Another interesting list: Best Unexpected Beer Cities...

The author(s) don't know anything about beer.

How do you write about ABQ being #1 and not mention La Cumbre?

And gems like this, "and BJ's Brewhouse, which has more than a dozen original tasty brews on tap."

 

The Kirk has really improved (beer-wise) quickly. Marble, La Cumbre, and Chama River are all putting out world-class stuff and they haven't been around all that long either. You can get the somewhat local Santa Fe and Blue Corn stuff, too. Both are underrated, IMO.
Plus, beer is such a perfect partner for the local food...which is unlike anybody else's and I *love* it to death.
If they aren't #1 (I'm not sure that's totally justified), they're still deserving for a spot in the top 10.

 

To me, the main thing about Albuquerque is that most people have no idea that it's not that bad. A lot of other places that were named are pretty well known in geek circles and somewhat well known in their native geographic areas. There are beer drinkers that live IN the Kirk that don't even know that there are 3 full-on world class breweries there now.
Is it better than those other places? Probably not, but I think it's probably one of the biggest surprises since this is all recent and under the radar.

 

Lincoln, Nebraska blows!!!

 

I would probably replace Louisville and Chattanooga as well. The order doesn't matter to me as much so I like the other 7. Also quite a bit of diverse places.

 

Agree with pretty much everything you say here, @Domingo , as is generally the case with what you write. I'd just add that there are several newcomers doing good if not great things: Stumbling Steer, Bosque Brewing and Bistronomy B2B (with a tiny brewing outfit) are all making beers that are respectable.

In Santa Fe, Duel Brewing is doing incredible stuff that is all of the Belgian-persuasion. I've loved their Imperial Stout and Flanders Brown recently among other beers and would put them up against Jester King and other heavyweights.

Also, Second Street Brewery makes consistently good beers, particularly ESB varieties. This is a Santa Fe brewery.

A group of pals and I do regular bike and brew tours around the city. On one occasion, we hit Tractor Brewing in Nob Hill, Back Alley Draft House and Marble Downtown, then made our way through the brewery district (prior to it receiving this distinction) hitting La Cumbre, Il Vicino and Nexus Brewery. Quite a bit of beer was consumed.

Two weeks ago we all rode to Bosque Brewing on the northside of town, headed west a couple of miles, then headed south and hit Marble, from there heading east and ending at La Cumbre. That was a 27 mile ride for me.

On Sunday we're going to start at Stumbling Steer or Cazuela's (a Mexican restaurant doing some brewing... They also won a medal at WBC recently), bike to Bosque, then on to Nexus, Il Vicino Canteen, La Cumbre, then Marble and back to the start. Huge bike ride, but so much fun and made relatively safe, easy and fun by the city's great bike path system.

If any of you ever are in town and want to join on a ride, there are bike rentals and I'd be happy to lead the way.

 

Frustrating thing about that list regarding Charlottesville is that the two breweries doing the most interesting beer AND are actually located in Charlottesville (Three Notch'd and Champion) are not even included in the article.

 

I'll repeat this sentiment about Lincoln, Nebraska. Considering the beer desert around it, Lincoln is definitely a surprisingly great beer city, but why the eff would you suggest Granite City over somewhere local and welcoming like Zipline Brewing Co? If you want to include some place with food, go to Yia Yia's (http://yiayiaspizza.com/). Great bottle selection, and apparently people in Lincoln don't give two shits about good beer, so you might be able to find some rare leftovers. They still had Bourbon County Barleywine when I was there in Feb. Plus, they do bottles to go.