From this list, what brewery reigns supreme?

Don't know how he left that one off. Their porter is cheap but a great standard porter. And he said under $3, so Breakfast Stout is within reach

 

Not usually a dick either, but I read your original post with no mention of Founders and happened to catch his. I normally read the op thoroughly and then skim the rest, which is what I did. Is that ok?

 

if i had to pick one, i'd be debating between sierra nevada and stone.

if i had to pick five, i'd end up doing a lot of side-comment explanation kind of stuff (e.g. anchor would be on there, but with caveats like "won't get too many styles," and "all beers must be consumed super fresh except old foghorn and maybe the porter).

full disclosure: bell's doesn't distribute to new england, so i'm not too familiar with them outside of hopslam.

 

Bell's is just all around fantastic... but there's a lot of good stuff for you to choose from on this list. For me personally, in addition to Bell's, I'd be most interested in beers from this short list:

Avery
Brooklyn
Dogfish
Lagunitas
North Coast
Sierra Nevada
Southern Tier
Stone
Rogue
Kuhnhenn
Victory

 

Avoid anything on the shelves by Michigan brewing. They went out of business moths ago.

 

Lagunitas

 

Bell's and/or Kuhnhenn. Tied.

 

Lagunitas and Stone, always provide a%$ kicking beer!!! Goose Island only for BCS.

 

The best DFH at that price point is India Brown Ale. Palo Santo Marron is great also but getting close to $3/bottle.
Stone and Lagunitas six packs are amazing also. I don't have access to Bell's but the one Two-Hearted I did have on tap was great.

 

From this list, and not going outside of it, I'll drink the hell out of some Epic - Big Bad Baptist and Brainless on Cherries. I also like Avery's Rumpkin a lot... but I think the brand I drink the most of outside of DC Brau, is The Bruery. Neither of which are on this list.

 

In my experience, if you didn't like Lagunitas IPA, you are not you are not going to like much of their stuff. To me they seem like a brewery that has a common taste trait throught most of their line (many love it, though I am in the minority with you that does not).

I LOVE Bells 2 Hearted and Oberon, but I am not a fan of the Amber and outright disliked their pale.

Wierd that they don't have Founders. And unfortunate.

I would grab a Dogfish Head 90 minute if it were me.

 

To the OP: I agree with this -- buy local to support your Michigan breweries. (But you need to take that Michigan logo off of Avery in your list and put it on Arcadia.) From the grouping of Michigan breweries you will not miss experiencing a good example of any style from any out-of-state brewery. Just wait until you get to the store to see what is available and then make your choices. You'll have time to make additional trips for others in the future and to stay within your budget.

One point of guidance for you would be to choose beers from breweries in western Michigan because they will generally give you a better quality beer for the style when compared to the Detroit-area or most of the eastern Michigan breweries (with the exception of Kuhnhenn and Dragonmead). Arcadia, Bell's, Dark Horse, Founders, Saugatuck, North Peak, Brewery Vivant and New Holland produce solid examples of the various styles.

 

Take the plunge --- it's just as good.

 

Anchor & Sierra Nevada are tied for me, then Lagunitas, Stone and Bear Republic in that order. I owe a lot of my obsession to those guys.