Best & Worst Brewpubs

[azscoob]

Best: its a tossup between Stone Brewing in Escondido CA, and Papago Brewing in Scottsdale. Papago is a small hole in the wall place, they have great beer of their own and they have a ton of great micros on tap, and great atmosphere to boot. they also do a lot of pro-am stuff with our local brew club.

Worst: Rock Bottom in Ahwatukee AZ since the new brewmaster came onboard, the brews from the prior brewmaster were pretty good, and the special brews were always great, the new guy must like his beer to be unbalanced and green, and he brewed the worst Oktoberfest I have ever spit out, it tasted like it was brewed with old socks and grass clippings.

 

[Fishin-Jay]

Sorry to hear that. I went to the Deschutes location in Downtown Portland and thought it was great. I already loved their beers so it was nice having them fresh off the keg plus the food was good too. I really liked their soft pretzels with cheese and mustard.


BTW, I'm so jealous of you living near Mt. Hood, that is probably my favorite area of the country. Amazing snowboarding and that drive along 30 is flat out awesome.

In Oregon, and especially in Bend, it is very much "en vogue" to bash Deschutes. Granted, Oregon has such a wide variety of great breweries that if I lived there I wouldn't drink Deschutes to the exclusion of all the other great beers, but I think that the wide variety of good beer blinds locals to the fact that as far as breweries with a wide distribution go the Deschutes Brewery has pretty good beer. Still, for most Oregonians: Deschutes is for tourists.

If a person can honestly say Deschutes is the worst brew pub they've been to, then congratulations! You've either led a charmed life, or haven't been to many brew pubs.

My favorite brew pub: Oak Creek Brewery (not the restuarant in Tlaquepaque, the actual brew location)

The worst I have been to: Gordon Biersch, multiple locations (my father in law loves that place so I've had to go on multiple occasions )

 

[Mongrel]

Best - Get real, I live in Beervana!

Yeah, it's really tough to choose

 

[Fishin-Jay]

Best: its a tossup between Stone Brewing in Escondido CA, and Papago Brewing in Scottsdale. Papago is a small hole in the wall place, they have great beer of their own and they have a ton of great micros on tap, and great atmosphere to boot. they also do a lot of pro-am stuff with our local brew club.

Worst: Rock Bottom in Chandler AZ since the new brewmaster came onboard, the brews from the prior brewmaster were pretty good, and the special brews were always great, the new guy must like his beer to be unbalanced and green, and he brewed the worst Oktoberfest I have ever spit out, it tasted like it was brewed with old socks and grass clippings.

I've been to Papago once, it was great!

 

[Mongrel]

In Oregon, and especially in Bend, it is very much "en vogue" to bash Deschutes. Granted, Oregon has such a wide variety of great breweries that if I lived there I wouldn't drink Deschutes to the exclusion of all the other great beers, but I think that the wide variety of good beer blinds locals to the fact that as far as breweries with a wide distribution go the Deschutes Brewery has pretty good beer. Still, for most Oregonians: Deschutes is for tourists.

Locally, the Deschutes pub seems to have lost a lot of business since 10 Barrel Brewing opened theirs. But, I'm not ashamed to admit, I love Deschutes beer. Their anniversary editions of double Black Butte Porter are fantastic, and their Abyss is one of my all time favorites.

 

[milholen]

Best - Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland, OR

runner's up for best: The Brew Kettle in Strongsville, OH
or the Dogfishhead Alehouses


Worst: as far as beer = Tugboat Brewing Company in Portland, OR

 

[motobrewer]

Best: North Fork Brewery - Deming, WA and Boundary Bay Brewery - Bellingham, WA
Worst: Milwaukee Ale House - Milwaukee, WI

ale house, really? they generally make pretty decent stuff. alto one time I had to send a porter back - it tasted like soap, lol. was just a bad glass.

Best - C'est What? in Toronto

Worst - Silver Creek - Cedarburg, WI

 

[BrewDocND]

Another vote for Papago. We've been going weekly lately. Amazing and always changing selection and I always leave with a 6-pack of interesting stuff from the fridges for $8.50

I can also walk to SunUp in Phoenix, which I enjoy.

 

[BenS]

Best- Blue Star in San Antonio
Barrel aged pale ale and english barley wine were amazing!

Worst- Triple J Brewing in Lubbock TX
At least there is a brew pub in west texas, to bad it tastes worst than the dirty water there.

 

[madavis25]

Locally, the Deschutes pub seems to have lost a lot of business since 10 Barrel Brewing opened theirs. But, I'm not ashamed to admit, I love Deschutes beer. Their anniversary editions of double Black Butte Porter are fantastic, and their Abyss is one of my all time favorites.

I agree about Abyss and most of the other beers in the Reserve Series that Deschutes puts out. They are interesting, big beers that are good to savor.

I think most of their year round distributed beers are solid, well balanced, and are true to style.

I live in Southern Oregon and whenever I get a chance, I go to their brewpubs (not to the exclusion of others) mostly because they have offerings that are not available anywhere else, including their other pubs. The Bend location will have beers that the Portland location will not have, and vice-versa.

 

[jturie]

Haven't been to all that many, but:

Best: Victory Brewing Downingtown PA, American Flatbread and Vermont Pub & Brewery in Burlington VT
Worst: Pretty much any Rock Bottom

 

[Lando]

Best: Not sure. DFH in Rehobeth was pretty good considering I enjoy a lot of their beers. Long Live Burton Baton!

Worst: Just about every place I have been in the Northern, Va. Area. I am not sure if everyone is using the same brewer, recipe or what, but I have not been impressed.
I have tried to love Sweetwater a dozen times with no luck. Vintage 50 recently changed brewers and has had a few offerings that were good. Strange thing is the old brewer had some offerings at the local brew fest that I loved, but I did not care for the stuff he was brewing at V50!
It seems like everyone is going for the english style beer or english yeast in their beers around here. Too much of it taste the same as the other stuff down the street. Not sure why, but that is my perception.

I guess my tastes are too left coast-centric...

 

[JetSmooth]

Best: Not sure. DFH in Rehobeth was pretty good considering I enjoy a lot of their beers. Long Live Burton Baton!

Hahaha, I know Mr. Baton rather well. He would be proud to hear of your fandom.

 

[logan3825]

Best - Great Dane in Madison
Worst - Moose Jaw in Wisconsin Dells

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Freetail Brewing Co. in San Antonio makes great beer. The food is solid. If you go skip their three staple brews and taste their seasonal brews. I remember one year they had a star anise saison that was great.

 

[Julohan]

Not sure if you are talking about just the beers or everything overall (atmosphere, food, beer quality/selection, service). I am going with overall.

Best: Great Lakes Brewing Co. has very good beers and a decent selection. The bar area downstairs and the main bar has lots of character. The food and service is good. Also, they off shuttle service to games.

The Brew Kettle is close to the top, food and beer is good. Selection is great because they offer beers from other breweries. Service has been good. Atmosphere, I am not a fan, it is very commercial looking, if that makes sense.

Worst: I would say is the Elevator Brewing Co. The beer quality and selection was okay. The atmosphere was gorgeous with not the greatest service. The food was good but very expensive for a brewpub. I understand that they are in a downtown business area, so they can pull off those prices. It is probably the only brewpub I have been to that could be considered an upscale brewpub.

I guess I can't complain to much though compared to the other posts, it sounds like it could be much worse.

 

[Verio]

I went to "DuClaw" last night in Baltimore Maryland. I'm here for business, but some co-workers wanted to get some beer and food before a movie.

They offer 7 different beers on a standard tap, with a rotating few specialties.

I had their version of a Belgian White Ale that had no carbonation, no head, and no lacing at all. While the beer tasted "okay" I was rather disappointed.

 

[Verio]

Freetail Brewing Co. in San Antonio makes great beer. The food is solid. If you go skip their three staple brews and taste their seasonal brews. I remember one year they had a star anise saison that was great.

Oh man, I love their Rye Wit and Witticus.

I also had their Annanke on the day the barrel was opened. They age the Annanke in wine barrels.

Yum.

 

[the_bird]

My personal favorite is Brown's in Troy, NY.

Huh, I've got to make my way over there some night. Heard really good things about it. Pump Station in Albany is pretty kick-ass as well.

Best I've been to, I think, would be Vt. Pub & Brewery.

Worst... well, some of the worst beer that I've had in a brewpub was at Madison's, in Bennington VT. But then again, I've been there other times and been really impressed. It's been hit-or-miss, both the quality of the beer and the quality of the food. Had a horrible, horrible maple porter once, but also had a really great Belgian somethingorother.

Not sure if that's the *worst* brewpub we've been to... they're almost always pretty solid around here, so I can't think of any worse ones.

 

[gypsyhead]

Best: Russian River (good beer, good food, kind of a snobby crowd) with Third Street Ale Works (great food, good beer, great atmosphere) down the street coming in close behind
Worst: Sweetwater Brewing Co in the Atlanta airport (flavorless beer, steamed-fresh hamburgers) hopefully it was just because of the airport setting

 

[RIT_Warrior]

Worst, by far, was Stumptown Brewery in Guernville, CA
Best, Russian River in CA and Dogfish Head in MD.

This makes me smile. No one who lives outside of Delaware knows it is a state. Everyone else thinks it is part of Maryland.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

I went to "DuClaw" last night in Baltimore Maryland. I'm here for business, but some co-workers wanted to get some beer and food before a movie.

They offer 7 different beers on a standard tap, with a rotating few specialties.

I had their version of a Belgian White Ale that had no carbonation, no head, and no lacing at all. While the beer tasted "okay" I was rather disappointed.

Thats pretty much any brewpub in the Baltimore and DC area.

 

[Brewtimore]

I went to "DuClaw" last night in Baltimore Maryland. I'm here for business, but some co-workers wanted to get some beer and food before a movie.

They offer 7 different beers on a standard tap, with a rotating few specialties.

I had their version of a Belgian White Ale that had no carbonation, no head, and no lacing at all. While the beer tasted "okay" I was rather disappointed.

I agree. DuClaw is weak. They have very inconsistant brews and most of them are not great.

Love me some DFH in Rehoboth. I go there everytime I hit up the beach house. They now have 20 beers on tap, it is unreal.

 

[Brewtimore]

Thats pretty much any brewpub in the Baltimore and DC area.

I enjoy Red Brick Station. They don't have a huge selection, but the food is great, bar service is good and the beers are very consistant.