Craft Beer around the Midwest

Human nature can make some people turn their cheeks at the unfamiliar, so if they don’t recognize the label on a beer, they may be hesitant to try something new. Below is a list of eight different beers brewed in the Midwest, distributed internationally and available in Bloomington.  

Upland
Located at 350 W. 11th St., Upland is close to home and reasonably priced. “Our wheat ale is our best-selling beer. It is fairly light and very accessible,” Marketing Director Charles Stanley said. Upland’s brewers make the kind of beer they personally like to drink. Rather than conducting a focus group and trying to ascertain if there is a market for a certain type of beer, the brewery chooses to draw from various styles of recipes and go with what feels right.  
 
Founders
Red’s Rye PA is one of the best beers that can be found at Founders Brewery, located in Grand Rapids, Mich. This is one of the brewery’s highest-rated beers on Beeradvocate.com. The site’s users and critics agree that it is the easiest to drink, thanks to its fresh but stern hop bitterness with hints of citrus and pine and the addition of rye grains that sets it apart from other pale ales.

Bell’s
Oberon is the most popular beer at this Kalamazoo, Mich., brewery, and it was one of the first craft beers to really take off in Michigan. “It really identifies with the winter ending, so it’s become kind of a staple when spring’s coming when Oberon comes out,” Marketing Director Laura Bell said.

Three Floyds
Three Floyds, which was founded in Munster, Ind., by brothers Nick and Simon with their father Mike Floyd, brews reasonably priced yet tasty beer. Mike Floyd said the brewery’s most popular beer is Gumballhead. It has a slight citrus finish, which is gentle and fresh. “We can’t really make enough of it,” Floyd said.  
 
Goose Island
This year, Chicago brewery Goose Island’s Rare Bourbon County Stout was ranked No. 5 on the best beers of 2011 list conducted by RateBeer.com. While the County Stout is one of the brewery’s more distinctive beers, the 312 Urban Wheat became one of the brewery’s most popular beers when President Obama of all people gave it an endorsement in July.

Sun King
Sun King Brewing is an Indianapolis-based brewery with a focus on crafting traditional seasonal and unique specialty beers, according to its website. One of its highest-rated beers is the Osiris Pale Ale. This brew is a West Coast-style American pale that blends hops to create a spicy and citrus flavor, and unlike most craft beers, it can readily be found in a can.
 
Boulevard
Boulevard Brewing Company is the ninth-largest craft brewery in the United States and is located in Kansas City, Mo.  

“We make seven year-round and five seasonal beers as well as an artisanal line of beers, our Smokestack Series, which include four year-round, four seasonal and four limited-release beers each year,” Marketing Communications Manager Julie Weeks said.

Boulevard’s most popular beer is Unfiltered Wheat. “Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer is a lively, refreshing ale with a natural citrus flavor and distinctive cloudy appearance,” Weeks said. “This easy-drinking, American-style wheat beer has become our most popular offering and the best-selling craft beer in the Midwest.”
 
New Holland
Established in 1996, this brewery began as a two-man operation in Holland, Mich., and has since grown exponentially. One of its best-rated beers is the Imperial Hatter, which received a 96 percent rating on RateBeer.com. The New Holland Brewery website says this beer gets its creamy and smooth taste thanks to hints of grapefruit and citrus tones.