Chicagoist: It's Oberon Season!

Tower18

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:58:51 -0600

Look at this Kalamazoo reunion on this thread. WMU Class of 05!

via chicago

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:04:31 -0600

Oberon is decent enough..but why would you drink that when you can just have a Two Hearted Ale instead?

HateBrianClub

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:59:06 -0600

That place was called Kraftbrau, which is unfortunately shuttered these days. I used to spend a lot of time there, it being one of the few places to catch a good concert in Kalamazoo. They made a beer called Weedwacker that would've fit right in with the sour beer craze that was discussed a few posts down here on Chicagoist.

mitchapalooza

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:48:28 -0600

Agreed. There is too much great brew out there to focus on not liking a few.

Karl Klockars

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:46:53 -0600

You're right, "turning its back" probably wasn't the best use of a phrase. Maybe "not relying on" or "not worrying about supplying" the Chicago market is more accurate.

Stealth

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:40:34 -0600

I do like the Bell's Amber, but there is a place right across the street from the Bell's plant in K-Zoo that had some pretty good on-premises brewed beer. I did a poetry show thing there a long time ago and thought it was great. But I don't thing they mass produce, or at least they didn't. Anyone know what I'm talking about or do I have it all wrong?

BuckWild11

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:39:14 -0600

I'm not sure the blame can be placed directly on New Glarus for "turning its back" on Chicago. http://chicagoist.com/2009/02/02/2009_01_new_glarus_003jpg.php That article was enough to persuade me to take a roadtrip a month ago! I don’t have much of a use for more than one or two Oberon. While tasty, it causes my head to peel apart in at the top on it’s own. Or at least it feels that way!

Karl Klockars

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:26:44 -0600

I was the same way with New Glarus products for the longest time, specifically Spotted Cow. Coincidentally, they're another brewer that has no problem turning its back on the Chicago market. But then one afternoon I had a Spotted Cow that changed my entire perspective on the beer. It was at Fred's in Burlington, WI and since then I've had a new appreciation for it. Maybe with some extended distance - both time and mindset - from KZoo, you'll "get" Oberon. Or not. Either way, no big deal - there's a lot of beer out there to love.

jimbo

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:19:19 -0600

I went through the same thing up in Mt. Pleasant. I'm still not sure what pissed me off more - everybody raving about Oberon, or how at this time of the year all of a sudden everybody is a Red Wing fan.

bunnybear

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:09:05 -0600

Speaking of cellaring. Anyone have any Solsun left? I've got one big bottle stowed away but I'm afraid it's more a memento than a future quaff.

HateBrianClub

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:08:15 -0600

I don't get it either and I went to college in Kalamazoo. Every year in April the whole city, from the dirtiest hippies in the student ghetto to the doucheyest frat guys in West Campus crawl out of the woodwork and rave on and on about Oberon. It is by far my least favorite of the otherwise sterling Bells line.

Navin

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:04:18 -0600

I love "Lager of the Lakes" and "Third Coast".

matilda

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:01:14 -0600

I still think the whole "banned"-in-Illinois thing is paying decent dividends for Bell's. While they make respectable beer--the porter is damn good, though not nearly the best of that variety one can find in Chicago--I find most of the Bell's brands only slightly above average, and hardly worth the price unless there is a special. I find this opinion common among various drinking pals, some of them reasonably coherent, especially about the celebrated Oberon. I suspect the lingering mystique of being "banned" continues to inspire at least some sales in Chicago--and I think that is wonderful, by the way, because it's not easy to earn money in this economy, and no matter what, Bell's is better than Budweiser and other such wussified crap.

mitchapalooza

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:55:29 -0600

And three cheers to the bars that don't attempt to put an orange in my Oberon (or Blue Moon for that matter).

mike_thoms

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:52:25 -0600

So I've been drinking possibly skunky beer? Having never had Oberon until Bells came back I guess I need to check out some fresh stuff.

Chuck Sudo

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:51:12 -0600

Blue Moon is an expensive Oberon, and not that good. But what do you expect from a Coors product (and that brewery's history is another reason to not drink Blue Moon).

jimbo

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:43:01 -0600

I never got the fascination with Oberon - it's an expensive Blue Moon. The porter, brown, amber, and third coast labels are top notch though.

Karl Klockars

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:41:28 -0600

The Cherry Stout is really very good, but I had a bourbon-barrel aged Cherry Stout this winter that made me see through time. A friend of mine actually cellared some Oberon from a while back, so a head-to-head between those and the brand new stuff is coming soon.

bunnybear

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:37:46 -0600

Happy days! And here's me still trying to polish off the case of Cherry Stout. I guess summer's just around the corner.

Chuck Sudo

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:33:56 -0600

Oberon is Seasonal, from the end of March through October. If you found it in that nearby liquor store, they most likely loaded up once they came back to market.

mitchapalooza

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:29:49 -0600

WOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

mike_thoms

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:25:21 -0600

I've been getting Oberon since the fall from a liquor store near me...is it just a seasonal thing?