Top 10 Craft Beers

You're doing fine to my untrained heathen eye.

Carry on good man!

I decided to go with the Lucky U IPA. It's very good but doesn't stand out in any one area. This is exactly what I think of when I think of an IPA. If I'm rating it as an IPA it's a solid 90/100 If I'm rating it for personal appeal it's a 75/100.
 
I like Sierra Nevada OK. I'd say it's a pretty good benchmark for the American pale ale style. I like their Celebration Ale better. I've never had 3 Floyds, I've never lived anywhere it was available but would like to try it some day. I'm a big fan of Belgian beer, but strangely enough I've never tried Orval (I love me some Trappistes Rochefort 10 though, yessir). The Schneider Weisse and the Saison Dupont are classics, you can't go wrong with either if their style is your thing. Old Foghorn is good, but Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot, Victory's Old Horizontal, and Dogfish Head's Old School are as good if not better. That reminds me...the only downside to moving to New Orleans is the fact that Victory and Dogfish Head aren't distributed here. :tear:
 
staring with this tonight............ "starting" :)

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Kat, that reminds me, I have a recipe for a Pliny the Elder that was rated to be as close to the real thing as a homebrewer could get by members of HBT. I may just have to find it and start a batch.
 
Citra is really good, but I find that there are VERY few beers that live up to the online hype!

REALLY FRESH Pliny the Elder is awesome, REALLY fresh FFF Dreadnaught is awesome, Hopslam is mediocre, but too sweet for a DIPA.... blah blah blah.

I can buy Modus Hoperandi so many places and it's a great beer!!

I am a big fan of a HOTD (when they are hitting on all cylinders)
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So many great beers nowadays and a ton at my disposal here in socal,plus having a brother who's a home brewer. It's hard to choose a top 10! I'd say Stones sublimey self righteous a Black IPA is pretty darn good and at least in one of my top 10. Currently been a Reserve society member @http://www.thebruery.com/ w/my other 2 bothers for the past 2 years and they are quickly becoming one of the top craft breweries around! I believe my bro still has a bottle of there 09' Black Tuesday put away,just waiting for him to open it so I can drink it w/him! :cheers:
 
MR_POTS said:
So many great beers nowadays and a ton at my disposal here in socal,plus having a brother who's a home brewer. It's hard to choose a top 10! I'd say Stones sublimey self righteous a Black IPA is pretty darn good and at least in one of my top 10. Currently been a Reserve society member @http://www.thebruery.com/ w/my other 2 bothers for the past 2 years and they are quickly becoming one of the top craft breweries around! I believe my bro still has a bottle of there 09' Black Tuesday put away,just waiting for him to open it so I can drink it w/him! :cheers:
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I have had every Black Tuesday vintage that they produce, they are pretty tasty for a 19-20% ABV stout.

White oak and White chocolate are really good too, but I am not a fan of there everyday offerings.
 
thegreenman said:
Here's my weekend selection, I can't get any Three Floyds locally.

Lagunitas is quickly becoming my favorite brewer...pushing out Cigar City, which is no easy task.

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I respect your "love" for Cigar City, and I CERTAINLY agree on the Lagunitas!!
HOWEVER---- I find that VERY few people (besides hoarders, homers and resellers) truly like Cigar City brews. I have had EVERYTHING they make, and had countless tastings and the consensus has always been that most of there stuff is gimmicky, and their stouts taste like cigar ashes!
Even this one!.... good thing we all have different tastes so we don't all fight over the same things! :)
CHEERS!
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I just never can understand these top 10 lists... There are 10 breweries down here near me that are less than 5 years old. Did they try every beer from every one of them? And, if I have 10 new ones around me I assume there are hundreds if not thousands of breweries that have sprouted up over the last few years. Did they try all of them?

I guess my point is that I would take a list like this more seriously if it said the top ten beers I tried today, or this week.

Personally I have been getting a kick out of trying all of the new bourbon barrel aged beers that are available at a few breweries around me. Its just incredible how much character those barrels add to a great beer.

CarvinGuitarist said:
Nothing from Stone Brewing Co? :shocked:
Arrogant Bastard Ale, Double Bastard Ale, Ruination IPA, Sublimely Self Righteous Ale, and Stone IPA would all be at the top of my list.
These guys brew some great beer. :cheers:
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Just had a sublimely self righteous at the bar on my way home. Its a nice black IPA.
 
Off the list for the OP, I've had:

Orval. Decent Belgian style that is readily accesible.

Saison Dupont. I'm not really a big fan of european farm style ales, but this one is easily one of the best.

Sad to say the Gordon Beirsh. Hey I was at the airport, and there was a GB right next to my gate...

Schneider Weisse. Hefeweisen at it's best.

Old Foghorn. Not a big fan of barley wine, but this one is tasty. Although I much prefer the Liberty Ale from Anchor Steam.

Who HASN'T had a Sierra Nevada.

As for the rest, familiar names, but I haven't had any of them.

It's a decent list, but beer like anything else that involves taste, it is subjective.

These days, I much prefer an IPA to just about anything. And right now, some of my fave IPAs are from SoCal. Hard to beat Stone, and Ballast Point Brewing. A Pliney would do it, but those are hard to come by. If you've seen Ballast Point beers called Sculpin, or Big Eye IPA on the shelf, but been afraid to try them, don't be. They are right there with the best Stone has to offer, if not a touch better. I'd not be terribly sad if I missed out on a Pliney but those were around.

And one more SoCal worth looking for if you like hops. Green Flash Brewing has a GREAT IPA called West Coast IPA. Worth a sixer of for sure.

I do loves me some beer:D
 
I am not even going to get into what I feel my top 10 beers are, but Kat has a good point with the distribution

When I worked at Southern Tier, I can tell you that drinking a 2xIPA right out of the brite tank is 100 times better than any of the shit I get here in florida from them

You cant judge the quality of a beer until you have had it less than a month from the packaging date, and its been properly taken care of, simple as that

I do not agree however that hopslam is too sweet for a double IPA

Its a double IPA, its 9%, its not going to be super dry, it really SHOULDNT be dry. I think hopslam falls into the perfect category of DIPA's, right next to Avery Maharaja which is another one of my favorites
 
Not necessarily in order: Here are a few of my favorites:

1) Anderson Valley Brewing Company(Boontville, California, USA)- Brother David's Triple(Abbey)
http://www.avbc.com/main/our-beers/brother-davids-triple-abbey-style-ale/

2) Unibroue(Chambly, Quebec, Canada, EH!)- La Fin Du Monde
http://www.unibroue.com/en/beers/15/product

3) North Coast Brewing Company(Fort Bragg, California, USA)- Old Stock Ale
http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-OldStockAle.htm

4) North Coast Brewing Company(Fort Bragg, California, USA)- Brother Thelonious
http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-brotherThelonious.htm

5) New Belgium Brewing Company(Fort Collins, Colorado, USA)- Trippel
http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=d6ed5dc2-7097-4c71-b1e3-9d72445c6db6

6) Stone Brewing Company(Escondido, California, USA)- Vertical Epic(ANY of them!!!)
http://www.stonebrew.com/epic/

7) Firestone Walker Brewing(Paso Robles, California, USA)- Walker's Reserve
http://www.firestonebeer.com/beers/products/walkers-reserve

8) Huyghe Family Brewing(Belgium)- Delerium Tremens
http://www.delirium.be/delirium

9) Global Beer(Belgium)- Piraat
http://www.globalbeer.com/content/piraat-ale

10) North Coast Brewing Company(Fort Bragg, California, USA)- Is a TIE between Old Rasputin Stout and Pranqster
http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-rasputin.htm
http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-Pranqster.htm
 
My top 10 would be the last 10 batch's I've consumed from my corney keg. ;) It's funny how the media hypes up a product only to have the consumer beat them down with a vengeance.
I appreciate the effort but I like what i like and thats why I brew my own.
I have sampled alot of beers to get an idea of the true sense of style but some of those bottles are too damn expensive for my wallet. Ill spend the moolah on grain and hops to brew what I like.

Currently drinking an American IPA made with some Pale ale and Marris Otter, home roasted 2 row malt with Citra hops, good stuff while chopping firewood today.
 
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