Serious Eats: "Ask a Cicerone: Breweries to Watch in 2014"

I've liked most of the Stillwaters I've tried, but they are very pricey. I've only had a few Urban Chestnuts, still waiting on one I like...

 

Sorry.. am I the only one who hates the word Cicerone? Sounds too much like chicharones, Pork Rinds, and
means nothing more than "a guide" or person who conducts sightseers. Biggest mistake ever by the beer world to accept this term? Wikipedia states: A beer sommelier, (sometimes known as a "cicerone", which is a private trademark rather than a general term[2]) Sometimes known as? Oh.. thanks Wikipedia.. sometimes know as.... not always? Private trademark? I don't know.. sorry for the rant but I think we could have done better.

 

don't know if peekskill is underrated or under the radar, but i do know that they really impressed me from a recent manhattan tap-takeover. great brewery.

 

Awesome to see that Sante Adairius got the most mentions, they deserve all the praise they've been getting.

 

4 Hands
4 Hands
4 Hands

 

Stillwater's beers are no longer pricey, as most are now brewed stateside in large batches. If $3-4/12oz for great, experimental beer is pricey, I don't know what to tell you. Cellar Door, Classique (6-pack cans, are you kidding me), even their basic saison Stateside is great. Why can't IBU. As Follows. Small Black. I might just be 'in a mood' but if you're the kind of person who says something as patently dumb as "I just don't like saisons", you don't know what you're talking about. A saison could be almost anything, it's about the widest breadth of brewing I can think of. Just say you don't like beer and move along.

ALL that said, Stillwater was one of the breweries that I was surprised to see on the list (and Lagunitas, really? What year is this article for?).

 

Thank you OP for that link. It was an interesting read.

I have no ‘beef’ with any of the breweries mentioned but I was surprised that Tired Hands was not mentioned.

Cheers!

 

The only brewery with worse pricing in this area: Nebraska...

 

Berryessa, Rare Barrel, and Cellermaker deserve all the praise they get. Awesome stuff here in Norcal.

 

Urban Chestnut really blew me away when I visited. Everything I tried was impressive. Their Schnickelfritz is probably the best American-made hefe I've ever had. And last weekend I tried their take on a schwarzbier and found it very tasty too. Can't wait to go back and try more.

 

Again, how is an $11/4pk bad pricing? It used to be $12 for a 22oz (which I agree was ridiculous). I'll gladly pay $2.50 for a Classique at any given time over most other beers. Do you guys not have the small format Stillwater yet? At worst, it's slightly cheaper than a decent craft iipa. Which isn't like buying Sierra, but it's certainly not expensive enough to make a big deal about it. Then again, I have no problem paying $15 for chard-bbl-aged Hop God either.

 

Of those mentioned on here, I agree with the Stillwater mention as I liked the Stateside and Cellar Door. Cellarmaker was another great mention, as that place really impressed me on a visit to SF last month.

I also got to try Fortunate Islands from Modern Times and enjoyed that so I'll concede that.

Now, if you look at the Beer Advocate (the magazine) article about breweries to watch, a New Mexican brewery, Duel Brewing gets a shout out. I'll second that one. Goya Imperial Stout is gonna get a lot of ISOs.

Same goes for La Cumbre, which is really beginning to crank out a lot of bottled and canned stuff... Project Dank, Malpais Stout, Cafe con Leche. People are going to want their goodness.

 

You're paying way less than I did. Haven't really seen the 4 packs, only large format bottles. Hop god was $19 a bottle & was even pricier in North Carolina. All markets are different sounds like you guys in Oregon have it made ( more choice & competition to be sure ). Will revisit them next time on pricing, seemed about the same the last time I looked. I've probably spent the lion's share of my saison money on Prairie lately...

 

I'm 50-50 on Stillwater. most of their stuff is contract brewed at Two Roads brewing in Stratford, CT. so, there's that. why I can't B U is a wheat ipa, when fresh very tasty.

 

Peekskill Brewing is the real deal. amazeballs is the best pale I've had to date.

 

Scroll down to see the comment from the Smuttynose PR team.

 

Everything I read indicates that Brian Stumke is brewing his beers (Stillwater) at Two Roads. Since he has his ‘hand on the helm’, does that affect your opinions on Stillwater beers?

Cheers!

 

I am thoroughly impressed at how this article COMPLETELY neglects to mention the Minnesota revival. Prohibition killed hundreds of local breweries here, and in the last 10 years we have seen an explosion in terms of both quantity and quality.

Sad they are missing out.

 

Just added my two cents on the comments over there, but surprised no one mentioned Side Project. Have a feeling he's going to really blow up (maybe just in beer geek world) in the next year.

 

Une Annee out of Chicago is brewing belgians that are out of control good. Distribution has been building slowly to metro stores, but I could see this becoming a cult favorite.