Friday, August 12, 2011

Point-Counterpoint In Beer

First there was this... (click = big)


That's an infographic purporting to show the United States of Beer, as published in the Houston Press and featured at Good.is... to justifiable howls of indignation from beer lovers across the continent, but prolly centered in those states where swill like Busch, Keystone Light, Bud Light, and MGD were pictured as the beer of choice (note that Colorado and Texas got the good stuff).  So the Good folks at Good (heh) commissioned a readers' poll and came up with a MUCH better map.  About which, this:
It turns out, much to my delight, that the GOOD community is passionate about GOOD beer! So we asked you to nominate the most awesome, best-tasting, sustainably brewed, independently owned, community-oriented craft beer brewed in your state, and then we made our own map, showing the breweries with the most nominations. 
You can see the revised big-ass interactive map of GOOD beer here... along with an accompanying article about how the ONE representative beer was chosen from each state.  That would leave a LOT of good breweries out of the mix, considerin' there are allegedly 1,600 craft breweries in the US.  It's a fine time to be a beer lover in these United States... and I think right now would be a fine time to pour me a Shiner.

H/t:  A tweet from Beer47.

14 comments:

  1. Whatever! The Barco Crew just received a 15.5 gallon keg of Sierra Nevada which shall be installed in the Veldt Lounge's kegerator in two-zero mikes!

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  2. Some of those states must not have much to choose from - or they don't have very good taste.

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  3. Darryl: Life is GOOD in Florida, innit?

    Lou: My thoughts, exactly. And what the Hell is "Choc" beer? Never heard of it...

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  4. Well, my BS Detector is wailing, I went to the site and took a gander at this: "We asked you: What is the most awesome, best-tasting," no problem with either of those although the word "awesome" I think is overused but then there is this: "sustainably brewed, independently owned, community-oriented craft beer..." yadda, yadda, yadda. Come on, when I slugging one down (and I am here again in the Czech Republic where they make beers just about around every nook and cranny) I don't care two-bits if the beer is "sustainable". And what the hell does "community-oriented" mean any way. Is that where they used locally picked weeds to 'finish' the beer?

    Give me a break. Make it with no after taste and serve it cold. Carbon foot print be dammed.

    BT: Jimmy T sends.

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  5. Here's a little something from today's news...

    http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/08/12/from-soldier-to-brewer-iraq-vet-crafts-cavalry-beer/

    although I suspect there are about a million good stories regarding brewery start-ups, I liked this one.

    and cheers Buck.

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  6. I'm gonna steal that map! I have a bud here at Falcon that will love it!

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  7. Redhook for WA? Really? I live in Tacoma and for what it's worth we have a plethora of great WA brewers.

    I understand the point, but me thinks the creator just did a quick google search and pasted something in a state. Not a lot of time or research was put into it.

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  8. Jimmy: I agree on the verbiage... who gives a big rat's ass if good beer is made by a "sustainable" and "community-oriented" (WTF?) brewery? That sounds like PC BS to me, too.

    marc: GREAT link. I with Mr. McCreary when he says:

    “I like balanced, drinkable beers – English style beers,” says McCreary. “I like beers with a malty backbone and subtle hop flavor. The kinds of beers that you sit down with and want to have another one when you’re done. I really just want to see people reaching for more than one of my beers.”

    I was never a beer drinker until I got stationed in Ol' Blighty. And if I lived in Connecticut I'd sure be drinking me some Cavalry beers.

    Glenn: Chase the link to Good.is and steal theirs... this one is full o' swill.

    VW: This map is the Houston Press' map. The other one, which is a "readers' choice" map, sez Epic Ales represent WA best.

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  9. Go ahead our man Jimmy T! What you said! In spades!! (or is that old stand-by PC-permissible these days? :) )

    (PS: I joke, but it pi$$es me off to no end having to walk around on PC egg-shells all the time self-censoring myself in order to avoid "hurt" feelings when none was ever intended...my wife naturally cringes a lot..)

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  10. Toby said Choc beer was named for the Choctaw Indians - home brew. But google Choc Beer and read the history. It is pretty cool. It seems that it is the name for any home brew early on in OK history - back in prohibition days especially, but became an actual brewery made by Italian immigrants who own and run Pete's Place in Krebs.

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  11. I DID google Choc, read the history and perused the beer selection... and I'm impressed. I may just pop over the state line and see if I can score me a trunk full o' these beers!

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  12. Dear Buck (in the manner of dear Abby), I've lived in TN many years and I've never once had a Yazoo. Am I some kind of beer ignoramus or what?

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  13. Dan: Not an ignoramus, just uninitiated. There's ample time to catch up!

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  14. I like the MO icon. My BIL's brother is a distributor there. He was on some documentary about the company a few years back (on Discovery or some such) saying something like, "We specialize in giving the people what they want." Market force right there!

    You guys can talk about your "crafts" and whatnot, but then the market speaks. (Me, I'm Miller Lite or lighter).

    I do like an occasional Anchor Steam out of NorCal, though.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.