Saturday, January 29, 2011

Were Virginia Beers Slighted?

Over at the Houston Press Beer blog, Katharine Shilcutt posted a map of the United States showing a beer for each state. When I saw the headline, I wondered which of Virginia's award-winning breweries she would select to represent the Commonwealth. Starr Hill? Blue Mountain? Devils Backbone?

Imagine my surprise to see a a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon covering Virginia on the map. Okay, so The United States of Beer is just entertainment, but I was still disappointed to see PBR listed as "a fitting beer" for Virginia. In the comments Ms. Shilcutt defends her selection thusly, "And for anyone wondering about Virginia and Pabst Blue Ribbon, keep in mind that PBR is also known as 'the People's Beer of Richmond.'" That's a cop out for a lack of research in my opinion.

Flying Dog Brewery makes the cut as the representative beer for Maryland.  Not to say they aren't deserving, and I am very fond of the beers, but Flying Dog has been in Maryland only since 2008. I think Clipper City/Heavy Seas would have made a better choice. When I was growing up in Maryland, National Bohemian was the beer associated with Baltimore. In fact, National Boh is making a comeback in Maryland.

PBR for Virginia? Sorry, that doesn't do it.

How did your state fare?

Click the image to go to the full-size map at the source.

3 comments:

  1. I would have to agree with you about the Virginia selection. Although PBR is gaining popularity, I think that your examples would be better choices.
    The beer listed for Vermont would not have been the one I would have selected either. Magic Hat is one of the largest brewers in the state, but is is no longer owned by Vermonters. There are many better examples of Vermont beer, since we have 21 breweries within our small state.

    --VTHopHead

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  2. A little research goes a long way...WV is well represented by Mountaineer Brewing Co in Martinsburg, Mountain State near Canaan Valley and the Morgantown Brewing Co.

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  3. For what it's worth, I think we are much better represented in this map: http://www.rustyham.com/beer_map.jpg. Kudos to Mr. Ribera for putting it together.

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