What is the best micro-brewery

[kinison_fan]

Victory - Phila.

+1
(but it's in Downingtown, local for me)

 

[Beerfanatic]

I would have to go with Lagunitas as one of my favorites, plus I grew up right next to it. But coming up close is Firestone Walker Brewing Company and Russian River Brewing Company.

Always tryin new ones and getting new favorites.

 

[buffalobrewer]

Sothern tier and Great Lakes are my go to taps if the rest are schetchy.

 

[matt_mcdermit]

Currently I'd agree with Southern Tier as my favorite, but not far behind are; Dark Horse Brewery, Troeg's, and Shipyard.

 

[Somebody]

Pizza Port, San Clemente, CA

I was just there on Sunday. I try to go about once a month to get my Fisticuffs fix....so good...

 

[KCBrew]

Free State in Lawrence KS. Their Oatmeal Stout and Copperhead are quality and they are doing a lot more experiemental stuff as well. And Josiah Miller might be the best IPA I've ever had.

It is interesting that we are at the point in our beer culture where there is a pretty continuous spectrum from micro to macro breweries...

(Some one asked if sierra nevada is micro, is stone? is sam adams? what's the line..?)

 

[PVH]

Great Divide. Beer is really good, and the people that work there are awesome!

I'm also a huge fan of Great Divide, even though I silently curse them almost every morning after a visit to their tap room. They love their big beers!

 

[munche]

Pizza Port, San Clemente, CA

I love Carlsbad and wasn't impressed with Solana Beach but I think I need to make the trip to San Clemente soon.

Personally if I had to pick a favorite brewery? Well, hrm. I mean what do we rate it on?

For overall range of quality products, I would say Ballast Point and Lagunitas are pretty well awesome. They both make some of my favorite beers and a good example of most every style.

But Alpine is also pretty cool...and.....ok I should stop here

 

[bovineblitz]

I have a question for the big Lagunitas fans here... I've had Maximus a couple times and it's been pretty terrible every time. I love love love Sumpin Sumpin and their IPA is good too... have I likely just gotten bad bottles every time I've tried Maximus or is it just really so far out there that it's not for everyone? I mean... I'm a big fan of hop bombs and have put 12oz in a 5gal batch before and loved it, but maximus was borderline undrinkable for me.

 

[moosetav]

been done....this was on beer advocate

http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=380652

 

[bovineblitz]

been done....this was on beer advocate

http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=380652

omg it's already been done, nobody should ever have this conversation again..

 

[jer204]

Founders. Great beer, awsome pub.

 

[moosetav]

not saying don't discuss it, saying the bracket has been done like people were talking about. bring it down a notch buddy.

 

[wolverinebrewer]

Founders. Great beer, awsome pub.

+10 on this. Love that place!
I also have to give a thumbs up to Bell's Eccentric Cafe since they picked my brew as an honorable mention at their 1st annual hombrew comp. last Sept.

 

[jaynik]

troegs

agreed!

 

[msarro]

I am.

 

[McMalty]

omg it's already been done, nobody should ever have this conversation again..

i'm not really looking for a bracket or a competition. I'm interested b/c there are so many micro brews and i want to get opinions so i have some stuff to look for in my local beertopia

 

[munche]

I have a question for the big Lagunitas fans here... I've had Maximus a couple times and it's been pretty terrible every time. I love love love Sumpin Sumpin and their IPA is good too... have I likely just gotten bad bottles every time I've tried Maximus or is it just really so far out there that it's not for everyone? I mean... I'm a big fan of hop bombs and have put 12oz in a 5gal batch before and loved it, but maximus was borderline undrinkable for me.

I am actually not a fan of Maximus either. If you want a big IPA from Lagunitas, Hop Stoopid is one of my absolute favorites.

 

[andysim]

I am actually not a fan of Maximus either. If you want a big IPA from Lagunitas, Hop Stoopid is one of my absolute favorites.

Besides Trip Queens, I nominate Upland and 3 Floyds.

 

[castlefreak]

I really dig Hopworks in Portland, OR. I've only been to their brewpub twice (I live in Kansas City) but their brews are consistently outstanding. Abominable Winter Ale, Cask IPA, Deluxe Organic Ale, and Rise Up Red are all really really good. We even received a personal tour from Christian (the founder/brewmaster) at the brewpub. I HIGHLY recommend checking them out if you can.

 

[meatwad]

North Coast Brewing
Surly
Russian River

Also, in regard to Lagunitas, nobody ever mentions just how damn good their new dog town pale ale is... One of my favs

 

[ceweldon]

Some of my favs are:

Avery
Russian River
DogFish Head
Cigar City
Gritty McDuffs

 

[Nugent]

I have to throw Deschutes in there.

Mirror Pond is a favorite of mine; haven't had anything from them that I didn't like.

 

[mhenry41h]

Wow, brutal question! How about I give you my two favorites and why. My first favorite is Dogfish Head and my second favorite is Stone. Why are they my favorites? Both specialize in strong ales (my favorite). Both are cutting edge and make spectacular beers.

One brew at a time...

 

[boostsr20]

Founders for me but there are a lot of them that are very close.

 

[YukonLT]

For me it's Long Trail hands down, I'm just a huge fan. They just keep getting better and better.

I did have a nice stout from Keegans that I throughly enjoyed last fall, and hope they make again...

 

[doctorRobert]

SN, top notch wheat. The standard in apa, and their porter and ipa aint bad either. Theyve seem to have gotten each style down.

 

[davefleck]

Ok, not to be a picky SOB but are we talking microbreweries or craft beer? The former requires no more then 15k bbl per year.

 

[Northcalais40]

I think they are all the best one. Right?

 

[doctorRobert]

Ok, not to be a picky SOB but are we talking microbreweries or craft beer? The former requires no more then 15k bbl per year.

Guess I have to look into the production volume of all my favorite breweries so I can talk beer better