Hops galore, Wil Wheaton does readings there fairly regularly, and I think they named a beer about me. 
And you gotta dig the shirts.
It broke my beer sopped soul to leave Minnesota and Surly behind me. Furious is one of the finest beers I’ve ever had. I console myself with the totally different, but equally good, Red’s Rye PA from Founders. My favorite place to drink Surly was the Ethiopian restaurant Blue Nile in Minneapolis. Their craft beer taps were unbelievable, and somehow they secretly have the best french fries in the entire Twin Cities - Ethiopian fare or no.
Cans are the future of craft beer, and Surly seriously spurred it along. Sierra Nevada is getting set to crank out cans of the their PA. The myth of better in the bottle has been thoroughly busted, and hadn’t been a real issue since the 70s anyhow.
I love the Smuttynose Old Brown Dog, 'cause the dog on the box looks like my dog. Also because it tastes good.
This weekend I got to try my first batch of homebrew, with which I am pleased - but I bet I can do better. This weekend I get to try the second!
Uff-Da is my very favoritist bock ever. I wish they’d go back to having it year round instead of just running it for a few months every other year or so. But it’s okay since Fat Squirrel is better then New Castle. Either way, you really can’t go wrong getting something from New Glarus. They really don’t put out anything bad. But if you want it, you’ll have to come to Wisconsin, it’s the only place you’ll find it.
Ain’t it the truth? And yet with all the great breweries here in the PNW, I brew my own beer. The best custom batch I’ve made I called Snappy Red Ale. Got everything just right. Oh yummy.
My fave brewery is Nest. They put cute owls on the bottles. It’s a small Japanese micro-brew, but their beers are worlds apart from the blah-ness of regular JP beer.
Oh I’m sorry. The name of the brewery is actually Kiuchi. Nest is just one of their more popular product lines.
And I had one today! Yummy indeed.
My favorite brewerey is Tawandang in Bangkok, the original location on the corner of Rama III and Narathiwat roads. They don’t do bottling, so it’s on-site sales only, but it’s a very good night out. We have a membership card for 15% off of everything, including the beer. A very popular place. The food is just okay, but the cabaret shows and musical numbers are generally top notch.
Brewery of the moment is Shiner. Well, guess it’s actually Shiner beer from the Spoetzl Brewery. Enjoying pretty much everything I’ve had from them and especially loving that their variety pack (called Family Reunion) doesn’t have an IPA in it (which most breweries seem to do/have). I love the fun of a variety pack, but have a strong liking for malty beers vs hoppy ones, so the IPA is always a bummer. I think tdc was introduced to this brand after we stopped seeing Yeungling Bock at our local liquor store, and I know we’ll be drinking more of their stuff.
The basic Shiner Bock is ok. Spoetzl doesn’t do anything poorly, but they don’t have anything special, either. The reviews on Beer Advocate seem to agree with that assessment.
Live Oak, just down the road in Austin, is hands down better. They’ve got perhaps the finest Hefeweizen in the US, and everything they offer is at least good. Unfortunately, no bottling, so you’re not going to find it at the grocery or liquor store.
I agree. Only one of my top 5 beers is from Troegs (Nugget Nectar!), but I feel like they put out solid versions of everything they do, and I’ve never had a beer from them that I didn’t love. I like a lot of other breweries, too, but all of them have disappointed me at least once.
Recently, my liver has become well acquainted with Boulevard Brewing which hails from the mecca of micro beer land - Kansas City.
I wasn’t aware KC was a beer Mecca. Tell me more!
Man, all this beer talk is making me thirsty. We Charlotte area dopers need to get together again, soon.
I recently helped kick a barrel of Nugget Nectar, only to have it pointed out that it was a seasonal offering.
Are you somewhere where you can get Great Lakes Brewing beers?
I’m personally not a beer drinker, but my husband and most of his friends are, and days where they’re not feeling cheap, this is what they tend to pick up because all varieties tend to be a littler hoppier than comparable varieties.
When they’re feeling a little more lavish, they lay out for Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale (Made by Alltech), which is aged in bourbon barrels.