Psychosleftpeg

Hi

I am going to be moving to America in just under 3 weeks and I have a couple of beer related questions.

Firstly, I understand it is possible to get 'micro brews' in America which can be similar to what I know as Real Ales, Bitter, IPA etc. I read a thread today from a few months ago regarding what people like to drink but I couldn't connect the beer names to a particular beer style. I did check Google but it just comes up with beer appreciation websites. So my question really is what are the names of some of the real ales in the states? I appreciate that there might be some beers that are specific to a certain state and perhaps can only be purchased online outside that state but thats fine. What are some of the easier found ales and which stores stock them?

I haven't had a good experience of finding what I would call decent ale in NM. I ended up drinking Fosters Bitter (which I had no idea existed!) which wasn't that dissimilar to John Smiths and a seasonal version of Blue Moon, think it was called Harvest moon but I wouldn't put money on it. Both were a last resort.

I did find some fantastic draught beers at Newark Airport of all places that were all brewed in Boston, they were fantastic, so I know there is great beer out there, I just don't know where to look .

Cheers

kimilseung

These might help

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=719359

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=657683

tonrob

Everything you need can be found on Beeradvocate.com - listings per brewer and reviews of beers (sortable by type) and also listings of bars per area and reviews of those.

There are no real ale brands per se in the US. 99.99% of craft beer is what we would call 'keg' in the UK. That said - while I wouldn't touch keg beer in the UK the craft beers available in the States can be excellent. Craft brewers will also do small runs of some of their beer styles and deliver them in cask conditioned form - this is your real ale. Cask dispense has never really caught on in the US beyond a small niche market, and there are currently only around 500 cask outlets in the entire continent. Sadly because it isn't well understood it does tend to get abused by untrained bar staff so even when it is available it is often simply not nice to drink. So, because of these factors I enjoy 99% of my craft beer in keg form.

It's difficult to list specific beers as being good ones to try as there are simply hundreds upon hundreds of truly good beers, and a lot of what's available will vary regionally. Beware pseudo-craft beers that are actually produced by the big boys (Blue Moon, Shock Top, Redhook and more) and I'd also stick my neck out and say avoid Sam Adams (currently the largest US-owned brewery that - with a couple of niche exceptions - brews beer to recipes that are designed not to offend anyone's pallette and consequently don't taste of much).

Wherabouts are you moving to? Some places can be more of a challenge than others but there's almost always something if you know where to look!

Good luck with the move.

hobbes79

The Sam Adams Cherry Wheat is awesome in my opinion. The Summer Ale has gone down hill over the last couple of years, but still a solid enough performer.

sir_eccles

The best way I find is to talk to your local barstaff and ask what beers they have. Ask for the local beer. Of course you have to pick the right pub/bar to do this (google for local brewpubs and the like). It depends but many bars will only have Bud and Bud lite on tap with all the proper beers displayed in bottle form on a shelf. Beer cans have also suddenly become very popular here.

For what it's worth I quite like Blue Moon and its seasonal variants despite its owner.

Bob

The sprout has it!

But yeah, best to stick to local brews, there's often a good scene and they tend to be pretty decent, rather than getting stuff from around the country and not all States allow shipping of booze anyway.

Bob

I like it too and a couple of the other seasonals are pretty good, but the regular staples are pretty meh...better than Bud/Coors etc, but still, so is a glass or urine

hobbes79

Have you check out the Yard House in Dedham, MA? Biggest beer menu I've ever seen...

hobbes79

Try it half and half with Guinness. Regularly called an Eclipse

Tastes really good.

IPM

Tonrob's guidance is valuable. In general, IPA has a much stronger ABV than in the UK and tends to be big on hops. To date, my favourite ales include:

Dogfish IPA (DE)
Dales Pale Ale (CO)
Magic Hat (VT)
Lagunitas (CA)
Goose Island (IL)

Bob

I've heard, but no, never been...would require a trip into Dedham

There's a good pub in town for craft beers, but that's a bit of a hike for you

Hiro11

With about 2000 brewers all making beer here, it's tough to easily summarize the scene or provide a list of "good" brewers. I tend to stick to the local/regional stuff here in the midwest, so my list of favorites might not be available in the SW. I average about two six packs a week for myself and I try to buy something different every time. I've identified some favorites, but the variety is essentially infinite once you add in seasonals and the like.

Some current favorite North American breweries include:
Great Lakes
Allagash
Founders
Smuttynose
Unibroue
Capital
Jolly Pumpkin
Lagunitas
Bear Republic
North Coast
Three Floyds
Victory
..etc.

sir_eccles

Now I'm trying to remember a drink someone made last year, I swear it was Half Cherry Wheat and Guinness.

scrubbedexpat099

You can get Real Ale, usually only in Brew Pubs.

There are quite a few in Durango, how much gets further south I do no know.

Anian

I know that Redhook is now partially owned by AB, but their regular recipes haven't changed from when they were independent (which was only a few years ago). Their ESB is really good, but the rest of their beers are pretty meh now that my palette has changed. Blue Moon did change though.
Sam Adams stuff is still good. It probably won't win in a taste-off against several craft breweries, but it is probably the most consistently available decent beer in the US.

One thing to watch out for are the beer snobs, they act a bit like born-agains and ex-smokers and will sneer at any beer that doesn't meet their standards. I'd ignore beer rating sites too, they seem to have turned into positive reinforcement echo chambers.