Midwest vs West vs East Coast Breweries?

So... I'm supposed to limit my Beer preferences to 1 region of 1 country?

Seems limiting.

I prefer beers of Planet Earth, but only because I'm not aware of any other planet brewing, when they do, I'll just widen my scope.

 

East Coast

 

Depends on what you want. What if IPA's aren't your thing and you're interested in authentic European lagers? Pennsylvania and Wisconsin can pretty much beat the pants off the rest of the country.
It's not all black and white.

 

This is a troll thread and Wisconsonians never cease to amaze me with their hilarious nativism. If the only West Coast beer you've had has been mailed to you then your opinion is irrelevant.

It's not a competition - but if it was, West Coast wins.

 

Can't choose. I like 'em all. Each region has some great breweries that produce some great beers.

 

Hey have you guys forgot about the ton of great beers from Wisconsin...........Midwest

 

Anyone who has only had West Coast beer that was mailed to them isn't trying very hard. The West Coast supplies the rest of the country with more beer than any other region—and it's often priced more reasonably than the local options.

 

Well I'm not an authority, and this certainly came from my ass as all gold does, but I remember hearing (and that's cuz I wasn't born yet) that when Schlitz started brewing their beer in the late 60's and into the 70's, that's when beer had a major resurgence and Milwaukee got so damn famous for making really good beer. Once again this is total heresay and I am from Wisconsin so I just voted for my home state and made that awesome comment that has not factual support.

 

Bonus points for being completely honest about pulling that statement out of your ass.
I also wasn't there, but I think the Sumerians actually started it all. Then again, the Sumerians are a shameless bunch of homers.

 

http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/about-us/history-of-craft-brewing
The brewers association points to anchor and new albion as the major players in starting the craft revolution, both of which are from cali.

 

That is a pretty terrible analogy.

 

Amen brother!

 

Of coarse I'm bias because I'm from Chicago, but I would say the midwest has the best breweries/beer followed by the west coast.

 

I love all the responses like "I'm a biased homer and I'm not even going to try to think about answering the question objectively, my vote goes to X region because it's where I happen to reside." Worthless thread gets worthlesser.

 

My beers don't really compete. I mean there was the Bud Bowl things, but I don't think those really count, and I wasn't really a fan of the participants.

I have favorite beers, but they're not necessarily bounded by region, so I provided a flippant answer to the original question. It does make me wonder... Which region has the best baseball teams? West, Midwest or East?

 

Midwest and you can keep the rest

I will survive on 3 Floyds, New Glarus, Pipeworks, Revolutions, Half Acre, Founders and Bellls

 

I've only heard of the West Coast being referred to as the Best Coast, never the MidBest Or whatever stupid made up word like Beast Coast would be applicable

 

Midwest.

 

Everyone knows that the Beast Coast dominates the beer scene

 

Oh good another versus thread

 

Once Lagunitas' Chicago brewing facility opens I think it will be fair to consider them a Midwest brewery as Tony Magee is from the Chicago burbs (Arlington Heights) and the new Chicago operation will be 5 times as large as the Petaluma facility and supply most of the country with their beer. With the addition of Lagunitas, my vote goes to the Midwest.

 

What is this, a fight to the finish? Remember:
Beer.
It's not a competition.

 

That Goose Island that you are drinking is still probably brewed less than 100 miles from your home in Upstate NY at their White Plains facility. The only GI beer still brewed in Chicago is the limited run, barrel aged, and seasonal selections. The regular stuff like Goose IPA, Honkers, Pale Ale, 312, etc are all brewed in NY, thus debunking your statement. So then, ALL the beer you buy is East Coast and from the state of NY.

 

Wait. Lagunitas is now a Midwest brewery and Goose Island is East Coast? So I suppose Sierra Nevada is now East Coast because they have a brewery in North Carolina? I give up.

 

While I haven't had some of the West Coast "classics" (the Plinys, for example), I'd vote it pretty even between WC and MW. Between Firestone Walker, Lagunitas (soon to be in Chicago, too) and Stone in the West, and FFF, Half Acre, and Goose Island and New Glarus (not to mention Pipeworks) it's pretty hard for me to pick a winner. So I just drink, instead.

 

There are great breweries spread across this entire country.
From Russian River to Cigar City. Let's not forget Hill Farmstead and New Glarus. (Sorry Alchemist...)
The lovely Great Divide is amazing...oh, and Founders and Hoppin' Frog as well.
I can't pick a favorite side...these are all great breweries.
I choose America.
But wait...I forgot about Evil Twin, Mikkeller, Canitillon, 3F, that one that's hard to spell....Brouejrwi or something...
Man...I choose the world.

 

I get how all this can sound contradictory and confusing, however I am basing this off of the level of production from each brewery. I don't believe that Sierra Nevada's NC facility will be surpassing the Chico facility production wise, but as for the other two, that is exactly the case. As for Lagunitas, Magee has always said he considers it a Midwest brewery.

 

probably. I know alot of the GI I drink is brewed in Baldwinsville, NY which is 85 miles from my house. I still drink Sofie, Matilde, BCBS, etc. I drink some Founders and drink some Brooklyn, Ommegang and sixpoint which are beyond 100 miles but still NY and I still drink some British and Belgian beers.

 

It might have changed (which seems to be Magee's MO ) but in his original tweets, he put the future capacity of the Chicago brewery at 1.7m bbl. and the original CA facility at 700k bbl., so closer to 2.5 times as large. It will be unusual for a brewers' headquarter brewery to not be the largest, but I'm sure it's happened before.

C'mon, if the owner's origins plays a part in the brewing company's "home" - I guess then that since Eberhard Anheuser, Adolphus Busch and Adolph Coors were foreign-born immigrants, that would make Coors and AB "German" breweries?

"White Plains"? At Heineken USA's corporate headquarters? (I think they may brew there - coffee machine in the breakroom.) AB's brewery is in Baldwinsville, NY - outside Syracuse.

Well some of their standard line-up is also brewed at AB's Colorado brewery, and I just saw GI Nut Brown Ale labeled as being brewed in Chicago. (Is that a seasonal for GI? I don't know.) I thought they still brewed some portion of their "Classic" beers (as they call them on the website) in Chicago for the local market.

 

One of the reasons I actually enjoy being in "Fly-over country" is that I get to keep all the good beer to myself!

 

I'm not saying you're wrong, although it's hard to think of Lagunitas as anything other than a West Coast—and specifically, California—brewery. None of the Bud-Miller-Coors breweries are even American, while European "imports" like Guinness and Beck's are brewed in Canada and St. Louis, respectively. Likewise, is a Toyota Camry, built in Kentucky, a more American car than a Chevy Impala, built in Ontario, Canada?

At some point (which we're either approaching or have already long since passed), none of this makes any sense or matters anymore.

So my vote holds for West Coast

 

Yeah. I was going to say the same thing. Somehow, the west coast is represented only by Stone, Green Flash, Laguanitas, and Ballast Point. I suppose that is true if that is the only stuff distributed to your neck of the woods and if it is, its most likely just their standard IPA. In reality, I have drank maybe ONE Stone beer in the last 3 years. Check out the Sour Beer that Cascade Barrell house makes right in Portland (world class stuff). I wont even get in to the other 800 breweries that are available as well.

Not saying I know everything about Midwest brewing (other than Three Floyds being WAY overhyped), but boiling the West down to 5 breweries is like dismissing an Opera before the curtain even comes up

 

Huh?

 

You read that correctly.

 

I meant Baldwinsville, not White Plains ::facepalm::

As for the thing about Magee saying Lagunitas is a Midwest brewery, that was a direct quote from him to the Chicago Tribune from sometime in the spring.

 

To be fair, what else is he going to tell the Chicago Tribune?

 

FFF makes some very good stuff... I've never gotten the "overhyped" bit i hear off and on here.

 

FFF makes some very good stuff, which is comparable with the output of a lot of other breweries you hear a lot less about—with the distinct disadvantage of being harder to get and more expensive.
Also, have you tasted Dark Lord?

 

I like East Coast beer because I'm on the East Coast and here it is.

I like West Coast beer because it's nice to have a good brew while watching the sun set over the ocean.

I like Midwestern beer because such a huge mass of beer-loving German immigrants settled in the Midwest and because Midwesterners don't seem to be quite so jerky as East and West Coast folk.

Also, I tend to like brew, so I win again and so do you.