jpx7
Very Flirtatious, but Doubts What Love Is.
For me I think I would have gone Oskar Blues for Colorado. That's a state I struggle with because there's so many options. None of which likely make my top 5 brewery list. Avery, Great Divide, Odell, New Belgium, Left Hand, Epic, Boulder, Breckenridge, Tommyknocker, and I'm probably forgetting some. Colorado just has so many high quality offerings.
That (Leopold Brothers) Fernet Porter pushes Odell way over the top of the pile, for me.
I alos don't think it's a duh for California, While Russian River is amazing, are they really "duh" better than Stone, Lagunitas, The Bruery, Sierra, Lost Abbey, Green Flash, I don't think so. I think you have several breweries to make a case. I think Russian River brews the best beer from California (Pliny) but does that make them the best brewer? Hard to say.
I think so. I'm not a big Stone fan. I really like Green Flash, and I love Lagunitas, but I (totally unfairly) count the latter as a Chicago brewery now. But for real: Pliny the Elder doesn't even scratch Russian River's surface. Damnation, Sanctification, Supplication, Blind Pig, Salvation—their lineup is deep, and all of it impressive as hell.