Read Alworths article (below), and really liked the idea.
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 [emoji1657] Kram Vossøl-A beautiful Norwegian farmhouse ale.
Destihl Here Gose Nothing-A tasty sour, amazing on a summer day.
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.
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.)
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.
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:
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.
New Belgium Fat Tire - The beer NB is most known for and almost certainly Colorado’s highest selling craft beer in the nation.
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.
Avery Majaraja - An early DIPA that helped build another of Colorado’s biggest breweries
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.
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.
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.
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.
Baltika 3 (Klassicheskoe Svetloe Pivo) 4.8% alcohol.
Baltika Dark 5.6% alcohol.
Baltika Number 8 (Wheat) 5% alcohol.
Baltika Number 9 (Pale) 8% alcohol.
Baltika Porter 7% alcohol.
Baltika Premium Lager 5.6% alcohol
Cool topic. Following are some of the best available in Wisconsin these days. Sorry for the lack of IPAs in this list – it’s MY list – but if interested, you really can’t go wrong with anything by Ale Asylum.
Wisconsin:
Lakefront - Riverwest Stein Beer (this is my absolute favorite local lager)
Copper State - Rugged North Lager
Badger State - Bunyan Badger Brown Ale
Ale Asylum - Ambergeddon Amber Ale (very hoppy)
New Glarus - Moon Man Pale Ale (or Spotted Cow, I guess, but Spotted Cow is really NOT great, even asked Dan and he just says “well, it pays the bills”)
Karben4 - Lady Luck Irish Red Ale (best red ale you ever had, I guarantee)
Honorable mention, maybe surprising to some, is good old Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss. It’s a damn fine beer, I don’t care what anybody says.
My list is heavy on Bell’s and Founders but in Michigan these two are kings for a reason. I could have created a six pack of nothing but beer from those two.
Founders - Dirty Bastard
Bell’s - Two Hearted Ale
Founders - Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS)
Bell’s - Expedition Stout
New Holland - Dragons Milk
Dragonmead - Final Absolution Trippel
Good idea, but I’ll keep my picks close to Austin and the Hill Country.
The ABGB Rocket 100 - pre-pro Pils
The ABGB South Austin Speedball - American stout
The Brewtorium Swartzengiggles - Swartzbier
Live Oak Pils
Live Oak Hefeweizen
The Texas Beer Company Porter
Victory - Prima Pils
Troegs - Nugget Nectar Imperial Amber Ale
Weyerbacher - Sunday Morning Stout
Tired Hands - Hop Hands Pale Ale
Tired Hands - Alien Church NEIPA
Stoudts - Fat Dog Oatmeal Stout
Honorable Mentions:
Yuengling Lager
Yard’s Philadelphia Pale Ale
Weyerbacher Insanity Barleywine
Wallenpaupack Brewing - Paupack Cream Ale
Massachusetts
Sam Adams Lager: as a nod to they’re being one of the first breweries to show there was something besides the industrial lagers
Wachusett Country Ale: an easy drinking English style pale ale that since the nineties has often been the best choice at restaurants that don’t offer a large selection beyond BMC
Tree House Julius: I need to include at least one NEIPA and TH produces some of the best including Julius, their flagship
Spencer Trappist Ale: a patersbier, or Trappist single. The original offering from the only Trappist Brewery in the US.
Jack’s Abby House Lager: it’s hard to pick just one from this excellent lager only brewery but this is typical of their well made beers
Wormtown Brewery Be Hoppy: a very solid American IPA that is often the best selection at a fried seafood joint or pizza place.
Honorable Mentions: Trillium in Boston is great but not widely distributed and I also really like Nightshift, their Santilli is one of my favorite IPAs. Also Stone Cow near me produces consistently solid brews available on site only.