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IPA heavy list. Overall, not bad, but I'll take the stouts & sours in Michigan (#1 for me) and Wisconsin (#3-4 after CO and maybe CA) before all those overwhelmingly hoppy sodas that are necessitated by all the hops now grown on the West Coast.
Michigan is great, but the UP has zero in the way of top beers (despite one shout-out in the article). All the action is LP, especially west of Detroit. Founders, Bells...yum!
IPA heavy list. Overall, not bad, but I'll take the stouts & sours in Michigan (#1 for me) and Wisconsin (#3-4 after CO and maybe CA) before all those overwhelmingly hoppy sodas that are necessitated by all the hops now grown on the West Coast.
Michigan is great, but the UP has zero in the way of top beers (despite one shout-out in the article). All the action is LP, especially west of Detroit. Founders, Bells...yum!
It does seem that Grand Rapids is a little heavy on the Breweries these days.
Oregon #1 California was number 2, A New England state didn't get mentioned until #6, sure it's represented but it doesn't seem to be a standout region. Are you being sarcastic?
IPA's and the more "hoppy" ales are a bigger deal on the West coast because so much of the hops are harvested locally from the native evergreen forests. It makes sense that this would be a more Western U.S. trend. Water quality is obviously a factor, but most microbreweries have their own water purification systems that allow for higher quality, so that really doesn't factor into regional differences.
I've never been to Wisconsin. I've heard many really good things about the local microbrews there and would love to sample them some time.
IPA's and the more "hoppy" ales are a bigger deal on the West coast because so much of the hops are harvested locally from the native evergreen forests. It makes sense that this would be a more Western U.S. trend. Water quality is obviously a factor, but most microbreweries have their own water purification systems that allow for higher quality, so that really doesn't factor into regional differences.
I've never been to Wisconsin. I've heard many really good things about the local microbrews there and would love to sample them some time.
Right, the IPA boom out west is very much driven by the semi-recent growth the hops production there. This list is definitely predicated highly on IPA/hops locations. Fair enough, there's obviously going to be a lot of subjectivity in a list such as this, but IPA's in general are low on my personal rating system. Hoppy pops!
Check out New Glarus for sours/fruit beers, something I generally am 100% against, but they do the best fruit beers in the country. Forget "Spotted Cow," that's the in-state "go-to" for people who don't know anything about beer but want "a microbrew." Spotted Cow funds their special editions and so on. I know someone who's been to breweries all over the world, and he says the one in New Glarus is the only one as clean as the Japanese brewers. It's a good place to hang out, kind of a vinyard feel up on top of a big hill overlooking New Glarus.
Central Waters is second maybe to Founders (MI) for heavy (bourbon barrel and so forth) stouts. They also have an excellent full line outside the stouts. Haven't been to the brewery, but would like to make a stop eventually. CW is probably the most well-rounded line in the state. O'So and Potosi and Tyranena are worth checking out. Stay away from Milwaukee beers, though I like several, the best beer is outside the city. The best tour, however, is probably Lakefront's entertaining drunkfest in Milwaukee, though I hear it's far less crazy nowadays. Definitely check out perpetual top 50 beer bars in Milwaukee like Roman's and Sugar Maple (Roman's is a cranky dude who's been selling micros since the 80s and has a sign saying "No Spotted Cow - not now not ever") if you're ever here.
But seriously - I would not say this about a border state unless it were true. Michigan is my favorite right now and for the last few years.
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