this may have already been done but I was thinking last night, it seems as if an hand full of great beers get most of the attention from traders and whale hunters, but I think there are quite a few undiscovered gem out there and are getting ignored. One of my favorites is Schells noble star series. Ive been at bottle shares and it went toe to toe with some Russian river sours and Cascade brewing sours. I think most of the noble star series beers are very well done and underrated simply because they come from a brewery that make some s***ty beers.
Along the same lines of being overlooked because they are made by a Macro, the beers I’ve tried from Leinenkugel’s Big Eddy series have all been great. The Wee Heavy in particular is phenomenal.
I’d add a few of the Sam Adams ‘Batch One’ series beers. Shows you what they can do when they choose to.
Shitty beers? Says whom?
Real Ale in Blanco, Texas (outside of Austin) has some real gems that get overlooked even in the local market. Their base beers were solid and have gone through a revision recently with updated recipes (like Stone). Their real hits are their mysterium vernum series which are barrel aged (some sour, some brett, some clean) versions of some of their regular and seasonal lineup. All really great. Their barleywine, Sisyphus, is superb and holds up really well to aging.
I really like a lot of Leinenkugel beers, even the every day ones like Creamy Dark. The doppelbock is smoooooth.
I would like to know why only their sh***est beers, like summer shandy, berry weiss, and sunset wheat, make it to Montana? >:(
+1!!!
I guess I’ll buck the trend and go with a brewery that is hidden by being small as opposed to the hidden-in-plain-sight ones mentioned so far. If you ever get a chance try something by Element Brewing Co. in Miller’s Falls Ma. I believe it is available throughout Mass. and parts of Vermont. My favorites that are not seasonal are Red Giant and Dark Element. Their beers tend to not fall into strict style categories and seem to me to be made with very high quality ingredients. Really interesting but balanced malt flavors.
Thanks for the tip, Pete. I’ve seen their beers around, but haven’t tried them out yet. I’ll have to check them out soon.
Might pick one up after work…
We actually have a 3 liter bottle that we won in a raffle for their anniversary in my cellar. We’re breaking it out when we have a party to celebrate the finish of our addition. Its a 17% pilsner so I think we’ll need help drinking the 3 liters.
Parish Brewing Ghost in the Machine, although it’s got some underground cred. I’ve had traders in California send me messages about it.
A few thoughts:
I’m a sucker for Capital Autumnal Fire, which is sort of like a big malty cross between an Oktoberfest and a doppelbock.
Also I can’t understand the poor reviews that Baltika 6 Baltic Porter gets on BeerAdvocate, etc. It’s a perfect 10 porter in my book, with notes of brown bread and molasses… mmm…
Anyone try a Samuel Smith Old Brewery Pale Ale lately? If you like malty English beers, good golly, give that one a try. Full of bread pudding and toffee-ish character. Belhaven makes some fantastic ones as well.
And then there’s always Warsteiner. Light, dark, I don’t care. My swimming pool in heaven is filled with this stuff.
Can you tell I’m a malthead? If you really want to find “hidden gems”, you need to avoid all the hops and sours. There’s a lot great malty beers to be had out there as well. The best beers in the world are not all Imperial IPAs and Brett fermented saisons, no sirree.
Here’s another one for you… Gordon Biersch. Yes, the big chain. Talk about fantastic German lagers, man… I’ll have a beer with you there anytime.
As for the other previous comments…
Overall I find that Schell’s makes some pretty great beers. The Snowstorm ones are always great.
Hard to beat a Leinie’s Honey Weiss on a hot day – seriously! Even if most their other beers are crap. Big Eddy series, sure, I’ll age some and drink it after a few years as it often improves.
Interesting how a lot of these are not so much “hidden gems” as they are just plain blown off. Like Neil Diamond or Karen Carpenter. You’ll always claim to your friends that you think they suck, but when no one else is around you’re singing it loudly in your shower.
Lakefront Riverwest Steinbier, anyone? Another flagship that everyone in Wisconsin drinks all the time, but people not from this area probably never heard of. Get some. Drink it. Savor it. It really is that good.
Love me some Autumnal Fire. The blonde doppelbock I had from them was tasty too.
Had a very good Kolsch in a GB sampler not long ago. Still trying to find bottles of that Golden Export of theirs I had on tap out in the bay area a few years back.
…ever had Metropolitan’s lagers? I hear pretty good things; thinking of making a stop next time I’m in Chicago.
I heart the bejeezus out of their Maerzen. Unfortunately haven’t had a chance to hit up the one in NOLA since their new brewer took over.
Love Capital’s lagers. All of them. Supper Club and the Amber are frequent purchases. Metropolitan is indeed a great brewery. I recommend the Dopplebock and Alt.
Metropolitan is should also be on my list, Pipeworks and revolution get all of the shine in this area but for what Metropolitan does they do a superb job. More to beer then just hops and throwing the produce isle at the fermenter.
I went to college nearby the Schells brewery. My beer palate back then was to mostly put alcohol in my body so I don’t remember much of the tours other than they quickly get you to the tasting room and let you go to town on everything on tap for a half hour. Last time I visited the homeland (MN) I got some Schells and was really disappointed with their standard offerings. Definitely going to have to hit up some of their seasonal stuff. For being the second oldest brewery in the US you would think they have to do some things right. =]
Schell’s yeast strain is derived from the Christian Schmidt Strain. It is sold as Wyeast 2035 (one of the original Wyeast lager strains). Wyeast 2035 (originally called “New Ulm Lager”) and its parent strain Wyeast 2272 (Christian Schmidt) are both relics from the time before West Coast Lager (rice as the adjunct) displaced East Coast Lager (corn as the adjunct) in the United States. Traditional East Coast-style lager is a more flavor positive beer than West Coast-style lager. In fact, the beer is every bit as enjoyable as all malt lager. One of the reasons why Yuengling Traditional Lager tastes better than Budweiser is because Yuengling Traditional Lager is East Coast-style lager. Budweiser is West Coast-style lager. The best part is that Yuengling Traditional Lager is cheaper than Budweiser. Now, that’s what I call a hidden gem.
A few shots from the Yuengling Brewery
Funny, I did my undergrad a few miles away from the second oldest brewery in the US and then did my graduate work relatively close to the oldest brewery in the US. You are right Mark, Yuengling is a highly drinkable lager that blows any BMC out of the water at the same price point. Had my first one in over five years while at a wedding on the eastern shore over the summer. Damn was it tasty and brought back a lot of memories of nights out with friends in DC during grad school. Thanks for posting those pictures.