We all agree that Russian River, Founders, Sierra Nevada, Boulevard etc make world class beers. No doubt. But what do you guys like that seem to consistently rate lower than an "A" ? I'm lookin' at Bridgeport, Dundee, Saranac etc. Not necessarily world class, but they make some extremely solid examples of beer styles, usually at pretty fair prices. Beers that you know are not top of the line, but will gladly drink them and offer to your buddies. Everyday beers. Or do you even drink stuff like that at all?
With exception of a few of their beers (Boston lager, cream stout, octoberfest and IPL) I'd say that Samuel Adams embodies a quality, but not show stopping Class A beer. And I love Sam Adams brews. EDIT: the beers I listed are class A beers in my opinion.
Is sierra not an everyday beer? hmmm. how shitty would you like me to get here..... Kidding aside, I think most of what saranac brews is less than ideal and generally wouldn't recommend it to buddies. I'll recommend Brooklyn lager or something German like Paulaner or Spaten to somebody that usually drinks BMC but outside of that I'm not sure I understand the point. Why would a recommend something of inferior quality like saranac when the price point is so similar to so many other better beers?
You wouldn't. Unless your buddies are tickers and need to try something new. In which case I doubt they'd care about your recommendation and just pick up whatever shitty Icelandic beer they haven't tried yet. I recommend almost all SN to my buddies because its cheap and good. Why recommend something worse?
yeah, I wuz curious about "vmc". Thought it was sumpin' I'd never heard about. Glad you cleared that up.
Stuff like Narragansett, Otter Creek, Shipyard, and Long Trail usually. They are local (New England area) and I dont mind trying new beers from them.
A lot of international beers. They seem to rate fairly low in comparison with their domestic counterparts.
What we get over here in America are not the best of what foreign breweries have to offer. Much like the best breweries over here dont ship internationally, Germany and the like will get Budweiser, Miller, and Coors offerings, not Bear Republic, Great Divide, RR, etc.
That's very unfair, comparing what we get here to BMC. Maybe it depends on where you are located, but in NNJ I come across a lot of excellent German and Belgian beer- in very good condition, too. Weihenstephaner, Ayinger, Rodenbach, Schlenkerla, etc- all are certainly A-list breweries/beers.
