I have been to stone many a time I like the outdoor garden there is a stone tasting room near my house in los angeles area and they fill growlers I am going to drink a growler tonite of Sublimely Self Righteous
All sarcasm aside, I love Vermont and the vibe up there. But, that being said, its hard to argue that Waterbury could be rated up there with places that have five, ten, fifteen, or twenty craft breweries in the same locale, not to mention all of the "secondary" brew-dens, places that serve a ton of great micros but don't brew their own.
Of cities I've visited: Portland OR San Diego Grand Rapids Philly (for the top notch distribution & beer bars, not necessarily the local breweries)
Durango colorado, last time I did the math it was the reigning champ in the brewery per capita division of "name your favorite beer town".
I have never pegged Durango for a beer town , but you're right - looks like 5 craft breweries in a town of about 17,000. One craft brewery for every 3,400 residents. Grand Rapids, by contrast, has 22 microbreweries in the metro, and with a population of about 200,000, thats only 1 brewery per 9,000+ residents.
i've never felt like i belonged anywhere like i do while drinking in Waterbury I suspect I'll one day get hit by a car at 1 am crossing the street from Prohibition to Blackback - and I'll die a happy man.
I was hoping this was going to be about smaller beer towns. I always laugh when Burlington (pop 42K) and Portland, ME (pop. 66K) are compared to San Diego (pop 1.3million) and Portland, OR (pop 595K)
Southwest Michigan is not a city per se but would include Bell's, Founder's, Dark Horse and New Holland.
I know Ashville NC and San Diego are great, but I'll be a total homer and make the case for Santa Rosa California (Pop. 150,000). These are the breweries within an hour's drive: Russian River Lagunitas Bear Republic Anderson Valley 21st Amendment Anchor Speakeasy Moylan's Marin Brewing Mendocino Brewing 3rd Street Aleworks Iron Springs Eleveation 66 Triple Rock Napa Smith Sonoma Brewing Sumptown Brewing Marin Beer Works Sonoma Springs Brewing Calistoga Brewing Ukiah Brewing Co. And I'm sure I've probably missed a few.
I'm not sure you're being sincere here....really. I live 20 minutes from Frederick and even I don't bother going there for drinks. Flying Dog is meh.
While we're not worthy of the "Best Beer City" yet, my hometown of St. Louis is at least trying to make the list. There are now 22 breweries (with 3 more opening within 6 months) within an hour drive, with most of them within a few miles of downtown. The brewing talent has increased exponentially in the past three years, with homegrown, out-of-town, and AB/Inbev exiles filling local brewery ranks. Also, there are several beer bars highly ranked by the national trade mags (Bridge, iTap's 3 locations, Cicero's, and many others); plus more festivals than one could ever hope to attend. A trade group - the St. Louis Brewers Guild - recently hired their first full-time executive director to help promote beer tourism. Cities like Denver, San Diego, Portland and others have a 20-year jump on us, but the scene here is great. We invite all of you to stop in for a weekend!
I'm with you on San Diego. I usually stay in the Rancho Bernardo/Scripps Ranch area where it's a short drive to many you've listed above.
The Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs area has to be my favorite. I spent a week there last summer touring breweries, and didn't make it to half of them. So many quality options. Avery alone (though the brewery is nothing to look at) makes the region tops, and you add on Left Hand, Great Divide, Oskar Blues, Twisted Pine, Southern Sun, Boulder Brewing, Upslope...I need to return for another week to hit up the many that I had to skip.
Born and live in Grand Rapids, but I've spent most of the last few years traveling to LA for work. (need a good reason to get to Colorado though!) San Diego is great. Brewery tours are good, Ballast Point has good beer and Stone is worth checking out. Best time my wife and I had was walking from our hotel to Pizza Port in Newport Beach. Great day, good atmosphere, awesome brews. Check out Hodads for maybe the best classic burger we've ever had. Rent the car, you'll be glad.
Hell yes it does, both Lawsons and Hill Farmstead are local, even though HF is a little bit of a drive. HF probably has half a dozen beers in the top 100. Some really cool bars there as well that have some of the best tap offering you can get whether you like IPA's or Sours or Porters.
Interesting to see Chicago hasn't gotten a nod yet. Good things happening there and it's getting better every day. I love Grand Rapids and go there several times a year to drink beer and for releases. Look at my avatar if there is any doubt of my love for their beer. As a whole, I just don't see it as being the best. The southwest Michigan region as a whole would be a no brainer and it wouldn't be close but alas, that's an unfair advantage. I'd rather drink beer in Indianapolis 4 times out of 5, compared to any other city in the country. You can find as fine of beer in this city than any other in the country, along with an extremely wide array of options in brewery, that will cover nearly every style at any time. Flat 12 Bier Brewery Sun King Brugge Black Acre Fountain Square Oaken Barrel Upland (tasting room) Union Brewing Company Triton Thr3e Wisemen Broad Ripple Brewpub Black Swan Brewpub Ram x2 Rock Bottom x2 I still do a lot of beer tourism but I'm a homer at heart. Maybe my opinion will change after my trip to VT this spring.
hood river oregon, about 1.5hr outside of portland, in town: Full sail, Double Mountain, Big horse just outside of town: Everybody's brewing, Solera, Logsdon little bit further(about 30min): Walking man great bars with awesome tap selections: Wacouma Club, Volcanic Bottle Shop, The Euro Pub, 6th st bistro. you almost cant find macro in this town, unless you count Old German as macro then like i said its not to far from portland
Click this and you'll see why: http://www.tripfilms.com/Travel_Video-v76162-Salzburg-Salzburg_Augustiner_Brewery-Video.html
I generally think of a "micro brewery" as a very small place that only sells beer at its own very small brewery/ pub. I think of all these places mentioned as "craft breweries". Maybe I am an idiot though...
