One Brewery to Rule Them All

FW.

 

Great summary of SN, loved Fritz and Ken, wish they would rebrew it! Also Bigfoot and Narwhal are great big beers and BB Narwhal is a very well done bourbon barrel stout.

 

Deschutes takes the cake for me, I think. I also really love Pretty things out of MA.

 

Great write up, I currently have a SNPA in hand!

 

Best Barrel Aged: Goose Island, BCBS
Best Barrel Aged Variety: FSW/The Bruery (tie)
Best IPA: Lagunitas Sucks
Best Belgian: St. Bernardus ABT 12


If I had to pick one: FSW

Their IPAs and BA'd (Sucaba and Stickee Monkee are top 10's for me) beers are fantastic, they're just as close to top notch across the board as you can get.

I would sorely miss The Bruery, Goose Island, and Lagunitas though. The rest I feel I could get over fairly easily.

 

Ballast Point. Many others close behind: Russian River, Deschutes, Alesmith, and Alpine.

 

I would answer Sierra Nevada because I am thinking of a brewery that is able to do a lot of things well. Pale Ale is a classic go to, IPAs they got it covered with Torpedo and Celebration, their fresh hop and wet hop IPAs are awesome, their Stout is really good, Porter not the best but not disappointing. BA Narwhal is world class, seasonal beers like Bigfoot, Hoptimum, and Narwhal, great. Their seasonal variety packs have been really good. There may be other breweries that brew a certain style better but SN just does so many good things. Distribution, price, availability.

 

Ive said it since day one, I trust my life the brewers at Great Lakes. Consistently world class beer, and beer you could drink every day. Oh and their seasonal IPAs are amazing.

For ridiculous styles and rarity, it has to be Hill Farmstead.

Best BA program: Has to be Russian River for sours and tie between Founders and GI. Ill throw in Avery for the randomness factor and Olde Hickory for the local niche (anything that touches any kind of wood is great--except for Imperial Dominance, that was ok).

best IPAs: Tough to choose between Alpine, Wicked Weed, and Lawson's.

Best Belgian program: For sours thats RR easy, but a close second goes to Jester King then Crooked Stave. JK has done the only American made fruit lambic that rivals the big boys of Belgium (and that would be Nocturn Chrysalis).

 

I'm raising my right hand and swearing allegiance to Firestone Walker. I'm a fan of all Jacks and all their barrel-aged beers.

 

A local bottle shop just opened up a "vintage beer" room and they apparently had a bottle of the Fritz and Ken. I missed it unfortunately. I'd be curious to know how it is these days.

 

Ballast Point is good. Great Lakes would be my other choice.

 

I actually have one bottle left, probably will open it before New Years. Two years ago it was still drinking great.

 

Deschutes, Firestone walker, North coast, Allagash.

 

Fremont Brewing. Between Cowiche Canyon in the warmer months, and the Bourbon Barrel Abominable and Dark Star variants in the cooler months, I'm in beer nirvana when I'm sipping and savoring their remarkable creations.