One of the more interesting ones I've had recently is Salut, at Old Bisbee Brewing. It is a recreation of a 1880s brew developed in France during a champagne shortage.

I'll be honest, there's not a lotta IPAs here in Wisconsin. The more popular ones tend to be ales and bocks. Lagers to some extent.

New Glarus Honey Bock. Yummm~

Mmm, I loves me a good bock.  There's not much love out here for a good malty beer, but I personally love them.  Bock, doppelbock, Scottish wee heavy, yum.

I do love a bock, too. Not a lot of them here in Middle TN, either. Granite City is a mid size chain microbrew, and they have a good one.

(April 5, 2015 at 12:18 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: I do love a bock, too. Not a lot of them here in Middle TN, either. Granite City is a mid size chain microbrew, and they have a good one.

I haven't found too many good domestic bocks.  I generally have to go for the German stuff.

Yeah if you ever get the chance, look up New Glarus Brewing Co. and grab a sixer of their honey bock. And while you're at it, grab a sixer of their Spotted Cow brew. Neither will disappoint even the most discerning beer drinkers, I promise. Very unique flavors.

New Glarus Brewing is actually what I would consider to be genuine craft brewers, they're always trying and cycling different recipes, and thus far I have yet to try a brew they've made that I haven't at least given a solid 8 out of 10 on.

(April 4, 2015 at 10:01 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:

(April 4, 2015 at 3:50 pm)Polaris Wrote: The only issue I have with craft beer right now (there are exceptions to the following observation) but despite all the varieties of craft beer, you either have most beers being IPAs, stouts, and some poorly-approximated versions of strong Belgian ales.

I think that is less against the craft beer industry and more in line with what the customers want. Most breweries where I live have 5 different IPAs, four different stouts, and a couple of those strong ales (not always Belgian, but the same type of taste they way they brew it....they don't always change yeasts between batches of different beers). On the flip side, good luck trying to find a weizenbock (Council is the only brewery in San Diego where I found it) or even a wheat beer at most breweries. Sure it's still a lot more variety than your lawnmower lager, but after 40 years of craft beer being on the market, more variety is needed.

Well, like you say, it's probably in line with what customers want. 

I only occasionally buy bottled beer, I prefer draught, and so usually drink at my favorite pub, or draught beer at home.  I rarely buy bottled beer - though just an hour ago I stopped at the store to pick up a few things, and browsed the beer section because the keg at home is empty.  The store had 30-40 different craft labels, but better than half of them were IPAs, and most of the rest were pales.  One stout.  One porter.  Not a single beer I was crazy about drinking (I ended up buying an imperial rye and a double red just because I was thirsty) - not even a decent import.  (Many grocers here have a great selection, but I wasn't out looking for beer.)

The typical pub taplist is similar, dominated by IPA, pales, and the like.  I dunno, seems to be a west coast thing (the IPA fetishism), but I don't know what the scene is like elsewhere.

I know there's a lot of variety being brewed, because my home pub carries a huge variety, but the typical 10-20 tap pub and the typical grocery isn't carrying most of it.

I mostly have bottled beer (since it's cheaper; I have 10-15 gallons of beer at home at a time though half of that is my own), but make sure to get draft once a week if possible. I would keg, but I don't have the space right now plus you can't get certain styles right if you don't have them bottle conditioned.

Draft at home is actually cheaper once you have the equipment. Less of a PITA when home brewing too, instead of having to wash an sanitize dozens of bottles, you do one big can.

Re: bottle conditioning, unless I'm missing something I see no reason you can't keg condition.  Same process, really.

I like Budweiser. I may be a hipster as far as my music tastes, but beer? No. I like the taste, and smell, of Bud out of a bottle. Out west, we have Coors, a big ol' Colorado brewery. Never had it, though. I like the design, though.

Really, I prefer a caipirinha if I ever drink.

(April 9, 2015 at 8:29 pm)c172 Wrote: I like Budweiser. I may be a hipster as far as my music tastes, but beer? No. I like the taste, and smell, of Bud out of a bottle. Out west, we have Coors, a big ol' Colorado brewery. Never had it, though. I like the design, though.

Really, I prefer a caipirinha if I ever drink.

Even tough Bud is not that great, I find it tastes better than Coors.