Great craft breweries

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McMalty

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Out of the 100+ craft breweries that I've had, I can only come up with 6 that are truly "Great" breweries. I determined my 6 by only including breweries that I've had at least 5 brews from and seem to very rarely disappoint with their brews, that is, the brews are consistently great; if i try a new beer from them, it's a safe bet that it's gonna be pretty damn good, if not great.

Here's my list, in no particular order:

-Southern Tier
-Schlafly
-Lagunitas
-Firestone Walker
-Stone
-Oskar Blues

I think this list is pretty solid, but i don't have access to many craft breweries that probably could be on this list like Founders, Bells, Russian River, Cigar City, Great Lakes, etc.

What are your "Great" breweries? Any thoughts, comments, suggestions....
 
Big Boss
Fullsteam
Duck Rabbit
Dogfish head
Terrapin
Bear Republic
Highland Brewing Company
...
..
.

.
 
I've been consistently impressed with Avondale (here in Birmingham) and Back Forty (in Gadsden, AL). Also Highlands -- I went on a brewery tour last summer and sampled almost everything they had. It was wonderful.

I'd have to say Avondale is my absolute favorite. I've never had anything I didn't like there, and I can be pretty picky sometimes.
 
In no particlar order...

Stone
Southern Tier
Great Lakes
Lagunitas
Dogfish Head
Rogue

Obviously there are other good breweries that make great beer but for me, this is the "Big 6"
 
Lots you can't get outside of Oregon, but more widely distributed craft breweries I like: Cascade, Ninkasi, Deschutes, Hair of the Dog. Also, gotta mention Dogfish Head, Victory, Sierra Nevada as great as well.
 
Can I remove southern tier from some of your lists? :D


3floyds
Alpine
Pizza port
Surly
Great divide
Avery
Edit: Sierra Nevada, maybe the greatest when you look at the size and scope of what they do
Founders makes some of the best malt forward beers around but I can't put them on this list because I do not care for their take on hop forward stuff.

I could maybe add a few more but I'm being stingy with the word "great"
 
Can I remove southern tier from some of your lists? :D


3floyds
Alpine
Pizza port
Surly
Great divide
Avery
Edit: Sierra Nevada, maybe the greatest when you look at the size and scope of what they do
Founders makes some of the best malt forward beers around but I can't put them on this list because I do not care for their take on hop forward stuff.

I could maybe add a few more but I'm being stingy with the word "great"

No, you may absolutely not take Southern Tier off my list :smack: . With beers like Creme Brulee, Pumking, Unearthly, and Jahva, they're a top tier crafty brewery, hands down, end of story.

I think great divide is pretty damn good, but can be hit or miss, but i think thats b/c some styles i don't like as much as other styles, so it's not really their fault for making styles that I prefer less, it's just preference i guess.

As far as Sierra Nevada goes....I really appreciate their contribution to craft brewing, but i can't think of a single beer they brew that I would consider elite, much less several that i consider outstanding.

DFH....now i love this brewery, I love Sam's vision and ingenuity, but b/c their portfolio is so diverse, I've found that some of their brews are outstanding and then some are just kind of weird.....which is fine, but "kind of weird" doesn't usually wow me. Burton Baton and Palo Santo Marron and India Brown Ale are some of the best beers in their class, no doubt, but their IPAs, while very enjoyable, don't hold a candle to many others i've tasted. Just IMO,:D:pipe::fro:
 
Stone
Lagunitas
Russian River
Sierra Nevada
The Lost Abbey


As far as Sierra Nevada goes....I really appreciate their contribution to craft brewing, but i can't think of a single beer they brew that I would consider elite, much less several that i consider outstanding.

For me personally:
Pale Ale (it's refreshing and I can get it in a lot of bars that otherwise don't have craft selections)
Torpedo
Hoptimum
Bigfoot Barleywine
Northern Hemisphere Harvest

I find those all to be excellent beers. I liked last year's Ruthless Rye, but not as fond of this year's release.
 
Stone
Sierra Nevada

For me personally:
Pale Ale (it's refreshing and I can get it in a lot of bars that otherwise don't have craft selections)
Torpedo
Hoptimum
Bigfoot Barleywine
Northern Hemisphere Harvest

I find those all to be excellent beers. I liked last year's Ruthless Rye, but not as fond of this year's release.

We all have our preferences and i'm certainly not dissing yours at all. But since we're just discussing it, these are the beers that i would drink in place of the ones listed: SN PA: Dales Pale Ale, SN Torpedo: FSW Union Jack, Bigfoot: Stone Old Guardian. thats just me tho, i respect ur opinion
 
I've tried all the SN beers I could find and have yet to find one I like. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, or something, but it seems like all I tasted was fizz and alcohol. Sharp and hoppy would probably be more accurate.

Great Divide makes three of my most-favorite beers, but since I don't like all their styles, they don't make it to my great list. Of the styles I do like, though, they're consistently at the top.
 
Great Divide makes three of my most-favorite beers, but since I don't like all their styles, they don't make it to my great list. Of the styles I do like, though, they're consistently at the top.

....so what's your Great list?
 
Tons have been coverd, but I do wanna add the Church brew works; it's unique as it's in an old church and they put out amazing beer
 
I've been consistently impressed with Avondale (here in Birmingham) and Back Forty (in Gadsden, AL). Also Highlands -- I went on a brewery tour last summer and sampled almost everything they had. It was wonderful.

I'd have to say Avondale is my absolute favorite. I've never had anything I didn't like there, and I can be pretty picky sometimes.
 
I suppose these are limited to US craft beers? I know people often consider imported beers as craft beers, but I don't think I've seen any listed here yet. These are some of my US go-to breweries:

Southern Tier (lots of beers that I like, easy for me to get on the East Coast, candy-store variety)
Sierra Nevada (very consistent, easy to find, never disappoints)
Ommegang (great Belgian style beers, lots of care goes into bottling and beer quality)
Firestone Walker (can't seem to stop buying their beers)
Willamsburg Alewerks (always comes out with a new beer I like, and generally outperforms many other craft beers I try, semi-local means fresh)

Other breweries have some beers that I really do like, it's just that these ones pop into my head first. I can usually tell which breweries I like the most, based on what comes to mind first.
 
Odells is my all time favorite. They are consistently impressive, especially the barrel aged ones.
Avery is my favorite place to go during GABF-Over 20 beers on tap and 15 of them are above 8%
Stone-Aggressive, Resiny, Delicious.
 
I have a lot of breweries I've never been disappointed in.

What I'd consider great

Carton (new guys really great so far)
DogFish (some beers aren't my style but everything they brew is true to them)
Lagunitas
Victory
Troegs
Brooklyn
Stone
Oskar Blue
Rogue
Weyerbacher
Founders
Avery
Left Hand
Allagash

Just to name some
 
Victory definetly impresses me. Tried over 20 of their beers and haven't had one I dislike.
 
Iechyd Da, my local brew pub takes the top spot. Fantastic beers and only a couple miles from my house.

Sierra Nevada
Southern Tier
Bells
Stone
Upland
 
Iechyd Da, my local brew pub takes the top spot. Fantastic beers and only a couple miles from my house.

Upland

It's interesting how local places like that can carry such favor with you sometimes. Makes you wonder if it has to do with the freshness and availability, the atmosphere and the all around good feeling you probably get when you go there. Stuff like that can make beer just taste better. Ha...it reminds me of a theory i had in college: Free food is delicious......the simple fact that i didn't have to pay for it did something for me psychologically, and it just tasted better. I'm not using that as a direct analogy with your brew pub (i'm sure the beer is great), i'm just saying, it's interesting how psychology plays into our outlooks sometimes
 
Here are some of my better brewery visits in the New England area (in alphabetical order):

Alchemist
Captain Lawrence
Fiddlehead (recently opened, former Magic Hat head brewer)
Ommegang
Sixpoint
 
McMalty said:
It's interesting how local places like that can carry such favor with you sometimes. Makes you wonder if it has to do with the freshness and availability, the atmosphere and the all around good feeling you probably get when you go there. Stuff like that can make beer just taste better. Ha...it reminds me of a theory i had in college: Free food is delicious......the simple fact that i didn't have to pay for it did something for me psychologically, and it just tasted better. I'm not using that as a direct analogy with your brew pub (i'm sure the beer is great), i'm just saying, it's interesting how psychology plays into our outlooks sometimes

I live less than 5 minutes from Upland, and I would not consider them anywhere near elite. They have a few good brews, but nothing to write home about IMO. Their food is better than their beer...
 
I live less than 5 minutes from Upland, and I would not consider them anywhere near elite. They have a few good brews, but nothing to write home about IMO. Their food is better than their beer...

Well there you go, my point exactly. Panzer saw something in Upland that you didn't. Could have been psychological, could have been a difference in palates, Either way....
 
Goose Island should be on the list....regardless of who owns them now. New Glarus never ceases to amaze me. Never had a bad brew from them....drive to Wisconsin just to get some (only 15 min for me).
 
Fitger's Brewery in Duluth
Upstream in Omaha
Fargo Brewing in... Fargo of course (they're new)
Boulder... But I've only tried the Obovoid from them on tap and absolutely loved it. Disappeared from the bar a short time after that and I haven't seen it since. Skies have been a little grey ever since.
 
Living in rural Nebraska I have limited access to some of the greats, but my list would have to be:

O'dells
Sierra Nevada
Crow Peak
Boulevard
Big Sky
 
Great thread, lots of breweries on here I already know and love, so I won't relist them, other new ones I've been hoping to try soon. But I will add

Jolly Pumpkin
Nebraska
 
Three Floyd's
New Glarus
North Coast
Rogue
Anderson Valley
Bells

These would be some of my favorite "all around" breweries off the top of my head.
 
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