And then there's Chicago, where a non-macro beer will easily cost $12-14 for a six-pack of 12 ounce cans. And a 16.9 ounce bottle of Aventinus is more than $4. :( It's enough to drive one to drink. :D

I was drinking the most wonderful sour Saturday night at BJ's Brewhouse in Pensacola: Blood Orange Gose from Anderson Valley. Normally Mrs BamaVol will take a sniff of my beer. She likes the aroma so well she took a sip and declared it was like a "beer creamsicle".

On the flipside, though, Chicago has some great breweries for lovers of hoppy beer (or really any style). I may have intentionally scheduled an 8-hour layover there a few months back for the sole purpose of visiting breweries and having some deep-dish casserole pizza. Forbidden Root was even having a 'tap takeover' with several cloudy IPAs, which are evidently the new hotness in the US. Let's just say I slept well on the flight home.

Creemore Springs

Got hit with a snowstorm here in RTP NC area over the last couple days. When I finally made it to the store they were pretty picked over so ended up snagging Wicked Weed Pernicious.

It was fine but not as good as I remember which makes me fear the InBev machine has started to impact quality on Pernicious. Wouldn't be surprising just sad since I would guess it's the most widely distributed from Wicked Weed and a very reasonable $8.99 for a 4pk of bottles so something has to give.

Will likely look elsewhere in the future if in a similar scenario -- likely to something like Voodoo Ranger from New Belgium

At least you can get it. BV Jr #1 says that the one positive aspect of macro brewers buying out craft beer breweries is the wider distribution. There are a number of AB InBev products from the west coast that now show up in Florida. Space Dust is a good example. Never would have happened on a shoestring budget had Elysian not been bought out.

I was actually at the WW Funkatorium a couple weeks ago but it was a run-in-grab-a-t-shirt-and-pay-for-it stop. No time for tasting. Love their sour beers.

Rockaway IPA

We certainly have a lot - 167 by some counts! I would say that was a good use of 8 hours on your part. :D

Had a neighborhood party (16 adults and 11 kids), and I wasn't sure on the types of beers the adults would drink, so I bought a variety. Here is the report on the number of bottles I put into the recycling bin.

24-pack Stone IPA sampler - 1 bottle
24-pack Stella Artois - 0 bottles
12-pack O'Dell 90 Schilling - 0 bottles
12-pack Breckenridge Brewery Christmas Ale - 5 bottles (three by me)

Turns out, most everyone at the party had wine--except me.

Lesson learned: just buy the Christmas Ale. That stuff is good.

My father-in-law arrives on Tuesday, so he will tear through the IPAs over the next three weeks.

I'd have enjoyed your Stone IPA sampler. I'm not a particularly big fan of 90 Schilling. I'll drink it if its there I suppose, but not if there is a Stone IPA around :p

I'm looking forward to the day when I fly home after Christmas. I'm flying out of TPA so it looks like I can visit Cigar City and a handful of the Tampa/St. Pete breweries I've yet to have a chance to go to.

I'd likely have put a nice dent into the Stone case. Just invite me next time. :D

I'm not surprised the Stella went untouched. It's basically Euro-Budweiser. It's crazy that it's been successfully marketed in the US as a premium import. Though, most of the US folks I see drinking it are life-long Bud/Miller drinkers who fancy their tastes have evolved.

BTW if I were at your party you'd have at least a few more empties of the Christmas ale.

There is that thread in here about sometimes you just need a Bud Light. For me, there are days I just want to drink a Stella (which evolved from Bud Light back in my early post-college days).

A gaggle of Rainier plus a few Alberta Genuine Draft thrown in good measure and local content.