Founders love

Can't wait until they decide to go to Oregon. Please Founders. Come to Oregon. I need more Backwoods Bastard in my life.

 

Fat tire just hit PA recently and it is every bit as good as the hype!

 

I would say Deschutes would be that brewery for me. That's probably the first brewery to come in from out of state that I had heard about and blew me away.

I have yet to have anything from Founders that I would consider less than average. Their Harvest Ale is great, and their All Day IPA was a staple of my football tailgating season.

Keep your eyes open for KBS tappings!

 

Founders is tremendous. Not sure I've had anything from them that wasn't absolutely upper tier.

Kentucky just recently started getting the full measure of Prairie releases, and I just can't get enough of their stouts.

 

The Imperial Stout is one of the best shelf beers available IMO...at least in my area

 

Just wait till you try CBS (if they ever bring it near you).



For me that brewery would be Surly. I'd always heard people wax poetic about beers like Abrasive and Darkness, but Surly stopped distributing in Illinois a year or so before I got into craft beer. When they came back, I was blown away by how good Darkness is (it's my favorite non-BA stout, and is a little like a more complex, full-bodied Founders Imperial Stout), and really liked Abrasive.

 

I feel the same way about Founders.. they've been allegedly expanding in to MD since before I moved here over 2 years ago

 

dude, surly is from minnesota

 

Yeah, Founders never disappoints. I actually don't believe I've ever tried the Imperial Stout. I just heard that a few stores in RI are carrying it so I'll have to pick some up.

 

Sorry, being from MN I can't let that go!

Sixpoint for me. We started getting them a few months ago and everything is phenomenal.

 

Wow, yeah sorry, caffeine has not kicked in yet. I have a friend from Michigan and a friend from Minny who I talk about beer with, so this happens once in a while. Amended!


Sixpoint is pretty great, and the bonus is that everything they make is pretty easy to get a hold of (which isn't the case for a lot of stuff in Chicago).

 

I had KBS on tap last year and thought it was pretty good. I had KBS on tap just a few days ago, and it wasn't. I've seen some people indicate that Founders can have quality variation issues.

But they had Project PAM on tap a few days ago, and that was freakin delicious. Too bad I've never seen it bottled in NorCal.

 

I think anytime you have a barrel aged beer, you can have quality issues. The barrels, the wood, what was housed in them are all different from year to year. It can be hard to get a uniform profile. I had KBS last year in a bottle and thought it was great. Had it two weeks ago on draft (again it was from 2015) and thought it was one of the best beers I ever had. My taste buds have definitely changed in the past year as evidence by my choice in beer styles recently (leaning very stout heavy when last year I was leaning double IPA heavy). Like I said though, barrel aged beers are always going to be a bit different from year to year. BCBS this year compared to last year swung way different IMO.

 

The move to Texas was eased significantly by the presence of Founders. As for the out of towners that met the hype, I have to agree with Prairie... the prices can be painful, but damn are they delicious!

 

As for the question... hmmm I know it is cliche to say because in theory they only really market one beer, but The Alchemist - Heady Topper is as good as advertised. I got a 4 pack from them and it was just fantastic.

Brewery though, hmm I have only had the luxury to have a couple of their beers but Jackie O's out of Athens, OH blew past what I thought beer could be. Rhinegeist too has been fantastic. There beers are cheap and worth looking for in KY or OH.

 

I've only had two beers from Founders so far, Centennial IPA and regular breakfast stout. The IPA is one of the few IPAs I've enjoyed and the breakfast stout wasn't bad but I generally don't like coffee. I'm looking forward to trying their imperial stout soon

 

Founders Porter is my favorite normal beer.

 

Surly, Sixpoint, Dark Horse come to mind...I've really enjoyed everything I tried from these breweries

 

I'm a pretty huge fan of Founders in general. On KBS I've had it on tap and thought it was amazing. Had it on tap and thought it was nothing but coffee. Had bottles and been basically blown away with the bottles every time.

I haven't had anything that I didn't enjoy or think was upper tier - reDANKulous was a bit tough to put down a whole bomber of but that's the closest thing I have as a complaint and, oh yeah, that's in 4 packs this year so problem solved! Now if only the distribution in this area would sort itself out so we can get Founders stuff like Rubaeus year rounds on the shelves, that would be great.