Name Your Micro

Epic (the NZ one, haven't tried the US one). Or Emerson's (again NZ beer....)

 

Victory - Hopdevil, Moonglow, St. Victorious, and Storm King
Sam Adams - just about everything besides Coastal Wheat and the Cranberry Lambic

These are the the just about the only two commercial micro breweries that I go to my local shops to buy sixers/cases. Of course, I do TRY as many different micro brews as possible, but these are my regulars when not drinking homebrew.

 

Victory, Allagash, Deschutes, Dogfish Head. Nuff said. I think I would have more for that list if Texas would just allow more to enter the state.

 

Two Brothers in Warrenville, IL...

 

My favorites are Founders, Flying Dog, Stone, Dogfish Head, and Short's. I don't like some of Short's brews, but I give them credit for trying crazy recipes. Wife is taking me to Founders Brewery next month for my birthday, so I'm pretty excited about that!

 

I had a Victory Hopdevil last weekend. OMG it was amazing.

I also had a Samuel Smith dopplebock (I think it was samuel smith)....amazing

 

Flying Dog is pretty good.

I've heard mixed reviews about Dogfish....makes me reluctant to buy a 6 pack.

 

I try to expand my horizons but I keep coming back to Founders - Centennial IPA, Red's Rye, Robust Porter, KBS, the list goes on...

 

Dogfish Head does have some peculiar brews, but they are definitely worth a try. I say buy a sixer. If you don't like it, at least you tried it!

 

I would have to agree with you here. When I'm at the store and I can't decide what to get, I usually get something Founders. Centennial IPA is definitely my go-to-brew. And their porter is outstanding!

 

Oooh.. I had Schlafly's IPA a few months back when I was in KC. It was really good!

 

Troegs.

 

WRONG. it was this Autumnal Fire

But I was correct about it being amazing.

 

Great Lakes Brewing Company!

 

US: Craft/Micros: no particular order
Founders
Southern Tier
Stone
Smuttynose
Troges
Sixpoints

Foreign: Craft/Micro
mikkeller
De Struise
De Glazen Toren

 

Black Lotus ... great IPA, but mostly because it's within walking distance.

 

Some Canadian micros I like:

N.S:

Propeller (Most people prefer this to any other Halifax brewery, their Porter is their best offering in my opinion)
Garrison - (Never been too impressed, but this guy started out as a small scale home brewer and is known for supplying home brewers with advice/resources)
Granite - Granite brews in Halifax and in Toronto (Peculiar is very good)

Ontario:

Beau's (IPeh, Nightmarzen)
Scotch Irish (Imperial stout is fantastic)
Kawartha Lakes Brewing (APA, the rest are merely OK)
Church-Key Brewing (Black IPA is excellent)
Wellington (Strong Ale)

 

I'm voting for Avery. EVERYONE should get the chance to go around the fort collins and boulder area of CO for beers some time in their life. It has some amazing breweries in a very small area. Oskar blues, Avery, Mountain Sun, New Belgium, Ft. Collins brewery, O'dells, Left Hand, and lots more. Literally 5-10 minute car rides to each stop. Its a very drunk day. For those of you that have only had Avery from your local store, I tell you, the actually brewery is better by far. Adam is a cool guy who is pushing the boundaries and I am constantly impressed with the list of beers they have. Some of the one off runs of barrel conditioned beers are just plain incredible. And unfortuantely for you guys that dont live in CO, you would be hard pressed to get a chance to try it.

 

The nerd in me can't help but point out that the Brewer's Association defines a microbrewery as any brewery with a production of less than 15,000 bbl/yr and sells 75% or more of its beer off-site. I honestly don't think an American microbrewery that falls under that definition has been mentioned yet (except maybe Short's, I'm not sure of their production numbers). I think Dark Horse would be my pick for that definition.

However, I don't want to be a complete stick in the mud so I will also add that my favorite brewery is Founders, although Dark Horse and Foothills are up there too.

 

I'm split between Founders and Bells, what can I say, I like the local stuff...

 

Russian River, Stone, Victory, Yards, Ommegang

 

Flying Dog for me. I love their IPA.

 

Caldera Brewing out of ashland oregon. Check them out if you can find them.

6 pack of cans that will change anything you thought about canned beer. Don't like cans? pour it in a glass.

 

Good Lord. It's like asking what your favourite band is, it depends on the mood I'm in at the time. Probably easier if I go with a top five...

Bear Republic - their stable beers are pretty good, but I had the benefit of going to their annual cellar party a couple of weeks ago, where I got to taste some of their submissions to GABF.

Russian River - need I say more?

Sierra Nevada - for being the pioneers they are, a solid lineup of beers, commitment to quality, and as someone else said, Torpedo is an EXCELLENT (and comparatively cheap!) hop bomb.

Founders - nothing but good things to say about everything I've had from them. (Can't get them here in CA, alas...)

Rogue - What can I say, I'm a fan. Their range of beers has something for everyone, and several of them are pretty damn good. I can head into the alehouse in San Francisco anytime, and get a beer that suits me.

 

From the few that I have sampled, gotta go with Deschutes, Ninkasi, and the Maibock at Fearless brewery in Estacada, Oregon.

 

Odell Brewing Co. :rockin:

 

Its because our local stuff rules the midwest Dark horse is up there for me as well. West Coast stuff I get in trades has all impressed me. Green Flash, Alesmith, Russian River, Lost Abbey, Deschutes, Avery etc..... So many good beers out that way.

 

Deschutes- Black Butte & Red Chair are great but a close second is Scuttlesbutt's Sequoia Red.

 

Bell's - Oberon Ale
New Glarus - Dancing Man Wheat
Ommegang - Hennepin or Ommegang

My wife is a big fan of
Dark Horse - Reserve Special Black Ale or Tres Blueberry Stout
New Glarus - Road Slush

 

Dark Horse in Marshall, Michigan. I just tried their Sapient Trip Ale on tap the other evening and considering I'm not a huge fan of Belgian styles I thuroughly enjoyed it. Their Double Crooked Tree (IIPA) is one of, if not the best I've ever had.

 

Two of my favorites are Bear Republic and Southern Tier. Ask me again in a couple of weeks and my answer will probably be different. There are just SO many great micros out there.

What do people think of Firestone Walker? I've never had a chance to try any of their beers, but they did really well at GABF.

 

Odells for me - although if Surly was available in my area I would certainly be sucking some of those down!

 

Rogue and Deschutes for me.

 

Have to go with Founders, especially if you go to the Taproom. What I had on tap at Bluegrass Brewing Company the other day was pretty spectacular, although I find their bottled beers a little inconsistent. Honestly, though, I'm just happy to have so many incredible beers to choose from when I head to the store.

 

Rohrbachs Brewing Co. Rochester, NY...Their Highland Lager, Scotch Ale cant be beat.

 

Three Floyds in Munster Indiana is my #1 I love living so close

 

Sierra nevada hands down. Other breweries might have better beers, but their line up across the board, their process, and what they do can't be beat. They're green initiative, and self sustainability goal is awesome, the concept of the estate ale, they only use whole leaf hops, they open ferment their hefe, etc. amazing stuff they do.

 

Microbrewery by definition is a brewery generally producing fewer than 10,000 barrels of beer yearly....So many of the ones being named are not Microbrews.........

Just saying........

 

Actually it's 15,000 bbl... I covered that earlier.

But the OP made his intent obvious in the beginning, so why get bogged down by semantics?

 

Love that. It seems to mean: I just said something, but it really doesn't mean anything.... Or am I misunderstanding. Ya know, just saying........