Why is it that the Great Lakes forum dominates the other regional forums when total topic and reply activity is considered?
I would have thought the Midwest might have one that one. ... Who Am I kidding? That’s Chicago every day baby.
We've got a lot of big cities and brutal winters. In January, there's nothing like walking four of five blocks to a bar under that eternal sleet grey sky, and then getting inside that warm bar and ordering up a 7% ABV stout. There's hockey or basketball on the TV. It just fits like a mitten.
Or is it because we're all fat and lazy and sit behind a computer screen all day whilst procrastinating the 2 hours of actual work we have to do at our 8 hour work day?
The winters are miserable unless you're at a bar with a beer. The nature activities suck to non-existent unless you're in mid/upper Michigan/Wisconsin. The beer in this region is brilliant. What's not to love and talk about.
I love the Chicago beer scene. Such great stuff in that city. I basically agree with you about the nature activities, but Matthiessen State Park in upper Illinois is a gem. Southern Illinois has Shawnee National Forest, and is also home to one of my favorite breweries: Scratch Brewing. Still, you definitely have to dig more for nature around here.
Outdoor activities are definitely dependent on the year and exact location. I have had Valentine’s days in Indiana that were great for a home in sothern Indiana (and no doubt Illinois or Missouri as well). Other year - Jan to Mid or late March can just be a miserable ****, leaving you never wanting to leave the heated indoors. (Basically the opposite of a lizard in Texas in the summer, chasing shade tree to shade tree, or AC building to AC building.)
My problem isn't the cold, but the lack of winter sports. In southern Michigan, we get quite a bit of cold and snow, but the snow doesn't stick around at any serious depth for very long. You can't ski or do anything like that too often. Even having a pond freeze over to a comfortable thickness can be rare some winters. When I moved back to southern Michigan from Colorado, I told myself I'd embrace winters and get outside more. But I forgot that you actually have to drive 2-3 hours north to find any reliable conditions for winter sports. It's kind of a no man's land in southern Michigan during the winter, so everyone just shut downs. My friends from the Upper Peninsula have all been very disappointed by the winter culture in southern Michigan. In the UP you can go curling, skiing, and etc at any time. It helps chase away the winter blues.
Its hardly great lakes anyways. 90% is Chicago truck chasers trying to increase trade value. Good to see it still goes on.
So what were the other big nationwide releases that introduced people to beer hype scarcity culture? Chicago was at the forefront of it with BCBS Rare/Vanilla in 2010 and FFF Dark Lord Day prior to that. Throw in FOBAB selling out quickly in the early 2010s and we started developing the modern truck chasing culture. Same with chasing Black Note, KBS, and CBS back in the day. Maybe the midwest was BA stout central. This may play a role in why this community is so active.
Sam Adams Utopias and Triple Bock (when it was released) used to big deals as well. However, back then you truly had to be a be beer nerd to pay the price. EDIT: they aren't stouts obviously, just mentioning big beers that were nationally released. DFH 120 I'd put on that list as well.
