The Beer Thread

[Radbird]

I got Dogfish mixed up with something else. I don't think I've ever had it now that I think about it.

Were you thinking of Flying Dog perhaps?

[JackofDiamonds]

I got Dogfish mixed up with something else. I don't think I've ever had it now that I think about it.

Were you thinking of Flying Dog perhaps?

Flying Dog is bollocks. Dogfish Head is the dog's bollocks.

[G. Keenan]

Jim, this is the wrongest statement you've ever made on GRB.

New Glarus is a nice little brewery, really. They've got some very nice beers. I even took a day trip up there a couple months ago just to tour the brewery and sample a bunch of their brews. That said, they aren't even close to brewing beer on the level that Dogfish does. Though, to be fair to them, they aren't really trying to either. Dogfish mostly makes what sometimes get called "big" beers, i.e. higher alcohol content, lots of crazy ingredients, a ton of calories. New Glarus is a great regional brewery making fine beer. Dogfish is making works of art.

RC, I don't think Dogfish Head has a distributor in StL, or if they do, it's maybe only a couple of specialty shops.

this description leads me to believe that there are a ton more New Glarii that you need to try. Each year once or twice, they let the brewmaster go nuts. It's the Unplugged series. They've done a Cracked Wheat, Ice Barleywine, Eisbock, Smoked Porter, Imperial Saison, and more. A ton of their product is higher alcohol content. Try the Stone Soup or the Dancing Man Wheat or whatever the Unplugged is at the time. I might describe NG the way you did if I'd only had their four main brews.

I've had the Cracked Wheat, the Dancing Man What, and the Stone Soup, though not those others. They're really good beers and I'd like to try those others. It's a very talented brewery and I like everything about it. I wish it was available outside of Wisconsin. I'd buy it on a regular basis. They're light years beyond an operation like Schlafly, imo, and definitely one of the best brewers in the Midwest.

I hope it's not coming across like I'm trying to put them down. I was just mainly trying to pimp Dogfish because I love it so much. The first time I had a Palo Santo it literally made me cry. It is a beautiful beer.

[Gashouse]

this description leads me to believe that there are a ton more New Glarii that you need to try. Each year once or twice, they let the brewmaster go nuts. It's the Unplugged series. They've done a Cracked Wheat, Ice Barleywine, Eisbock, Smoked Porter, Imperial Saison, and more. A ton of their product is higher alcohol content. Try the Stone Soup or the Dancing Man Wheat or whatever the Unplugged is at the time. I might describe NG the way you did if I'd only had their four main brews.

This makes me think I need to try NG again. I've only had the Fat Squirrel, Spotted Cow, and one other that I don't remember now, and frankly, I wasn't all that impressed. Based on those that I have tried, there are several other midwest breweries that I'd buy a six-pack from before buying either Fat Squirrel or Spotted Cow. Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly buy FS or SC when they are the main options other than a regular macrobrew or Sam Adams.

[jim]

I got Dogfish mixed up with something else. I don't think I've ever had it now that I think about it.

Were you thinking of Flying Dog perhaps?

No, I was thinking of that Jimmy Buffet beer.

[Freed Roger]

Today's PD article on the hopping craft beer market in STL

and from the comment section

also want to add that beer snobs are worse than Hitler's SS. Let me drink my Budweiser in peace and don't try to impress me with beer knowledge and the breweries you visited in Oregon. I go to the bar to drink and talk to women, not beer geeks.

It isn't a matter of being a beer snob. Some people think a steak from Ponderosa is a great dinner out (Budweiser). Others would rather have a filet at one of the better steakhouses (craft beer). Also I live in South City and frequent a lot of taverns, and I always find a craft beer on tap.

Beer topic stirs a lot of passion in STL, including backlash.

I only speak from personal experience - my tastes have changed/expanded just over the last few years from Nat Light, MGD etc. I see the same thing around with others. The numbers in the article speak to this.

IMO -Craft Beers could continue to grow in popularity as more people get curious and venture in that territory. With one note -though I like something such as a Bells Two-Hearted, the Dogfish Head IPAs, New Holland, Left Handed, products etc etc - if many of these happened to be my initial craft beer experience - I'd likely have retreated to my Miller Bud Coors cave. Schlafly has good beers for initiating.

I'm wondering when/if the big brewer conglomerates start to buy up more of these large craft brewers, like Schlafly, Fat Tire, Boulevard. That will be a sad day.

[cards2468]

Today's PD article on the hopping craft beer market in STL

and from the comment section

also want to add that beer snobs are worse than Hitler's SS. Let me drink my Budweiser in peace and don't try to impress me with beer knowledge and the breweries you visited in Oregon. I go to the bar to drink and talk to women, not beer geeks.

It isn't a matter of being a beer snob. Some people think a steak from Ponderosa is a great dinner out (Budweiser). Others would rather have a filet at one of the better steakhouses (craft beer). Also I live in South City and frequent a lot of taverns, and I always find a craft beer on tap.

Beer topic stirs a lot of passion in STL, including backlash.

I only speak from personal experience - my tastes have changed/expanded just over the last few years from Nat Light, MGD etc. I see the same thing around with others. The numbers in the article speak to this.

IMO -Craft Beers could continue to grow in popularity as more people get curious and venture in that territory. With one note -though I like something such as a Bells Two-Hearted, the Dogfish Head IPAs, New Holland, Left Handed, products etc etc - if many of these happened to be my initial craft beer experience - I'd likely have retreated to my Miller Bud Coors cave. Schlafly has good beers for initiating.

I'm wondering when/if the big brewer conglomerates start to buy up more of these large craft brewers, like Schlafly, Fat Tire, Boulevard. That will be a sad day.

I'm kinda sick of Shlafly and Boulevard (used to love Boulevard... especially their hefeweizen, but now it tastes like soap to me)... the large breweries can buy them up, but there's still a ton of micro breweries everywhere that they will never be gone. Buy up the big 1's and others will emerge, every day new people are getting into brewing. That's the circle of life for beer. Some small breweries die out, some sell out, but there's always new brewers to enter the scene.

[Freed Roger]

If History prevails-the # of breweries is a cyclical thing. Prior to prohibition and then WWII brewing was highly localized. Tied to the immigrants from Europe. A drive around most any old city and you see the remnants. But then the big boys came along and have a way of bullying the market. They just haven't figured out how to do it now, with small breweries popping and expanding like mushrooms.

Its a great time to be a beer drinker -and we still are probably on the upward end of this cycle . But consolidations will happen, hopefully not soon.

[cards2468]

If History prevails-the # of breweries is a cyclical thing. Prior to prohibition and then WWII brewing was highly localized. Tied to the immigrants from Europe. A drive around most any old city and you see the remnants. But then the big boys came along and have a way of bullying the market. They just haven't figured out how to do it now, with small breweries popping and expanding like mushrooms.

Its a great time to be a beer drinker -and we still are probably on the upward end of this cycle . But consolidations will happen, hopefully not soon.

part of the reason small breweries were so prominent then was because how tough it was to deliver beer to places... then came in big breweries who made a quality product and figured out how to ship it...

small breweries exist today for much different reasons than then

[JL21]

Beer topic stirs a lot of passion in STL, including backlash.

Yeah, it drives me bonkers. It's one of a handful of things that I really don't like about St. Louis. If people want to drink a Budweiser or whatever, go for it. It's fine. Just don't give me a bunch of [expletive] for not drinking it, or for being excited about other products.

Buy up the big 1's and others will emerge, every day new people are getting into brewing. That's the circle of life for beer. Some small breweries die out, some sell out, but there's always new brewers to enter the scene.

Generally speaking, I think this is true. And it might be different now that InBev has bought A-B, but I think A-B's gorilla-like presence really squashes and discourages craft brewers from coming into this market. For a city that loves beer as much as it claims, and the size that it is, there should be a boatload more options to purchase in local stores. It's pretty much Schlafly or bust if you want something made in St. Louis. And the few places that brew their own for their own restaurants get terrible reviews (the ones I've tried have been mediocre and the ones I haven't tried are panned by most respectable sources).

Basically, I think STL is too provincial to ever have an influx of a lot of craft brewers.