Must see breweries before you die!

[kevinb]

Atlantic Brewing Company in Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park in Maine. They have a nice little tour, tasting room, and an outdoor BBQ. They also make their own sodas so people who dislike beer, like my wife, can still enjoy the tour and taste a few things. Its away from the touristy areas of town, so its a nice place to just get away for a few hours, learn about beer and eat some good food. Its actually the place that sparked my interest in brewing beer.

I agree. I was there for the BBQ last Saturday. Great place.

 

[shaneogle89]

Definitely Stone and Russian River! I don't live too far from Stone so I go as often as I can.

 

[passedpawn]

Definitely Stone and Russian River! I don't live too far from Stone so I go as often as I can.

Heading to RR tonight!

 

[hurst1979olds]

Yuengling brewery in PA. I've been 3 times so far. We live about an hour 1/2 from there. Great place. Their cave is pretty neat and they even have a prohabition wall that the gov put up.

 

[1fast636]

If you want to see an ultra modern brewery, check out Southern Tier in Lakewood, NY. It's packed to the gills with technology.

i was just thinking about that brewery because i'm drinking there 2XIPA. i really enjoyed troegs brewery in Hersey ,PA. i haven't yet but heard Dog Fish Heads tour is pretty good.

 

[Ice9]

I was just at Pilsner Urquell and Cantillion back at the end of May/ beginning of June. Both were amazing experiences. The Cantillion tour is self-guided and after you're done you get to sample the lambic, gueuze and either the Kriek, Rose De Gambrinus or the Fou' Foune.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

For the best tour: New Belgium in Fort Collins, CO

For the most impressive facility: New Glarus in New Glarus, WI

For doing the most with the smallest / most crowded brewery: Avery in Boulder, CO

For the place where I like to drink a pint: Blind Pig Brewery, Champaign, IL

+1 on the first 3. I would also head to O'Dells while in Ft Collins. They and Avery both had several taps with experimental beers that may never get distributed, but were lots of fun to try. Beer geek heaven! Their tours were also given by brewers, not some cutie who knows just enough to impress the BMC crowd, but not enough to not sound foolish. Oskar Blues, Left Hand, Tommyknocker, etc, just served their usual fare, and were a letdown after O'Dells and Avery.

New Glarus also has some novel brews, which were fun. It was built with tours in mind.

Capitol Brewing in Madison had some very tasty standards, and a tasting glass that was endlessly refillable!

(I've never been to the Blind Pig).

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Just wanted to post to say that I would love to tour Southern Tier. Their beers impressed the hell out of me. They aren't crazy homebrew recipes. They are clearly going for mass market appeal, but every time I taste one I think, "wow! This is really spot-on for the style (and really well-made) without going overboard."

I once used the phone number printed on their sixers to leave a message for the head brewer at 3am to tell him he is doing a great job.

As a guy who appreciates hops, but doesn't always want every beer hopped to hell, Southern Tier and Goose Island are my go-to breweries when it comes to wanting something that doesn't instantly taste like the brewery it came from. The brewmasters at those two places show a DIVERSE palate and I really respect that. If I want hoppy, I know to order an IPA. Don't surprise me with a ton of hops when I order something else. If I wanted that, I would have ordered it.

Ample hops doesn't make you a craft brewer... Well-crafted beer does. And those guys really do it well.

 

[seanoj]

Bucket list must include a few Belgian breweries. I would love to hang at Phantome for an afternoon...