'Sleeper' beers

Lager of the Lakes from Bells. That's the one I liked. I honestly never thought that Penn Pilsner was a vienna. it's too golden. it's too breaddy. It's not that sweet. I thought it was a very good pilsener. The vienna has a hint of darkness in it. This one does not.

 

I like Saxonator, but it's not really up with Celebrator for me. Andechser is also good, but not as good. Same with Paulaner Salvator. Spaten Optimator is yet another rung down (although I have five in the fridge). Need to try Korbinian.

 

Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose! Watermelon Gose coming to MA mid-October. Draft and bombers only.

 

One more edit.


OkI guess what I mean is that little bit of sugar that's in the vienna -that makes you think bock, that; eventually if not here, gives in to darkness in malts and in yeast too and is what characterizes the vienna. If penn pilsner is not a pils then at 4% or whatever it was what is it? It just has not laid the foundation for higher abv. It stops at pilsner which is what the pils does.

 

FWIW, Bell's Lady of the Lake is classified as an American Pale Lager on BA. I had this beer once on draft and I thought it was an OK beer; I had no interest in drinking a second pint once I finished the beer. Now Quinannan Falls Lager is very different for me: I want to drink multiple pints of that beer.

As regards Vienna Lager and "sweet", IMO a Vienna Lager does not need to be sweet and my preferred Vienna Lagers are not sweet (e.g., Devil's Backbone Vienna Lager is not sweet to my palate).

Cheers!

 

North Coast Old Stock Ale comes to mind.

 

Two Hearted! Picked up a 4 pack last weekend and now I'm kicking myself over not having tried it sooner.

 

This years SN Oktoberfest. Saw it sitting a few dozen times and thought " There's no way an Oktoberfest can be THAT good.. "

Boy was I wrong.

 

Not sure that this exactly fits your definition cause I never pass on it, but Barrel Aged Blackbeerd by COAST is pretty much my definition of a sleeper beer. Mexican Cake get all the hype as THE South Carolina Imperial Stout, but in my opinion BA Blackeerd is far superior to Mexican Cake. And MC sells out everywhere the day its released, whereas BA Blackbeerd was at the brewery for at least a couple months.

Really, COAST as a whole would be my "sleeper brewery".

 

I don't know if this is the most appropriate thread to say this, but I just have to throw it out there that Smuttynose Finest Kind is becoming one of my favorite IPAs. I wasn't crazy about it the first time I had, but my god, is it good. It's super clean and crisp, and the aftertaste packs a wallop of dry hoppy bitterness, just how I like it.

 

Shhhhhh. That was my pick as well. We don't want it getting out TOO much.

 

Didnt this used to be huge tradebait? Wonder what happened.

 

Guess the novelty wore off? The quality certainly hasn't. COAST also doesn't distribute outside the state or push hype much outside Charleston, so it seems that they're happy with just making the best beer in the state.

 

Firestone DBA is my favorite sleeper beer. It took gold again at GABF, but I bet the cat is STILL in the bag... Its just not a popular style, but still a GREAT beer nonetheless.

 

Firestone Walker Easy Jack.

 

Heavy Seas Loose Cannon turned out to be a fantastic beer, not that i heard any one person talk it up but i saw in store many times and never got it. saw it ranked top #20 in the blind taste test then tried it, really damn good.

 

Hmmmm- maybe I've passed this by one too many times. Thanks.

 

I bypassed Weihenstephaner time and again because I was looking for other things. I finally decided one time to pick up a Kristallweissbier just for the hell of it, and it really changed my outlook. After I tried several other offerings by Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan and some other German brewers, I started to gain an appreciation for what amazing things they can do with the most basic of ingredients. And I challenge anyone to find anything more beautiful in the glass than Weihenstephaner Kristallweissbier, with its perfect clarity, color, and seemingly endless fountain of carbonation.

 

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale..never liked pumpin beers..then said fuck it...best pumpkin beer i've had..hands down.

 

I don't think it was ever huge trade bait, at least not since I've been here for 3+ years. The first BA variant (I think was Jack Daniels in 2009), traded pretty high. But I moved here in 2012 and it has never been a big trader since then. Which is crazy cause IMO the 2012 BA Blackbeerd and the 2015 BA Blackbeerd are two of the best beer from the state since I've been here.

But trade value aside, I've seen demand change significantly too. In 2012, I remember there was a pretty long line at the brewery even before it opened on the day of the release and that it sold out quickly (not immediately but within a couple of days of brewery sales). This year I went on release day, and there were people there as always but no one seemed to particularly care about it being released and there certainly wasn't a line of people leaving with bottles. And then it lasted multiple months. Now granted, with their increased production, and time dedicated to their own brewery (after years of dedicating tons of time/effort/energy to the SC beer cause as a whole on the legislative level), they were able to produce and bottle way more BA Blackbeerd than ever before and I'm sure that contributes to its availability. But I think the bigger thing is that COAST is not an internet-driven hype machine fueled by Whalez-bro hunters. If the beer's not made with a dozen adjuncts, aged in a variety of exotic spirit barrels, or sour the demand isn't there. Thats ok though, more BA Blackbeerd for me!