The Blue Board

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Moving from Tuscaloosa to Ann Arbor opened me up to a bunch of local breweries that make awesome beers. I will list a few for anyone who stops by in AA for a game. Best place in town to get beer btw is Ashley's on State St.

I have yet to try anything that was not awesome from Bell's Brewery. The best are Oberon (summer wheat), Hopslam (Double IPA winter), and Consecrator Dopplebock

Other good beers include:

Hacker Pshorr Weiss
Hitachino Nest Weizen

If you really want to get the party going try drinking some Viking's Blood mead. Sure to be a good time.

I have been to hooked on Ashley's to keep exploring more of the bars in AA, but I have heard good things about the Jolly Pumpkin. I will have to make my way there one weekend.

I love the Big Foot ale. I had Sam Adams Imperial Wee Heavy this weekend. Probably the best Sam Adams I have ever had.

Don't think I have had the Sam Adams yet. I bought the Bells Third Coast Old Ale, but haven't tried it yet. There is a good chance that any type of Barleywine or IPA you put in front of me, I am going to like.

I am right there with you. I especially love barley wines. I love the full bodies beers that are high in alcohol.

I originally posted this in a thread I started yesterday specifically about Stone Brewery before I noticed this thread. I was responding to aussie brew who had mentioned Bell's Hopslam. Aussie knows his stuff by the way.

Here it is below.

Now this is not a competition. This is just my opinion. I know there are some knowledgeable beer drinkers on this board so the sake of this topic is for conversation not argument.

Bell's Hopslam is argueably the best single beer on the planet. It is an American Double/ Imperial IPA which essentially means super super hoppy. The beauty of the Slam is that it is brewed with honey and that cuts what some consider the unpleasant qualities of super hoppy beers; bitterness, sharpness, etc. It is a wonderfully balanced beer. I had one yesterday. 6 cases were sold in Birmingham, Al this year. I got one full case. I am still nursing it and consider myself incredibly lucky.

Back to Stone. Their Sublimely Self Righteous is incredible. I had a Stone Cali Belique (sp?) with is a Belgian IPA yesterday, awesome. I feel that Stone's IPA is the best IPA on the planet. Arrogant Bastard is phenomenol (that was my first Stone product). The Oaked Arrogant Bastard is great and I actually prefer it to the standard AB. The Double Bastard is A L O T of beer but if you like the style it is tremendous. Stone's smoked Porter is great. Ruination is ridiculous. Their Levitation red ale is very good, more of a session beer. Their pale ale is great. I will be trying their Barley wine soon. I have 2 in my cellar.

Some will argue that to be the best brewery overall that you must make one of every major style. Stone does not make one of everything. They do not make a true Belgian that I am aware for example. I think that argument is bs. Stone has a huge repertoire and I will argue that almost every style they do make is arguably superior to that of all other breweries.

There are select other brews like the Hopslam for example that are off the charts great. Rogue's Dead Guy ale ( its a Maibock) is another one that Stone doesn't make as far as I know. Those beers are outstanding top shelf brews and stand alone imo.

Another brew that deserves a shout out is Dogfish Head's 90 minute a double/ imperial IPA. Jaw dropping greatness.

However if you taste Stone's entire repertoire and compare the styles they make to other brewers Stone will be superior almost across the board IMO. The Stone brew master is just super talented I guess, because it is homerun after homerun.

What does everyone else think?

My top 5, in no particular order:

Avery
Stone
Dogfish Head
Southern Tier
Bells

I have not had the Avery Majaraja. I also don't know anything about it. I will look it up and try to get some.

Hopslam is a seasonal and always sells out in a flash. I seriously doubt you can purchase it any where in the country at this point. Except maybe in the brewery itself?

I bought a full case this year. Only six cases were delivered to the city of Birmingham, Al and I got a whole case. I consider myself very very lucky. I am still nursing it. I have 7 Hopslams left. Each will be cherished.

Yea, we have a beer store in Greenville and the guy that runs it says they sold out of it the first day it came in.

I consider an IPA much more of a manly beer than an american pilsner like PBR or MIller. I can get water out of the faucet if I want something that tastes like PBR.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

But I do like the tap watter reference. It reminded me of the dishwater taste I get from any and ALL light beers.

I'll give IPA a try if I ever run across it. BTW, PBR is from the days of my youth (50+ yrs ago) - I won't give it up.

How can you buy it over the net? I would guess that is illegal due to interstate shipping laws etc. Especially if it was one individual selling to another.