How Craft Breweries Are Helping to Revive Local Economies

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

You should try Pilsners, a good Pils is going to still have a bit of that hoppy bite, but followed up by a much smoother and more complex aftertaste. I love Lagunitas Pils for example, you get all of the skunky after tastes with just a more subtle bite on the onset.

oh, i love a good hoppy pilsner too.

Revolution Pils is in my regular rotation.

i got a 6 pack of it in my fridge right now, along with some Anti-hero (IPA) and Pipeworks Lizard King (mosaic ale).

[JManc]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Once I got married, and especially after I had kids, I cut back on my drinking considerably (which was never excessive). I only have more than 1-2 drinks a night maybe four times a year now. Part of it is getting drunk seems like a waste of time now that I don't need "liquid courage," and part of it is just my body really doesn't need any more extra calories. Thus springing for expensive beer doesn't really phase me, considering how little of it I really drink now.

For me, beer triggers migraines which is unfortunate because I love beer. I have a fridge in our garage dedicate to beer. I am now limited to 2 at a time, just one if it is high-test...one of the reasons I avoid IPA's and Strong Belgians.

Agreed on expensive beer, if you enjoy, totally worth it. I have several bottles that I paid upwards of $20 for.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ yeah the in-bar cost of beer has gotten out of hand. Sadly, I'm old enough to remember 50 cent beer nights at wrigleyville sports bars back in the day where you could drink ALL night long and get utterly shit faced with nothing more than a 10 dollar bill in your wallet.

In some ways I'm lucky that I'm a parent now because >90% of my beer drinking these days is at home. I typically pick up sixers in $8 - $11 range. That makes craft brew enjoyment A LOT more affordable.

Originally Posted by eschaton

Once I got married, and especially after I had kids, I cut back on my drinking considerably (which was never excessive). I only have more than 1-2 drinks a night maybe four times a year now. Part of it is getting drunk seems like a waste of time now that I don't need "liquid courage," and part of it is just my body really doesn't need any more extra calories. Thus springing for expensive beer doesn't really phase me, considering how little of it I really drink now.

I think I need to get a kid so I can save money on beer

Originally Posted by Londonee

One DIPA at 9% and $7.50 will give you a whole lot more of a buzz, flavor, and enjoyment than three 4.2% Miller Lites at $5/ pop (plus save you on calories).

Thanks, and good info. But I don't need any advice about the details of drinking. I'm well practiced.

The thing is... I definitely want to drink more than one or two beers when I go out. It just sucks when 3 beers basically cost 30 bucks with tip.

Originally Posted by eschaton

I don't mean to sound like a snob, but I just can't drink cheap beer any longer. I mean, I might have drank way too much PBR when I was 23 since I could get pounders at the local 80s night for $1, but I'd rather be not drinking than drinking something which either tastes terrible, or doesn't taste like anything at all.

One of the things I now realize about drinking watery macrobrews after normally drinking craft ales... I can put down a pint of American or Canadian lager/pilsner in a couple minutes without trying. With almost zero taste in comparison, it is almost like drinking water... and there's pretty much zero buzz after 3 pints. Why bother?

Originally Posted by JManc

For me, beer triggers migraines which is unfortunate because I love beer. I have a beer in our garage dedicate to beer. I am now limited to 2 at a time, just one if it is high-test...one of the reasons I avoid IPA's and Strong Belgians.

Agreed on expensive beer, if you enjoy, totally worth it. I have several bottles that I paid upwards of $20 for.

That sucks and is totally unfair to a beer lover, migraines are the worst.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by JManc

For me, beer triggers migraines which is unfortunate because I love beer. I have a fridge in our garage dedicate to beer. I am now limited to 2 at a time, just one if it is high-test...one of the reasons I avoid IPA's and Strong Belgians.

I don't have that problem, but starting at age 35 sriracha began doing terrible things to my lower digestive tract.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

For such a bleeding heart liberal you really like to shit on blue collar people. Why not say that people would rather have 1-2 really good beers rather than drinking a whole case of Natty like a frat boy on a "Thirsty Thursday" night?

im really not interested in going down aimless manufactured tangents with you again

what im saying is a pretty accepted way to look at the data, as well as the general makeup of that beer segment

Think of of cheap beer sales as a health indicator for blue-collar America, especially for men (they call him Joe Sixpack for a reason). Look at the chart at the top of the story again. Beer dips after the 2000/'1 recession and then begins to recover. Then beer preference falls again after the Great Recession, where the hardest hit industries (construction and manufacturing) were blue-collar-male industries. As the Wall Street Journal reported, light beer sales fell for three years after the recession and only bounced back in 2012 due to the resurgence of craft beer.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business...t-beer/278370/

[10023]

I just wanted to say that I’m currently enjoying a Half Acre Navaja double IPA at a pub in Notting Hill.

Steely, et al, if you ever come to London, do PM for pub suggestions. It can be really good, but it can also be really bad.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by 10023

I just wanted to say that I’m currently enjoying a Half Acre Navaja double IPA at a pub in Notting Hill.

Steely, et al, if you ever come to London, do PM for pub suggestions. It can be really good, but it can also be really bad.

I noticed pubs over there (usually owned by the same chain) have the same limited selection of meh beer and was hard pressed to find places that had good beer. Good thing I love Guinness which seems to be everywhere...

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I don't have that problem, but starting at age 35 sriracha began doing terrible things to my lower digestive tract.

I put sriracha on my mac n' cheese and basically everything else that tastes bland. I'd rather use sriracha on my burger than ketchup. I have a weird addiction to that stuff.

[10023]

Originally Posted by JManc

I noticed pubs over there (usually owned by the same chain) have the same limited selection of meh beer and was hard pressed to find places that had good beer. Good thing I love Guinness which seems to be everywhere...

Most “pubs” are bad, but most bad pub experiences are due to ignorance.

For starters, 95% of pubs in the tourist areas of central London are terrible. Pubs are neighborhood places, and those aren’t neighborhoods. I can count on my fingers the number of decent pubs in the West End (and there are hundreds in aggregate).

Second, because pubs are neighborhood places, good ones are rarely on main roads. You significantly enhance your chances of finding a good pub by wandering a couple of blocks away from a high street and finding a pub surrounded by entirely residential properties.

And then just avoid anything that says Taylor Walker, Nicholson’s, Greene King, etc in the subtext under the name. These are publicly listed pub companies that own hundreds of locations (some of them very old, and acquired). The beers are all the same an the food comes from commissary kitchens and gets reheated on site. These are the British equivalent of TGI Friday’s or Applebee’s, but the fact that it’s still called the “King’s Head” or whatever dupes unsuspecting tourists.

Brits go to these too, of course, but they’re not duped, just undiscerning. So maybe they have dive bar cred, like drinking Budweiser in a shitty townie bar in the States?