6 Beers for your state...

[Wilbur]

Read Alworths article (below), and really liked the idea.

https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2018/11/8/six-beers-to-represent-your-state

If you made a 6 pack to epitomize (not sure if you can use this as a verb, but I'm on the internet) your state, what would you choose?

Illinois
Revolution Antihero-tasty, with various single hop variations. A nice IPA
Triptych Dank Meme-A great NEIPA, best in state that's widely available
Goose Island Matilda-I kind of feel you have to acknowledge GI to some degree, and I'd rather do it with Matilda or Sofia than one of eight BCS
Riggs American Lager- A great lager, made with corn and barley grown on the Riggs farm. They've been working with U of I to identify the best brewing corn/wheat/rye/barley varieties for Illinois.
Bearded Kram Vossøl-A beautiful Norwegian farmhouse ale.
Destihl Here Gose Nothing-A tasty sour, amazing on a summer day.

[dls5492]

Iowa:
Blonde Fatale by Peace Tree Brewing. Belgian-Style Blonde Ale that won gold at 2014 WBC.
Back Road Stout by Millstream Brewing. Good Oatmeal Stout won gold at 2011 GABF.
Coco Chocolate Stout by West O Brewing. English Sweet / Milk Stout style that won gold at 2014 & 2015 GABF.
Pseudo Sue by Toppling Goliath. Nice single hop (Citra) Pale ale.
Tragedy of the Common by Iowa Brewing. Nice Calif. Common that won silver at 2018 WBC.
The Disaster at Meux by Lion Bridge Brewing. Nice Porter that won gold at 2015 GABF.

Iowa has a good selection of awesome beers!

[MDixon]

NC
Foothills Sexual Chocolate - IS
Olde Hickory The Event Horizon - IS
Highland Cold Mountain - I guess this would be a spice beer
Trophy Cloud Surfer - IPA
NoDa Hop Drop 'n Roll - IPA
Brewery Bhavana Grove - IPA


Of course we also have Sierra Nevada, Oskar Blues, and New Belgium and could choose several of those beers or many, many more from the almost 300 breweries in the state. (Wicked Weed was specifically not mentioned because of their ownership.)

[mharding73]

Read Alworths article (below), and really liked the idea.

https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2018/11/8/six-beers-to-represent-your-state

If you made a 6 pack to epitomize (not sure if you can use this as a verb, but I'm on the internet) your state, what would you choose?

Illinois
Revolution Antihero-tasty, with various single hop variations. A nice IPA
Triptych Dank Meme-A great NEIPA, best in state that's widely available
Goose Island Matilda-I kind of feel you have to acknowledge GI to some degree, and I'd rather do it with Matilda or Sofia than one of eight BCS
Riggs American Lager- A great lager, made with corn and barley grown on the Riggs farm. They've been working with U of I to identify the best brewing corn/wheat/rye/barley varieties for Illinois.
Bearded Kram Vossøl-A beautiful Norwegian farmhouse ale.
Destihl Here Gose Nothing-A tasty sour, amazing on a summer day.

Triptych makes some great beers.  I just picked up Parker.  It’s a porter.  Delicious. 

[ethinson]

He already did Oregon, but as he mentioned there's a ton to choose from, so I'll take my own crack at it.

Boneyard RPM - IPA, this is the beer that turned me into a hophead.
Widmer Hefewiezen - American Hef, basically the first American style hef and one of the best selling beers in the state.
de Garde Broken Truck - American Wild Ale - So many to choose from from de Garde but this is one of their simple "base" recipe sours.
Heater Allen Pilsner - Bohemian Pils - Clean, crisp, refreshing from a brewery that does only lagers.
Deschutes Abyss - Barrel Aged Stout - Deschutes has an amazingly consistent barrel program.
McMenamins Ruby - Raspberry Wheat - This is a lot of people's "gateway" beer.

So many more possibilities.. this isn't easy.

[reverseapachemaster]

What exactly does the six pack represent? The state's best beers or best known beers?

In Colorado if you wanted to pick six of the most demanded beers you could just pick six weldwerks medianoche variants.

I picked six beers that I think best reflect Colorado's craft beer heritage:

1. New Belgium Abbey - I don't think it's a big seller anymore but it's the original NB beer that built one of the largest craft breweries.
2. New Belgium Fat Tire - The beer NB is most known for and almost certainly Colorado's highest selling craft beer in the nation.
3. Odell 90 Shilling - Overshadowed by a lot of other beers on the market but it's the staple beer that built one of Colorado's strongest breweries.
4. Avery Majaraja - An early DIPA that helped build another of Colorado's biggest breweries
5. Left Hand Milk Stout - Probably the most ubiquitous milk stout in the country it's another classic beer that built another iconic Colorado craft brewery.
6. Dale's Pale Ale - The pale ale that championed canning in craft beer and turned a tiny brewpub in a mountain town into a major national player.

[MDixon]

Nowadays I'd probably skip the New Belgium and Oskar Blues because we have both breweries in NC as well. Kinda diminishes their Colorado representation.

[ethinson]

What exactly does the six pack represent? The state's best beers or best known beers?

In Colorado if you wanted to pick six of the most demanded beers you could just pick six weldwerks medianoche variants.

I picked six beers that I think best reflect Colorado's craft beer heritage:

1. New Belgium Abbey - I don't think it's a big seller anymore but it's the original NB beer that built one of the largest craft breweries.
2. New Belgium Fat Tire - The beer NB is most known for and almost certainly Colorado's highest selling craft beer in the nation.
3. Odell 90 Shilling - Overshadowed by a lot of other beers on the market but it's the staple beer that built one of Colorado's strongest breweries.
4. Avery Majaraja - An early DIPA that helped build another of Colorado's biggest breweries
5. Left Hand Milk Stout - Probably the most ubiquitous milk stout in the country it's another classic beer that built another iconic Colorado craft brewery.
6. Dale's Pale Ale - The pale ale that championed canning in craft beer and turned a tiny brewpub in a mountain town into a major national player.

We tried two flights at Odell, the Classic and the Locals, and 90 Shilling was the standout of all 10. It's amazing.

I don't remember if they gave us Abbey on the NB Colorado tour (I don't believe so) but I got to try it on the Asheville tour and it's really damn good. Also, super fresh Fat Tire in the AVL brewery blew me away.  I forget how good that beer is since I don't know how fresh we get it in Oregon.