Beer City Poll open again - final round

I can see this being very true. Similar to Grand Rapids (I am from MI and I love Founders, Hop Cat and other places there, but honestly...no). Being from MI and small towns, a lot of people don't get out much and think what they know is the best. It reminds me when I was moving from MI to San Diego. My brother-in-law (who is into craft beer and homebrews) couldn't believe we would want to go to SD, or even want to leave MI. One of his quotes was something of the effect "Who wants to go to San Diego? San Diego is not that popular or great of a city. I know more people who know of Grand Rapids than of San Diego"... this was when he lived in Grand Rapids.

He finally came out to visit recent;y. I think he was fairly impressed, especially with Stone Brewery, unfortunately I couldn't take him to a lot of the places I wanted to (the wife had first dibs on plans, it was her birthday). This was only the second time he had been on a plane (other one when he was around 13yo) and I think the 3rd time he has left the state (the 2nd was last summer), he is 31yo.

I am not meaning this to be a knock specifically on GR. My point it that people in large cities tend to have traveled more and/or have broader experiences. Meaning they are open to the possibilities of their experiences not being the "best" and are more cultured. Whereas small town inhabitants this may not tend to be as true.

 

Gotta love the responses to this poll when it shows up every year.

"Anyone who chooses City X is stupid!"
"Anyone who doesn't choose City Y is stupid!"
"The only reason City Z doesn't win is because everyone there is too busy drinking the most amazing beer ever!"
"People in City A are ballot stuffing!"
"Look how much I don't care! Can't you see how little I care?! Did I tell you how dumb this poll is? I don't even care about it at all!"

 

Internet is serious business.

 

Why do you think that just because someone lives in a small town that they have traveled less? Grand Rapids isn't exactly a cow town. I would say that the majority of my friends are pretty well traveled, and stay here because, dammit, we like it here! (And pretty much every time I'm out at Founders or Vivant, I speak to someone who is visiting GR to check out the beer scene.) With people traveling here, we can't be that bad!

Honestly, people in Michigan are fiercely proud of breweries in our state, and with the current economy, it would be nice to see us get recognized for something.

My vote is obviously for GR ;-)

 

This isnt Hightimes magazine. You take that nonsense over there. At least be funny and say Alpine. Though how many people actually know where Alpine, CA is? They just know they make good beer but put them in LA and see how long w/o a map they take to find it.

Cheers!

 

Seems as if Portland OR peeps is so full of craft beer culture, that they don't need to vote to prove anything - they just live it!

 

Most people in Boulder don't have electricity or are too high to use a computer...

 

True Portland people are oblivious to how good they have it. Last time I went to Portland, I went to dinner with my sister and her husband at some pizza place. They had like 300 taps, all wales. I geeked out big time of course but they looked at me like I was crazy and were like "Duh, it's a restaurant. Of course they have beer."

 

I'm not sure whether or not you're serious, but there's definitely some truth to that statement. It probably also explains why there's so few BA's in Portland.

 

From living in a small MI town, going to college in MI and the people I knew. I am not saying everyone, I am just saying percentage wise I would guess it would be less.

GR isn't, but about 5-10 minutes out it is. GR is big for MI, but not that big in general, only 200K population.

cool, that may be true. I am just hypothesizing that majority of small town people do not travel as much as large city people.

not really relevant. I grew up in a really small town (Central Lake/Bellaire), that is a tourist town with lots of people visiting, I would not say that made that area diverse and open. Though I think I am sensing a little light hearted sarcasm/tongue in cheek with that comment... which I approve.

Being from MI I am proud of the breweries too. I could even see voting for that area if I still lived there, because honestly... it is just a silly poll, so why not. My statement was more about why more people from the small regions turn out to vote and are more passionate about their area.

I too have been proud about the growth of the current breweries and the new breweries in MI, especially with the state of the economy there.

I don't blame you at all. Plus, I would much rather have GR win than Ashville. I think they have a stronger case as they can actually put out some top tier beer.

 

Yeah, I think this is one of the problems with the Asheville beer scene and the city in general... They don't get out enough. To someone that nevers bothers to travel or even read-up on what's going on with the rest of the world when it comes to things like beer and food, this (Asheville) could very well appear to be the end-all be-all. I won't slam the town for not having a bunch of solid breweries, because it does. A higher than normal ratio of solid breweries to residents, even. I will slam it, however, for sitting on its pretty little pedestal, thinking it's the shit while the rest of the world is busy learning how to do things better and NOT thinking about Asheville.
Asheville tends to be pretty hung up on itself. It's a cool city, but it's a great example of a place that realized it was cool and then stopped putting forth any effort to stay cool or get cooler.
I voted for Portland.

 

MAINE. Twice...

 

I have a friend from NC who has gone back to visit a lot. He says he use to think it was an awesome beer place (one of the best), and the Raleigh breweries were great. Now that he has lived in SD, has learned A LOT about beer, and has traveled more, he is sad about moving back to the NC beer scene now knowing what he knows. Ignorance is bliss kind of thing.

 

If you're going to throw away your vote, please vote for Tampa.

 

I grew up in Fennville/Saugatuck area (which is most definitely the sticks ... and now even Saugatuck has a brewery, and Fennville has a restaurant that serves craft beer) Kind of amazing to me because when I was a kid we just had one video store that never left the 80's, and two gas stations. Cheers to change. Chances are I may even end up on the west coast somewhere. Heading out on a road trip this summer to check out various cities with my boyfriend to see if anything strikes us as an option to move to because we can't find work in our fields here.

 

I know the feeling, I was happy when Short's opened up. Unfortunately though I don't make it up there that often, but when i do i like to stay in "downtown" Bellaire so i am walking distance to the pub

If you make it out to SD let me know, I am sure I can point you in the direction of some good places.

Here is a map I have been working on lately.

 

For those saying the poll is a joke, it's conducted annually and moderated by Charlie Papiza and I'd say he knows a thing or two about beer (Charlie Papazian is the author of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, founder of the Great American Beer festival, the American Homebrewers Association and the Association of Brewers)


http://www.examiner.com/article/vote-now-beercity-usa-2012-where-s-your-pick Article regarding the poll

The cities on the list were aquired here: http://www.examiner.com/article/beercity-usa-2012-ballot-finalized

 

As I mentioned above, it's a joke because one can easily vote more than once. Charlie "Papiza" might know a thing or two about beer, but he clearly needs help setting up an online poll that tallies votes fairly.

 

Sadly, I've only been able to vote for Bend once.