Craft-beer drinkers are, as a whole, extremely promiscuous. We’ll try just about anything once. Fail to hold our attention or to deliver the goods, however, and we’ll never come calling again. Even worse, we’ll go online and let everyone know exactly what we think about your beer.
But, as exploratory and unforgiving as craft-beer drinkers can be, there will always be a handful of brands that we come back to again and again, whose beers are not only so consistently good that we’ll reflexively buy just about anything they put out, but that also have that certain something that makes us want to go out of our way to visit the brewery, recommend the beer to friends, and sport the T-shirt.
These are the rock stars of the beer world. Whether it’s a buzzed-about up-and-comer, a beloved regional act, or a well-known national brand with a long string of hits, there’s something about these breweries that appeals to our tastes and makes us want to tout our affinity.