Is your town a beer town?

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carnevoodoo

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I was thinking about all the places in the country I've been and how hard it must be for some of you in the midwest and south where there never seemed to be an abundance of great beer flowing.

We've got Ballast Point, Stone, Alesmith, Port Brewing, Lost Abbey, Left Coast, Coronado, and many more. Plus we have a few bars with 24+ taps with an amazing selection. I like walking into the place down the street and being able to get the Petrus Monk's Cafe flemish brown sour.

I consider myself very lucky to live in San Diego right now.

Where are you from and how do you get your hands on the beer you like that you don't make yourself?
 
No beer near here. I've got zero breweries within 30 miles and over 60 between 30 & 50 miles!
 
Central, PA isn't too terrible. It's getting much better.

I can think of a bunch of micros/brewpubs within 1-2 hour drive of Harrisburg:

1) Appalachian Brewing Co.
2) Troegs
3) Weyerbacher
4) Victory
5) Rock Bottom
6) Selins Grove Brewing Co.
7) Bullfrog Brewing Co.
8) Barley Creek Brewing Co.
9) Ottos Pub and Brewery
10) Bube's (if they got a new headbrewer? - at the Catacombs - Mt. Joy)
11) Sligh Fox
12) Market Cross Pub (brews 2-3 house beers in addition to a great selection of others)
13) Lancaster Brewing Co.
I'm probably forgetting a few...

There is also a few pubs nearby with a good selection (20+ Taps, 75-100-150+ Bottles). Zeno's in State College. Brewhouse Grille in Camp Hill. Market Cross in Carlisle.

Etc.

Unfortunately a lot of those mentioned above are brew-pubs only (some smaller scale than others) or don't distribute with a very long arm (ex// Appalachian distributes but probably only the nearby tri-state type area)...
 
Arizona is not a beer state.

Like most things culturally or man-made;
Imported CA, NY, Midwest, Canada
Transient
Short-lived
Seasonal
Hated by Natives
 
Texas is a beer state with loads of breweries. Here in Austin, we have Live Oak, Independance, The Bitter End, The Draught House, and North by Northwest to name a few. Not too far off, we have St. Arnolds, the Fredericksburg Brewing Co., Spoetzel (home of Shiner Bock) and Real Ale Brewing.
 
Nestled between Milwaukee and St. Louis, Chicago is a town for BM drinkers. We have Goose Island, Three Floyds (nearby) Two Brothers, and that's about it for the ones you've heard of. We also import Corona. We also have Pabst and Old Style.
 
Cheesefood said:
Chicago is a town for BM drinkers.

Yeah, I never noticed what a poor beer town it was until I moved away...some good beer bars (Map Room, Hopleaf, Edgewater Tavern -- a dive, but they have Rogue selections on tap, the Charlie's Ale Houses aren't too bad for their micro selection, the old Ranalli's on Lincoln) but not much that's truly local. Hell, I couldn't even find an LHBS anywhere on the north side.

On the plus side, I think Goose has one of the strongest across-the-board lineups you'll find.

Pittsburgh's much the same, and what few small brewers we have are so-so...Church Brew Works (just what the name says, a brewery in a big ol' church, with the fermenters right up on the altar), FOundry Ale Works (though I think they may have gone under), Penn Brewing, and the best of the bunch is tiny little East End Brewing. Some good beer bars, particularly if you like Belgians, and a couple of great sixpack shops. If I go to the Beer Cave, it seems like I can find damn near any beer someone mentions on this board (mild exagerration), and they'll let you mix and match to make 6ers.
 
I go to school 15 minutes from FX Matt Brewery (One of my favorite places to) and when I am home I am 45 minutes from Blue Point Brewery and Brooklyn Brewery
 
SilkkyBrew said:
Central, PA isn't too terrible. It's getting much better.

I can think of a bunch of micros/brewpubs within 1-2 hour drive of Harrisburg:

1) Appalachian Brewing Co.
2) Troegs
3) Weyerbacher
4) Victory
5) Rock Bottom
6) Selins Grove Brewing Co.
7) Bullfrog Brewing Co.
8) Barley Creek Brewing Co.
9) Ottos Pub and Brewery
10) Bube's (if they got a new headbrewer? - at the Catacombs - Mt. Joy)
11) Sligh Fox
12) Market Cross Pub (brews 2-3 house beers in addition to a great selection of others)
13) Lancaster Brewing Co.
I'm probably forgetting a few...

14) Stoudt's
 
So does asking for a DFH 120 get you a bud?

Like I mentioned once before. In a certain small town in Saskatchewan, I asked if they had "Pale ale" and the response was, "Pale ale? (pause) Never heard of that brand".
 
I also happen to live in a great beertown...that happens to be in a great beer state...located in a great beer region, the Pacific Northwest! I can walk to 8 breweries from my house. The closest being a block and a half away and the furthest being a 20 minute walk.

Edit: 9 breweries, I forgot Stix! and I work there on occasion.:eek:
 
Nice!

I worked for tree in kelowna for a bit. I've been trying to move back to Victoria but job offers etc keep throwing back my move date. Good beer there. several brewpubs and breweries. And cute chicks that drink stout.
 
New Mexico has $hit for beer...

None in my town, one brewpub within 60 miles (High Desert in Las Cruces...not bad), and Sierra Blanca Brewing in Moriarty - whose beer I haven't really enjoyed. Albuquerque might have some good local breweries, but that's quite a drive for me.

Now, if BP wanted to go commercial again, I'd change my mind in a heartbeat, I'm sure!
 
Bike N Brew said:
14) Stoudt's

Oh yeah. My GF lives 15 mins from there, so its second nature to "forget it". But, now that we mention it.

15) Union Barrel Works (it's also in adamstown/rheemstown - new and direct competition with the more established stoudts)
 
SilkkyBrew said:
Oh yeah. My GF lives 15 mins from there, so its second nature to "forget it". But, now that we mention it.

15) Union Barrel Works (it's also in adamstown/reamstown (sp corrected) - new and direct competition with the more established stoudts)
You're talkin' 'bout my hometown now! I was just there two weeks ago and tried some of Stoudt's newer offerings. Wish I'd have known about UBW!

16) Yuengling - a little further away, but VERY established
17) Iron City - wrong side of the state, but their Light kicks BMC's ass
 
I'd say yes.
We have the Great American beer festival, this year's National Homwbrewers Conference, the only major league ball park with a brew pub in it, and lots of micro breweries and brew pubs. :mug:
 
SilkkyBrew said:
Central, PA isn't too terrible. It's getting much better.

I can think of a bunch of micros/brewpubs within 1-2 hour drive of Harrisburg:

1) Appalachian Brewing Co.
2) Troegs
3) Weyerbacher
4) Victory
5) Rock Bottom
6) Selins Grove Brewing Co.
7) Bullfrog Brewing Co.
8) Barley Creek Brewing Co.
9) Ottos Pub and Brewery
10) Bube's (if they got a new headbrewer? - at the Catacombs - Mt. Joy)
11) Sligh Fox
12) Market Cross Pub (brews 2-3 house beers in addition to a great selection of others)
13) Lancaster Brewing Co.
I'm probably forgetting a few...

There is also a few pubs nearby with a good selection (20+ Taps, 75-100-150+ Bottles). Zeno's in State College. Brewhouse Grille in Camp Hill. Market Cross in Carlisle.

Etc.

Unfortunately a lot of those mentioned above are brew-pubs only (some smaller scale than others) or don't distribute with a very long arm (ex// Appalachian distributes but probably only the nearby tri-state type area)...

That's accessibility to east and west is prb one of the nice things about you being in the central part of the state. Selingsgrove is quite a hike for me.:(
 
brewt00l said:
That's accessibility to east and west is prb one of the nice things about you being in the central part of the state. Selingsgrove is quite a hike for me.:(

That's unfortunate... the Selins Grove brewpub is one of a few of its kind. None of the other 15-16 we've named off in PA are the same as the small, little, dimly-lit pub, colonial feel pub in Selinsgrove. They make some great brew though!!
 
SilkkyBrew said:
That's unfortunate... the Selins Grove brewpub is one of a few of its kind. None of the other 15-16 we've named off in PA are the same as the small, little, dimly-lit pub, colonial feel pub in Selinsgrove. They make some great brew though!!


3+ hours....some time I'll get out there. Course, we have plenty of distractions around here as is.
 
Portland, OR.

Don't think there is a bigger beer town than Portland. Last I heard we had maybe 50-60 breweries total.
 
crisis said:
Portland, OR.

Don't think there is a bigger beer town than Portland. Last I heard we had maybe 50-60 breweries total.

Portland is amazing for beer. It is the only town that tempts me to move from San Diego.
 
carnevoodoo said:
I was thinking about all the places in the country I've been and how hard it must be for some of you in the midwest and south where there never seemed to be an abundance of great beer flowing.



Apparently you weren't looking very hard when you were in the Midwest. In WI we have:

New Glarus,

Point Brewing Co.,

Sprecher,

Lakefront,

Huber,

Tyrannea,

Capital,

a bunch if brewpubs,
and a host of others I can't think of right now
 
Little Rock is not a Beer town and Arkansas is not a beer state. We have a handful of brewpubs and one micro (that I don't care for). It's the Bible belt. Although, we are better than some other sin the belt.

BTW I live in a dry county. The closest town is dry. But my zip code is for a small town just across the county line with all the liquer stores we run to.
 
Corpus is deffinatly NOT a beer town...

It's barely even a college town!

The only HBS we have here is a tiny sh ithole liquor store.

There is B&J's Pizza though that is pretty well stocked, besides that nearly everyone drinks Budlight or Corona...MAYBE Dos Equis
 
There are two brewpubs within walking distance, the Powerhouse and the Ram (Bighorn brewery), and then Seattle is 40 miles to the North. Issaquah and Bellingham have some fantastic breweries too, and the allmighty mecca of Portland, OR is only a 3 hour drive.

EDIT: Almost forgot Redmond! The Puget Sound is great beer territory.
 
My area is definantly not a beer town. I live in North Central West Virginia, and we only have one micro brewery within an hour drive. Grant it the place makes really good beer, but one brewery does not make a beer town. Many bars, even some of the larger ones only have BMC or maybe BMC plus Corona and Newcastle. The funny thing is the few bars that have good beer selections sell alot of good stuff b/c they are getting all of the people that drink the better beers.
 
Yuri_Rage said:
You're talkin' 'bout my hometown now! I was just there two weeks ago and tried some of Stoudt's newer offerings. Wish I'd have known about UBW!

16) Yuengling - a little further away, but VERY established
17) Iron City - wrong side of the state, but their Light kicks BMC's ass

Also:

18) Iron Hill Breweries (several of them now)
19) McKenzies (2 locations in Philly area - decent beer bad food and service)
20) Yards Brew Co
21) Flying Fish (across the river in NJ, but still a good local)


And, for anyone doing a google search, Sligh Fox, should be spelled Sly Fox. That is good stuff...
 
The Barley mill brewpub in Penticton is good and Salmon Arm has a new brewpub that I hear is good.

And Jack brews decent beer at Freddy's, though his selection is a bity lacking. To many people ordering Bud at a brewpub can do that. Did you know Jack is a retired Labbatt's brewmaster? 35 years as one.
 
All of the microbreweries/brew pubs I've seen in Seoul only serve:
-Mediocre dunkel
-Mediocre helles
-Mediocre weizen

And they all taste almost exactly the same :(

Except for one place that has a 8 beers, 7 of which are watery and mediocre and one of which is an awesome but very inconsistent Belgian gold ale (8.5% alcohol).
 
I like to think of a beer town as a town that has easily accessible decent-to-good beer. I think Tucson, AZ fits the bill. Every restaraunt I go to, even Applebee's and Chili's, has at least one microbrew or seasonal Sam Adams on tap. Plus there are 4 or so MicroBrew restaraunt/pub places in town. It isn't anything big here, but it's much more enjoyable than Florida where i used to live.

I'm visiting Florida now for a month and everywhere I go places seem to have about 5-7 beers on tap. But they're all the same, everywhere. Bud, Bud Light, Miller Light, Coors Light, Mich Ultra and Amber Bock. The places that do get adventurous throw in a Yuengling, Heineken, or maybe a Sam Adams. You have to go to Old Chicago or one of two bars that I know that carry more than 1 craft/import beer. And there's 3 million people in this area.
 
I think the beer scene in cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland have really improved in recent years. They are still mostly BMC cities but there are a number of jewels to be found if you know where to go.
Cleveland has a great microbrewery in Great Lakes which has a really good brewpub attached. Right around the corner is Biermart which is a nice bar specializing in Belgian imports.
In the suburbs is a couple great brew pubs in Rocky River Brewing and Willoughby Brewing. One of the local resturant/bar chains carries 100 different beers. And my LHBS has more varietys of beer than I can count.
Definitely not a west coast or Colorado type environment but near as bad as it was just a few years ago.

Craig
 
Ryan_PA said:
Also:

18) Iron Hill Breweries (several of them now)
19) McKenzies (2 locations in Philly area - decent beer bad food and service)
20) Yards Brew Co
21) Flying Fish (across the river in NJ, but still a good local)


And, for anyone doing a google search, Sligh Fox, should be spelled Sly Fox. That is good stuff...

22) Nodding Head - Samson St. in Philadelphia. Discovered this place this past weekend when down for my SWMBO's birthday event. Didn't have time to check it out, but we'll get back sometime.
 
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