OT - Bell's Two Hearted Ranked #1 by Zymurgy Magazine
After 8 years of being #1 beer in America, Pliny the Elder was dethroned by Michigan's very own Two Hearted Ale. Not only that, but Bell's was named the #1 brewery in America with Founders as #2. Represent!
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/news/2017-best-beers-america-res…
Not a fan of Two Hearted and I do not think that Bell's is the best brewery in Michigan, nor do I think they are much of a "micro" brewery anymore. I'm a Short's guy if I am drinking a Michigan beer. Founders' All Day is really good.
@ me.
Well, I love Two Hearted. It's a go to beer if I see it.
It definitely has its devoted followers. I am the same way with my favorites. Just never caught the Two Hearted (or Bells, for that matter) Fever.
So, what are your favorites from Short's? Short's has some good ones, but I'd take Bell's over Short's in just about any style.
Goodness- was just introduced to this, and it's jumped quite a few beers on my list:
https://www.shortsbrewing.com/beers/exeter/
I've yet to try a sour beer I don't like, and they are really starting to become more available.
I like the taste but MAN does it ever make me sleepy after drinking one. Not sure what they put in them that does that casue I drink a ton of IPAs but Two Hearted to me is like a liquid sleeping pill.
Founders Breakfast and Oatmeal Stout are awesome though IMO.
Agree on the brewery part. Many of those listed are national brands. They're craft beer, not so much "microbreweries". I enjoy Two Hearted, but it's not the top of my list either.
You must not have had many new IPAs from around the country. Pliny along with Heady Topper were great at being pioneers of styles, but a lot of breweries have surpassed them. Go try to grab some Monkish, Treehouse, Trillium, or my favorites Holy Mountain and Skookum, then try a Pliny. It won't compare.
The big thing with this list is that its a vote tally, so easily acquired beer is going to dominate. I read through all the comments after I posted and just realized that the beer talk isn't going to be quite like some of the fb pages dedicated to chasing down all the new stuff. I always am open to getting people into new beer, but most just don't have the time like you said.
This is one of the few threads where people like you and I should really be able to talk about great beer though. You would be surprised what it would take to land some Monkish or Treehouse hops if you find a good trader. If you are looking for some much easier to obtain hazy styles though, just go to Beer Tasting Seattle (facebook) and people will be very open to grabbing crowlers of Skookum and Holy Mountain for you for your local stuff. Skookum for sure is fairly easy to get and holds up side by side with all the big boys.
You have some of the best Holy Mountain stuff, Hand of Glory is amazing, but their fruited Saisons are some of the best in the country. Reuben's has really been getting better with their new hazy stuff and the 3-way collaboration they did with Great Notion and Fort George is one of their best yet.
I'm pretty active on BTS and if you see me post a pic of my block M glass just speak up. I can always try to find some stuff to send out when I see it. Just had a kid so time is a little limited, but usually good with promoting the PNW stuff.
A good friend of mine visited me in LA from Connecticut and brought along some Treehouse. Blew my mind. Doppelganger, Alter Ego, Haze.
in Cali if you get the chance. Currently my favorite IPA.
You definitely seem like the fun beer guy at parties
Who pissed in JMDBlue's All Day IPA?
and how could anybody notice if someone had?
Two Hearted is worth the hype IMO, but I am with you in I think All-Day IPA is very overrated. I mean I don't think it tastes like "bitter horseshit" , and I'll gladly drink it, but I just think it's one of the worse offerings at Founders.... and it also makes my poops smell bad the next morning.
Speaking of Founders - has anyone else been cut off there before? That was one of Uncle Tony's more embarassing moments recently.
but tastes like soap out of a can.
One of the steps in the brewing process is a boil. After the boil, everything the beer touches has to be sterilized or else you run the risk of bacteria or wild yeast infecting the beer. Basically, it won't taste like beer anymore. It could sour/funk or gain any number of other flavors.
Think of the fermenting process as one, big orgy with billions of participants. Billions upon billions of organisms having unprotected sex, multiplying, then having more sex with their offspring and farting out ethanol (alcohol) at the same time as they eat a bunch of sugar for sustenance. If one little bastard slips in there who happens to have gonorrhea or herpes or some other nasty STD, the whole clan is gonna come down with it and that will ruin it for everybody.
Pump up the volume...
Not true at all. Short's had some specialty brews that it had to pull due do infection but not true to at all to say "half" were infected. They have tons of different great brews.
Also you can't compare All Day IPA to Two Hearted. They are a different class of beer altogether. All Day is a very low ABV session IPA (at 4.7% ABV). It is amazing for what it is and the best, most flavorful beer I have had in that category. If you compare it to something it should be to Bud Light or Miller Lite, which have similar ABV. Two Hearted is nearly a massive, flavorful IPA at 7% ABV.
Short's is awesome
You're right. This is the best beer in America:
Is that a joke? That name makes me want to throw up.
Do you have any physiological reactions to this one?
If you like blueberry pancakes, you will like this beer. Don't say it makes you want to throw up if you haven't tried it. That is silly. You can't say (and actually mean it) you don't like some kind of food or drink without trying it.
I'm not all that well versed in Rochester Mills, but their Milkshake Stout and Oktoberfest are both fantastic.
I won't pretend to be some beer expert, I do not have the sharpest palate, but I have tried MANY different craft beers and so I feel like I have a decent handle on good vs bad. Whenever I have had their beer the malty flavor seems to come on too strong, and it seems like they add weird flavors to their beers. TBH I have avoided them for a long time so maybe they've improved significantly.