Breweries you've done a 180 on

Wow

 

Unibroue also got me into beer, but come on... the worst? Those 5 beers (trios pistoles, etc.) I always see at bevmo are still gangster. Sorry you don't like them anymore .

 

Couldn't agree more, came to this thread to reflect the same thoughts. I pretty much buy any and all of their barrel-aged offerings that I haven't tried (and many of those I have tried and loved). Wish this was a brewery you could visit so I could shake the brewers hands!

 

How does Lagunitas forming a joint venture to access Heineken's global distribution network turn them into a product you wont buy? They are still remaining a seperate entity.

 

180 Negative - Alpha Brewing. Terrible Customer Service, DBag owner/brewer, mediocre at best beer. But god damn did that cataloupe sour first suck me in hard.
180 Positive -Green Flash.

 

Local - 180 for the good, Alewerks. I first had their stuff in 2008 and found a few of them drinkable and a few undrinkable. A friend started talking about things like Cafe Royale and Bitter Valentine around 2012 and I just figured he didn't know what he was talking about. But they got a new brewer who apparently cleaned up infections, stopped using home-brew grade sanitizer, dropped bad recipes, tweaked others, and brought his own. I couldn't believe the quality when I finally got around to trying them again in 2014.

National - 180 for the worse, Allagash. I used to enjoy a lot of their beers but recently I've felt duped into some high price bottles that come across as completely mediocre. I haven't been able to put my finger on it exactly but after a few very "meh" $20+ bottles, I'm saving that cash to give others a try.

 

I don't really understand all of the hate for Samuel Adams here on BA. Sure, they aren't as "Craft" as other current popular breweries but I think they make a lot of high quality offerings for a great price.

 

It's the same thing as all the hate for New Belgium. Older, established ompany becomes big and appeals to the masses, then people say they aren't that exciting anymore. I recently had a Samual Adams beer that I really liked, but I don't remember which one it was...

And New Belgium makes some awesome one-offs and small batch beers that don't get bottled and sent to 40 states.

 

I started disliking them because of their yeast signature. It leaves a lot of dirty flavours. La Fin du Monde has too much banana sweetness, almost to a hefeweizen extent. Trois Pistoles has a vegetal flavour, Maudite reminds me of olives, and Blanche de Chambly has way to much spice. These beers remind me of bad homebrew more than Belgian strongs.

If you don't agree, try Maudite next to Westmalle Dubbel, La Fin du Monde next to Westmalle Tripel, and Trois Pistoles next to Rochefort 8. I like the extra hop character Trappist beers have, and their yeast signature isn't so insane.

 

My only gripes with Sam Adams relate to their "house character" being too distinct. I can pick out anything they put in a 12oz bottle as theirs almost instantly. There's nothing wrong with that, but it leads to those "everything tastes the same" statements.
I also kinda wish they'd give up on making a Blue Moon competitor. Seems they have a new random wheat beer every 3 months. Just settle on one or give it up.

 

Otter Creek... All of their hoppy stuff lately has been awesome. A couple years ago I hardly touched their stuff.

 

Sierra Nevada and even Anchor remain respected because they consistently release beers that are decent examples of their style.

When I see Sam Adams, I put them in the same category as Shock Top. Their Boston Lager is ok though.

 

I have to agree with the OP here, Smuttynose has definitely done a 180. I Used to drink them years ago and then I felt they just got "flat" with their product, then I had Finest Kind this year and was quite impressed.

I used to drink Green Flash a lot but now they're just not my thing.

 

So many breweries began as breweries I loathed. Stone, I couldn't stand their marketing schtick. It made me cringe. Enough so that I refused to patronize them. Gladly I did an about face about 5 years ago. Stone Pale Ale 2.0 is a constant in my home, and they are one of the only brewers I break my no-bomber rule for. They push the envelope and I eat the envelope.

Like Zid, I went down that same road with Smuttynose - and now they show up a fair bit in my rotations with Old Brown Dog, Hayseed and the only beer ale I drink, their Pumpkin Ale.

I fall in and out with Southern Tier for reasons I can explain.

I now embrace Greenport Harbor Brewing, whereas I once actively hated them.

 

When I first saw your original post I was a bit shocked you thought that way but now I can understand what you mean. The yeast signature can be a little over the top in Unibroue's brews. With that being said, La Fin du Monde is still in my Top 5 Tripels.

 

Now that I think of it, it was a scottish / scotch ale, I think a Wee Heavy. I can find out for sure when I check my untappd. But in general, the standard SA beers don't do it for me. Being from Colorado, Sam Adams never really took off here, a lot of people do New Belgium instead.

 

Chris, how would you describe this "house character"? I have never perceived this same flavor in Sam Adams beers but I do not regularly drink them.

Cheers!

 

Kompaan (The Netherlands) - Negative 180. This is predominantly an emotional choice, but also based on quality and business ethics. I was working with them doing just about everything and was NOT being paid. Legit, not a dime, with the promise of payment and more. So, i quit after 4 months. Ultimately, they are terrible business people who are cheap,have poor ethics and give empty promises. Overall, i would say they fully deserve to fail. Their beers really arn't that good or special either.
Never again will i drink their beer.