East Vs. West

The last several weeks the weather has been unseasonably cold here in sepa, in the teens. Today after an evening of snow then freezing rain then just rain the afternoon temps went into the mid 40's, it felt like summer. It was so warm and sunny that instead of chicken and dumplings for dinner I grabbed a couple beers and fired up the grill.
Point is, you get use to things.

 

Proximity bias is a strong thing. Ratings here reflect the hell out of this...especially in specific regions.

 

Well, I'd say Alaska and specifically Midnight Sun have a great reputation in the beer world. Tennessee doesn't seem to have developed quite the same reputation, so maybe it has more to do with Tennessee than either coast or anything else.

 

I love them all.

 

Midnight sun is awesome. No reason to to think they aren't producing beer up there with the best of them.

 

Will this beef end with brewers getting shot, or are we offering up rappers again?

 

I don't really get the whole East Coast vs. West Coast beers ( IPA DIPA style wise). As i see it USA and Canada on both coast have access to the same yeast and hops so the lines are super blurred. I get the English Vs. American IPA but, is a "west coast style" IPA brewed in Maine an east coast IPA or a West coast?
Its just silly.

 

Good beer is good beer, coasts be damned.

 

I don't want to get into the whole East Coast/West Coast thing (because it's pointless), but it is a fact that more people on the West Coast have been brewing what we today call "craft beer" for longer than people anywhere else in the United States. It's more embedded in the culture here, it goes wider and deeper. The rest of the country has made great strides in the last couple decades, and has probably just about caught up in a lot of places; but I won't discount your feelings about beer in Alaska.

Oh, and by the way. Anchorage Brewing.

 

Since moving West I have found a number of good beers not available to me when in FL. But overall I think very few compare to what I could get on a regular basis there. Then again I am unhappy with the whole situation here so perhaps it's just another tally in my AZ sucks list. I am very happy to have Odell Brewing though, finding them has been a high point for me.

Edit: Oh and Epic, love me some Epic.

 

From a Canadian: I grew up in Nova Scotia, went to university in New Brunswick, moved back to NS for a year, and I've lived in Vancouver ever since. It's hard to find good beer in the Maritimes. I wouldn't say there isn't any, but you have to actively seek it out. You certainly aren't going to find it in a provincial liquor store. Quebec vs BC would be a different story, although I'm very happy to live where I live and have access to what's here.

 

West coast all the way! I'll forever throw the W!

 

The east is lacking in top notch local brewers wrt population for sure, but most places make up for that in distribution. My life has led me across the country twice in the last year (NYC to OR to DC) and I can report the following from my taste buds:

The IPAs out west are just better when it comes to things that are readily available. I went from drinking Dirt Wolf and Two Hearted to Breakside/RPM/Pallet Jack/Topcutter and I was in heaven. The first beer I cracked when I got to DC was a Two Hearted, and while I was excited about it and still think it's a GREAT beer, I would basically never choose it over any of those PNW brews I mentioned.

It's a wash, in my opinion, when it comes to basically any other style. Real Belgians/Germans are better than any of their American counterparts, and I can get all of the ones I want in basically every major city. My favorite stouts and porters come from the midwest and are nationally distributed. I think that maybe an argument can be made for west coast black IPAs being better as well, but I base this solely on my experience not really liking them until having a chance to try Armored Fist and Chaos.

All of that said, I am willing to admit that state of mind could be playing a major role here. I've never been happier in a place than I was in Portland, and of course the beer scene was a major reason for that. Your mind certainly does have the ability to alter your physical experience.

 

East coast style for me. Fruit n floral over pine needles everytime

 

I will totally agree with this. West coast IPA's just don't do it for me like East coast. Even some of the ones I thought were just ok at the time I would gladly takeover any IPA I have had out here, especially Jai Alai, would just about kill for some of that juicy goodness.

 

West coast rocks....pretty much.

 

What about Midwest coast?

But seriously though, I guess my palate isn't developed enough to prefer East or West, if it tastes good then its ok in my book

 

West AND East are good. I think there are regional differences in beer, with the west being slightly more hop forward and the east having a bit more malt. From what I have read, southern beers tend to be lighter overall, which makes sense because of the increased need for beer to be refreshing in the heat down there.

This may be why you felt underwhelmed going back... You became accustomed to all the bigger brews of different regions.