Widmer hefeweizen is my current favorite followed closely by Deschutes Mirrior Pond Pale Ale. What's your favorite?
Deschutes Abyss. A buddy has a 6-pack in the mail to me right now. On the "not rich in micros" east coast, Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA
DICK DANGER ALE .... Centralia, WA. From the company website: "Our flagship beer. A large percentage of black malt gives this distinctive ale its dark brown/black color and that slightly roasted flavor. Magnum hops provide a backbone of bitterness and large additions of Mt. Hood hops later in the boil come right through in the finish. The result is a highly drinkable dark ale which bridges the gap between pale and porter." It's smooth, smooth, & smooth again. It's Guinness w/ a heart AND a soul from the land of the free, home of the brave .... I have replaced all of the blood in my body w/ this extra-fine ale. I have since changed my middle name to: "DANGER"
Marin Brewing Company (Larkspur CA) Blueberry Ale. Owner Brendan Moylan is a stand up gent from college. He also owns Moylan's, a little further North on the 101 in Novato. He really is an artist in the brewing world with his many Gold Medal winning creations. Too many good ones to focus on just one.
Also have to recommend Fat Tire by New Belgium brewery which is currently doing a good job of intoxicating me.
Russian River's Pliny the Younger. Since Younger is available for only about two hours a decade, I enjoy Russian River's Pliny the Elder quite often.
Soon to be my own...wife got the homebrew kit for me for Xmas...Giddie up. Airwarriors Ale...mmmm....
Dos Perros is amazing, have not had any in over 2 years, need to go back to Nashville for more! My favorite changes all the time, but right now I've fallen back in love with Kona's Pipeline Porter. I was back in Baltimore for a couple days over leave staying with friends and I nearly peed myself with excitement when I saw they had 6 packs in the liquor store.
Deschutes Brewery and I have a rather schizophrenic relationship. Their beer is either absolutely divine or totally horrible. That said, my short list is: Amber Ale: Hale's Ales Red Menace Porter: Deschutes Black Butte Porter Stout: Deschutes Obsidian Stout With special mention to Deschutes' Hop in the Dark CPA. Anything lighter than an amber ale is blasphemy, and light beer is swill to be consumed by Communists.
Anyone pick up the Trader Joe's Holiday Ale? This is the first year I've lived near enough to one to get it, but it will be an annual tradition for me from now on. It is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale brewed by Unibroue and at $4.99 for a 750ml bottle is a fantastic buy. It is also supposed to age well...I'm going to try to put a dozen bottles away for a year.
Did they buy the brewery or just the distribution system? Back in the early 90's Redhook got in bed with AB and was able to leverage their distro system and thus build a brewery on the east coast and do a much wider distro without having to invest a lot.
Stinky's stout was a little flat last time, but my wife sure enjoyed Battle Phrog's cider. Break Break.... Not a micro per se, but as far as drinkability goes in large quantities, I'll put Newcastle up against any pretentious upstart brewery... I had 3 kegs of it at my wedding.
