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The Pacific Northwest and Northern California are beer heaven to me. I'll second the Moose Drool and Deschutes recs (sorry, can't go along with the Rogue rec). Big Sky, the brewery that makes Moose Drool, also makes a fairly decent pale ale called Scape Goat, and they make a great belgian ale that's unfortunately sold only from a tap at their brewery and maybe a local bar or two. Not too high on their seasonals though. Deschutes, however, makes winter (Jubelale) and summer (Twilight Ale) seasonals that I think are just astoundingly good. One of the highlights of summer for me here is working out, getting a good sweat, and downing a bottle of citrusy and hoppy Twilight when I'm dying of thirst. Overall Deschutes is my favorite brewery. Right now they have a really intense IPA at the Co-Op that may be the hoppiest brew I've ever had. They call it Hop Henge Experimental (love the "experimental" in the title). But it's really strong and definitely an acquired taste.
Kirin has never done much for me either. Out of the mass-brewed Japanese brews (Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, Orion), I only bother with Sapporo. And even then, the Sapporo that actually comes out of Japan is so much better. Someone on Chowhound got a rep from Sapporo to admit that the recipe for North America (which is brewed out of Canada) is dumbed down to appease the Bud/Miller/Coors crowd. You can get Japanese-brewed Asahi and Yebisu (brewed by Sapporo) at Japanese markets in bigger cities, along with craft beers like Echigo and sometimes stuff from the Hitachino Nest brewery. The Co-op actually carried a few brews from Hitachino Nest for a little while at the end of last year, which got me really excited. But currently they don't have anything. Tiime to go back and bug the beer guy there.
Moose Drool is pretty good. I was traveling through Montana this summer and I was drinking that. I also had this great "Montana Micro" called Lewis&Clark Lager. It was very good. I contacted them over the summer to see if they had an Idaho source/distrib but got the brush off from them...boo!
I like Deschutes and Bridgeport and Full Sail. I think those are all Oregon micros. Arrogant Bastard from Stone Brewery is now available locally at Fred Meyer.
Nice... yeah, Stone, Big Sky, and Rogue pretty much make my favorite micros. Anyone tried Double Bastard? I didn't see it until I moved down to New Mexico, but it makes Arrogant Bastard seem mediocre, if that says anything (and I know it does to my fellows).
Also, any beer enthusiast would be remiss to never try Samuel Smith's from the Old Tadcaster brewery in London. It doesn't have the prominant taste of Cascade hops that has grown on us Westerners, but for the English methods and Bavarian hops, it's some of the best I've ever had. You gotta pay for it, but it's worth it. Most of you who have sited Pacific and Northwestern breweries would enjoy the Nut Brown Ale, while the OP would enjoy the Lager (after a real lager, the OP may have trouble returning to the Japanese beers [ramenfan is right, and that corruption is all too common with many importers who mistake our cheap, over-preserved, multinational American domestics as an example of our poor taste]). Just as is the case for beers in Utah and Colorado grocery stores, I'd like to break a few bottles over the head of whatever jacka$$ is responsible for such an unnecessary/misinformed/petty corruption of age old techniques.
As this thread is a few years old, let me ask if the brew pub scene is picking up, about the same or diminshing in Boise. I might be moving there soon and while not a requirement, having a good local beer scene is s big bonus to me.
As this thread is a few years old, let me ask if the brew pub scene is picking up, about the same or diminshing in Boise. I might be moving there soon and while not a requirement, having a good local beer scene is s big bonus to me.
This thread is 3 years old and the beer/brew pub scene in Boise is all the rage and a different world then it was when this thread was created. Boise is an up an coming beer city to watch because many new local breweries have opened in the past few years with more on the way.
There aren't any brewpubs in Boise of the caliber of a Deschutes or Rogue public house. But there are several breweries (Payette, Sockeye, Crooked Fence, Highland Hollow, and Table Rock) with more on the way. Some of those (Sockeye, Highland Hollow, and Table Rock) have restaurants attached with decent pub food. There are also an increasing number of pubs with high quality taps (Brewforia, Bitter Creek, and the Front Door come to mind) as well. Boise's beer scene is better than much of the country but it's no Bend or Portland!
sockeye brewery off cole/ustick is now bottling/canning just built a new facility to do it. Also have payette brewing co and crooked fence down in garden city doing the same. Good beers and not hard to find. Co op is great they have a good beer guy in charge. Can find the stuff on tap and get it in growlers all over town. Brewforia is an awesome bottle shop.
I';ve found all the major japanese beers in six packs in town (for instance check out albertsons and world market)
boise is a great beer city!
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