Anyone else already over the whole micro brewery thing?

I got a three kind variety pack of 32 oz."Big Ass Cans" from my daughter for Fathers Day- from one of our local small breweries. Nice way to try something different
 
Hittin' up some breweries on the North Shore this weekend. Boathouse Brew Pub in Ely and Castle Danger in Two Harbors yesterday. The Blueberry Blonde and Chocolate Coffee Stout at Boathouse were pretty good. The Nordic at Castle Danger was different enought to have a few of.

There are several to hit up today in and around Duluth. Heading over to Canal Park soon.
 
I`ve become a big fan of IPA`s and love trying new ones when I have the chance. My go to now is Troegs Perpetual which is brewed about 50 miles away. I love microbrews . Thank goodness for the free market !
 
Spent a few hours in Belmar New Jersey yesterday sampling the beers at Beach Haus Brewery. They have a nice smokey black IPA called Toast and a nice 8%er called Hopbaun.
 
Anyone else already over the whole micro brewery thing?

The last 10 years has seen the wild growth of the micro brewery.

Now when I am at a Mc Mansion party we either have draft beer from the local brewery or a wide selections of IPA's on ice.

To be honest, I have yet to walk into a micro brewery and not found ribbons on their beers.
They clearly hand these out to anyone. Beers so cloudy you are hesitant to drink them? Award them!

.

I guess I feel like in order to be 'over' something, I would have really had to be 'into' it to start with. It's hard to be over something you only had a casual interest to begin with.

I've got no problem with micro brewery beers. Some are nice, others are swill. It just becomes a matter of figuring out which are which. I do like having some variety.

Ribbons or awards? Meh. I never pay any attention to that anyway, it's all self promotional meaningless crap, so it doesn't really affect me one way or another.

The only thing that bugs me is when you get the snooty types that insist that only a certain craft beer or two are true beer and everything else is garbage. Who exactly are you trying to impress? (psst..... it's not working....)
 
Over it?

Heck no. Was just at Green Flash's tasting room on Thursday.

Had a chance to sample some *really* good IPAs you can't buy in any store.

DE-lish!
 
Monday morning on the local (Sacramento) news, they had a report on a 30 year old brewery in town (Rubicon) is closing its doors. Now, this morning nearby American River is following suit and shutting down. Too many have opened in the area to support the dwindling and/or diluted customer base.

Same is happening with a lot of the small wineries here in CA. Lots of them for sale. That's why when I decided to make wine from our vineyards, I chose a company that made it for me. It may cost more, but if I don't need any, I don't deliver any grapes to them.
 
I stopped home brewing beer when I could go into the store and find literally hundreds... and that's not an exaggeration... of micro and craft brews available on the shelves. With that many out there you have to expect some attrition. I think they have hit a peak. But since I like beer, I love not having to make it. I guess the "culling" will weed out the less efficient brands which isn't always a good thing, but the free market is the free market.

Now all my beer stuff has been converted to mead stuff. Best part about mead is that there is no boiling!
 
Here in benighted England theres also a trend for micro-breweries and Gin is very in right now.
Luckily there remain several beers that have stood the test of time and rely only on taste and not marketing.Dont know if this is available in the US-if it is,please try it.....its hoppy,far from heavy and goes well with good music!
 
Here in benighted England theres also a trend for micro-breweries and Gin is very in right now.
Luckily there remain several beers that have stood the test of time and rely only on taste and not marketing.Dont know if this is available in the US-if it is,please try it.....its hoppy,far from heavy and goes well with good music!

When I was going to London a lot, I started liking Fuller's London Pride. It was tasty, but light enough to be a session beer.
 
Here in benighted England theres also a trend for micro-breweries and Gin is very in right now.
Luckily there remain several beers that have stood the test of time and rely only on taste and not marketing.Dont know if this is available in the US-if it is,please try it.....its hoppy,far from heavy and goes well with good music!

In the US gin and vodka are now in the microbrew format. face it: gin is nothing more than flavored vodka, and to make vodka all you need is warehouse space, kettles and the ingredients--wheat, potato, rye, corn, grape etc--and you're in business. No fermentation, no aging, etc. Some of the best vodkas I've had come from Ohio and THE best, although pricey, is made in an old restored icehouse in St. Augustine FL. They use only locally sourced material and tastes fantasic. Bad news is because they're so small I can only buy it when I'm in Palm Coast, about 1/2 hr from St. Augustine.
 
... to make vodka all you need is warehouse space, kettles and the ingredients--wheat, potato, rye, corn, grape etc--and you're in business. No fermentation, no aging, etc.
How do you make alcohol without fermentation?:dunno:
 
Sours or farm ales are classic beers from Belgium. They use wild yeasts and other microorganisms to prduce that complex flavor. Not a big fan myself, but a microbrewer close to me has a whole list of them. I guess people would rather drink this than apple cider vinegar. :)

My daughter did her school abroad in Strasbourg and we went over last year for 2 weeks when she finished. I'd never even considered sours or lambics prior but the trip changed our palate completely. What's in the fridge now does not resemble anything we used to drink. I am drinking a lot less but enjoying them a lot more too. Last night it was a kriek produced by a local craft brewer (Jack's Abby), delicious.
 
Sours have been appearing everywhere. They are indeed sour (and I'm not talking about a shandy). I have yet to meet a fan ale I like. Pungent finish

The whole idea of sours seemed bad to me until I tried French & Belgium ones when we were there last year. My reaction was a "WTF, this is what I've been missing?". (I think the food pairing was key to this, mostly Alsatian.) I've yet to find a sour in the USA I like from a bottle but I've found some on tap that were great. Only a matter of time before I find one in a bottle I like. This is a great problem to have.
 
...and the odd Belgian Framboise. Cider consumption is up, the wife & I have been drinking Doc's Hard Cider, a NYS producer. For summer I just picked up a case of Paulaner Hefe-Weisse and I usually cycle through some various cases throughout the year. I seem to have lost my taste for the big IPA's, just too piney for me. My new summer vice is Leinenkugel's "Summer Shandy" that my Costco carries, goes down easy on a hot day!

Good grief, looks like our usual Wegman's shopping list. Framboise, check! Hefeweizen (Franziskaner) check! Leinenkugel's shandy, check! Cider, check! check! check!

(Never a fan of IPAs. Some of the craft ones seem to be competing for how undrinkably hoppy they can make it.)

We used to buy Woodchuck original but ciders have exploded around us with a cider only bar at an orchard we used to pick at, Lookout Farm. Food is good too. But the cider selection for all over is spectacular. US ones, Canadian, French, & English ones too. What an amazing time.

Lookout Farm tap room -

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