What beer are you drinking now?

[TheBEast]

Just found out the supermarket in town carries Kona Brewing....so pumped. Haven't had since our trip to HI in 2006 and couldn't get the stuff back east....it looks like it's arrived!!! Yeah Baby! Bottoms up!

 

[MR. evil]

Just found out the supermarket in town carries Kona Brewing....so pumped. Haven't had since our trip to HI in 2006 and couldn't get the stuff back east....it looks like it's arrived!!! Yeah Baby! Bottoms up!

It's brewed in NH

 

[TheBEast]

It's brewed in NH

No $hit, look at that! Nice.....I'm one happy camper. Their Longboard Lager is outstanding. Now if only I had the time and cash to go back and enjoy it in HI!!

 

[ctenidae]

Great Dane Scotch Ale, in a gravity cask, at the Great Dane Brewpub in Madison, WI. Does not taste entirely like dog piss.

 

[roark]

Nice ct. great lakes dortmunder gold and founders centennial ipa tonight. Both outstanding. I guess the midwest isn't entirely devoid of taste! ;-)

 

[Cannonball]

It's brewed in NH

YES! To me this is the first decision point. Keep it local!! No need to drink yourself into a giant carbon footprint with so many amazing local options. Harpoon, Long Trail, Mayflower, Magic Hat, Cisco, Tucks, Peak Organic, Smuttynose..................

I like variety and will always try something new. But Harpoon IPA has become the standard, can't-go-wrong choice.

 

[jaywbigred]

No $hit, look at that! Nice.....I'm one happy camper. Their Longboard Lager is outstanding. Now if only I had the time and cash to go back and enjoy it in HI!!

YES! To me this is the first decision point. Keep it local!! No need to drink yourself into a giant carbon footprint with so many amazing local options. Harpoon, Long Trail, Mayflower, Magic Hat, Cisco, Tucks, Peak Organic, Smuttynose..................

I like variety and will always try something new. But Harpoon IPA has become the standard, can't-go-wrong choice.

Kona = Budweiser product (not full ownership, but still). Do not want. And the NH Kona is brewed at the Red Hook brewery (founded on west coast in 1982, Oregon I think?) that was built there in 1996, fwiw.

Also, fwiw, Budweiser (and prob MillerCoors too) is generally a pretty local beer given their regional breweries. Point being is that buying local is a good starting point, but not the end point in the decision making process. Just because Budweiser is brewed 12 miles from my house does not mean I am going to drink it over Victory, taste differences aside.

I'll skip Kona unless the only other choices are straight InBev or SABMiller products.

 

[TheBEast]

Kona = Budweiser product (not full ownership, but still).

I guess I don't understand this comment. Does this mean you just don't like their beers because they lack what other local brews have in terms of taste? All I'm saying is I like variety. Being a loyal BBC drinker I'm doing my part for the local guys, but do like sampling stuff from other places and truly enjoyed the Kona beer while I was in HI a few years back and was excited to see I can now get it in MA, regardless of what brewery it's brewed in.

 

[gorgonzola]

wow i would never believe it's possible to suck the fun out of beer.....

 

[HD333]

More sucking the fun out of beer:

I emailed New Belguim Brewery and they said they have no plans to expand distirbution to the north east other then where they arleady are (NC and SC).

I did try 21st Amendment IPA out of Cali this past weekend. Good stuff and at 7% you don't need to drink 10 to start feeling good.

 

[ctenidae]

Local isn't always better- the Great Dane stuff was not to my liking. Not a bad set of beers, but something about tehir "signature taste" just didn't sit well with me. You know the taste- Unibroue has a taste, Pete's Wicked had a taste back in the day, Ommegang has it, Brooklyn has it. Great Dane has it, I just didn't like it.

And as to carbon footprints, I'd club a baby seal, strangle a snail darter, and shoot at a condor for most good Belgian brews.

 

[jaywbigred]

I guess I don't understand this comment. Does this mean you just don't like their beers because they lack what other local brews have in terms of taste? All I'm saying is I like variety. Being a loyal BBC drinker I'm doing my part for the local guys, but do like sampling stuff from other places and truly enjoyed the Kona beer while I was in HI a few years back and was excited to see I can now get it in MA, regardless of what brewery it's brewed in.

I'm just saying, whenever presented with a choice, I choose against InBev and SABMiller products, and though less directly than Bud or Bud Light (or even Leffe or Spaten), every time you buy a Kona you help Budweiser control more market share. Kona makes a good beer; so do Leffe and Spaten. But I am thankful to live in an era where the American beer market is beginning to flourish with real delicious, well made beers from small, average joe type brewers, and thus where I have plenty of choices when it comes to tasty beer that ISN"T brewed by a large, monopolistic, conglomerate mega-brewery. I know it is hackneyed to be anti-establishment or anti-big business, but when that big business is responsible for the heretofore pathetic beer choices Americans have lived with for decades (not to mention the ways in which they use the "democratic process" to protect their business model).

Look, it's beer, I don't begrudge anyone grabbing a cold one of their choosing and having a good time. Just personally, I have made a choice to steer away from certain beers because I don't agree with their corporate ideology. I only bring it up bc there are vast hordes of people who don't even realize the genesis of what they are drinking. Most people still think that Blue Moon is and independent microbrew! If you don't even know, then you don't have an opportunity to make an informed choice. I think a lot of folks, made aware of what they are drinking and thus presented with the choice, might think twice the next time they are standing in front of the cooler in the beer aisle.

And as to carbon footprints, I'd club a baby seal, strangle a snail darter, and shoot at a condor for most good Belgian brews.

Hahaha. Exactly. Agreed. Best in the world. Though I also find many of Ommegang's offerings, as well as beers like Groundbreak from Ithaca Brewing and Victory's Golden Monkey, to be decent substitutes you can feel good about drinking.

 

[TheBEast]

I'm just saying, whenever presented with a choice, I choose against InBev and SABMiller products, and though less directly than Bud or Bud Light (or even Leffe or Spaten), every time you buy a Kona you help Budweiser control more market share. Kona makes a good beer; so do Leffe and Spaten. But I am thankful to live in an era where the American beer market is beginning to flourish with real delicious, well made beers from small, average joe type brewers, and thus where I have plenty of choices when it comes to tasty beer that ISN"T brewed by a large, monopolistic, conglomerate mega-brewery. I know it is hackneyed to be anti-establishment or anti-big business, but when that big business is responsible for the heretofore pathetic beer choices Americans have lived with for decades (not to mention the ways in which they use the "democratic process" to protect their business model).

I stand enlightened, I was unaware of the minority interest InBev had in the Craft Brew Alliance. http://beerwarsmovie.com/2009/12/10/who-owns-what-part-ii/

Learn something new every day. Agreed that it is hard to tell now-a-days who ultimately has a stake in what, since I first had the Kona beer in 2005 and haven't had it since, so wasn't really in-the-know about the InBev deal until now. Thus is why we have the interweb to make us all beter informed consumers!!

 

[ctenidae]

If it tastes good, drink it.

 

[Edd]

When I was younger the prevailing attitude was that Americans were incapable of making decent beer. I enjoy how that has changed with the explosion of microbrews. I'd be perfectly happy drinking American beer for the rest of my days.

 

[drjeff]

If it tastes good, drink it.

+1! :beer:

 

[jaywbigred]

More sucking the fun out of beer:

I emailed New Belguim Brewery and they said they have no plans to expand distirbution to the north east other then where they arleady are (NC and SC).

I did try 21st Amendment IPA out of Cali this past weekend. Good stuff and at 7% you don't need to drink 10 to start feeling good.

HD, re: NBB, I haven't gotten any update on the rumor from my buddy, which is a bad sign, imo, and probably backs up the result of your email. I will say that I have had breweries flat out lie to my face (and in writing) about distribution in the past (Ithaca Brewing, to be exact). I emailed them to see if they were planning on expanding to NJ any time soon. They said No. I offered to start my own distribution company to help them distribute (shows how little I knew about these sort of things back in 2005), and they said they had no current interest in the NJ market. Within the year, they were popping up all over the state. Today, they are decently common to find. Sigh.

 

[Cannonball]

every time you buy a Kona you help Budweiser control more market share.

I'm with ya, but while we're busy deriding big biz, let's not forget that Budweiser doesn't actually control any market share these days. They are just another brand name in the giant Belgian InBev conglomerate.

Local isn't always better

Of course. Local doesn't de facto mean better. There are some really bad local brews. But we are blessed with so many great options here in New England that there is no reason not to buy local.

And as to carbon footprints, I'd club a baby seal, strangle a snail darter, and shoot at a condor for most good Belgian brews.

I'm not sure you are clear on the whole carbon footprint thing. Hint: Seals, snails, and condors have nothing to do with it. Maybe you're mixed up with endangered species? Some Belgian brews can mess with clear thinking. Support local brewers, buy local beer.

 

[severine]

If it tastes good, drink it.

Hear, hear! :beer:

 

[ctenidae]

I'm quite clear on carbon footprints, Cannonball. I was simply expanding the concept of environmental impact beyond a little carbon. Somehow, eating two cans of beans and farting a ton of methane doesn't have the same poetic impact. I do try to drink globally and fart locally.