanced beer than the Torpedo. Nice little fruity, orangy thing going on and a nice hoppy kick, but neither are overpowering. The hops seem to really come on at the end, for me.
n topic: Having McKenzie's Cider today, instead of the traditional beer (lol @ woodchuck.) It's a bit too sweet though, I think i'll stick with magnar's in the future.
Great link. I appreciate it, and it is definitely saved for my next pay-day 
