Breweries you've done a 180 on

If you like traditional styles, don't forget PA's own Sly Fox.

He does that regularly. He is the only troll I like on this site.

 

+180 Sierra Nevada - For the longest time didn't pay attention them, but now after the cool stuff they did with Beer Camp and some of their newer inventions, I really enjoy their beer and strategy.

-180 Rogue - Mostly bad service and food at the brewery has kind of turned me off of them.

 

If Unibroue beer doesn't taste good to you, fair enough, nobody can argue with you about that.

But I don't understand why them not being similar enough to the benchmarks of the style is necessarily a bad thing. If you want Westmalle Tripel and Dubbel, that's what Westmalle is there for.

I've had a lot of Tripels from many Belgian breweries, and it does get boring after a while as so many of them are so similar. One of the reasons I like La Fin Du Monde so much is that there's something refreshingly different about it, without being too far from the basic style.

If you were to compare virtually any American (or non-British, for that matter) IPA/RIS/Pale Ale/etc. to the original British styles, you'd come up with an even much bigger discrepancy. Is there any sense in criticizing Sculpin for not tasting like an authentic British IPA?

 

+180 last year: Sierra Nevada. I don't know how I ever took them for granted, but I did.

+180 last week: Sam Adams. I decided to get some "just want to drink" beer. $30 for 24-pack? Yes please. The Log Cabin pack is quite good. They really nail the classics. Noble Pils is one of the best pilsner's I've had.

-180 Hopslam. I gave it a 3.75 this year. When I last had it maybe two years ago I think I gave it a high 4. I thought it was incredibly sweet and malty. Maybe my palate was messed up that day. Hopefully I'll better enjoy the remaining 4.

-180 Green Flash: I liked them a lot when I first got into craft beer, but ever since around the time of the reformulated West Coast IPA, and when I visited their brewery, I haven't had a very positive perception of them. They seem to have been left back in time. Loved Silva Stout though. Even though I had it infected once at a bar in Chicago. "This is an unusual stout, it tastes like butterscotch,", yeah okay. Why were they selling it then?

 

Much much better

 

I actually wasn't really taking a stance against the brewery, just that beer itself. I am sure they make some great beers, but I wouldn't really know anymore as it has been so long since I had any.

 

I just don't like them, this is my opinion. What's your point?

 

I'm in this camp. They've vastly improved over the last few years.

 

Fish in Olympia, WA. First beer I had from them - the barrel aged version of Poseidon, back in 2003 - was amazing. These days I'm pretty unimpresed with their offerings, and have been for some time.

 

Only been in the game for a few years, but the one that stands out has been mentioned several times - Otter Creek. New brewmaster scrapped all of the old recipes and their new stuff is very good. The collaborations with Lawson's have been great. Total +180.

 

Rogue used to be my favorite brewery. There are other reasons not to like them, but I stopped caring about them when I noticed that they were shitting out gimmicky beer after gimmicky beer instead of improving their core.

 

When I first started with non-lagers, Southern Tier was it. Way too sweet for my tastes now, it bums me out. I'm also really tired of Three Floyds' pricing when they're nowhere near the competition's value.
Side note: I loved Stone for years, and EnjoyBy is liquid candy to me. They really piss me off now that I live in Milwaukee and they're nowhere in the entire state...when pretty much the rest of the world gets it. wtf guys?

 

Tuckahoe Brewing has really stepped it up. I used to think their products were poor but they've really improved.

 

Stone, The Bronx Brewery & Green Flash

 

I was just about to say Bells. I don't care for much of anything they make besides good old Two hearted. I used to think they were great about 8 years ago.

 

I've gone 180 on Clown Shoes. I LOVED all the Clown Shoes beers I had a few years ago, and though I still really like the brewery and their core beers, I feel like the more recent beers I've had of theirs haven't been worth the money. If it's $17, I'm expecting something fantastic, not just good.

So, I'll continue drinking their basics, but I've backed off picking up their more unique BA releases - at least until the taste matches the price. That being said, I'd still really like to try Breakfast Exorcism lol.

 

Creemore Springs... once a wonderful little independent in the town of Creemore (population 412.. maybe 411) but sadly sold to mega brewer Molson (ugh) and the beer went from wonderful and fresh to mass-produced crap.

 

I recently did a 180 on Eddyline. At first I thought their beer wasn't great but I've had a canned IPA (Crank Yanker) and DIPA (Epic Day) that were both above average.

 

Guess I've done a 360 on Flying Dog. There was a time that I felt like their core lineup was pretty stellar. Then, as I grew older, I came to feel that they were predominantly sub-par in the grand scheme of craft beer.
Recently, I've come back around. They are now producing surprisingly well-crafted & sometimes boundary-pushing beers with their ramped-up 'Brewhouse Rarities' line.

 

Local brewery Steamworks in BC +180, making more interesting beer and better quality standards.