Beer Geography

[manoaction]

Without attempting to start some sort of shouting match, I'm currently curious about where the better areas are in the U.S. for craft brew.

I'm in Fort Collins, Colorado (northern Colorado), and I arrogantly feel we've got some fantastic breweries in close proximity.

New Belgium (Fat Tire, Sunshine Wheat, 1554), O'Dell Brewing (90 Shilling, Cutthroat Porter, 5 Barrel), and Fort Collins Brewery (Retro Red, Chocolate Stout) are all right here in town.

Less than an hour away we've got Left Hand Brewery, Avery Brewing, and four or five other less famous ones.

That's not counting all of the ones in Denver, including Coors.

Where else is good beer country? I've heard great things about Vermont and I like Magic Hat. I also passed through northern Oregon and found great stuff there.

 

[northernlad]

Anywhere worth living has great beer. So that pretty much leaves out Texas.

 

[arturo7]

You automatically lose because of New Belgium.

Especially since you mentioned them and Fat Tire first.



There are great beers brewed everywhere. Why do we need this us vs them mentality?


Sorry Mano, this just struck a nerve.

 

[oldschool]

I think Michigan has about 82 breweries and brewpubs.

 

[WCrane]

For me the Mid Atlantic (PA NJ, MD, VA) have some tough ones to beat. Victory, Dog Fish Head, Flying Fish, Flying Dog, Heavy Seas, Yuengling, Yards, Stouts, Troeggs, Iron Hill, Sly Fox, Old Dominion, Fordams, and a then there all the micro pubs.

 

[j1laskey]

Some of the best beers I have ever had did not come from a brewery. They ussually come from a small brew pub that serves great food and fresh beer.

 

[bknifefight]

I am very happy to live in PA, personally!

 

[WCrane]

Some of the best beers I have ever had did not come from a brewery. They ussually come from a small brew pub that serves great food and fresh beer.

Very very true

 

[SteveM]

It has become pretty commonplace to find great beers and brewpubs just about everywhere. I like my area (WCrane listed some of the attractions), there are great breweries almost everywhere. Like it says in my signature, think global, drink local.

 

[Zamial]

I can not say where the best beers are because I have not lived everywhere or tried them all in order to accurately field an answer. Please feel free to start a fund for my research, just send me a PM when you have anything over $1k and I will send you my mailing address....

but seriously it is kind of a loaded question. I can say that we have some great, some good and some BMC breweries around here. I could start a list but to what ends??? So, I will say the best beer is the last one I had!

 

[j1laskey]

I could start a list but to what ends??? So, I will say the best beer is the last one I had!

Or...the next beer I have.:rockin:

 

[MadHopper]

The San Diego area is fast becoming a mecca for craft brewing. Stone, Alesmith, Ballast, Karl Strauss, Green Flash (currently my favorite)....even more if you combine Southern California and include Paso Robles.

Combine all that beer with the beaches and the sunshine, and we've got a winner

 

[Waunabeer]

Wisconsin is great for craft beer and/or smaller breweries. There are over 80 of them throughout the state, but there are about 21 of them in and around the Madison area alone, including: New Glarus, Capital Brewery, Ale Asylum, Essex, Lake Louis Brewing, Great Dane, Tyranena, Gray's Brewing, Dell's Brewing, etc. Then there is always Leinenkugel's & Miller.

But I guess you also have the history of beers here: Schlitz, Pabst, Blatz, Hamm's, Old Style, etc. That and it's a self-distributing state that makes it much easier for us small guys to get into the arena with them, if we choose to.

 

[Airborneguy]

This discussion always comes up between me and my friend in Colorado. I say he's got me beat, but he points out sheer volume: I have close to 100 breweries or brewpubs within a 2 hr radius of my house. It really is a crazy amount. I'd still vote or Colorado or the PNW as #1 though.

 

[jmkratt]

I'm in Fort Collins, Colorado (northern Colorado), and I arrogantly feel we've got some fantastic breweries in close proximity.

Coopersmiths!

 

[slothrop]

I fully support Midwest breweries: Summit, Surly, Flat Earth, New Glarus, Tyranena are some of the best.

 

[manoaction]

You automatically lose because of New Belgium.

Especially since you mentioned them and Fat Tire first.



There are great beers brewed everywhere. Why do we need this us vs them mentality?


Sorry Mano, this just struck a nerve.

My post just said that I thought Colorado was good beer country, not the best, and I asked where else some of the better beer areas are.

I'm not aiming for a winner, just other great locations for quality craft brew (not shear number).

I'd totally forgot about the mid atlantic. I used to live in DC and I really liked Yuengling.

 

[manoaction]

Coopersmiths!

They make the only chili beer that I've ever really liked, and their hand drawn Panjabi IPA (Hanjabi) is one of my favorite IPA's.

 

[mullenite]

If someone told me I could only drink beers produced in the state of Florida for the rest of my life I most likely would not complain.

We don't have the quantity that other states have but I think I could live on Swamp Head, Cigar City, St. Somewhere and Tampa Bay Brewing Co. beers alone.

 

[scrambledegg81]

The San Diego area is fast becoming a mecca for craft brewing. Stone, Alesmith, Ballast, Karl Strauss, Green Flash (currently my favorite)....even more if you combine Southern California and include Paso Robles.

Combine all that beer with the beaches and the sunshine, and we've got a winner

x2. Ticked I had to move last month, but SD is a beer lover's Shan-gri-la.