I've only had it from a can so far, but that Surly Abrasive is sumthin' special. Awesome tropical fruit hop character.

Hopslam is on tap at Lake Ave. Cafe.

Big love to the Hoops. Hops? Hoops? Coincidence?

I'm big on the Bells. Double Cream, Expedition and Kalamazoo in particular. Any one of the three go great with snowstorm grillfests, evenings around the fire pit or moving snow.

I love Surlys beers.  Its probably my favorite brewery at this point.  

Hopslam was on tap at the Hammond bar in Superior about a week and a half ago.  Not sure if its still on or no though.

Oh:  check out Central Waters Brewing.  On sale in Superior, for sure.

An old friend owns the place.  Good stuff.

Did anyone try Darkness?  I saw it at Cashwise Liquor, $26 for a 750ml.  I really was curious to try it but couldn't bring myself to spend my weekly allowance on one bottle.

I was looking at Nick's list.  I dislike New Glarus, Capital, Summit, and Bell's.  Maybe it's because it tasted skunky to me in the places I've had it.  I haven't tried Surly yet.

As a somewhat related note, we recently did a long road trip, mostly searching for good food and drink rather than culture.  In any case, there were two resounding facts in our minds that of all the places we had been, Duluth had the best IPA(El Nino)and... best Thai food!  Imagine that!

The best cider is the kind you make.  Two buck chuck they call it.  Orchards will sell you unpasteurized for $3 a gallon.  Pour into the glass 5 gallon carboy.  Get it up to temp, 68-72 degrees.  Add good quality champaign yeast. Ferment.  Kill yeast with stabilizer.  Re sweeten to flavor, I used 1 gallon of pasteurized Pepin cider with good results.  Bottle. Age. Enjoy.

 Bayfield Apple Company also makes its own, and sells juice etc. Bruce is really helpful, and his cider is pretty damned good, he supplies the local farmers markets during the season, so he will also deliver.

I love Sprecher (visited them while on vacation and came back with a few cases). 1919 is also excellent (even better when you can find it on tap).

Hard to find, but Vernors' Ginger Ale made without the HFCS is the tastiest!

Wow! Look at this article in the NY Times! Everyone's talking about Midwestern craft beers!

A Midwest Beer Tour to Cure Winter Blues

Surly really inspires me. If I ever transition into making beer at a larger scale it will be because of them.

Soon Dubh Linn and the brew pub in the old Duluth Spring Company building can be added to Nick's list.

Is Chester Creek Cafe still planning to brew beer?

+1 to many of the above mentioned Midwest beers.

You do not know how lucky you are to have Fitger's beer out your front door. Go a few months without it and you will physically start to crave it. The pride of Duluth.

I cannot believe Lake Superior Brewing is still in business. Their beer is so inconsistent and I have been burned by them way too many times to ever buy it again.

Surly, as trendy as it is, is good but way overrated. Anyone can produce an overhopped beer. I tried their "Darkness" at a special tasting and though very complex, did not live up to the hype or price. Try Deschutes' "Abyss" instead.

Bells has impressed me with everything they put out and and Hopslam needs a warning label.

I went a Brau Brother's tasting last week and enjoyed most of their beers. Estate brewed in Minnesota and their "100 Yard Dash" is their finest product.

Both the South Shore and Thirsty Pagan breweries make several good beers. Town Hall always has something good and I am looking forward to visiting the Town Hall Tap, their new satellite business.

Summit Brewery is still one of my favorites, but I have been cheating on them with beers by Deschute's, Lagunitas, Victory, 21st Amendment, Sierra Nevada and New Belgium.

Talk of all these big beautiful beers makes want a Fitgers El Nino IPA.

Swan,

Agreed with you about Brewhouse beers. We are lucky! Also agree about Lake Superior. Surprising that with all of the great choices that there are still bars/restaurants offering up Lake Superior beers. 

As to Surly, they make a certain over-the-top style that rarely is subtle or balanced. Their Hell was surprisingly both but for the most part they just take beers like an IPA and just blow out the recipe with excess hops to seemingly make a statement. Lot of folks are now converted hopheads. Their Darkness is an Imperial Stout which is quite different from Deschutes' Abyss. Kind of apples to oranges there.

Again, we're definitely on the same page with most things beer. Summit EPA is remains a wonderfully balanced British styled ale. It is consistently brewed and stays fairly priced. I like those others that you list, esp. Victory.

However, you lost me when giving props to South Shore and Thirsty Pagan (pizza aside). 

I surely hope that the new brewpub in Canal Park will hire a great brewer to offer us more fine local beers besides Dave Hoops' concoctions.

The new Surly is bitching. I had a Two Hearted after a Furious and I thought it tasted like PBR, relative. They're both good, but... Not everyone does hops.  It is a soporific, and doesn't jive with some folk's chemistry.  But maybe they often don't know that, and hence slam the hoppy beer thing.  I think the Thirsty Pagan brewer wasn't such a big fan, so they had to put the screws to him for sales, just a guess. They're coming up with some good stuff lately. But as soon as you like it, its gone.  Bless their small batches.  Fitgers has an undisputed master, one thing we can all agree on is EL Nino.

We buy almost exclusively @ Warehouse. Best beer selection in the ports.