E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
featurepics stock
Good beer doesn't necessarily equal good football.
If the quality of local breweries somehow correlated to success on the gridiron, then the Denver Broncos, backed by the likes of powerhouse Colorado craft brewers like Great Divide, Avery, Odell and Oskar Blues, would have won every championship since the late 1990s. Even the eternally struggling Detroit Lions would be perennial playoff contenders, as they share a state with Founders, Jolly Pumpkin, New Holland and Bells -- all excellent breweries.
So which region would win a super brawl of beers? It’s a tough call, as the brews from New York State and New England are as well-matched as the Giants and Patriots.
Let's start with the big boys -- the quarterbacks of breweries. New York has Brooklyn Brewery, which makes serviceable and somewhat inventive beers that are distributed across the Eastern U.S. But just as the quarterback in New York is overshadowed by the future Hall of Famer in New England, Brooklyn Brewery is overshadowed by Boston Beer Company, makers of Sam Adams, which has been a leader in the craft brewing renaissance for decades and manages to sell lots of beer while staying close to its beer geek roots. Both of these breweries make many different beers that will satisfy casual beer drinkers and (slightly desperate) craft beer aficionados alike, so we'll call it a draw.
Things get more interesting when you dig a little deeper into the rosters of each region. New York lives up to its metropolitan-meets-blue-collar reputation with a mixture of innovative, old-school and in-your-face brewers. Captain Lawrence, just north of the Big Apple in Elmsford, N.Y., brews a fabulous India Pale Ale and some inspired beers like their Golden Delicious, an ale aged in apple brandy barrels. A little further out, you'll find Cooperstown New York's Ommegang Brewing, creators of true-to-style old world Belgian ales, which taste like they were brewed in a Belgian monastery but cost far less than their imported cousins. Travel even further into Western New York and you'll come across Southern Tier, whose Blackwater Series of beers will punch your palate with flavors full enough to make your toes curl. From finesse to forcefulness, New York has it covered.
When comparing breweries, it's fortunate that the Patriots say they are from New England, because that gives them domain over many great breweries from Maine to Connecticut. If they were the Boston Patriots of old, this wouldn't be a fair fight at all. Let's start up north in Maine, where Allagash Brewing creates some of the world's most original and exquisitely crafted beers. Their Victoria Ale, brewed with 200 pounds of Chardonnay grapes, is a beer I often recommend to wine lovers who are interested in dipping a toe into the craft beer world. Then there's Smuttynose Brewing in Portsmouth, N.H., which, just like Patriots’ wide receiver Wes Welker, manages to perform at a very high level while quietly going about their business. And I don't think you can find a bad beer brewed in Vermont, with places Rock Art Brewing, Long Trail and Otter Creek serving up delicious and affordable brews across the state. All in all, I think New England has a slight advantage over New York, but it's really anyone's game.
The truth is, I could make a case for the great beers in most places across the United States, which is good news for fans of good beer everywhere. As craft brewers continue to pour their hearts and souls into the beers they create, it's important that beer drinkers support their efforts.
I say: Pick up a few selections I’ve suggested from craft brewers in both regions, and sit back and enjoy the game!
Tell us, what will you be drinking and serving on Super Bowl Sunday?
More from Bites:
- Parmigiano chips, chili and more slim Super Bowl recipes
- Pats vs. Giants: Serve up the Super Bowl of nachos
- New York vs. New England: Who has the better clam chowder?
- Delicious, healthy chips and dips for your Super Bowl party
- Send us your food photos!
Jim Galligan is co-founder of the Beer and Whiskey Brothers blog, where he and his brother Don cover the ever-evolving world of craft beer and distilled spirits.
Leave a Comment:
A) The Giants play in New Jersey, and
B) New England beers - including Vermont, Maine, and Mass breweries - crush New York/New Jersey beers approximately 1,323,433 times over. Every day. All day. 366 days a year.
Supermike...tell us how you REALLY feel! What are your favorite brews?
Sam Adams new seasonal Alpine Spring - just released last week, replacing their not-great Noble Pils as the spring offering - is an unfiltered, slightly fruity, highly-sessionable lager partybomb in my mouth.
Care to join me for one, Vidya?
You're right about the New Jersey thing, Mike. But a Jersey boy myself, I can tell you we don't have many breweries in these parts, as state laws make it a pretty unfriendly environment to start a brewery. Most people dip across state lines and open up shop in New York or PA. If this was New Jersey versus New England beers, it would be a VERY short post!
Connecticut is certainly part of New England - at least it was when I lived there as kid. Wikipedia, The New England tourism guide and my mom all back me up on this!
Black Forest from Saranac! (NY)
well the author's knowledge appears impressive however he did make a slip up that shows his lack of knowledge...he called a brew "delicious", unfortunately i have had several brewers tell me there is no bigger way of offending a brewer than by saying the beer is "delicious".
i feel that there is one brewery that is left out of ny line up and that's dogfishead beer. it's right there in good 'ol delaware. i think it's ok to include them with ny as it's only a hop away from nyc.
finally my local brewery would beat all the breweries in this ad in a head to head match up especially this week. Russian River Brewery all the baby!!!! Pliny the Younger...get educated, hehehe. What Vinnie does with beer is simply amazing take Pliny the Younger they said triple ipa, impossible but vinnie went and created the smoothest, most balanced, and flavorful trip ipa i've ever had.
Happy Pliny the Younger!
haha! they actually can BUDWEISER BEER in NEWARK NJ , yup the can beer that taste like it came from the "can" aka the toilet ! bud might make millions , but it also taste that way too !
Sorry, but Dogfish Head is closer to either Philly or Baltimore than NYC. Rehoboth Beach (where the original brewpub is located) is just about two hours from either city, but I think slightly closer to Baltimore. So they're helping the Ravens out. And both cities (Philly & Baltimore) have a bunch of good breweries in the area: Troegs, Sly Fox, Victory, and Stoudt's for Philly; Duclaw and Heavy Seas Brewing for Baltimore.
too bad Connecticut is not part of New England
Connecticut is certainly part of New England - at least it was when I lived there as kid. Wikipedia, The New England tourism guide and my mom all back me up on this!
As a homebrewer, beer judge, and craft beer lover, I somewhat disagree with the "slightly desperate" reference to Sam Adams. Some of their specialty beers are excellent (the Dopple Bock and Scotch Ale come to mind especially.) Their every day beers are adequate.
Sam Adams is kind of like the Wendy's of beers - commonly available, but a definite step up from the McDonald's of beers, the mass-produced industrial lagers like Bud, Miller, etc.
Love the Wendy's reference - both will do in a pinch.
I applaud Sam Adams for everything they've done to keep the craft beer movement going, from their Longshot homebrew competition, to the Latitude 48 Deconstructed 12 pack (featuring five single-hop versions of the same beer), to how they supported other craft brewers during the hop shortages a few years ago. They've been an incredible force for good in the world of beer geekdom.
BUT...if you "somewhat disagree" that beer geeks have to be "slightly desperate" to drink it, than you must agree a little bit. There are a bunch of Sam Adams beers that can hang with any craft brewer, but many of their brews are made for a populist palate and lack a bit of the creativity and funkiness that craft beer geeks enjoy.
I'll drink their stuff gratefully any day of the week, but if it comes down to Latitude 48 versus Bells Two Hearted...
Sam Adams has upped its game in the face of competition from other craft breweries. Some of its lineup is only middling good by beer-geek standards, but SA's overall quality has steadily improved.
One more point: SA and other craft breweries have made their way onto the tap list in bars all over the country. You can walk into a local joint in most American towns and find at least one national craft beer, along with at least one local micro product.
I'm rooting for the Giants, but I'll be drinking Vermont Beer. No contest on the selection and quality of beer from these two areas, NE rules.
I agree that New England has some great beer, but I think it was silly when Boston Mayor Tom Menino refused a beer bet with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. Menino mumbled something like "I mean, you know, Colorado beer? It hasn't even made it east yet...Sam Adams has made it to the west and Harpoon has made it out there, but Colorado Rocky beer? Uck."
I mean c'mon! Colorado is one of the best beer states in the country, and I'll probably be drinking something from CO (perhaps Dale's Pale Ale) or CA (21st Amendment's Back in Black) during the game. I'm craving hops!
Great post, Jim!
Wow, Mr. Menino is missing out. I reside in Upstate NY, and while I love the offerings from many of the NY breweries, I LIVE for Colorado brews which are readily available at my local grocer and mom & pop shops. Boulder Beer, Left Hand, and Breckenridge being personal favorites of mine.
Long live B&WB!!!!
I agree that Menino is missing out, but I think he misses a lot of things - the guy is wired kind of weird.
Thanks for the B&WB love!
Hey Jim, nice post!
I think New England has a secret weapon in the "undrafted free agent" of Maine's Andrew's Brewing. He doesn't distribute much outside of the coastal area, but his beers are outstanding; he's got a cult following from everyone who's tasted his beers.
See you over on B&WB.
Will
(I, of course, love your reference to both Colorado craft beers and the Broncos!)
I guess I have to get up to Maine and check out Andrew's. That's the great thing about craft beer - regional distribution makes traveling so much more fun!
Since Sam Adams does so much for craft beer, I'll abstain from disparaging comments about all their beers tasting the same.
That said, you missed some great NYC breweries. Schmaltz/Coney Island brew some of the most uniquely flavorful beers on the market. Six Point Brewery gives us artisanal ales in cans that don't tell you when the beer is too cold to taste. And what about the excellent brews from Southampton?
Also, rumor has it that the gypsy brewer at Stillwater Artisanal Ales is moving to Brooklyn soon. I'm not sure that counts for your purposes, but it shows that NYC has more to offer than many think.
I agree that Schmaltz was a miss on my part (good beers at great prices), but Six Point doesn't do a lot for me, so I didn't include them.
While I love their packaging and tallboy cans, I find their beers a bit uninspired and a little watery. I'll drink them at the lake in the summer, where cans are mandated and lighter beers are preferred in the heat, but mostly as a change of pace (my go-to's are Dale's Pale Ale and Back in Black). Not that they're awful, they just don't tip the scales IMO. Same goes for Harpoon up in Boston.
Also, I find Southampton's Double White mostly repellent (I know some folks love it, but not me) so I didn't include them either. They're not part of a winning equation in my book.
San Francisco Forty-Niners would be the perennial champs.
Or at least it'd be a Denver San Fran Super Bowl every year...
San Francisco Forty-NinersChicago Bears would be the perennial champs.FIFU
Two Brothers Beer
Terrible headline, "Super Bowl ... Brawl" just after the Egypt soccer riot. I guess you're just talking about beer.
Yup - just delicious, wonderful craft beer.
I would venture to say the winner would be the last Brand standing.
Or the first brand emptied... :)
Good post Jim!
I know CT is part of New England, but I also know the Giants are really a Jersey team! :-P No Jersey beer love?
I passed on NJ beers for a couple of reasons. One is that there aren't many NJ brewers because of our sketchy laws that make it tough for brewers to get off the ground. The other is that, with so few breweries, there aren't any that distribute far and wide enough to talk about with a national audience, save for the Rolling Rock / Bud factory next to Newark Airport!
Whatever beer you like, don't forget to log them into Untappd. The Foursquare site for beer drinkers.
And remember kids, drink more Ovaltine!
A great brewery in MA is the Berkshire Brewing Company, they have an imperial stout that is second to none imo.
Yes, a grave disservice to MA beer to not include BBC (oh yeah, they are in Western MA, that means they don't exist)!!!!! I have not tried their imperial stout (I brew most of my own beer these days and don't buy much anymore), but the beers I've had from BBC have always been excellent, even their basic straight up ales (which is important, because a lot of craft breweries seem to ignore the basics these days).
Drinking Applehead Ale right now...very good seasonal brew by Shipyard in Portland, Maine :)
OK ....So i have lived on both the east and the west coast and I can tell you hands down the best beer comes from the west coast. If you have never tried a Rouge or Bridgeport or Laquitas or Deshutes or Stone or Red Hook or Pelican(my personal favorite) ..you are missing out. There are very few beers on the east coast that can even compair to those brews. SO... I will be drinking Nakasi out of Eugene Oregon (GO DUCKS!) and I will be rooting for the PATS!...GO PATS!!!! I hope it is a good game.
I live in Michigan, which has more breweries--several of them world-class--than any state east of Colorado. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Detroit Lions probably won't play in the Super Bowl in my lifetime, and perhaps anyone else's lifetime.
New England owns New York on the brew front. For the big game, I'll be drinking some Stowaway IPA from Maine's own Baxter Brewing Co. As a dedicated hophead, I have tried my share of IPAs, and Stowaway is one of my favorites. You'll be happy to know, Jim, that Baxter cans all their beer, aside from kegs, of course. They even have a cool glass sized and shaped exactly like a 12oz. can, which I'll be using exclusively on Sunday. B&WB 4 LYFE!
How can you not mention the best brewery in all of Colorado--New Belgium!? (Which is only about 90 minutes north of Denver). They make Fat Tire, Sunshine Wheat, etc., and run circles around the ones you mentioned. Shame.
I have to admit, Colorado microbreweries pretty much own any other microbrews across the nation period... Sam Adams is weak compared to it, and the New York/New England beers, dont even make the top of the list. Im sorry, but if those are your measuring stick, you need to find a new job.
The whole point was New York vs. New England. You know...like in the Super Bowl? I don't think anybody is saying New England and New York have the best breweries in the nation. All that aside, many of the best breweries only see local or regional distribution. Unless you have the luxury of traveling a lot, you simply will not be exposed to much of what any particular region has to offer. So you end up basing your opinion on what you are exposed to, which for many regions, will merely be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. I personally have found great and unique beer everywhere I've been, and that's awesome. One could present a fairly convincing argument for the superiority of any given place, but at the end of the day, they're all pretty damn good in their own unique ways.
well i disagree flat out. the only co brewery that comes to mind that i love is avery. while co breweries may beat many others across the nation they cannont beat the Russian River Brewery. they simply make the best beers ever: Temptation, Consecration, Blind Pig IPA, Damnation, Damnation 25, Pliny the Elder, Happy Hops, Salvation, Defenistration, and that's just a few (they usually have a choice of between 12-19 beers on tap all brewed on site). they have the only beer i'll wait in line 3HRS for and that of course is Pliny the Younger. 2 years ago the brewed around 550 gals of the stuff and it sold out in less than 8 hrs. it is well worth the trip. now i have to get back to waiting in line as today is day 2 of pliny the younger, only 12 or so more days to go til it's gone. The best thing about RRBC is they brew local for locals.
I really hope I am lucky enough to one day be there for some Pliny the Younger.
Well we in Dallas will win.
Genny's Cream Ale!
No mention of Ithaca Beer Co.? Their Flower Power IPA is the most floral/grapefruity hoppy ale I've ever had!
I understand the football underpinnings of this editorial, but I get frustrated when I read anything about micro-brews where the author neglects mention of Western beers. Doesn't anyone think that it's important to travel further west than Colorado to build a platform for a discussion of micro-brews? Didn't the Micro-brew revolution begin in the Pacific Northwest? How do you neglect the true pioneers like Anchor Brewing, Sierra Nevada, Deschuttes Brewery, or even Rogue? Perhaps this is due to the fact that the author needs to cater to the Sam Adams audience -a Buschesque brewery that is NOT a micro-brew but which loves the fact that retailers and consumers have lumped them into the 'craft' category. "If the quality of local breweries somehow correlated to success on the gridiron", San Francisco (Anchor) and Baltimore (nearby Dogfishead) would be at it year after year.
And New Belgium and O'Dell's are bland beers designed more to not offend, than be brilliant. I imagine New Belgium and O'Dell's drinkers to be frequent customers at Chiles and Applebee's....
SAM ADAMS ,ALWAYS A GOOD DECISION ! as well as a good beer , but to bad they also run a second brewery in upstate NY too ,all the newengland as well as the NY craft beers are great compared to the beer brewed in NEWARK NJ , thats where the canned BUDWIESER is canned , right from the can you piss in the "TOILET"