Has you favorite "State" brewery changed?

I'm always trying new things for sure.

In the end though, there are a few staple beers that I buy fairly often.

The 4 I buy the most:

Live Oak Hefeweizen
Lone Pint Yellow Rose (now that they are dated)
Saint Arnold Weedwacker
Saint Arnold Endeavour (I buy it if it is within six weeks. I find it holds up fairly well in cans IMO)

Generally if I'm stocking up, I pick up one of the above 4 and then either some singles or another craft six pack or two that aren't on the above list.

I haven't bought any Karbach packs since they sold to AbInbev. Just a personal choice.

 

I have been grabbing more Saint Arnold. 5 O'Clock Pils and Pub Crawl are probably my favorite beers on the shelf right now. I always have room for Live Oak Hefe and Yellow Rose in the fridge as well. When out and about, or able to get a growler, I always look for anything from Holler, and 512.

Edit, I can't remember the last time I had anything from Karbach, probably pre buy out, but I am not actively boycotting. Just don't care about them anymore.

 

Totally forgot about Pub Crawl. I love that beer. Mostly I've been getting it on draft, but I'll be picking up some soon at the store.

 

Marble was my favorite when I moved down here to Albuquerque and they still are. They are no longer alone in that top spot, however, they now share a seat with La Cumbre.

 

Hm... When I started drinking beer back in 2006 my favorites were Red Hook ESB, Full Sail Amber, and the like.

The Texas beers I liked were virtually all of Real Ales lineup, and Live Oak when I could find it. Saint Arnold was also a common sight in my fridge.

Since then I went through a few phases, started obsessing about strong beers starting from Sysiphus. Had a few years of primarily IPA's.

I just like well made beers. I prefer balanced and lower abv styles. I just think they're more interesting while still of course being really easy to just sit back and relax without having to think hard about anything.

I definitely wouldn't say that any of the closest breweries to me would have supplanted any of my original favorite breweries. Peticolas would probably be the closest to doing that for me but I can never find anything of theirs on tap that I enjoy drinking and I don't think they bottle or can.

I still really like Real Ale and Live Oak. Saint Arnold is still after them. When I make it to Austin I always want to pick up some ABW beer.

Time will tell whether Celis supplants any of the others in my mind. They say they're planning to distribute to DFW so it'll be easier to get than Live Oak or ABW.

 

Real Ale Coffee Porter played a significant role in getting me into craft beer, and 10 years later I'd probably have to say that Real Ale is still my favorite Texas brewery.

 

No Karbach here either. Between Saint Arnold, Real Ale, & Live Oak, I'm set.

 

I will say I never had a problem with Karbach. My wife and I went there a year or two ago and had a great dinner and enjoyed the beers a lot.

We went back in April and didn't eat but went for some good beers with a wide selection of balanced well made beers.

As people here probably know I don't care much for IPA's (I still like them but only as a rare treat).

I was extremely disappointed because the only beer that they had that interested me was Sympathy for the Lager (The rest were IPA's or strong ales of some sort. Not really that surprising but disappointing to me)

But then I drank it and it just seemed to really fall flat. There just was nothing going for it.

I really don't know if my experience was relating to the ABI buyout but I am more skeptical of the brewery now.

Edit: There are plenty of other good breweries around. I'll just spend my money trying to support them and keep them alive.

 

The Real Ale Coffee Porter was good. Although I do prefer my coffee and beer separately.

Full Moon was probably my favorite beer at the time. How much has it changed now that they changed the branding from a Rye Pale Ale to Rye IPA?

 

My first thought reading the thread title was..."Yeah, they've changed... They've gotten so much better." Real Ale's Helles and Four Squared are awesome. Just had a Han's Pils. Axis coming soon in cans. Yes, please. St. Arnold's Five O'clock, Lawnmower, Bishop's Barrel and a faster pace on the Divine Reserve....and Art Car (IMO, the best of the bunch) is now a staple in my fridge.

After reading the thread... I think I misinterpreted the question. If that's the case, the answer is no. I'll try all of the new stuff, but I keep coming back to these two.

...And I'm surprised you're not taking more heat for the Karbach praise.

 

Being new to Texas beers, I really Enjoy what's coming out of Southern Star in Conroe, Texas. Still loyal to my Dixie Beer (I know...) and love slinging it back in Louisiana, though. Seeing them as a Bartender right outside of Houston.

 

I used to like Karbach the most, but even before the buyout, St. Arnold and Real Ale passed them by for me

 

There were only a few people who posted so far. Jester King is still a bit to new to be the old favorite. I do really like some of the beers they make. Commercial Suicide, Petite Prince, El Cedro, Gottlandsdrikka. I haven't had Black Metal since everything started being sour but I loved it. But they are always a specialty. They do what they do well, but my favorite is a brewery that I can count on every day of the year to deliver excellent beer that I want then.

I'm sure there are people who Jester King is their day to day favorite but those aren't the people who posted here.

I was going to Southern Star since right after they opened until I moved to DFW. They have a very special place in my heart. I bought a bunch of 6'ers of Spring Pils, and Pine Belt, Bombshell Blonde, and Buried Hatchet are probably my favorites in their respective styles... I haven't been as big of a fan of most of their seasonals though.

They're still below Live Oak on my favorites list but they're still right near the top.

 

Real Ale
Rahr & Sons
Southern Star
New Republic
Jester King
Lone Pint
Live Oak

... that's probably my order in terms of how much I buy from each. Jester King, Lone Pint and Live Oak are my favorites, but those three also are the hardest for me to find in Bryan-College Station (hard but fortunately not impossible).

 

I'm still a fan of Jester King, just wish more of their stuff was available outside of the brewery. For more local stuff, I tend to buy more Rahr and Community than anything else.

 

I don't love Jester King. I don't care to drive there for special releases from south of Houston. I'm not a big fan of funky sours. I don't like buying bombers as much as small bottles or cans. So those are strikes against them for me.

My favorite beer of theirs is the beer they brew with Live Oak.

 

I don't per say have a favorite state brewery. I don't drink as much Karbach as I used to, but I still get the original BBH when it shows up on the shelf (a lot easier now). But if I look at my purchases, I have spent more with lone pint this year on Yellow Rose (probably 4 cases) this year. Most for an after wedding party, the rest for giveaways when I go on trips. When I went to Florida last month and Birmingham Al last week I took Yellow Rose and shared it everywhere I went. I know there was a thread on this a while back, but everyone I gave it to was truly excited to get their hands on it.