From farm breweries to barrel aging and blending specialists, more than two new breweries opened per day in 2015. We profile 33 of the most promising newcomers.
Temperance Row holds a nostalgic place in brewing history with timeless beers and an iconic brewmaster in a small town in central Ohio that was dry for 148 years.
At Orpheus Brewing Jason Pellett acts as an evangelist for beers that push drinkers’ palates, and helps carve out a local market for sour and funky flavors among more casual beer drinkers.
Made up of a cozy wooden bar area with some adjacent tables, a small back patio, a swanky retro lounge, and a ballroom area for the music, The Outer Space hosts acts most days of the week.
From wrapping fermentors in electric blankets, to seeing Widmer Brothers distributed in all 50 states, Widmer has come a long way in the brewery’s 32 years.
New York State’s introduction of the Farm Brewery License in 2013, paired with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration’s pro-brewery stance, has encouraged small farm breweries to open in the Hudson Valley.
Wild Beer’s careful, considered way of doing things—harvesting native yeasts, implementing uncommon ingredients, blending, aging, experimenting—makes this remote operation one of the most forward-thinking craft breweries England has ever seen.
Ben Low chose a career in brewing as an alternative to a life as an academic specializing in classics. That one decision point resonates through Low’s approach to brewing at Baxter Brewing Company, the Lewiston, Maine-based beermaker where he serves as director of brewing operations.
Iron Horse Tavern was opened by the owners of Mountain State Brewing. As West Virginia’s young craft beer scene continues to grow, Iron Horse grows right along with it.
Tim Annis is an MBS student and a beer geek who couldn’t believe his luck when his professor at the Wisconsin School of Business announced their assignment: develop a branding strategy to revive Capital Brewery in Madison.
Baltimore once had a flourishing beer economy thanks in part to an influx of German and Eastern European immigrants. By the end of 1899, it was home to more than 40 breweries. Competition beginning in the 1950s steadily decreased this number until Hugh Sisson opened the state’s first brewpub in 1989.
Mark and Leslie Henderson founded Lazy Magnolia to bring better beer to their home state. Although Mississippi now has 10 breweries statewide, theirs was the first packaging brewery to carry the torch for craft brewing, and did so for seven years under previously restrictive state regulations.
A Harvard biological anthropology major turned law school grad, Bailey Spaulding and friend Robyn Virball assembled thousands of pounds of stainless steel equipment into a brewhouse. Jackalope has since become a cornerstone of Nashville’s burgeoning craft beer scene.
Cask & Vine is a popular spot for locals in Derry, N.H. They come for the ambiance (soft lighting, no televisions, an oldies and jazz soundtrack) and the refreshing take on seasonal small plates. Oh, and there’s also 12 constantly rotating draft lines with plenty of local and regional beers.
Many breweries have tried to build on the likemindedness of musicians and craft brewers. Rock Brothers seems to have gotten it right. Since 2012, Rock Brothers has partnered with Hootie and the Blowfish, 311 and other bands to release several award-winning beers.
Bale Breaker Brewing is the creation of siblings Meghann Quinn, Patrick Smith and Kevin Smith, whose family started growing hops in Washington’s Yakima Valley back in 1932. They founded Bale Breaker in 2013, with help from Kevin Quinn, Meghann’s husband.
Troy Casey, the founder and brewer of Casey Brewing and Blending, operates out of a barrel room on the edge of the Colorado Rockies, from which he turns out limited quantities of Brettanomyces-spiked Saison and Belgian-inspired wild ale.
To complement a list that mixes German imports (think Schwaben Bräu, Hacker-Pschorr and Hofbräu) with North Dakota staples like Fargo Brewing and Drekker Brewing, Würst serves up loads of hearty German fare.
Ed and Meagan Musselman bought an old Coke plant with plans to open community-focused businesses in the landmark property. It already houses a coffee-and-tea shop, and a restaurant is in the works, but the founding venture was the one foremost in Ed’s mind: Dry Ground Brewing Company.
As the Brewers Association’s new American craft beer ambassador in Europe, Sylvia Kopp, a beer sommelier from Germany, will travel the continent demystifying US craft beer for emerging markets abroad.
In 2011, David Stein boldly proclaimed that he would make the best beer Atlanta had to offer. When Creature Comforts opened in Athens, the prophecy came true, in a way. The brewery is one of the most raved about in Georgia.
Aaren Simoncini launched the Beer’d Brewing Company as a vehicle for delivering fresh, creative, and locally brewed beers to his corner of southeastern Connecticut. Exponential growth has led to Beer’d growing deeper, not wider.
The Mahogany Bar’s lineup of 42 taps includes a wide mix of styles with more than 15 local beers like Crooked Letter Mystery Romp mocha Porter and Southern Prohibition Crowd Control, alongside plenty of bigger regional, national and international brands.
