Whats the best brew pub area in the US?

Actually it's not about "best beer city".
Its about the largest concentration of good brew pubs and tap houses.

I'd like to see quite a few to get ideas and learn more about it.

Also a enjoyable trip with great scenery helps a lot.

 

Thanks for the tips!

I will see if I can actually strech all the way to Seattle. I think it isnt too far from Portland and might be worth it.

It will be hard to cover all this in little over a week.

 

Thank you for your tips!

Will look for all this

 

Actually, it's not just westies. It's probably everyone in the country from about Providence south and west. Unfair, especially since (as you noted), the one out west was named after the one up your way!

 

Same here... I always get mad when people don't consider York, UK when speaking of New York!

 

Was just out in San Francisco a month ago, and while I didn't see a lot of "brew pubs" I had a lot of very good local micro brews served a bars/pubs/restaurants/even the hotel bar!!

 

Whatever you do, don't wander into Wyoming. We got nothing here

I gotta say, though, from my visits to Colorado, it seems there's more there than you could ever get too, and the scenery in the rockies (Wyoming and Colorado) is outstanding!

 

Not to take anything away from San D (I love the city), but 31 doesn't pass up the 34 in Portland. Unless they changed the way they count, or a couple of breweries in Portland closed that I wasn't aware of.

Also, to the original poster.

If you are coming to Portland, some other things to not miss out on.

Widmer Brothers
McMenamin's (One of the larger ones, Edgefield or Kennedy School)
Hair of the Dog (this can be tricky to find a day he is open, but VERY cool)
Bridgeport
Amnesia (I actually really enjoy going here, it has a different vibe)
Raccoon Lodge

For other stuff, the Green Dragon would be good to go to, it is owned by Rogue now, but lots of drinking to be done there.

BTW, If you make it up here, shoot me a PM, I'll be happy to go do some brewery tours / drinking with you. I'll also share some homebrew.

Cheers,
John

 

For highest concentration, Portland, OR might be your best bet, as has been mentioned. I lived there in 1997, and it is a beautiful, very progressive city. The Pacific Coast Highway alone would be a fantastic trip, coming from someone born and raised in the Golden State.

You might want to do some research on this site: http://brewpubzone.com/

Although they did omit The Brickstore Pub in Decatur, GA. Currently the #2 rated beer bar in the world according to Beer Advocate magazine. They have over 300 beers, and each one is served in the appropriate style glass.

 

I'm sure that place is great and all, but I really don't think taking BA's word on that sort of thing matters. They are typically slanted in ways that make little sense, and honestly the beer ratings on their site are useless.

 

This place is a one of a kind. They do mention Twains, which is also good (and only a few blocks away), but when you see the beer list at Brickstore, it is amazing. It is a sort of looseleaf binder. I think it is about 5-7 pages, broken down by style.

 

To be honest, I look at the Brickstore beer list online (which I've been told is updated regularly) and I'm not all that impressed. My local here in Gainesville, Fl has a better tap list and a larger bottle list.

I guess I will have to make the trip up there to really decide but from here it just doesn't seem worth it.

 

If you got a brewpub that carries more than 130 Belgians, than you are a lucky man.
They may update the online list often, but it is not complete, I can tell you. Reading the paper menu is daunting, and very hard to make a selection because there is so much to choose from. Unless you are a professional beer aficionado, it might not be worth making a trip specifically for Brickstore, but I'd definitely recommend it if you are in the area with an hour or two to kill.

 

I've never counted the number of Belgians as I don't typically drink bottled beer when I go out but I do know they have over 400 bottles at any given time and in the past two months have had a number of hard to get beers on tap.

 

IMO it is San Diego vs Portland (OR) vs Denver area, each equally phenomenal. Philly has good Belgian Beer Bars but weak local brews...

 

Brickstore is awesome. Trappeze in Athens is right up there, too.

There are a ton of places like that on the east coast, BTW. e.g. if you started in FL and drove north you could stop at a bunch of awesome spots that can hook you up with a ton of Belgians. Might make a good driving tour, actually.

Orlando, FL http://www.yelp.com/biz/redlight-redlight-orlando
GA the aforementioned pair
Asheville, NC http://monkpub.com/
Various locations, VA http://www.capitalalehouse.com
Washington, DC http://www.churchkeydc.com/
Baltimore, MD http://maxs.com/
Philadelphia, PA http://www.monkscafe.com
New York, NY http://www.spuytenduyvilnyc.com/bottles.htm
Amherst, MA http://www.moananddove.com/the-happening/
Portland, ME http://www.novareresbiercafe.com and http://www.greatlostbear.com/

And finish up at:
Lovell, ME http://ebenezerspub.net/ (35 Belgians on tap and 700+ bottled)

 

If I were to do this I would change it up a bit in Florida, I don't know enough about the other areas (aside from Asheville) to make any further recommendations.

Fly in to Tampa and spend a couple days there visiting the various breweries and bars in the area. Specifically Cigar City, Dunedin Brewery, St. Somewhere, Peg's Cantina and Tampa Bay Brewing.

Go to Orlando and check out Redlight Redlight, Orlando Brewing Partners and have a nice meal at the Ravenous Pig.

Head up to Gainesville to check out Swamp Head and Stubbies and Steins (a place I much prefer to Redlight Redlight.)

Head over to Jacksonville to hit up Kickbacks, 7 Bridges and Bold City.

Then off to Atlanta...

 

Cigar City is fantastic. It's almost there already, but as the rep spreads it's going to be considered one of the top American breweries.

 

Thank you for the recommendations!

You will receive a PM as soon as I get the schedules down.
Thanks a lot for the info! Much appreciated.

 

Portland is a smaller city than San Diego, and a slightly smaller city than Denver. So, if you're looking for the concentration of brew pubs, then then you'll probably find it in Portland. Also, the public transit is pretty decent. You can also take a brew bus tour. I think they run about $40 of 4-5 breweries. Ussually you make it to at least one really decent breweries- last year I we went to Hopworks, Roots, Lucky Lab, and I think the old MacTarnahhans taproom.

http://www.brewbus.com/

 

Very nice!
I guess I have a bus tour to take =)

 

They are great and are really great guys as well. I try to stop by the brewery for a beer and a growler whenever I'm in Tampa.

 

Being born & bred in Boston, I have to say we have a great beer city. Plus, with all that the New England area has to offer beerwise, it's a can't lose trip (plus there's great scenery and tourist type crap). That being said, my favorite beer related trip has got to be San Diego. Tons of brewpubs in that area. I have been out there twice and would go 100 more times if I could. I'm sure many of these other towns listed are great as well, you just have to see what else interests you in these areas. I applaud you on picking your destination on what the area has to offer beerwise. Usually, when I travel, my wife & I pick a destination and then I research the beer scene. Have fun on your trip and let us know how it turned out.

P.S. If you do pick the Boston area, the American Craft Beer Fest will be held June 18th & 19th at the Seaport World Trade Center.

 

Anyone got more information about San Diego scene?

I am wondering if I should go all the way down to California, or if I should settle for Portland + Seatlle

 

This map gives you a pretty solid idea of all the bars/brewpubs/breweries in San Diego:
http://www.sandiegobrewersguild.org/pdf/SDBG Brochure 09.pdf

Keep in mind, California is a biiiiiiiiiiig state. Portland is also in the northern end of Oregon, about 3 hours drive from Seattle. There's a lot of brewing activity up in the bay area and the far north of California, then the Central Coast and Los Angeles areas don't have a whole lot of hot spots until you hit San Diego (which is minutes away from the Mexico border, mind you. Far south.)

If I were driving up the entire state to visit brewers, I'd probably break it up into 3 days or so.....maybe 4. Spending a week or two driving up the coast from San Diego to Seattle takes you across pretty much the entire west coast and gives you a lot of different areas and cultures to check out, but it's a big ordeal. I wouldn't do it in less than a week, and even then, that's going to be a very busy week for driving.

From my understanding Portland is awesome, and Seattle isn't too far away. There's some awesome stuff all throughout California, but it's just a matter of how much time you have and just how far you really want to go.

 

IF you by chance are going to be here in November San Diego Beer Week is going to be Nov 5-14

If you dont want to download that PDF just check out the brewers guild website.

But trying to decide between Portland and San Diego would be difficult. I hear the whole scene in Portland is beyond epic. The ultimate dream vacation would be to fly here to San Diego, spend a few days, then take the Coast Starlight Train stopping in San Luis Obispo, then bay area, Portland, and Seattle. It might take 2 weeks, but oh man what a 2 weeks it would be!

 

Best beer cities...http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-241-Beer-Examiner~y2009m5d8-Beer-City-USA-poll-results-announced-and-an-indication-that-beer-matters[/COLOR]

Looks like a tie between Asheville, NC and Portland, OR

Glad I live close to one

 

Methinks the ballot box was stuffed a bit, not many people I know could name one brewery from the beer mecca that is Asheville, NC. I remember being linked to that poll when it was active and Ashville already had a metric ass ton of votes

 

That's very true, I'm not sure how far their beers make it.

 

If you're doing one or the other, skip Portland/Seattle and do California.

Ir you're interested in the pinnacle of current American brewing, you want to do anything in your power to visit Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, Russian River, and Stone, and to a lesser degree Alesmith, Ballast Point, and the Bruery. Green Flash, Bear Republic, Lagunitas, and the like are incredibly awesome also-rans.

If you're interested in the history and mass craft brewing, you want to see Anchor and Sierra.

All of those are in CA.



Seriously, Russian River, Lost Abbey/Port, and Stone are 3 of the premier breweries in the world.

 

Asheville has a bunch of great bars, but not a bunch of great breweries. The best way to get to try some awesome beers that you wouldn't get to try otherwise is to visit breweries and talk to the brewmasters--often, bringing them some cool hard to find stuff will get you some otherwise unavailable goodies from the cellar.

Asheville would be a great place to live and have some phenomenal bars to visit regularly, but if you're doing a briefer tour you really want to go some place that has a lot of breweries and see what once-in-a-lifetime stuff you can try.

 

I've been to many of these and can vouch, but to add a bit of perspective

Alesmith, Ballast Point, Stone, Green Flash, Port Brewing, Lost Abbey are all within 30 minutes of each other. The Bruery is about 2 hours north in Orange County, and is right next to Bootleggers which is lesser known but also awesome. Lagunitas, Anchor, Russian River are all in the Bay Area which is about 6-8 hours north of San Diego driving. Between Orange County and the Bay the only place I could think of worth stopping is Firestone in Paso Robles.

I know sometimes people think that California is California, but as an example I've never visited the Bay Area stuff because it's kind of a big trip for me to get up there. Stupid tall state

Hypothetical Journey Of Awesome West Coast Beer:

Start in San Diego. Spend 2 days there visiting all the amazing. Brewery tours in the day, awesome local bar scene at night. At the end of Day 2, drive up north to hit The Bruery and Bootleggers in Orange County (which are night time tasting rooms). Stop for the night and maybe visit Disneyland or something
Day 3, start heading north early and stop in Paso Robles to visit Firestone. Then press on up to the bay area. Visit local beer bars that are potentially awesome. Stay the night
Day 4, visit Anchor, 21st and try to make it over to Lagunitas. Stop again for the night
Day 5, head up the coast, hit Bear Republic and Russian River. If bold, continue on towards Fort Bragg and hit North Coast and maybe even farther up to Eureka to hit Lost Coast. Somewhere in here you should probably stop and move something to the next day.
Day 6, power on to Portland. Check out a bunch of the Portland stuff that people here have recommended better than me (Rogue I'd hit for sure, one of my faves)
Day 7, more Portland. Possibly take one of the different beer tours I've seen there
Day 8, Head up to Seattle and cruise around to some of the sights there


Alright, this is indulgent for me because I'm planning on making a trip like this one day when I can. But driving up the west coast you'd get a huge variety of beer, as well as locales and people. Big cultural differences between San Diego, LA, the Bay, Northern Cali, and the Pacific Northwest. It'd be a hell of a ride

 

That really sounds great.
But seems like you'd be spending a bit too much time on the road/moving around.

I think I will only do Seattle / Portland and Eugene at most. I dont have a lot of time, nor a lot of money to invest on this... the whole deal will be about 7-8 days long.

Maybe in the future, when I can do a 15-20 day trip, it would be worth to start in San Diego and head all the way up to Seattle stoping in eveyr little place on the way.

 

It's a pretty huge road trip, it'd be exhausting but fun I wager.

If you're in town for a week, I'd hit San Diego or Portland and you can't really go wrong with either. My understand of Portland is that public transit is better up there, too, which helps a ton if you're traveling (and especially drinking!)

 

Depending on when in July you are coming, the Oregon Brewers Fest is happening July 22-25. It is right on the waterfront in downtown, so if you end up here during that time frame, I would taking at least a day for that.

http://www.oregonbrewfest.com/

 

OMG, I will miss that by 10 days =(

 

Portland has a wonderful beer scene. And that time of year you can pretty much count on gorgeous weather, too... not too hot, not too humid, just flat out beautiful. And the city is just beautiful itself. So many things to see, and if you are up for a road trip, need a day away from the beer, Mt Hood is there, the Columbia gorge, or some really fascinating beaches. It is truly a wonderful place in the summer.

Just my 2 cents. Seattle is great, too, but we don't really have as active a beer scene as Portland.

Klaus

 

Reading this thread makes me really want to visit the Pacific Northwest and California on a mammoth brew tour.

I wanted to put two cents in for my area, Fort Collins, CO. If you don't want to spend a lot of time driving around we have 3 brew pubs and two major micro breweries withing walking distance. Start early at New Belgium, take the 90 min. tour with 6 free beer tasters, walk over to Odells where the have around 12 beers on tap, then down to Fort Collins Brewery (will be a brew pub in July), back past Odells to Old town to get some great beer at Equinox Brewing, then across the street to Coopersmiths. You could ad Bighorn Brewing but it is a little far to walk to.

BTW - Fort Collins is so well known in the craft brew industry that when I travel and hit a brew pub I always let it be known that I am from Fort Collins - I get a lot of free beer to try! :rockin:

 

Yeah we got a pretty good beer scene here. Check out this website if you are in town. http://portland.taplister.com/
I dunno know how complete the listing for other towns are though.

 

those maps and maxim links were bs.....a link on medals shows nothing. Maxim mag is horrible, besides the chics it a metro sexual ad mag.
MN, WI, and MI combined you can have one damn good time traveleing around there to breweries and brew pubs