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What kind of beer is everyone drinking tonight? (5 Viewers)

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron for boxing tonight. Mikey Garcia going to war tonight.
I'm going with Dogfish 90's myself. Every time I go to try a different dogfish I can't not buy the 90's because they are that good.
90 is great, but you are missing out. Burton Baton and Indian Brown are 2 of my favorite beers of any brand or style. I just cracked open this Pala Santo Marron. It is an aged brown, but the beer is pretty much black with a nice balance of sweet and hops bite. It;s 12%, but man does it hide it well.

 
The stores in my city are all out of Lagunitas Undercover Shutdown Ale. We are up in Tahoe for Father's Day, and I'm coming home with 4 6-packs.

 
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron for boxing tonight. Mikey Garcia going to war tonight.
I'm going with Dogfish 90's myself. Every time I go to try a different dogfish I can't not buy the 90's because they are that good.
90 is great, but you are missing out. Burton Baton and Indian Brown are 2 of my favorite beers of any brand or style. I just cracked open this Pala Santo Marron. It is an aged brown, but the beer is pretty much black with a nice balance of sweet and hops bite. It;s 12%, but man does it hide it well.
I had some Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron tonight as well. I really love this beer. Delicious chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and prominent woody flavors paired with the well-hidden 12% ABV. Also had some Left Hand Wake Up Dead imperial stout. Also very tasty and strong.
 
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron for boxing tonight. Mikey Garcia going to war tonight.
I'm going with Dogfish 90's myself. Every time I go to try a different dogfish I can't not buy the 90's because they are that good.
90 is great, but you are missing out. Burton Baton and Indian Brown are 2 of my favorite beers of any brand or style. I just cracked open this Pala Santo Marron. It is an aged brown, but the beer is pretty much black with a nice balance of sweet and hops bite. It;s 12%, but man does it hide it well.
I had some Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron tonight as well. I really love this beer. Delicious chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and prominent woody flavors paired with the well-hidden 12% ABV. Also had some Left Hand Wake Up Dead imperial stout. Also very tasty and strong.
I will have to try that, the only LH i have had was Milk Stout.
 
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron for boxing tonight. Mikey Garcia going to war tonight.
I'm going with Dogfish 90's myself. Every time I go to try a different dogfish I can't not buy the 90's because they are that good.
90 is great, but you are missing out. Burton Baton and Indian Brown are 2 of my favorite beers of any brand or style. I just cracked open this Pala Santo Marron. It is an aged brown, but the beer is pretty much black with a nice balance of sweet and hops bite. It;s 12%, but man does it hide it well.
I had some Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron tonight as well. I really love this beer. Delicious chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and prominent woody flavors paired with the well-hidden 12% ABV. Also had some Left Hand Wake Up Dead imperial stout. Also very tasty and strong.
I will have to try that, the only LH i have had was Milk Stout.
Yeah, I'd recommend it. The Wake Up Dead imperial stout is much more complex than their flagship milk stout. It actually has somewhat similar flavor profiles to the Palo Santo Marron, but less woody.
 
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Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron for boxing tonight. Mikey Garcia going to war tonight.
I'm going with Dogfish 90's myself. Every time I go to try a different dogfish I can't not buy the 90's because they are that good.
90 is great, but you are missing out. Burton Baton and Indian Brown are 2 of my favorite beers of any brand or style. I just cracked open this Pala Santo Marron. It is an aged brown, but the beer is pretty much black with a nice balance of sweet and hops bite. It;s 12%, but man does it hide it well.
I had some Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron tonight as well. I really love this beer. Delicious chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and prominent woody flavors paired with the well-hidden 12% ABV. Also had some Left Hand Wake Up Dead imperial stout. Also very tasty and strong.
I will have to try that, the only LH i have had was Milk Stout.
Yeah, I'd recommend it. The Wake Up Dead imperial stout is much more complex than their flagship milk stout. It actually has somewhat similar flavor profiles to the Palo Santo Marron, but less woody.
Good to hear. There is a huge selection of LH available here in MI. For whatever reason, I had always seen them as a 1 trick brewery.
 
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron for boxing tonight. Mikey Garcia going to war tonight.
I'm going with Dogfish 90's myself. Every time I go to try a different dogfish I can't not buy the 90's because they are that good.
90 is great, but you are missing out. Burton Baton and Indian Brown are 2 of my favorite beers of any brand or style. I just cracked open this Pala Santo Marron. It is an aged brown, but the beer is pretty much black with a nice balance of sweet and hops bite. It;s 12%, but man does it hide it well.
I had some Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron tonight as well. I really love this beer. Delicious chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and prominent woody flavors paired with the well-hidden 12% ABV. Also had some Left Hand Wake Up Dead imperial stout. Also very tasty and strong.
I will have to try that, the only LH i have had was Milk Stout.
Yeah, I'd recommend it. The Wake Up Dead imperial stout is much more complex than their flagship milk stout. It actually has somewhat similar flavor profiles to the Palo Santo Marron, but less woody.
Good to hear. There is a huge selection of LH available here in MI. For whatever reason, I had always seen them as a 1 trick brewery.
I'm actually not that big of fan of Left Hand overall, but the Wake Up Dead imperial stout is the best thing they do IMO. Despite having access to some of the best beers in the world in CO, I sure do miss Bell's and Founders from back when I lived in MI.
 
I like the Left Hand Milk Stout alright. Went to a craft brew fest at the Lincoln Park zoo in Chicago tonight - had Left Hand Good Juju, giner IPA, interesting. Never had anything like it, not a bad taste, couldn't drink too many tho.

The Stone brew tent was next door, Stone Ruination is fantastic.

 
I like the Left Hand Milk Stout alright. Went to a craft brew fest at the Lincoln Park zoo in Chicago tonight - had Left Hand Good Juju, giner IPA, interesting. Never had anything like it, not a bad taste, couldn't drink too many tho. The Stone brew tent was next door, Stone Ruination is fantastic.
That sounds cool. The Lincoln Park Zoo seems like it would be a great place to have a beer festival. I used to live very close to there. I had the Left Hand Juju tonight as well, and it was definitely different. There was a lot less ginger flavor than expected. I wouldn't seek it out again.
 
I like the Left Hand Milk Stout alright. Went to a craft brew fest at the Lincoln Park zoo in Chicago tonight - had Left Hand Good Juju, giner IPA, interesting. Never had anything like it, not a bad taste, couldn't drink too many tho. The Stone brew tent was next door, Stone Ruination is fantastic.
That sounds cool. The Lincoln Park Zoo seems like it would be a great place to have a beer festival. I used to live very close to there.I had the Left Hand Juju tonight as well, and it was definitely different. There was a lot less ginger flavor than expected. I wouldn't seek it out again.
Yeah it got off to a rought start, 2 hour line to get in - I hit a nearby bar and watched the Hawks game (1st 2 periods) then went over, good time. I was hoping to get drunk enough to wrestle an ape! Lots of wheat beers going around, not a big fan, but still caught some good stuff. For as much as I love Chicago, the craft brew scene needs to pick up. Orginally from Indy, went to school at IU, so many great brewpubs there believe it or not.

 
I like the Left Hand Milk Stout alright. Went to a craft brew fest at the Lincoln Park zoo in Chicago tonight - had Left Hand Good Juju, giner IPA, interesting. Never had anything like it, not a bad taste, couldn't drink too many tho. The Stone brew tent was next door, Stone Ruination is fantastic.
That sounds cool. The Lincoln Park Zoo seems like it would be a great place to have a beer festival. I used to live very close to there.I had the Left Hand Juju tonight as well, and it was definitely different. There was a lot less ginger flavor than expected. I wouldn't seek it out again.
Yeah it got off to a rought start, 2 hour line to get in - I hit a nearby bar and watched the Hawks game (1st 2 periods) then went over, good time. I was hoping to get drunk enough to wrestle an ape! Lots of wheat beers going around, not a big fan, but still caught some good stuff. For as much as I love Chicago, the craft brew scene needs to pick up. Orginally from Indy, went to school at IU, so many great brewpubs there believe it or not.
Yeah, I moved from Chicago to Denver about a year and a half ago. While the craft beer scene was definitely growing rapidly when I was there, it is still light years behind what it is in Denver.The other brewery I really miss from the Midwest is Three Floyds from Indiana.
 
I hear that. Was at a buddy's wedding last weekend in Indy - Zombie Dust got the best of me, good stuff. Half Acre isn't a bad brewery in Chicago, Daisy Cutter is an easy drinking pale.

SunKing is solid in Indy, have you had that? Solid. Not sure if it's available outside Indy. Could probably get ya some if ya wanted to set up a trade sometime.

Also love the Dragonfly from Upland in Bloomington. Can't get that here either.

What's your place in Denver/CO? Had some Breckenridge tonight, ok, nothing to get excited about tho

 
I hear that. Was at a buddy's wedding last weekend in Indy - Zombie Dust got the best of me, good stuff. Half Acre isn't a bad brewery in Chicago, Daisy Cutter is an easy drinking pale.

SunKing is solid in Indy, have you had that? Solid. Not sure if it's available outside Indy. Could probably get ya some if ya wanted to set up a trade sometime.

Also love the Dragonfly from Upland in Bloomington. Can't get that here either.

What's your place in Denver/CO? Had some Breckenridge tonight, ok, nothing to get excited about tho
My favorites of the big CO breweries are probably Odell, Great Divide, and Oskar Blues. There are also lots of smaller nanobreweries in Colorado that have been doing some great stuff (i.e., River North, Elevation, Black Shirt, Crooked Stave). I agree that Breckenridge Brewery is generally pretty underwhelming.

I've had a lot of Half Acre from back when I lived on Chicago, but I'm not sure that I have ever had anything from Sun King or Upland.

Let me know if you are ever interesting in doing a beer trade. I certainly wouldn't mind getting my hands on some of my old Midwesr favorites.

 
I hear that. Was at a buddy's wedding last weekend in Indy - Zombie Dust got the best of me, good stuff. Half Acre isn't a bad brewery in Chicago, Daisy Cutter is an easy drinking pale.

SunKing is solid in Indy, have you had that? Solid. Not sure if it's available outside Indy. Could probably get ya some if ya wanted to set up a trade sometime.

Also love the Dragonfly from Upland in Bloomington. Can't get that here either.

What's your place in Denver/CO? Had some Breckenridge tonight, ok, nothing to get excited about tho
My favorites of the big CO breweries are probably Odell, Great Divide, and Oskar Blues. There are also lots of smaller nanobreweries in Colorado that have been doing some great stuff (i.e., River North, Elevation, Black Shirt, Crooked Stave). I agree that Breckenridge Brewery is generally pretty underwhelming.

I've had a lot of Half Acre from back when I lived on Chicago, but I'm not sure that I have ever had anything from Sun King or Upland.

Let me know if you are ever interesting in doing a beer trade. I certainly wouldn't mind getting my hands on some of my old Midwesr favorites.
Do yourself a favor and check out Grimm Bros sometime. Not sure where in CO they're located, but they're fantastic.

 
I hear that. Was at a buddy's wedding last weekend in Indy - Zombie Dust got the best of me, good stuff. Half Acre isn't a bad brewery in Chicago, Daisy Cutter is an easy drinking pale.

SunKing is solid in Indy, have you had that? Solid. Not sure if it's available outside Indy. Could probably get ya some if ya wanted to set up a trade sometime.

Also love the Dragonfly from Upland in Bloomington. Can't get that here either.

What's your place in Denver/CO? Had some Breckenridge tonight, ok, nothing to get excited about tho
My favorites of the big CO breweries are probably Odell, Great Divide, and Oskar Blues. There are also lots of smaller nanobreweries in Colorado that have been doing some great stuff (i.e., River North, Elevation, Black Shirt, Crooked Stave). I agree that Breckenridge Brewery is generally pretty underwhelming.I've had a lot of Half Acre from back when oI lived on Chicago, but I'm not sure that I have ever had anything from Sun King or Upland.

Let me know if you are ever interesting in doing a beer trade. I certainly wouldn't mind getting my hands on some of my old Midwesr favorites.
Do yourself a favor and check out Grimm Bros sometime. Not sure where in CO they're located, but they're fantastic.
I've seen Grimm Brothers around a few places recently, but I haven't tried it yet. I will definitely check it out soon.

 
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron for boxing tonight. Mikey Garcia going to war tonight.
I'm going with Dogfish 90's myself. Every time I go to try a different dogfish I can't not buy the 90's because they are that good.
90 is great, but you are missing out. Burton Baton and Indian Brown are 2 of my favorite beers of any brand or style. I just cracked open this Pala Santo Marron. It is an aged brown, but the beer is pretty much black with a nice balance of sweet and hops bite. It;s 12%, but man does it hide it well.
Burton Baton is excellent. Pricey though.

 
I hear that. Was at a buddy's wedding last weekend in Indy - Zombie Dust got the best of me, good stuff. Half Acre isn't a bad brewery in Chicago, Daisy Cutter is an easy drinking pale.

SunKing is solid in Indy, have you had that? Solid. Not sure if it's available outside Indy. Could probably get ya some if ya wanted to set up a trade sometime.

Also love the Dragonfly from Upland in Bloomington. Can't get that here either.

What's your place in Denver/CO? Had some Breckenridge tonight, ok, nothing to get excited about tho
Chicago is definitely behind but some of the good ones, IMO, are Revolution and Pipeworks.

It will also be nice to have the Lagunitas brewpub here. Granted, it's still a California beer.

 
Interesting that you guys consider Chicago inferior to Denver for the craft beer scene. Goose Island, Half Acre, Revolution, Pipeworks are all putting out some of the best beers in the US, iMO. Haymarket was pretty good when I was there last year. Two Brothers, Three Floyds, etc. in the outer areas if you consider that part of Chicago metro.

I know there's some great beer in Colorado these days (Funkwerks + Grimm Bros :wub: ) but I've never really thought of Denver/CO as a beer capital of the US....maybe that's cause we don't get a lot of CO beer distributed here other than Oskar Blues/Great Divide/Breckenridge. Perhaps that'd change if I ever actually get to go out there. As it is though, I love the midwest....can't go more than an hour without discovering a killer brewery...IN, IL, WI, MN, MI....all fantastic.

 
Interesting that you guys consider Chicago inferior to Denver for the craft beer scene. Goose Island, Half Acre, Revolution, Pipeworks are all putting out some of the best beers in the US, iMO. Haymarket was pretty good when I was there last year. Two Brothers, Three Floyds, etc. in the outer areas if you consider that part of Chicago metro.

I know there's some great beer in Colorado these days (Funkwerks + Grimm Bros :wub: ) but I've never really thought of Denver/CO as a beer capital of the US....maybe that's cause we don't get a lot of CO beer distributed here other than Oskar Blues/Great Divide/Breckenridge. Perhaps that'd change if I ever actually get to go out there. As it is though, I love the midwest....can't go more than an hour without discovering a killer brewery...IN, IL, WI, MN, MI....all fantastic.
I guess I don't consider it behind Denver per se, but for a city the size of Chicago there is definitely room for more. I am not complaining one bit, however. There are plenty of good breweries in Chicago/IL (including 3F) and like you said within a couple hours drive.

 
Interesting that you guys consider Chicago inferior to Denver for the craft beer scene. Goose Island, Half Acre, Revolution, Pipeworks are all putting out some of the best beers in the US, iMO. Haymarket was pretty good when I was there last year. Two Brothers, Three Floyds, etc. in the outer areas if you consider that part of Chicago metro.

I know there's some great beer in Colorado these days (Funkwerks + Grimm Bros :wub: ) but I've never really thought of Denver/CO as a beer capital of the US....maybe that's cause we don't get a lot of CO beer distributed here other than Oskar Blues/Great Divide/Breckenridge. Perhaps that'd change if I ever actually get to go out there. As it is though, I love the midwest....can't go more than an hour without discovering a killer brewery...IN, IL, WI, MN, MI....all fantastic.
I've lived in both Denver and Chicago, and I don't think it is particularly close if you are rating the cities for their craft beer scene. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of most of the breweries you listed, and I think that the Midwest produces a lot of phenomenal beers that I still miss out here in CO. However, I just don't think that the craft beer scene in Chicago is anywhere near as prevalent and ubiquitous as it is in Denver.

When I worked in downtown Chicago, there were no breweries within walking distance of downtown and it was even pretty rare to find bars downtown with good beer selections. Chicago definitely has some bars with great beer selections (Map Room, Bar on Buena, Hopleaf Bar), but you really have to seek them out and they tend to be the exception to the norm in Chicago.

On the other hand, craft beer rules the scene in Denver. There are around a dozen breweries that are within short walking distance of downtown. New breweries are popping up all the time all over town, which are making some fantastic beer and which always have food trucks sitting outside. There are numerous world-class brewpubs with incredible, constantly rotating beer selections (Falling Rock, Freshcraft, Cheeky Monk, Rackhouse, Highland Tap, Bull and Bush, etc.). Nearly every liquor store that you go to will have a large selection of seasonal, limited release bombers from all of the local breweries. There are tons of beer festivals year-round, including the unparalleled Great American Beer Festival as well as specialty festivals such as the Avery Sour Fest (sour wild ales) and Burning Can (canned beers), both of which occurred over the last couple weeks here. Craft beer is just a deeply ingrained and everpresent aspect of Denver culture. It is definitely one of the top beer capitals of America.

Here's a recent ranking of America's top craft beer cities put together by a Seattle beer enthusiast, which I think is pretty solid list (although I'd argue there is some hometown bias with Seattle ranked at #3):

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thepourfool/2013/01/29/americas-ten-best-beer-towns-the-non-fiction-list/

Both Denver-Boulder (#4) and Ft. Collins-Longmont-Loveland (#7) come in ahead of Chicago (#10) on the list.

You should definitely try to make a beer pilgrimage out here sometime.

 
Buckfast 1 said:
Steve Tasker said:
Interesting that you guys consider Chicago inferior to Denver for the craft beer scene. Goose Island, Half Acre, Revolution, Pipeworks are all putting out some of the best beers in the US, iMO. Haymarket was pretty good when I was there last year. Two Brothers, Three Floyds, etc. in the outer areas if you consider that part of Chicago metro.

I know there's some great beer in Colorado these days (Funkwerks + Grimm Bros :wub: ) but I've never really thought of Denver/CO as a beer capital of the US....maybe that's cause we don't get a lot of CO beer distributed here other than Oskar Blues/Great Divide/Breckenridge. Perhaps that'd change if I ever actually get to go out there. As it is though, I love the midwest....can't go more than an hour without discovering a killer brewery...IN, IL, WI, MN, MI....all fantastic.
I've lived in both Denver and Chicago, and I don't think it is particularly close if you are rating the cities for their craft beer scene. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of most of the breweries you listed, and I think that the Midwest produces a lot of phenomenal beers that I still miss out here in CO. However, I just don't think that the craft beer scene in Chicago is anywhere near as prevalent and ubiquitous as it is in Denver.

When I worked in downtown Chicago, there were no breweries within walking distance of downtown and it was even pretty rare to find bars downtown with good beer selections. Chicago definitely has some bars with great beer selections (Map Room, Bar on Buena, Hopleaf Bar), but you really have to seek them out and they tend to be the exception to the norm in Chicago.

On the other hand, craft beer rules the scene in Denver. There are around a dozen breweries that are within short walking distance of downtown. New breweries are popping up all the time all over town, which are making some fantastic beer and which always have food trucks sitting outside. There are numerous world-class brewpubs with incredible, constantly rotating beer selections (Falling Rock, Freshcraft, Cheeky Monk, Rackhouse, Highland Tap, Bull and Bush, etc.). Nearly every liquor store that you go to will have a large selection of seasonal, limited release bombers from all of the local breweries. There are tons of beer festivals year-round, including the unparalleled Great American Beer Festival as well as specialty festivals such as the Avery Sour Fest (sour wild ales) and Burning Can (canned beers), both of which occurred over the last couple weeks here. Craft beer is just a deeply ingrained and everpresent aspect of Denver culture. It is definitely one of the top beer capitals of America.

Here's a recent ranking of America's top craft beer cities put together by a Seattle beer enthusiast, which I think is pretty solid list (although I'd argue there is some hometown bias with Seattle ranked at #3):

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thepourfool/2013/01/29/americas-ten-best-beer-towns-the-non-fiction-list/

Both Denver-Boulder (#4) and Ft. Collins-Longmont-Loveland (#7) come in ahead of Chicago (#10) on the list.

You should definitely try to make a beer pilgrimage out here sometime.
I get what you're saying...I didn't really think about it in that respect. I was only considering the beers that I've had from the areas, not necessarily the actual culture. I would LOVE to get out there sometime.

 
Buckfast 1 said:
Steve Tasker said:
Interesting that you guys consider Chicago inferior to Denver for the craft beer scene. Goose Island, Half Acre, Revolution, Pipeworks are all putting out some of the best beers in the US, iMO. Haymarket was pretty good when I was there last year. Two Brothers, Three Floyds, etc. in the outer areas if you consider that part of Chicago metro.

I know there's some great beer in Colorado these days (Funkwerks + Grimm Bros :wub: ) but I've never really thought of Denver/CO as a beer capital of the US....maybe that's cause we don't get a lot of CO beer distributed here other than Oskar Blues/Great Divide/Breckenridge. Perhaps that'd change if I ever actually get to go out there. As it is though, I love the midwest....can't go more than an hour without discovering a killer brewery...IN, IL, WI, MN, MI....all fantastic.
I've lived in both Denver and Chicago, and I don't think it is particularly close if you are rating the cities for their craft beer scene. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of most of the breweries you listed, and I think that the Midwest produces a lot of phenomenal beers that I still miss out here in CO. However, I just don't think that the craft beer scene in Chicago is anywhere near as prevalent and ubiquitous as it is in Denver.

When I worked in downtown Chicago, there were no breweries within walking distance of downtown and it was even pretty rare to find bars downtown with good beer selections. Chicago definitely has some bars with great beer selections (Map Room, Bar on Buena, Hopleaf Bar), but you really have to seek them out and they tend to be the exception to the norm in Chicago.

On the other hand, craft beer rules the scene in Denver. There are around a dozen breweries that are within short walking distance of downtown. New breweries are popping up all the time all over town, which are making some fantastic beer and which always have food trucks sitting outside. There are numerous world-class brewpubs with incredible, constantly rotating beer selections (Falling Rock, Freshcraft, Cheeky Monk, Rackhouse, Highland Tap, Bull and Bush, etc.). Nearly every liquor store that you go to will have a large selection of seasonal, limited release bombers from all of the local breweries. There are tons of beer festivals year-round, including the unparalleled Great American Beer Festival as well as specialty festivals such as the Avery Sour Fest (sour wild ales) and Burning Can (canned beers), both of which occurred over the last couple weeks here. Craft beer is just a deeply ingrained and everpresent aspect of Denver culture. It is definitely one of the top beer capitals of America.

Here's a recent ranking of America's top craft beer cities put together by a Seattle beer enthusiast, which I think is pretty solid list (although I'd argue there is some hometown bias with Seattle ranked at #3):

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thepourfool/2013/01/29/americas-ten-best-beer-towns-the-non-fiction-list/

Both Denver-Boulder (#4) and Ft. Collins-Longmont-Loveland (#7) come in ahead of Chicago (#10) on the list.

You should definitely try to make a beer pilgrimage out here sometime.
Downtown is still finding its feet. But there are places all over the North Side with lots more coming. And the good thing about Chicago is even if you can't walk to it you still don't have to drive.

 
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Buckfast 1 said:
Steve Tasker said:
Interesting that you guys consider Chicago inferior to Denver for the craft beer scene. Goose Island, Half Acre, Revolution, Pipeworks are all putting out some of the best beers in the US, iMO. Haymarket was pretty good when I was there last year. Two Brothers, Three Floyds, etc. in the outer areas if you consider that part of Chicago metro.

I know there's some great beer in Colorado these days (Funkwerks + Grimm Bros :wub: ) but I've never really thought of Denver/CO as a beer capital of the US....maybe that's cause we don't get a lot of CO beer distributed here other than Oskar Blues/Great Divide/Breckenridge. Perhaps that'd change if I ever actually get to go out there. As it is though, I love the midwest....can't go more than an hour without discovering a killer brewery...IN, IL, WI, MN, MI....all fantastic.
I've lived in both Denver and Chicago, and I don't think it is particularly close if you are rating the cities for their craft beer scene. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of most of the breweries you listed, and I think that the Midwest produces a lot of phenomenal beers that I still miss out here in CO. However, I just don't think that the craft beer scene in Chicago is anywhere near as prevalent and ubiquitous as it is in Denver.

When I worked in downtown Chicago, there were no breweries within walking distance of downtown and it was even pretty rare to find bars downtown with good beer selections. Chicago definitely has some bars with great beer selections (Map Room, Bar on Buena, Hopleaf Bar), but you really have to seek them out and they tend to be the exception to the norm in Chicago.

On the other hand, craft beer rules the scene in Denver. There are around a dozen breweries that are within short walking distance of downtown. New breweries are popping up all the time all over town, which are making some fantastic beer and which always have food trucks sitting outside. There are numerous world-class brewpubs with incredible, constantly rotating beer selections (Falling Rock, Freshcraft, Cheeky Monk, Rackhouse, Highland Tap, Bull and Bush, etc.). Nearly every liquor store that you go to will have a large selection of seasonal, limited release bombers from all of the local breweries. There are tons of beer festivals year-round, including the unparalleled Great American Beer Festival as well as specialty festivals such as the Avery Sour Fest (sour wild ales) and Burning Can (canned beers), both of which occurred over the last couple weeks here. Craft beer is just a deeply ingrained and everpresent aspect of Denver culture. It is definitely one of the top beer capitals of America.

Here's a recent ranking of America's top craft beer cities put together by a Seattle beer enthusiast, which I think is pretty solid list (although I'd argue there is some hometown bias with Seattle ranked at #3):

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thepourfool/2013/01/29/americas-ten-best-beer-towns-the-non-fiction-list/

Both Denver-Boulder (#4) and Ft. Collins-Longmont-Loveland (#7) come in ahead of Chicago (#10) on the list.

You should definitely try to make a beer pilgrimage out here sometime.
Downtown is still finding its feet. But there are places all over the North Side with lots more coming. And the good thing about Chicago is even if you can't walk to it you still don't have to drive.
Yeah, the craft beer scene was growing rapidly in Chicago when I moved in fall 2011, and it looks like it has continued to grow. Pipeworks wasn't even open yet when I moved. I have some friends from Denver that are big beer enthusiasts/homebrewers who just got back from a trip to Chicago, and they had really good things to say about all of the Chicago breweries they visited. I'm looking forward to coming back for a visit soon.

 
Buckfast 1 said:
Steve Tasker said:
Interesting that you guys consider Chicago inferior to Denver for the craft beer scene. Goose Island, Half Acre, Revolution, Pipeworks are all putting out some of the best beers in the US, iMO. Haymarket was pretty good when I was there last year. Two Brothers, Three Floyds, etc. in the outer areas if you consider that part of Chicago metro.

I know there's some great beer in Colorado these days (Funkwerks + Grimm Bros :wub: ) but I've never really thought of Denver/CO as a beer capital of the US....maybe that's cause we don't get a lot of CO beer distributed here other than Oskar Blues/Great Divide/Breckenridge. Perhaps that'd change if I ever actually get to go out there. As it is though, I love the midwest....can't go more than an hour without discovering a killer brewery...IN, IL, WI, MN, MI....all fantastic.
I've lived in both Denver and Chicago, and I don't think it is particularly close if you are rating the cities for their craft beer scene. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of most of the breweries you listed, and I think that the Midwest produces a lot of phenomenal beers that I still miss out here in CO. However, I just don't think that the craft beer scene in Chicago is anywhere near as prevalent and ubiquitous as it is in Denver.

When I worked in downtown Chicago, there were no breweries within walking distance of downtown and it was even pretty rare to find bars downtown with good beer selections. Chicago definitely has some bars with great beer selections (Map Room, Bar on Buena, Hopleaf Bar), but you really have to seek them out and they tend to be the exception to the norm in Chicago.

On the other hand, craft beer rules the scene in Denver. There are around a dozen breweries that are within short walking distance of downtown. New breweries are popping up all the time all over town, which are making some fantastic beer and which always have food trucks sitting outside. There are numerous world-class brewpubs with incredible, constantly rotating beer selections (Falling Rock, Freshcraft, Cheeky Monk, Rackhouse, Highland Tap, Bull and Bush, etc.). Nearly every liquor store that you go to will have a large selection of seasonal, limited release bombers from all of the local breweries. There are tons of beer festivals year-round, including the unparalleled Great American Beer Festival as well as specialty festivals such as the Avery Sour Fest (sour wild ales) and Burning Can (canned beers), both of which occurred over the last couple weeks here. Craft beer is just a deeply ingrained and everpresent aspect of Denver culture. It is definitely one of the top beer capitals of America.

Here's a recent ranking of America's top craft beer cities put together by a Seattle beer enthusiast, which I think is pretty solid list (although I'd argue there is some hometown bias with Seattle ranked at #3):

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thepourfool/2013/01/29/americas-ten-best-beer-towns-the-non-fiction-list/

Both Denver-Boulder (#4) and Ft. Collins-Longmont-Loveland (#7) come in ahead of Chicago (#10) on the list.

You should definitely try to make a beer pilgrimage out here sometime.
I have never heard of Seattle being a great beer town. I am not familiar with the breweries that he listed either. In that respect it seems really overrated, but I would assume people that had never been to the west side of Michigan might find it odd that Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo is up there with major cities like San Diego and Denver.

 
Buckfast 1 said:
Steve Tasker said:
Interesting that you guys consider Chicago inferior to Denver for the craft beer scene. Goose Island, Half Acre, Revolution, Pipeworks are all putting out some of the best beers in the US, iMO. Haymarket was pretty good when I was there last year. Two Brothers, Three Floyds, etc. in the outer areas if you consider that part of Chicago metro.

I know there's some great beer in Colorado these days (Funkwerks + Grimm Bros :wub: ) but I've never really thought of Denver/CO as a beer capital of the US....maybe that's cause we don't get a lot of CO beer distributed here other than Oskar Blues/Great Divide/Breckenridge. Perhaps that'd change if I ever actually get to go out there. As it is though, I love the midwest....can't go more than an hour without discovering a killer brewery...IN, IL, WI, MN, MI....all fantastic.
I've lived in both Denver and Chicago, and I don't think it is particularly close if you are rating the cities for their craft beer scene. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of most of the breweries you listed, and I think that the Midwest produces a lot of phenomenal beers that I still miss out here in CO. However, I just don't think that the craft beer scene in Chicago is anywhere near as prevalent and ubiquitous as it is in Denver.

When I worked in downtown Chicago, there were no breweries within walking distance of downtown and it was even pretty rare to find bars downtown with good beer selections. Chicago definitely has some bars with great beer selections (Map Room, Bar on Buena, Hopleaf Bar), but you really have to seek them out and they tend to be the exception to the norm in Chicago.

On the other hand, craft beer rules the scene in Denver. There are around a dozen breweries that are within short walking distance of downtown. New breweries are popping up all the time all over town, which are making some fantastic beer and which always have food trucks sitting outside. There are numerous world-class brewpubs with incredible, constantly rotating beer selections (Falling Rock, Freshcraft, Cheeky Monk, Rackhouse, Highland Tap, Bull and Bush, etc.). Nearly every liquor store that you go to will have a large selection of seasonal, limited release bombers from all of the local breweries. There are tons of beer festivals year-round, including the unparalleled Great American Beer Festival as well as specialty festivals such as the Avery Sour Fest (sour wild ales) and Burning Can (canned beers), both of which occurred over the last couple weeks here. Craft beer is just a deeply ingrained and everpresent aspect of Denver culture. It is definitely one of the top beer capitals of America.

Here's a recent ranking of America's top craft beer cities put together by a Seattle beer enthusiast, which I think is pretty solid list (although I'd argue there is some hometown bias with Seattle ranked at #3):

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thepourfool/2013/01/29/americas-ten-best-beer-towns-the-non-fiction-list/

Both Denver-Boulder (#4) and Ft. Collins-Longmont-Loveland (#7) come in ahead of Chicago (#10) on the list.

You should definitely try to make a beer pilgrimage out here sometime.
I have never heard of Seattle being a great beer town. I am not familiar with the breweries that he listed either. In that respect it seems really overrated, but I would assume people that had never been to the west side of Michigan might find it odd that Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo is up there with major cities like San Diego and Denver.
Yeah, I thought Seattle's ranking at #3 was kind of odd...until I noticed that the guy is a beer blogger from Seattle. Strangly, this guy just wrote an article at the end of last year criticizing the lack of creativity of Seattle breweries compared to California and Denver breweries, which he apparently got some significant blowback for according to the comments at the end of his beer city ranking.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thepourfool/2012/11/01/the-splendid-isolation-of-washington-brewing/

Then, a couple months later he ranks Seattle #3 in the country saying, "When it comes to tweaking, rethinking, modifying, and improving the more-established styles of ales, Seattles rapidly-expanding legion of brewers has no equal" and goes on to talk about their "delightful experimentation."

My guess is that he was throwing a bone to the local Seattle brewers that he offended by his article a couple months earlier. That said, I don't really know much about the Seattle brewing scene, and I would like it check it out sometime.

 
Went to my employer's (gov't agency) picnic yesterday. They had Bud Light, Budweiser and Coors Light in cans, and Corona and Heineken in bottles. After all the IPAs and heavier beers I've been drinking recently, having a couple of Heinekens just did nothing for me. I stopped and had a Diet Coke.

 
Ran into a six of Founder's Dirty *******. It's a scotch ale and it's delicious. I don't think i've seen it carried very mainstream here in upstate NY too often.

 
My wife bought me a beercan chicken roaster for Father's Day. Yesterday she got a big bottle of Stone IPA to use with it.

Sacrilege? Should I drink it instead and use something else? What is good for beercan chicken? never made it

 
17seconds said:
My wife bought me a beercan chicken roaster for Father's Day. Yesterday she got a big bottle of Stone IPA to use with it.

Sacrilege? Should I drink it instead and use something else? What is good for beercan chicken? never made it
I would drink it and use something cheaper, also not sure if an IPA is the best choice, however I don't usually do that sort of thing so I must admit its more of a hunch.

 
17seconds said:
My wife bought me a beercan chicken roaster for Father's Day. Yesterday she got a big bottle of Stone IPA to use with it.

Sacrilege? Should I drink it instead and use something else? What is good for beercan chicken? never made it
17seconds said:
My wife bought me a beercan chicken roaster for Father's Day. Yesterday she got a big bottle of Stone IPA to use with it.

Sacrilege? Should I drink it instead and use something else? What is good for beercan chicken? never made it
I would drink it and use something cheaper, also not sure if an IPA is the best choice, however I don't usually do that sort of thing so I must admit its more of a hunch.
If it's one of those 750 ml bottles, feel free to drink half and then use the other half for the chicken. Although I tend to use wheat beers when I do mine (they tend to add a complex citrus note), I would think that the stone IPA offerings paired with poultry would be great too since they're not an average ALL HOPS IPA flavor.

I did a quick google search and I came across this: http://skitcherz.com/blog//index.php/foodblog/2011/06/11/30-day-beer-challenge-day-11-stone-ipa-beer-can-game-hen'>http://skitcherz.com/blog//index.php/foodblog/2011/06/11/30-day-beer-challenge-day-11-stone-ipa-beer-can-game-hen

(also, to add; I tend to brine my chicken, which you can also make with some beer. I don't know if it helps or hurts, but it's tasty.)

 
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17seconds said:
My wife bought me a beercan chicken roaster for Father's Day. Yesterday she got a big bottle of Stone IPA to use with it.

Sacrilege? Should I drink it instead and use something else? What is good for beercan chicken? never made it
Old Chub. :giggle:

 
Unless I stop at the corner store to get something else...

Jameson 18 neat

DFH 90 Minute IPA

BR Racer 5 (x2?)

Lagunitas Lucky 13 (never had one)

 

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