Most Improved Breweries & Those Losing Their Shine

+1 on Victory as well but anyone had Old Dominion brews lately? I avoid them after the tragedy that was Double D IIPA

 

on point. i appreciate breweries on the rise consistently taking risks, but their more accessible beers are simply *better*. i like beers that are super unique, but a lot of other breweries do a better job with stuff like that. for example, i did a sampling at Of Love and Regret (stillwater) recently and everything tasted new/interesting to me but i also wasn't turned off by any of it. i had no context for some of the brews and wanted more. that's not always the case for the DFH limited releases...

I am a bit of a stillwater fanatic as of late, but it's because i'm consistently impressed add Strumke to the list of improvements.

 

I think there is a new head brewer that is getting some leeway to experiment and it is paying off

 

Is it even possible to be extremely mediocre?

 

Agree, I like them doing some off the wall stuff, but it seems like that's all they do anymore while their staple beer quality has no doubt declined. Bigger isn't always better.

 

Sixpoint is my pick for most-improved brewery, because I think they keep getting better with every release.

As for losing its shine, I think DFH is a good, if somewhat safe, pick. Also, I haven't had anything wow me from Ommegang lately, although the Game of Thrones beers are pretty to look at.

 

Most improved--Otter Creek, Yards, and Flying Fish

 

Ditto on the Sixpoint. Hi-Res was definitely a winner, and their Imperial Otis (tap only) is magic.

I'm not so thrilled with Stone anymore. Crime & Punishment seem to have been drain pours; Go To IPA was meh for me, and the return of Smoked Porter - Vanilla Bean was a real let down.

 

Widmer has stepped it up the last two years.

 

I agree. I wasn't that impressed with 4.20 either

 

Agreed. Otter Creek and Flying Fish were always 'good enough', and made me feel like I'd be happy to have them in my backyard for dependable pints. They weren't all that close to me, though, so I can't say I ever sought out many of their beers on the shelves. Nowadays it's a different story- especially with Flying Fish- the Exit series has some great offerings. I'm happy to see a new display of theirs catch my eye in the stores.

Yards- mostly for overcoming the qc issues I had with them before the split. In addition, they have added some excellent beers, like Brawler, that nobody else seems to be doing; and they are doing them well.

 

Honestly, I thought it would be nice to read opinions on improved breweries but annoying to get through opinions on those that needed improvement. I was wrong. Turns out, the annoyance was in all of the mention of Victory as a brewery that has "vastly improved over past performance and track record." Apologies for the grumpy post.

 

Grumpiness aside , I agree with your sentiments about mentioning Victory (I love them)...but Victory is a solid, very consistent brewery...they have knocked it out of the park with Dirt Wolf...and Hop Ranch was excellent....but the rest of their line up are the same as they have always been...well done, affordable, and enjoyable beers.

But, breweries such as Flying Fish and Yards (as I mentioned above) have made improvements in all their beers over the past few years not just added well done new beers or limited releases. This is a difference worth noting in a post such as this one.

And finally, I hope this post encourages people to constantly retry breweries as they search for new ones. The best beer you drink this week, may be one you wrote off two years ago. It's good for the breweries too.

 

Improved- Golden Road, they've shifted their attention from their mediocre core beers and are putting more time and effort into their new IPA's which are great.

Declined- Port and Alesmith, it's not that their beer quality has declined, but in this day in age their core beers at $6 a bomber sit on the shelf and get old. Way too much delicious competition in the 6 pack format for people to consider a $6 bomber of Alesmith X or Wipeout regularly, I'd love to see these guys join the party.

 

Old Dominion Morning Glory Espresso Stout is a very solid.. I liked it.. but it's the only beer I've had from them and it was probably over a year ago..

 

Interesting. When I first joined, the #1 beer in the world on BA was Storm King.

 

yeah saranac needs work but they're pretty solid

 

Exactly, They've been solid since day 1.