What are the best "local" beers?

Stick with me here, hopefully I can get across what I am thinking!

I see all these great beers that aren't really available nationwide unless you find someone to trade with (Heady, Pliny, 3F ZD, Lawson's Finest, etc.) but I also see cryptic "the grass is always greener" quips, so I am wondering - what are the best local beers in each major (or even minor) area of craft brewing? Since I am in NC, I can't get Pliny or Heady very easily, but I can get Wicked Weed stuff and most everything I have tried has been phenomenally good. I've had NoDa's "Hop, Drop, 'n Roll" when it was in the can less than a week.

To point - what are your area's best beers that you can say "Well, I might never have had PtE, but I bet you've never had..."

I will go with a few I know (and can remember):

Wicked Weed's "Pernicious" - a truly great IPA, and it just won a silver medal at one of the big beer fests! WW has LOTS of good brews - the Tyrant red IPA, the offshoot Tyranny red DIPA, and I've tried a couple of sours but don't know the names. I want more WW stuff, but some of them are just out of my price range, too!

I recently had an IPA from Lone Rider out of Raleigh called "Hoppy Kai Yay!" and thought it was the best beer from that company I've ever had.

Aviator Brewing Co. has a few good beers, but I really like their Hop Head Red (although I think they have renamed it since I had it).

Foothills Brewing makes a lot of really decent beer, but I was really impressed with their "Jade" IPA.

I know I am forgetting a few, but I can always come back... so, let me here where you are and what is exceptionally good there!

 

Troegs is my favorite local brewery by far. Nearly everything they put out makes me happy. Although, their distribution footprint is getting huge now, so not so "local" anymore. Hell, I know you can get their stuff all the way down where you live. Victory is also pretty solid.

 

There are a lot of great breweries and a lot of great beers that could make this list, and I always fear leaving out some good ones when answering this. So, with caveat I can always update, I'll begin with two IPAs that I'm often asked to trade; Hoptopus by Reaver Beach, and Wapatoolie by Commonwealth.

Hoptopus is absolutely amazing and the fact I can get it fresh on a regular basis is a plus. It's a piney, citrusy nectar with a rich malt that cuts 100+ IBUs to the perfect balance. I have a sixler in my kegerator right now. It's also sold in cans throughout the area.

Wapatoolie is an all Brett IPA. It's a tropical fruit assault on the senses (in a good way). It too brings a rich malt balance and clean finish, and is a must try. It is only available on tap so far.

Additionally, O'Connor makes some incredible beers too. While all of their offerings are quality, they took a lot of medals at recent competitions including Best In Show runner-up at the VA Craft Beer Festival for their Campfire smoked IPA (I think I still have a bottle).

Again, this is not all inclusive, and I hope the breweries I may not have mentioned still let me through their doors.

 

Wife brought me back a couple dozen bottles from Ashville last Summer and I will agree that every WW I tried was pretty stellar, and the Pernicious was one of my faves.

 

Ghost in the Machine from Parish Brewing is the best local beer around here.

 

Troegs & Victory - most everything I have tried by them is wonderful!

marckw - those sound great, and you aren't that far from me... less than 3 hours, and if I can time it right when I go to see my uncle who lives on the other side (from me) of Lake Gaston...

 

Since moving to South MS a few years ago the local breweries are starting to pop up. A couple of favorites

Chandeleur Curlews Coconut Porter. This one kind of surprised me. Much better than I expected.

Crooked Letter Mystery Romp Mocha Porter. Good enough for breakfast.

Southern Prohibition Lazarus. This is a very good Porter. So much so that my wife who does not generally like any beer loves this.

Lazy Magnolia 10. Their 10th Anniversary inspired by their Southern Pecan Brown Ale.

 

There are a few breweries in Columbia, all of them great imho, but I rarely get to try them since the bulk of their offerings are on draft only, and I would have to leave the house for that. Seriously, who has the time?

I'll second Foothills. Some might say "a Pilsner is a Pilsner", but I really enjoy their offering which goes by the name "Torch"

I don't know if these qualify, since distribution has gone up for them in the last few years, but Oskar Blues makes some FANTASTIC beer (Dale's Pale being a top 10er for me), as does Westbrook (Rye Pale Ale is pretty amazing, and so is their White Thai).

Holy City (based out of Charleston SC) has a fantastic "Pluff Mud Porter" too.

 

Yes! Westbrook makes good stuff, at least what I've tried. The rye, their IPA, and their Gose all are outstanding!

 

This thread died a quiet death...

 

I stopped in there a couple of years ago and really liked a wheat beer that they had. Really liked the growler with the insulator sleeve around it too.

 

I'd put Community Brewing in Dallas up there with the best in the world. Their Mosaic IPA is great, BUT THE Legion RIS is phenomenal, and the barrel aged version is over the moon good.

 

Fremont (Seattle) BBA beers. They are starting to get some notice, but I feel they are still highly underrated.

 

In Colorado, there are probably too many underrated small breweries that don't distribute to mention(I think there's about a brewery per 10 people here) but if I had to think of an individual beer that fits the spirit of this thread, I'd say:

Comrade Brewing's Superpower IPA - one of the best IPAs I've ever tried, and I've had a lot of the biggies. All it's missing is the hype. Although it does have quite a bit of hype in the local market. I think it's draft only.

I don't think Crooked Stave distributes too widely, so that would be another uniquely local Colorado thing.

Some of the small batch stuff from some of the more famous Colorado places like Odell and New Belgium can be pretty spectacular.

Dan

 

Was the wheat beer named Canebrake?

 

I'm a huge fan of Off Color brewing in my area. All of their better known stuff like Apex Predator is phenomenal, and their one-offs can be truly spectacular. Hopefully someday soon they will open a taproom because then I think I would just move in.

 

north mountain's NIB. that's all.

 

Had to go look at the sticker they put on the lid, but yes it was.

Bought the growler on the way to my sisters in Westlake and haven't actually used it since.

 

I was also surprised by Curlew's, I am drinking a Little Smack IPA now.

Lazy Magnolia 10 proves that they can still make good beer. around 8 years or so ago, Southern Pecan was my favorite beer. They have since been having issues.

Good stuff coming from SoPro

Paul and the gang at Crooked Letter are a great group.

I am excited about getting Slow Boat up here soon.

@slym2none you should pop in the Local Only Trade Thread sometime.

 

Speaking of Lonerider, Sweet Josie is a real standout. And I bought Foothills' Oktoberfest for as long as I could find it this fall. Really miss that beer...

 

I'm pretty spoiled living in the sf Bay Area . For me if say Heretic. Mainly because they are the definition of local for me, five minutes from the house. They are getting bigger though, kind of outgrowing the local only label. Mare Island brewing would be another local one in Vallejo I was surprised was really good. Russian river and Almanac if I branched out regionally are two of my favorites. There are so many others it would take a while to try them all, especially when you mostly drink homebrew like I do.

 

Lucky enough to have Tree House and Trillium close by.

 

Yet to have a beer from off color that was bad or less then really good.

 

South jersey. Jersey in general. Capeay brewing co. Gt there ipa. Or if ur in tap room try anything. Always 10+ beers on tap. Great place. Great beer

 

My daily ritual for the past 3 months:
- come home from work, change into something more suited to being lazy
- grab a bottle of Apex Predator from the fridge
- play Fallout 4 for an hour or two

I will start to get anxiety when I only have 1 of them left. I was not happy the few days I had to have some other saison instead

 

Weyerbacher is local and pretty awesome. Not sure how far their distribution goes from the Tri-State Area (Eastern PA, Northern NJ)

Also, Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co. Kinda new on the scene. But delivering some kick-ass beers.

 

Also live in NC so all op listed. Also not sure if it counts as local but sierra nevada since they do have a brewery here. I definitely drink that more than the others. We don't have very good micro breweries here. At least what I can get on the coast. We do have some really great brew pubs that rarely brew the same thing more than once.

 

Trillium is like 10 minutes from my work. Which doesn't help the savings account

 

LOL, it seems to have died. But most people are not really sure how far their local beers make it.

By that I mean, my "top" local beers are from Bells, Half Acre and 3 floyds.

So I am never far from Zombie Dust/Gumball Head, Gone Away or Daisy Cutter, Bells two hearted etc.

and Revolution/goose island/ capitol/ etc etc

 

+1 to this in a big way. Wish I could still buy cases of JavaHead for $30. Or at all.

New England Brewing Co. is pretty damn good, but their distribution network is tiny (<20 mi). I suppose I can't count Tree House since it's technically in another state, but believe me...it's not local to anything. And it's just as close to me as any other reputable brewery.

 

Flat12, based in Indianapolis, and available in grocery stores here in the southern part of the state, is about as solid as any craft brewery in this part of the country, never had a bad beer from them. Lots of small brewing outfits here in Indiana and Kentucky, with most turning out quite a few good beers, along with some not so good, but none seem to have the consistency of Flat12.

Side note: had 3Floyds LazerSnake tonight, I know I'll probably get flamed for this, but damn, that stuff is, (in my opinion) better than Zombie Dust! If you get a chance to try it, definitely do so!

 

Southeast PA is graced by Victory and Troëgs, but Tired Hands puts out some unique and delicious brews.

My favorite of their is Alien Curch, a light gold bit flavorful IPA like you've not tasted anywhere else.

 

Those that might be traveling thru Brooklyn NY, check out Other Half Brewing. The few i have had from there are amazing.

 

Chicago has a lot of great breweries that don't distribute very far from home. Half Acre, Revolution, and Pipeworks ar the most notable, plus FFF is just down the road.

Half Acre's Double Daisy Cutter is a hophead's wet dream

 

Local for me = able to get my hands on "it" somewhat fresh.
Cigar City IPAs
Terrpapin IPAs
Beer Camp by SN - 2016


The guy that has all of these beers has a crappy / overcrowded store.
Some of his inventory is dusty...and he is a beer moron who is mildly rude.
He burns incense all of the time in there...SWHMBO...with her asthma, will not go in there...thinking about setting up shop and running him out of business.

 

Heavy Seas and Flying Dog from Maryland both make spectacular beers! I think Flying Dog might have a larger distribution, but I don't even think Heavy Seas is available as close as Central PA.

 

Quite happy with my location. I can drive to Tree House, Alchemist, Trillium, Hill Farmstead all on a day trip. But there are some great ones even more local. Able Ebeneezer makes some damn fine beer, White Birch as well. Both are super close. Then going slightly larger I have 603 and Henniker close by. Not to mention the joy that is Portsmouth, Portland, and Boston.

 

Being in NH and working in Boston, I'm in a prime location for all of those juicy NE IPAs, especially trillium. Also gotta love bissell brothers in Portland! View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1459079754.372009.jpg

 

Oh, well we appear to live very close to each other! I'm about 10 minutes from 603, 15 from Able Ebeneezer

 

A trip to NH sounds interesting... I will just have to put up with being made fun of because, to them, I'll sound like a hick.