Next Big Time Brewery

To me, Hoof Hearted is blowing up in Ohio. I know they've been around for a bit, but their stuff is just on a totally other level than anyone else in Ohio. I see on various trade forums, they get lumped into NE hops, but its some good old fashioned MW hops, lol. #haze

 

I've had Dunkel, Helles, Pils and Vienna. Helles is stunning. What's crazy is that the Vienna may be even better.

Really hope they get noticed and appreciated. Had my store order case of each; sadly, seems I'm the only one to make a purchase since distribution.

 

I thought the Vienna was the star of the show as well. I hope that they will bottle an O'fest this year.

 

fieldwork is doing big things and making great beer...supposed to open 3 other locations in the near future (sacramento, napa, monterey)

 

Fieldwork is good, they have a lot of potential. Not quite where Sante Adairius and Cellarmaker are right now, but still a bright future.

 

quality-wise, i agree - fieldwork is just a notch below. but availability is a big factor for me and it's nice to see fieldwork stuff on tap all over the place.

 

agreed.

 

I think Noble in Anaheim flies very under the radar of those outside of Southern California, but they are making some of the best beer in the state right now (which says a lot in a state like California). I've never had anything from them that wasn't at least good, and most of their beers are between great and world class.

 

Finally drinking the Vienna as I type. I like to try a new beer with a fresh palate for the first time. The Dunkel will be tomorrow. This beer is excellent. I gave it a 4.56. The Helles got a 4.5 and the Pilsner a 4.22. Might be the best variety pack I have ever had. Going to try the Dunkel tomorrow.

 

One I've recently found that has been under the radar, to my knowledge, is Seapine here in Seattle. Haven't had anything I didn't greatly enjoy from them so far.
Another would be Reuben's. Well established here in WA and always true to style with their own spin to it too. Blimey is always a local fav TIPA.

 

I like your palate! Would rate in that order as well. Spread the word on von Trapp!

 

I actually had the Helles 4th, but not by much . But still, I agree- best variety pack across the board that I've probably ever had as well.

 

Really? I'll defer to your expertise and knowledge - what characteristics had you rank (so to speak) as you did?

 

I found it to be pretty delicate, especially compared to the Munich versions, which manage the feat of having a full robust malt profile while still being incredibly drinkable. But I really loved how it got better the more I drank.

No need to defer, though- it's still a quality beer and we just may have different preferences. Cheers!

 

I convinced the beer manager at a store to buy the sampler. I was talking to him about beer and told him how great the first two I tried were. Hopefully they get popular...

 

Heading to Denver in a few weeks and I have my Odd13 stops mapped out already on beermenus. Heard great things about them. Can't wait.

Also very interested in seeing Von Trapp in NY, hopefully soon...

 

Scratch in ava Illinois. Small farm brewery that only uses ingredients that are locally grown or foraged. They just started bottling but no distribution yet I believe. Ever had a Chantrelle mushroom beer? Pretty wild

 

It will have to be someone doing something different. Breweries like Aslin and The Veil make tasty beers, but IMO their ceiling is somewhat low (in terms of potential to become HUGE) because I don't think they'll ever out-Tree House Tree House. Perhaps that will change when The Veil puts out some of their sour and barrel-aged releases, but even then they're mostly just playing the same game everyone else is playing now. The market is already getting saturated with new breweries making New England IPAs, and the tides will turn at some point, probably sooner than later. Likely will even happen within hoppy styles, where the hype landscape is nearly always volatile. It was hardly ten years ago that Pliny and west coast styles were in, then Heady, then the midwestern DIPAs like Abrasive and citra-hopped stuff like ZD and PseudoSue, then the first New England craze with HF, Maine Beer Co, Lawson's, etc, and now the latest New England trends with Tree House and Trillium. It's usually the originators that people remember and not the rest that jump on the train, mostly because if you're jumping on board it's already too late and the hypetrain has moved on to the next shift in style.

Whoever causes those tides to turn will be the new big thing (and I wish I knew who it was)...

 

I'll throw in a vote for Aslin. A year and a half ago they were brewing at home and hadn't even open. In less then a year they went from nothing to people lining up to sell them out despite only being open 4 days a week. It'll be interesting to see what kind of hype veil's wild ales get though.

 

I have high hopes for SingleSpeed in Cedar Falls, IA. They're currently undergoing an expansion which will hopefully allow them to begin bottling some of the incredible brews they've been producing.