haha, cool man. Yeah, they have a really cool staff of employees. All really laid back and passionate about their craft.

Good stuff. I think the Midwest can nearly compete with all the great West Coast breweries. If not we're getting close. Founders, Surly, Bells, and New Glarus brew some seriously good ****. I'm probably forgetting others too.

I heard that, and Kare 11 did a bit on their 10 pm news earlier in the week. I think the coffee bender is superb, wouldn't consistently pay $11.50 for a 4-pack of 16 oz cans, but I'll have one at happy hour if it's cheap. Would like to know how the Gold/Silver medalists stacked up. Surely pretty solid beers.

Hey,

Heartland is always a great stop.. I love the Indiana Pale.

It is a chain though.

I reccommend Stout. http://www.stoutnyc.com/ lots of good beers on tap.

and because I am a downtown guy.. I like Mudville9. http://www.mudville9.com/ great wings and over 100 beers to choose from.

It's that time of year......

Cool. Thanks for the tips.

Goose Island Nut Brown Ale is one of the best "cheap" 6 pack ales I have ever drank. This stuff is so good, and underrated imo. Good smoke, great malt, chocolate, nutty..just really easy to drink, and very flavorful.

I agree and would throw in Three Floyd's, Jolly Pumpkin, Dark Horse, Two Brothers and possibly a few others I hear great things about but haven't tried much from.

I also really like Goose Island, they hit just about every market segment, starting with casual drinkers and their Honkers Ale and 312 Wheat, then you start to get into their affordable yet good beers like IPA, Harvest Ale (out now, always a favorite of mine), followed by slightly more expensive offerings such as Matilda and finally, some really rare sour/big stout/barrel aged released. Also, their main brewery (not the one near Wrigley Field) consistently has 12-20 beers on tap, many of which are never bottled. It's basically a brewery where I can always find something that anybody I know that drinks beer can enjoy, and if I want to save some money or splurge, they have me covered.

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. My local store carries Darkhorse IPA, and I've never given it a try.

Like I've said, I can't get Three Floyds in MN, always have wanted to try their selection. Every now and then my fav bar gets Two Bros beers in, I believe I've had the Cane & Ebel, a rye beer, and it was pretty tasty.

I really dig Goose Island though. At first site they appear to be some crappy, not that good brewery, kinda like Red Hook, but actually have some solid options.

If I could get Honker's Ale here, it would be a staple in my house. Really well-made session English ales are a giant blind spot for American brewers, as are great session lagers. I can understand the economic pressures of brewing great lagers, but session ales are exactly the opposite: lowest ingredient cost, quick tank turnover, higher sales volume. The only conclusion I'm left with is that there simply isn't enough demand, as crazy as that seems to me.

Whats the best spot in philly for a wide selection? I usually stop at suds beer or something, or the hulmeville inn is cool. Any suggestions?

MidWest has some good spots for sure... I like me some Three Floyd's... matter of fact was just there 2 weeks ago... but being able to compete with the West Coast micro brews is a different ball game. Pecking order West Coast, Colorado, MidWest, East Coast.

Picking up some Black Tuesday from The Bruery in a few weeks... oh, baby!

I can't disagree with you, but if you look at it by population then I think the Midwest is right up there with the West Coast.

There are just simply so many people on the west coast where all the good breweries are compared to say, Chicago, MN and Detroit (the areas in, around and in between where most of these breweries are located).

It looks like California alone has 33% greater population than IL, MN and MI combined. That's not including Oregon either, which has a great assortment of breweries.

Can you give us a short list of some of your favorite English-style ales (being made outside of England is fine too)?

Fullers ESB and Goose IPA are two of my go to beers, personally.

Have you had any Arcadia ales?

While on the topic of Midwest/Chicago brewery's, a fairly new one just opened in Ravenswood (http://www.halfacrebeer.com/home.php).

I think they've been brewing for a while, but are amping up sales/distribution after completing the brewery.

I've had the "Over Ale" and Lager. Both were pretty good, imo.

I'll have to try that place next time.

Daisy Cutter is good too.

BAUME was all right, I was expecting more though.

I met one of the brewers here before the place was setup, good guy. There was a dog running loose in the brewery and some yeast overflowing from a fermenter, but the place looked cool.

Unfortunately no brewpub planned iirc, just a store front to sell beer/merch.

Metropolitan Brewery is another one that just opened up in the same area that Half Acre is in (within a mile). They do mostly lagers I believe and people seem to really like them. I've had only one beer from them in a bottle locally, but I enjoyed it.

Again, no brewpub planned there either, but I think that one is a husband/wife team.

Fuller's ESB is definitely top-notch. I get a sixer of GI's Honker Ale just about every time I go through St. Louis. Clipper City brewing out of Baltimore makes a "big" ESB, up around 7% or so, that's really good as well.

I've had two of Arcadia's beers, the porter and something else. The porter was a good beer.

I haven't had much Clipper City. Their Red Sky at Night is so good that I've never tried anything else from them.

New Surly coming out. I haven't tried it yet but can't wait:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gI7p...layer_embedded

Initial reviews are very favorable though.

^ hmmmm, I wonder how this will rate with Furious, probably not as floral/potpourri like. More West Coast, smooth hopefully, thinking Lagunitas style IPA. The description leads me to believe otherwise. I mean, how much higher can you get than Furious' 99 IBUs...

SL__,

You going to get some Darkness? I had it last year, and really didn't know what it was. When I found out it was a Russian Imperial things clicked and I was like "**** that was good" up there with Victory Storm King, I can't wait to compare it to Old Rasputin. Had my first Rasputin a few weeks ago...holy **** that **** is smooth full of coffee, great malt, chocolate, smokey, etc etc etc, and just delicious. One of the best beers I've ever had. I could drink a 4-pack of those with no prob. Winter is a coming!!!!

I've somehow never had Darkness. I definitely am planning on buying some this year.

I was looking at the GABF website after some people I know mentioned that they were going to it, seems awfully expensive?

here is my situation. i will be spending a long weekend in Brussels, Belgium during November. I have just recently started drinking belgian beer and I am wondering what some good bars, breweries, places to enjoy good beer in brussels.

Also, any sightseeing, cool musuems would be cool.

i figured this would be the best place to ask about belgian beers.

Had the Surly Wet on tap at Town Hall Brewery among their Cask style IPA. The Wet left me dry, and was a let down. I was hoping for a fruity, smooth IPA, like a Lagunitas or something...afterall, it's supposed to be a West Coast style IPA. Wasn't anything special, and no were near the level of their other beers. Who knows, maybe it's just how they wanted it to be, and I just need to try another pint.

The Cask IPA that was brewed by Town Hall was amazing. Imagine the texture, and mouth feel of a Boddingtons or Old Speckled Hen, but the flavor of an IPA...really good. Naturally carbonated, and served at 52 degrees. Stuff was very good.

You might want to look into picking up a copy of Michael Jackson's Great Beers of Belgium. I've never read it, but I think it has a lot of good info on breweries, bars, etc.



Port Brewing's High Tide Fresh Hop IPA is excellent this year. Probably the best fresh hop beer I've had.

I STILL haven't had it, but it isn't supposed to be a west coast style IPA. People are just saying it is similar to one. It is almost a step beyond an IPA (towards a double IPA). It should be verrrrrrrrrry hoppy.