What breweries have really "fallen off" recently? Which have improved a lot?

Cycle brewing is improving and improving which is pretty awesome since they were pretty dam good from the beggining.
Also 18th Street has taken a few steps up the ladder.

I must say that I agree with Ommegang and Dogfish Head, they have been fading.

 

I would tend to agree with Sixpoint but then I drank Jammer and felt disappointed again

 

I knew someone would say this. But to me that beer doesn't count since it's a shitty style anyway. At least for me. I thought it was decent since wasn't salty or sour at all.

 

Fallen off - NoDa in Charlotte. There was a time when I would have put Hop Drop and Roll against just about any IPA out there, I've had it side by side with HDR and it hung in there. That day is over, the beer I'm getting now isn't close to the one I would drive 3 hours round trip to buy by the case. I'm supposing the need for growth and expansion is the culprit and they lost the ability to maintain and be consistent. The Gold Medal at GABF was perhaps a blessing and and curse, nice be recognized , cursed demand was do heavy they were forced to expand before they wer ready perhaps. Either way it a no buy until it's fixed. They are a great brewery , they are responsive, they've responded to emails, they even sent replacement beer on a batch that was particurarily bad. So if they know it's broke I'm hoping they also fix it.

 

Really excited for that! Love me some Jack's Abbey!

 

Fallen off- Green Flash
Improved-Abita

 

I love Sixpoint, but jammer was a big disappointment. It is one of my favorite styles when done well, but was a huge miss to me. I did like Abigale though.

For a brewery that's been great, I would say Carton. Really loved their one off tap stuff. Hopefully work takes me towards Phillipsburg today so I can get some Carton stuff, it's been too long.

 

My local brewery Tioga Sequoia has kicked it up a notch in the last year. They've been crankin out lots of great new stuff, even completely revamped their previously less than stellar pale ale.

 

SixPoint is certainly moving in the right direction and Great Lakes and my beloved Sierra Nevada never cease to impress me, no matter what beer I go for.

 

Funny. I think the recent batches have been better than any I have had in the past, and only in the last couple of months have I started to like HDR. Maybe I've been lucky or maybe we just have differing tastes.

 

Flying Dog hits new peaks and nadirs seemingly by the year. Some of the choices make sense (ditching Old Scratch, Road Dog, Woody Creek, etc since they were just barely profitable despite being great examples of their styles well not Road Dog); others are just confusing (so many goddamn IPAs when their other styles are dropping).

I suppose it's a bit personal as I've long supported them and several close friends work there. It just seems like they're playing ball entirely by sales, which yeah business I know, but an odd choice for the legacy of Thompson and Stranahan. That said Brophy has been making awesome steps toward better conditioning and tank times even for limited releases, their experimental stuff is going more and more public as the tap room moves forward, and I'll happily volunteer to help with old friends at Camden Yards when they bring the RV in.

 

It's not true, but we are all entitled to our opinions. I drink their beers regularly and have noticed no drop off at all.

 

I think Long Trail is making some great beers now, starting with Limbo, including Sick Day and the farmhouse series beers. Otter Creek is making some better beers, but I've have two six packs that were undrinkable (verified by others who had had those same beers), so something may be up with quality control.

On the down side, Boulevard. I don't know what they are doing, but each of their new beers is considerably worse than those they presumably replaced.

 

Improved - Oddside (they have been rising up my favorites list each year becoming more consistent and more innovative)

 

Improved: Country Boy Brewing (Lexington, KY) is killing it. They've emerged as the best brewery in the state IMO.

With the release of Beer Camp Hoppy Lager & Hop Hunter IPA this year Sierra Nevada has really stepped their game up. In our market they were starting to be seen as sell-outs/ just generally overlooked.

Anderson Valley, that Holy Gose and Blood Orange!

Evil Twin has become more and more consistent and have leveled out to a much more reasonable price range.

Stone special releases, collabs, new products, etc. continue to impress as well.

Avery's barrel-aged and sours.

Fallen off: Goose Island, New Holland, Hate to say it, but Bell's also

 

I'd be interested in hearing more if you'd like to email jdanner at boulevard dot com.

 

I can do that. I cut my craft beer teeth on Boulevard (and Free State) while a law student at KU back in the early 90's. So I'm fond of the brand generally and was excited when it came to MA a few years back.

 

what Boulevard beers are considerably worse? This is the first I've heard of this sentiment

Boulevard has only gotten more awesome as the years have gone by, but they have gone into hyperdrive this year

 

A brewery that I think has improved and appears to be continually improving is Yuengling. Last year that introduced Summer Wheat which is a tasty Hefeweizen. They will be producing a new winter seasonal and I found out earlier today that this beer will be an IPL brewed with Bravo, Belma, Cascade and Citra hops. It will of a session strength of 5% ABV and 60 IBUs.

Cheers to Yuengling!!

 

I shouldn't have included it in this category. Nothing is worse. It's simply disappointment with the new offerings. The original beers are as good as always. My retailer also advised that some of the new ones were "replacing" the old, if not, then no impact at all.