This beer voted best in America...again

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/27/this-beer-voted-best-in-america-again.html

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Lance Armstrong won 7 Tours de France…wait, forget that last comparison.

Hmm…makes you wonder if there’s some kind of “special ingredient” making this beer addictive.

Well, beyond alcohol obviously

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Seems I wasn’t too impressed.

I think the key there is distribution. 481k check ins. I’ve had knockout beers at places that can’t/won’t distribute.

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I am a huge fan and supporter of Michigan beers, have had many opportunities over the last 30 years to sample the Bell’s lineup, and even have a (very) tenuous personal connection to the founders of the brewery that predisposes me to like their beer, and yet … I can’t really get into any of them. Even the ones I like enough to buy them again, there’s another Michigan brewery doing a better (IMO) style of the same beer, and almost always at a lower price point.

Though I was never going to be a big fan of Two Hearted because I’m just not a big fan of American IPAs in general.

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Sugar and caffeine?

Maybe if I had to drink an IPA I’d pick a Bell’s. I just can’t get into IPAs; I feel like the craft beer market is doing them because they’re challenging and they want to show off, but the reason they’re challenging is because it’s really hard to make a good one. I’m not a beer tracker, but the thing that distinguishes IPAs I haven’t hated has been that they’re hoppy but not overwhelmingly bitter, which seems like a difficult mark to hit. And most of the craft IPAs seem to forget the second part, aiming for the “punched in the mouth by a hop flower” approach, which let’s face it just is not that enjoyable.

I don’t mind Bell’s as a brewer; I’ve got some Oberon that I got on clearance knocking around in the fridge and it suits me just fine.

Deep in my heart of hearts I think I’m one of those retrograde monsters that prefers lagers.

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I’m not really a beer person, least of all this one. But there is a Michigan beer that surprisingly goes down well for me. Dragon’s Milk is a fantastic one to try if you ever get the opportunity.

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Two hearted tasted better when they brewed it in Kalamazoo. The original brewery downtown is quite a nice place to visit if you’re in the area.

Two recent beers not to try, “Fruit Fight” and perhaps “Mango Oberon”. The first is OMG tart. The second depends on your mood - a few like it, but most prefer origin Oberon [ahem, Solsun] better. For the price, I would have expected more mango. Importing limited edition stuff to NYC-area is not trivial.

I have two bottles of each left and will probably wait for some random pandemic guest to visit and have them take a sample.

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I like Bells as a company and have bought brewing supplies there. But I think in MI, Founders is more interesting overall and their All Day IPA is widely available and is their best seller. It’s a lighter Session IPA and is my fav

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Tried it after the last award. My non-aficionado opinion: Has a woodsy, pine needles taste to it. One was pleasant, but more than enough. Would pair wonderfully with really harsh bud though. Split a pack with others.

Agree on that. One is all you need, then switch to something with less ABV if you want more mild-altering beverages.

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reliable Stone IPA

I’m a huge fan of Stone Brewery and that’s far from their best brew, i’d likely peg it as one of their least interesting ones. I havent tried any of their stuff in the past year or two though since they’ve stopped doing as many special bottle releases and started focusing on canned beers. Shame, i used to collect their bottles :frowning:

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I agree, I’ve tried a number of beers from Founders Brewing Co. and been impressed by almost all of them.

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Are these the same people that think Yuengling tastes good too?

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You can enjoy your Founders with a side or racism

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I’m hardly a beer connoisseur, but my feeling is that craft beers have started to branch out quite a lot in the past few years. I feel like, say 2005-2015 it was all hard-hitting IPAs all the time, but now in my local brew shops IPAs are a minority (possibly still a plurality, but definitely a minority), crowded out by local craft gose beers, sour ales, pilsners, kolsches, American lagers, saisons, etc.

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This feels like The Oscars where awards are given not to the best or most outstanding but the most “fine.”

2 Hearted is fine. If there are 6 taps and nothing else screams out at me I’ll get it. If it’s the bodega’s token nod to more exotic craft beers (a role that used to be held by Goose Island) I’ll get it over Budweiser or Tecate or whatever. It’s basically my beer of last resort.

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Yeah, there’s definitely fads in craft brewing, and we’ve moved through an era of goses and sours and the like. IPAs seem to have stuck around reasonably consistently even though they were definitely the “in thing” for a while.

I can’t wait for Proper English Cider to become the hot thing.

Friggin IPAs and greek yogurt are infestations that need to be exterminated.

Sorry, I won’t allow it. As a school boy in England I once got violently sick from several-too-many English ciders, and 25 years later I still can’t stomach the smell of them. So, apologies, but it will never be the hot thing.