I am from Richmond, Virginia - a pretty damn good beer location IMO - but I was thinking how awesome it must be to be from Vermont (or Massachusetts, Maine, NH, CT, etc). So I was wondering as a trader, if you are from this region are you automatically everyone's best friend? I feel like I would be mailing Tree House, Lawsons, and Heady Topper all over the country (and drinking a lot, as well). I can't really think of one region (more than single state or city) that might be more popular (maybe Northwest?).
We are spoiled here in New England. Although the New England states are pretty close, in Boston I'm far enough away from Vermont and Western Mass that I don't make regular trips to Treehouse or for Lawsons/Heady, but instead enjoy them when I happen to be in the area. I'm obviously biased, but Boston is a phenomenal beer location these days, between awesome new breweries like Trillium and Night Shift, to our close proximity to Vermont, and the generally awesome distro we get from around the country.
For IPAs the northeast is pretty hard to beat, though you have to keep in mind that Hill Farmstead and Tree House are 4 hours apart, so it's not like you can really hit them all in one go. From the Boston area, with the exception of Trillium, all the other breweries are a LONG day trip or when it comes to ME and VT, a weekend is more appropriate. New England looks small on a map, but traffic is terrible and the roads aren't direct, so driving takes way longer than comparative distances out west. That all being said, it's a damn nice place to be if you like hops. On the other hand, I think the northeast still needs work in the area of saisons and sours.
If you are from New England and have access to HT -- it is to the your beer trading hobby what the doller is to the world economy. universally accepted for most goods and services. Also easy and cheap to ship too -- unlike some other forms of NE beer currency -- ie. Trillium 25 oz botteles etc. Day trip from Boston to VT for the big is easy breezy -- you just need a full day to get it done. Yes - concur - it's good to like beer and live in NE..
I dunno, I've had some Sours/Wilds from Allagash (Resurgam and Matina Rosa) and I think they are superb. I think you are at an advantage to try Coolship-style and Saison-style brews because it gets so cold. Those beers were typically prepared in the cooler months of the year as "provision" beers. Oddly, you don't a whole lot of Bock/Lager beers which thrive in the cold - then again, they aren't very 'popular' right now. Just about to get some Trillium Artaic that I am VERY much looking forward to.
Allagash seems to be the only one consistently putting out great sours. Night Shift usually has some sours, but most are good not great. I've also had some great sours from CBC, but their sours are on tap at the brewery only. HF supposedly makes good sours, but they are few and far between and not easy to get ahold of. Cisco's The Woods series are also quite good. I'm not saying we don't have any, just that CA, CO, and other states have a lot more. If you just click on the styles tab and go to American Wild Ale you will see that CA dominates the list and new england is pretty much absent.
The west coast definitely has a stronger sour game overall (Russian River, Cascade, etc.), but Allagash makes excellent stuff. And, although it's somewhat hard to come by, I'd put Backacre Golden Sour up with most Cantillon; it's an elite beer. And, while they've only put out a few, Trillium's sour program is quite strong and very promising given their track record with other styles. Apricot Stonington was a phenomenal beer. Yes, I drank it!!
Totally true that CA (and CO - I especially like Crooked Stave) is the big state for Sours right now - but CA has such an advantage being as friggin big as it is. In land area (yes I nerded out and found the total Land areas) CA has 155,779.22 square miles versus 62,688.46 for the entire Northeast region. If you wanted Russian River and lived in Los Angeles you would be driving ~7 hours. If you are in Boston and want some Allagash its like 2.5 hours. I agree with you, but just have to play devils advocate.
Hearing this kind of feedback always makes me kind of sad for all the other great New England beers that are casually overlooked by beer tourists and even locals. I don't hate on the big three in Vermont and I've made that drive plenty of times. That being said, sometimes it's not just the chase that I enjoy about beer. It's the experiences and friendships you make along the way, and not always whether or not you can track down a full case of Heady Topper.
And there's Mystic's sour/wild program, which also includes increased production/distribution of CBC's sours. Tree House has already made Lucid which was fantastic and they're going to do more in that area eventually. Jack's Abby is ramping up their sour production. Proclamation has put out some quality sours already. Never tried OEC but it sounds like they're doing good work. Give it a few years...
Trillium is awesome but I just drink it. Don't trade it - bc I don't think I can acquire better ipas. Maybe I would trade it for some cellerable stuff but I'd imagine many folks just feel the same
I'm stoked to drink New England beer, sure sure, but I'd really like to take a drinking tour of the Pacific Northwest this year, and then visit the Great Lakes region next year. And then we'll see what happens thereafter. Large country, loads of beer.
In my opinion, yes New England has a lot of great beers, but also a lot of not so great beers. Vermonts obviously got some great stuff coming out of it and so does Mass now. Overall though, for a variety of top notch beers from different styles, Maine has got it on lockdown. You have Allagash putting out world class Belgian and wild ales that rivaled only by those actually made in Belgium. If you want hoppy, you have Maine Beer Company producing hoppy beers that are amongst the best. And if you want a place that does a little of both, you have Foundation who I have been really impressed with lately.
I totally get this and I almost made a comment about how I was obviously overlooking a lot of really great nanobreweries and smaller craft breweries. However, my counterpoint is that there are over 3,000 craft breweries in the US. I have only so much time and money to trade for beer so I try to "tick the boxes" next to as many as I can, but it is really hard to find the smaller guys. This is why I love extras. I always use it as an opportunity to slip in something from a smaller, up-and-coming brewery that I want people to find out about. As a local you have no excuse. You gotta get out there and try the low-hanging fruit. All that being said this thread was more about the opportunities available to you being from this region and having access to such sought after beer. ^That pretty much says it best. And not even HT, Sunshine or Treehouse!
Did the Vermont pilgrimage a few weeks ago...the state is beautiful and the beers are tremendous. Also did my quarterly Tree House visit recently. A long wait, but the staff, scenery and beer always make it worthwhile. But considering you can walk in & out of Trilium and Maine Beer Co with something fantastic, and be in downtown Boston and (20 min from) Portland, respectively, AND come away with some fantastic beers, make these the true NE gems of breweries.
Wait...are we saying that Saisons/Sours are weak in New England? I get that as a whole other states might be better, but no one has mentioned Hill Farmstead and there most sought after bottles?!!!?!?!?!
