Whats the best brew pub area in the US?

I would love to hear some opinions.

I am planning on visiting the US next month, and would like some recomendations on where to go.

My main interest is learning more about brew pubs and tap houses.

Thank you

There are four or five cities in the US that are considered the best beer locations. Among these are Portland, Oregon and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (these two are usually listed one and two, though which is #1 and which is #2 is subject to discussion). I have connections to both, but I am a Philly guy.

Both have great but somewhat different beer cultures. There are large numbers of exceptional micr- and craft brewers in both areas. Portland certainly has more brew pubs, but there is no lack of them in Philadelphia. Philly maybe has a broader horizon for non-local beers. Belgians, especially, are very popular and readily available in Philly in pubs and tap houses all over the city.

Unfortunately, you just missed Philly Beer Week - and it was bigger and better than ever this year.

Portland , OR seems like a very interesting option to me.

My main interest is in brew pubs, local beer kinda style.
Also, I have a friend who lives not far from there and would be a blast to pay him a visit.

Is there any place online where I could find out more about Portland's brewing scene?

Thanks for the help.

Here's a map showing the most award winning states. Adjusted for population, Colorado and Oregon (in a distant second) are your heavy hitters.

Sorry Pennsylvania - even Missouri outranks you.

There's a reason we're called the Napa valley of beer here.

jkarp said:

Here's a map showing the most award winning states. Adjusted for population, Colorado and Oregon (in a distant second) are your heavy hitters.

Sorry Pennsylvania - even Missouri outranks you.

There's a reason we're called the Napa valley of beer here.

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Missouri? No it doesn't, Missouri is ninth on that map, while Pennsylvania is fifth.

Maxim Magazine pronounced Philly as the number one beer city in the US. What rational person could argue with that??

http://www.maxim.com/stuff/beer/86174/maxims-favorite-beer-burg-philadelphia.html

http://www.maxim.com/stuff/beer/93203/maxim-goes-to-philly-beer-week.html

Winning awards does not necessarily mean anything except that you entered - good to have them, but which awards are counted? East coast brewers, until the past decade or so, have been disinclined to go out to Denver to the GABF to enter beers. So West Coast brewers would naturally have an edge.

Besides which, Missouri would get credit for all those medals that AB won (things like "Light American Lager" and stuff like that).

As for Colorado, come on, if the one award that they are measuring by on your map is given out in Colorado, wouldn't you expect that local brewers (including Coors) would be entering in every possible category? It's not a good measure. Not that Maxim Magazine is, but at least it's national in scope.

Denver is among the top five, certainly.

SteveM said:

Missouri? No it doesn't, Missouri is ninth on that map, while Pennsylvania is fifth.

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Second list is by population. Missouri beat you fair and square.

SteveM said:

http://www.maxim.com/stuff/beer/86174/maxims-favorite-beer-burg-philadelphia.html

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Maxim has articles?!?!? Huh. Never made it past the boobies, myself.

Well, really, we should eliminate everything west of the Susquehanna - that;s a beer wasteland out there! : D

While it may not be the best, I know Atlanta GA has some pretty amazing pub/bars/breweries.

jkarp said:

Here's a map showing the most award winning states. Adjusted for population, Colorado and Oregon (in a distant second) are your heavy hitters.

Sorry Pennsylvania - even Missouri outranks you.

There's a reason we're called the Napa valley of beer here.

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Looking at the map its pretty Obvious California is where ya need to be. Come on out

jkarp said:

Second list is by population. Missouri beat you fair and square.

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OK, you win - all those winning "Light American Lagers" put them over the top!

I think that you'll find the most dense cluster of Brew Pubs in Oregon. A trip through Portland, Eugene and Central Oregon should give you all the options that you need and you'll still have to skip a bunch.

I think you'll be hard pressed to find a larger selection within a 150 mile area.

I'd love to go to Philly, but I'm afraid an Eagles fan will kill me, a Phillies fan will puke on me, or a Flyers fan will cry on me. Maybe one day I'll wear armor and head down.

While I'm not going to claim it would win. I think you have to at least mention Milwaukee/ Madison/SE Wisconsin.

BendBrewer said:

I think that you'll find the most dense cluster of Brew Pubs in Oregon. A trip through Portland, Eugene and Central Oregon should give you all the options that you need and you'll still have to skip a bunch.

I think you'll be hard pressed to find a larger selection within a 150 mile area.

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I think this is the winner.

Now I need to find someone from that area to fill me in about what's a must, and whats skipable.

Anyone???

Each of the 3 areas will have their favorites.

From my experience:

Portland:
Hopworks Urban Brewery
Lucky Lab
Full Sail
(There is a Deschutes in Portland but it's NOT the real one)

Eugene:
Steelhead
Ninkasi

Central Oregon:
Cascade Lakes (Bend and Redmond)
Three Creeks (Sisters)
Bend Brewing (Bend)
10 Barrel (Bend)
Deschutes (Bend)
Silver Moon (Bend)

Those are just the ones that I can suggest. Many others.

Portland sounds awesome and I plan to visit there sometime soon

Putting in my vote for San Diego, CA...recently passed up Portland for the amount of brewers in the metro area (31 breweries/brewpubs!) and every beer bar is pretty amazingly good. Plus you've got some heavy hitters like Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash, and Port Brewing/Lost Abbey.

Junkaboy said:

I think this is the winner.

Now I need to find someone from that area to fill me in about what's a must, and whats skipable.

Anyone???

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In general, you can wander into any brew pub in the city and not be disappointed. There is too much competition for a bad brew pub to suirvive. You might want to take a brewery tour of Rogue or some other brewery, and I would definitely take a drive out to Mount Hood. You can ski there summer or winter, if you are a skier.

My suggestion, in addition to what you might find in the city, is to drive out to the Oregon beach towns. Seaside and Connon Beach are both very nice, and have that whole PACNW "brew pub and espresso" culture in addition to having nice beaches. You can drive out there in a few hours. Depending on the season, you could see whales, orcas, sea lions, etc.

One word of caution, though - don't count on swimming - the water, even in late summer, feels like icy fingers of death.

Airborneguy said:

I'd love to go to Philly, but I'm afraid an Eagles fan will kill me, a Phillies fan will puke on me, or a Flyers fan will cry on me. Maybe one day I'll wear armor and head down.

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Someone from Staten Island is afraid to go to Philly? Come on, man up! If nothing else, come down for beer week next year. This will give you a whole year to build up your nerve!

munche said:

Portland sounds awesome and I plan to visit there sometime soon

Putting in my vote for San Diego, CA...recently passed up Portland for the amount of brewers in the metro area (31 breweries/brewpubs!) and every beer bar is pretty amazingly good. Plus you've got some heavy hitters like Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash, and Port Brewing/Lost Abbey.

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While I will agree that SD currently has the edge on beer to Portland, when it comes to brewpubs, I think we're a little short in comparison to Oregon. We have good beer bars that have great food, and yes, we have Stone and Pizza Port, but after that, I feel the rest are sort of lacking. Of course Pizza Port is the best thing ever, but I wouldn't call the rest of the area great for that specific need.

One plus for Portland is the number of breweries and brewpubs within walking distance of a transit station.

If you have the time, just work your way up HWY-1 (I'm also a car guy). You'll get to drive one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. Start in San Diego with all that's down there. As you get towards the CA bay area, you'll be able to enjoy Anchor and Lagunitas. Farther up you have North Coast (my favorite) and Mendocino a bit of the way in. Then you can go on up to Eugene and Portland.

david_42 said:

One plus for Portland is the number of breweries and brewpubs within walking distance of a transit station.

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Hmmm, thats a big plus.
Imagine finding a decent hotel within walking distance of a dozen diferent brew pubs.

Salanis said:

If you have the time, just work your way up HWY-1 (I'm also a car guy). You'll get to drive one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. Start in San Diego with all that's down there. As you get towards the CA bay area, you'll be able to enjoy Anchor and Lagunitas. Farther up you have North Coast (my favorite) and Mendocino a bit of the way in. Then you can go on up to Eugene and Portland.

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That really sounds like a winning plan. Start in CA and work my way up north to Portland.
Need to check the price in car rentals there.

SteveM said:

Someone from Staten Island is afraid to go to Philly? Come on, man up! If nothing else, come down for beer week next year. This will give you a whole year to build up your nerve!

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Had to say it!

I actually have a mini-trip planned which I based off of an article from Tap magazine. I think it was like 6 brewpubs? My wife's pregnant, so she's making me wait until she can drink again.

Wow, did this "who's the better beer city" thread just get resolved without coming to blows?!?!?

That NEVER happens!!

Portland must sees...

Horse Brass
Bailey's Tap Room
Apex (new and awesome)

Junkaboy said:

That really sounds like a winning plan. Start in CA and work my way up north to Portland.
Need to check the price in car rentals there.

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Alternately, you might start in OR or WA and drive south. It's possible that might even be cheaper for renting a car.

jkarp said:

Second list is by population. Missouri beat you fair and square.

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The second list is obviously incomplete. E.g. Vermont (pop: 620,000, 15 awards) should be at 24 awards/million, which would put it in 4th of the ones they bothered ranking--Maine and New Hampshire should be in the top 10 per capita, too. That's leaving aside the fact that the GABF is a west-coast event that many east coast breweries never enter.

IMO, the real Portland (Maine) is a better beer city per capita than the one out in Oregon, but Oregon's got more total options. Both are tremendous; you can't really go wrong with either.

Portland, ME has the fearsome foursome of Great Lost Bear, Novare Res, Allagash, and Maine Beer Co in close proximity, and there are tons of other options to round things out. Aside from the aforementioned (which should be first on the list) Geary's, Shipyard, Gritty McDuff's, Peak Organic, and Casco Bay Brewing come to mind as good brewery visits, and Gritty's, Sebago Brewing Co, Brian Boru, Bull Feeny's, and Three Dollar Dewey's are all great places for a beer lover to grab a pint.

Junkaboy said:

I would love to hear some opinions.

I am planning on visiting the US next month, and would like some recomendations on where to go.

My main interest is learning more about brew pubs and tap houses.

Thank you

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I hear there are a lot of great brew pups in Seattle, Washington (Naked City comes to mind) and in Portland, Oregon.

If you are going to be in New England, be sure to check out Sebago Brewing Co. in Portland, Maine and Sea Dog in Bangor, Maine.

eddie said:

I hear there are a lot of great brew pups in Seattle, Washington (Naked City comes to mind) and in Portland, Oregon.

If you are going to be in New England, be sure to check out Sebago Brewing Co. in Portland, Maine and Sea Dog in Bangor, Maine.

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The only problem with Sea Dog is that you have to go to Bangor to visit it.

Bar Harbor's a total tourist trap, but it's a pretty one and Bar Harbor Brewery is worth a peek if you're in the area.

SumnerH said:

The only problem with Sea Dog is that you have to go to Bangor to visit it.

Bar Harbor's a total tourist trap, but it's a pretty one and Bar Harbor Brewery is worth a peek if you're in the area.

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True on both accounts.

Colorado is the beer "mecca" of the world. Just my opinion, but I am willing to bet jkarp and many others would agree.

Livendadream said:

Colorado is the beer "mecca" of the world. Just my opinion, but I am willing to bet jkarp and many others would agree.

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Livendadream <---- truly an enlightened individual. :fro:

If you're able to go up the coast, that would make for an awesome trip. Taking the PCH all the way up, you'll go through a lot of major cities, see a lot of nice scenery, and hit a lot of nice brewing areas. Starting in San Diego where there's a ton of stuff, there's a few places in LA/Orange County (The Bruery is the only one really worth hitting IMO), then Firestone in Paso Robles in the Central Coast, another big cluster of breweries in San Francisco, Russian River, North Coast and Lost Coast up the northern Cali Coast, then you could hit Portland and Seattle. I actually plotted a really similar trip, but I don't think I'll have the time to do it when I go to Seattle in the fall.

That trip has the advantage of being not only great for beer but also just hitting a lot of great sights.

How long is a string?


Oh, and I certainly don't see anyone bowing in the general direction of Denver at noon.

jkarp said:

Here's a map showing the most award winning states

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wow I can't believe Tennessee ranked as high as they did I guess there are worse places to live

Shooter said:

Wow, did this "who's the better beer city" thread just get resolved without coming to blows?!?!?

That NEVER happens!!

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Well, he asked about brew pub cities. It got a bit twisted (by me and others) but in truth, it's hard to argue with Portland as far as brew pubs. Philly has plenty of them, but not like Portland.

As far as places like Missouri and Tennessee and even Denver, well, it's not worth discussing. And judging just by who wins medals in Denver, well, gee, that might introduce a tiny bit of mountain state and west coast bias.

SteveM said:

Well, he asked about brew pub cities. It got a bit twisted (by me and others) but in truth, it's hard to argue with Portland as far as brew pubs. Philly has plenty of them, but not like Portland.

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That's true. Portland, ME is among the top brew pub cities in the country. In particular, two of the beer bars in Portland (Novare Res and Great Lost Bear) both often rank among the top 10 beer bars in the country in various magazines (by everyone from beer-centric sources like Beer Advocate, Barleycorn, and Malt Advocate to general foodie pubs like Gourmet).

In addition to being a great current city for beer, it's got some of the most historically important breweries in the country. The Geary's cofounders (who also founded Shipyard) were among the first to travel to Europe and bring microbrewing techniques to the US, and brought the first post-Prohibition crops of Fuggles and other hops to the US to make traditional hops varietals available for US brewers.

Allagash, Maine Beer Company, and other breweries in the city are among the tops in the nation.

For fans of minor trivia, there's another city out in the Oregon territory that was founded over 200 later and named after Portland (the two co-founders actually tossed a coin to decide whether to name it Portland or Boston). They have a pretty decent beer scene, too.


(More seriously, I always find it bizarre when west coasters consider "Portland" without further specification to mean Portland, OR; to someone from the northeast, that's as weird as thinking that "Sacramento" means Sacramento, Kentucky or "Boston" means Boston, Georgia).

SumnerH said:

(More seriously, I always find it bizarre when west coasters consider "Portland" without further specification to mean Portland, OR; to someone from the northeast, that's as weird as thinking that "Sacramento" means Sacramento, Kentucky or "Boston" means Boston, Georgia).

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That's because nobody cares about Portland, Maine

For my personal taste I dig the Southern California stuff. We have everything from The Bruery to Stone. But you can't argue with any of the other regions as well.