Great beers in your area....

The brewing scene is growing here in Maryland and there are some great beers that have come out in the last few years that are easily accessible. Union Duckpin pale ale, RAR Nanticoke Nectar IPA and Flying Dog Gonzo imperial porter can be found throughout the state and are great representations of each style.

 

For me great beers are ones at the top of their style and I can find really good stuff wherever I go.

 

World-class beers are always readily available here. Trappist ales (e.g. Rochefort, Achel, Westmalle, and Chimay) and German classics (e.g. Weihenstephaner) are never in short supply. We're in the distro footprint for Darkness, and I didn't have to wait in line for BCBS (although we didn't get the variants here, which in retrospect might not be a bad thing).

Oh, and PseudoSue. We always have plenty of PseudoSue.

 

It's pretty easy to not chase hops with consistent access to TG, plus we also have 515 in Des Moines cranking out awesome pale ales.

 

I picked up some Gonzo while in Ohio a while back, and I was impressed. It's probably for the better that I don't have unfettered year-round access to this.

 

The brewery near me (a 10-15 minute drive) from me that gets lots of love is Tired Hands which is located in Ardmore, PA (a suburb of Philly). I am a fan of their beers and generally think they are very good - excellent. I am sure that the beer drinkers who wait hour(s) to purchase their weekly canned beer releases would use the word "great" to describe these beer. I used to have three 4-packs of Tired Hands beers in my refrigerator but now I am now down to 1 can. Sad times.

Cheers!

 

Holy crap, I live in the middle of nowhere west of the RVA and only have to go to a dumpy C-store 3 miles away to get Two Hearted, DFH and several local beers. Venture further than that (about 7 miles) to say, Kroger, and it seems like there's nothing I can't get there (other than limited releases and new to VA stuff like Alpine). Finally, two more miles down the road is a Wegman's with killer European stuff above and beyond Kroger's selection. All that is before I even consider beer-centric bars and stores or breweries. When I do roll further into Richmond, I can throw a blanket over 6 or 7 breweries / brewpubs (Answer, HWP, Ardent, Isley, Strangeways, Triple Crossing for starters...). If push comes to shove, I could go through the effort for Veil or HWP releases (I've done it once at each) but more to the point, I can effortlessly obtain what I consider world class beers most anytime I want. Ya, I think here in central VA, we have it pretty darn good.

 

Id say Yards. And not a very talked about brewer. If youre into other styles that arent hop bombs they are great. Brawler (English dark mild), Jefferson's Tavern Ale (strong ale apparently using a revolutionary era recipe), Pynk (cant put a finger on it but a tart raspberry ale) Love Stout. Their take on English styles is great. It took me a bit but im impressed. I used to buy Sam Smith a lot but for the price if i can get Yards im satisfied.

I get all Flying Dog too and they are awesome from the pale ale to the berliner to their single hops and chili beers.

Forgotten Boardwalk is quite unique. Funnel cake ale, their Wit is great. Smoked Porter.

And of course Victory.

 

Sucks

 

What sucks, your local beers?

 

In Albuquerque, Marble, La Cumbre and Bosque are all brewing great beers.

 

We're spoiled with Toolbox release around here. They have seriously upped their BA sour game lately.

 

Transmitter and Kent Falls are putting out some fantastic and elegant wild/brett beers- they are the ones I look for first on a tap list lately.

 

In northern New Jersey, we can find most of the best Belgian and German beers. Our distro on American crafts is sporatic but improving, and we have access to great local and East Coast beers: Carton, Kane, Magnify, Weyerbacher, Victory, Troegs, Southern Tier, Ommegang, etc.

 

AZ Wilderness, McFate, and Wren House in the Phoenix area, as well as Dragoon in Tucson and Mother Road in Flagstaff are turning out beers to stay home for. Drinking local rocks here in AZ.

 

I am spoiled, I pass both trillium locations on my way to work. Haven't found a single one I haven't enjoyed yet.

 

I'm in Massachusetts, so I have Trillium, Treehouse, jack's Abby, Night Shift, Mystic and how many others within a stone's throw. I'll still go to Maine of Vermont every so often for a beer run - a friend of mine went up to the Alchemist yesterday, came back with his couple cases, plus more he went to a couple other stores for, along with other stuff from up there.