I'm going to be at the Great American Beer Festival this weekend. I've got a list of breweries that I want to try. I thought I would ask yous guyz too since I haven't lived in Iowa or the midwest in 20+ years. I'm sure there are plenty of breweries from that region (or any region, for that matter) that I have never heard of but should try when I get the chance. What says CF?
GABF 2017 - What beers or breweries should I try?
- Thread starter Colorado
- Start date
BauHaus (Minneapois, MN)- Wagon Party(west coast style lager) or Sky-Five!(midwest coast IpA)
Wonderstuff(neu bohemian pilsner) is a classic/lighter beer that is just as good. But WP and SF! are great. Possibly my favorite brewery in the cities.
Three Floyds Brewing (Munster, IN) - Alpha King(American Pale Ale) (maybe my favorite beer ever, although I haven't been able to have it in a while)
Gumballhead(Wheat beer) is also good, and for different I'd go with the Space Station Middle Finger(Golden APA)
P.s. - Very Jealous you are going to GABF, verrry jealous.
Wonderstuff(neu bohemian pilsner) is a classic/lighter beer that is just as good. But WP and SF! are great. Possibly my favorite brewery in the cities.
Three Floyds Brewing (Munster, IN) - Alpha King(American Pale Ale) (maybe my favorite beer ever, although I haven't been able to have it in a while)
Gumballhead(Wheat beer) is also good, and for different I'd go with the Space Station Middle Finger(Golden APA)
P.s. - Very Jealous you are going to GABF, verrry jealous.
Last edited:
Depends on what kind of beer you like.
If i'm not drinking Busch Light, I usually go with some type of American Pale Ale.
My favorite few are Toppling Goliath's (Decorah, IA) Pseudo Psue, and Odell's (Fort Collins, CO) Drumroll APA.
I also recently tried the Confluence (Des Moines) Long Ride and thought it was pretty good
If i'm not drinking Busch Light, I usually go with some type of American Pale Ale.
My favorite few are Toppling Goliath's (Decorah, IA) Pseudo Psue, and Odell's (Fort Collins, CO) Drumroll APA.
I also recently tried the Confluence (Des Moines) Long Ride and thought it was pretty good
I'm jealous of you! What a fun trip.
- I've never had Cigar City, so I'd go grab me some Jai Alai.
- We now get Firestone Walker in Iowa, but I'd also check them out.
- I've had old Daisy Cutter from Half-acre it it was pretty good. I'd like to try it fresh.
- Oskar Blues Barrel Aged Ten Fidy is a fantastic beer if you like barrel aged stouts.
- I've never had Pliny The Elder, so I'd have to get that.
- Three Floyds Zombie Dust.
- All the Toppling Goliath Stuff. Especially Morning Delight and King Sue.
I Live in Portland.
You'll want to try:
Great Notion
Breakside
Boneyard
Those are three of my favorites that are on the list. There are several others that aren't attending. If you are into the Hazy New England Style IPAs, try the Juice Box and/or Juice Jr from Great Notion.
This squared.
Verboten out of Loveland has some great beers as well - Killer Boots Caramel Port is my goto
Zwei from Fort Collins is another. - Bill Nye Session IPA is worthy
McClellans is a new brewery in FC - genuine scottish ales if you like those, takes a bit of getting used to as they are served with an engine not CO2 - Kilt Tilter is a great place to start
Left Hand is my heaven on earth, there aren't many from them I don't like. Milk Stout is the probably the gold standard for Milk Stouts. Black Jack Porter is one you should try, don't know if that will have it at GABF but Wake Up Dead Nitro is an in your face Imperial Stout that will change your life!
Have fun!
I need to check the list, but I'll try to give you a good run down of breweries to hit. If I were you, I'd try to check out as many breweries you've never had or don't have access to instead of hitting big name breweries.
Here are the beers I would personally be seeking out:
Alesmith - Nibs and Beans Speedway
Allagash - Coolship Red
Almanac - Strawberry and Basil sounds really interesting
Alpine - Nelson (not sure if this is Alpine brewed or Green Flash brewed, but it used to be one of my favorite IPAs)
Avery - Tweak
I've never had anything from Beachwood, but I've heard they are doing nice things.
Bell's - Kiwi Gose
Bottle Logic - Fundamental Observation this is a must
Cellarmaker - Double Dobis
Central Waters - 19
Cigar City -
Cognac Barrel-Aged Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout
Hunahpu's Imperial Stout
Life is Like
Margarita Gose - One of my favorite beers ever
Dark Horse - Smells Like a Citra Safety Meeting
Parent Teacher conferences are now over and I'm going home. I'll try to pick up where I left off tomorrow morning.
Alesmith - Nibs and Beans Speedway
Allagash - Coolship Red
Almanac - Strawberry and Basil sounds really interesting
Alpine - Nelson (not sure if this is Alpine brewed or Green Flash brewed, but it used to be one of my favorite IPAs)
Avery - Tweak
I've never had anything from Beachwood, but I've heard they are doing nice things.
Bell's - Kiwi Gose
Bottle Logic - Fundamental Observation this is a must
Cellarmaker - Double Dobis
Central Waters - 19
Cigar City -
Cognac Barrel-Aged Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout
Hunahpu's Imperial Stout
Life is Like
Margarita Gose - One of my favorite beers ever
Dark Horse - Smells Like a Citra Safety Meeting
Parent Teacher conferences are now over and I'm going home. I'll try to pick up where I left off tomorrow morning.
Central Waters - Bourbon barrel scotch ale
Lakefront - Eastside dark
Alltech's Lexington brewery- bourbon barrel ale(even my dad likes this and he only likes light beers), bourbon barrel Stout, vanilla cream ale (tasted kinda
of like cream soda)
Surly - darkness is always good
That whiskey barrel double pecan Porter from 512 brewing sounds really good haha.
I'm a little disappointed in the MN breweries to be honest. Looks like an awesome event though!
Lakefront - Eastside dark
Alltech's Lexington brewery- bourbon barrel ale(even my dad likes this and he only likes light beers), bourbon barrel Stout, vanilla cream ale (tasted kinda
of like cream soda)
Surly - darkness is always good
That whiskey barrel double pecan Porter from 512 brewing sounds really good haha.
I'm a little disappointed in the MN breweries to be honest. Looks like an awesome event though!
I have a geographical bias but anything from Toppling Goliath: http://www.startribune.com/midwest-traveler-iowa-brewery-may-be-world-s-second-best/322433251/
Also, a couple of Toppling Goliath's staff broke off and started a new label called Pulpit Rock (also from Decorah), which has gained a good following in a short time. Not sure if they'd be at this event but it's worth keeping in mind.
Epic Brewing - Double Barrel Big Bad Baptist
Firestone Walker - Krieky Bones
Funky Buddha -
Get Pitted
Maple Bacon Coffee Porter
No Crusts
Rum Barrel-Aged Pina Colada
Great Notion - Literally everything from them
Blueberry Muffin
Double Stack - DO NOT MISS THIS!
Juice Box
Juice Jr
Ripe IPA
Half Acre - Their taproom is one of my favorites. Their beer...meh
Holy City - I haven't had anything from them, but a lot of people in SC said they were on par with Westbrook
Iowa Brewers Guild - Hard pass. Workman's Comp is a great beer, but there is much better beer at this fest
Kane - Mexican Brunch
Sunday Brunch
Kuhnhenn - DRIPA
Melvin Brewing is out of CO but if you've never had them, they're definitely worth checking out
Mike Hess - Never had anything but I've heard nice things
Modern Times - Everything they've got
Odd13 - Same as Melvin
Off Color - Dino Smores
Olde Hickory - The Event Horizon
Rhode Island's Brewers Guild - Captain's Daughter
Russian River -
Beatification
Pliny
Sam Adams - Utopias
Single Speed - They're out of Waterloo, everything they brought is really nice
Societe - The Pupil (I'm sure they've got some others, this is the only one I've had and really liked)
South Park Brewing - Never had anything. Never heard of them. I love South Park.
Surly - If you've never had them:
Coffee Bender
Darkness
Todd the Axeman
The Lost Abbey -
Cuvee de Tomme
Duck Duck Gooze
Veritas 018
Veritas 019
Three Floyds - Zombie Dust (I'd personally skip)
Toppling Goliath - (Their line is going to be stupid I assume)
King Sue
Mornin' Delight
Pompeii
PseudoSue
Upland - Does a lot of great sours
Weldwerks - If you haven't been up to Greeley, I'd definitely stop at their stand. Everything they've got is worth trying.
That's all from breweries I've heard of or beers I've had. I'm sure there are some I skipped over, but some of the best beers I've had at these fests are from breweries I've never heard of and have no line. Also, don't feel obligated to drink every pour you have or the entire pour you have. A lot of beers aren't going to live up to the hype or be worth your time. I usually treat it almost like a wine tasting, swish, maybe swallow a little, then spit. Even if you only take small samples, you'll get hammered quick trying to check off every brewery or beer on your wants list. Have fun!
As for Iowa breweries, I know Toppling is going to be at GABF - they had a tap takeover here in Fort Collins that I wasn't able to attend (stupid wedding anniversary). They even brought MD - so they will be a popular stop.
looking at the list - looks like only Confluence out of DSM and Single Speed out of Waterloo will be there. Cannot speak to SS but Confluence has been great.
https://www.porchdrinking.com/artic...rican-beer-festival-list-attending-breweries/
looking at the list - looks like only Confluence out of DSM and Single Speed out of Waterloo will be there. Cannot speak to SS but Confluence has been great.
https://www.porchdrinking.com/artic...rican-beer-festival-list-attending-breweries/
Maxline from Fort Collins is also solid. Huge fan of Liquid Mechanics in Lafayette too.
Apologies to Living the Dream - haven't seen it yet in Fort Collins to try it.
if you like NE IPA or the hazy IPA's - Odd13 in Lafayette and Weldwerks in Greeley are amazing.
Breweries to try in Denver - I liked Jagged Mountain a lot and shouldn't be too far, but maybe far enough.
but if you live in colorado - you may know all this already.....
Apologies to Living the Dream - haven't seen it yet in Fort Collins to try it.
if you like NE IPA or the hazy IPA's - Odd13 in Lafayette and Weldwerks in Greeley are amazing.
Breweries to try in Denver - I liked Jagged Mountain a lot and shouldn't be too far, but maybe far enough.
but if you live in colorado - you may know all this already.....
Ass Clown Brewing Company...
But seriously, here are my recommendations:
Rahr & Sons Brewing Co - Rahr's Blonde.
Santa Fe Brewing Co - Happy Camper IPA.
Anything from Blue Blood Brewing.
The first two I have had as part of a craft beer club, the third is a local brewery that's quickly gaining in popularity in my neck of the woods. (I'm a little surprised Empyrean isn't a part of this, but, oh well...)
But seriously, here are my recommendations:
Rahr & Sons Brewing Co - Rahr's Blonde.
Santa Fe Brewing Co - Happy Camper IPA.
Anything from Blue Blood Brewing.
The first two I have had as part of a craft beer club, the third is a local brewery that's quickly gaining in popularity in my neck of the woods. (I'm a little surprised Empyrean isn't a part of this, but, oh well...)
The ones in red are available. Quoting to make it easier for me to find while half drunk