Favorite Brewery to visit

We ended up staying in their inn upstairs a few years ago and they were extra nice. They opened early for us to check out, they showed us around the facilities, offered extra items for breakfast, and were generally just really good people. There's something really cool about having a key that seems to open every door in a brewery, too. In terms of the beers, Gold Pils is great...although honestly not even the best pils on that side of town. Ditto with most of their others, although they were still great. Great food, too.
Supposedly staying at Spezial offers a similar experience and it's not like anybody was less than wonderful. Faessla just stands out because we got to experience a bit more there.

 

Allagash. Love that place.

 

Jester King. There's always people with their kids or dogs and it's such a pretty and chill place. Feels like home when I'm there. They always have great beers to drink on site and Stanley's is right there as well.

 

Odell hands down. And now with the massive expansion they have 2 bars and a lot more seating, not to mention an amazingly beautiful brewery.

 

Have not been to too many but I really liked Founders out of all of them I have been to.

 

You might want to scratch Lawson's and the Alchemist off the list as neither one has any public visitation at there breweries at this time.

 

I recently went to Two Roads in Connecticut. To me their beer is pretty average (some of them are a bit above average) but the tour was great, bar was awesome, and they have rotating food trucks outside that you can get a bite to eat and bring it inside with you.

I also enjoy going to Harpoon and Sam Adams in Boston just for the experience - beer is usually their standard average beers but it is fun to go.

Ommegang was an amazing experience - didn't feel like I was in the US. Allagash was great as well.

 

My new favorite brewery to visit is Bissell Bros. in Portland. Cool little place with a great vibe and kickass beer!

 

Kane

 

Stone Brewery Escondido, Best brewery experience. Pub had a amazing collection of their and other highly rated beers including Russian River offerings!

 

Cantillon

 

The hardest to get in and the one who impressed me most was the brewery of Saint Sixtus Westvleteren. Mystic and worldwide known....

 

Cantillon is indeed a really great place and so visit when/if you are able. Its basically a self guided tour with a small guidebook in hand so you can take as much or as little time as you want and revisit any place in the brewery. (This is why I generally recommend that folks have already done 3-4 brewery tours before going there so that its easier to get a sense of how a traditional lambic brewery can differ from a more modern place.)

The tour includes a glass of gueuze and there are also several beers on the chalkboard you can buy by the glass. On one of my visits they had out a pitcher of a year old lambic from a recently tapped keg so it was possible to buy one and taste both that lambic and some of their other stuff side by side. Just about the time I got to the counter to buy one the guy ran out and so had to go pour more from the keg so I couldn't have had my pour any sooner unless I'd been allowed to go pour it directly from the keg myself.

 

Jester King, so many reasons why..

 

Definitely second (and third and fourth) the New Glarus vote. Absolutely gorgeous and easy to get to from the highway. If I were to ever get married, that would a place I'd seriously consider.

 

Road trip up the western side of Michigan with stops at at least Bells and Founders. While there visit the Lake Michigan shoreline for some of the best scenery in the US.

 

Absolutely. I have friends and relatives in MI (Detroit born & raised) and when I'm visiting Bell's is always a stop.

 

San Diego in general is awesome for visiting breweries. In one afternoon you can easily hit Lost Abbey, Stone, Green Flash, Ale Smith, Ballast Point, Lightning, Mother Earth, and have lunch at Pizza Port. That is my typical Saturday when I visit

 

In the upper Midwest:

Founder's tasting room is perfection, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Two Brothers has a unique brewing system and great tasting room food, in Warrenville, Illinois.

Flossmoor Station has great beer and food and a beautiful location, in Flossmoor, Illinois (not far from Three Floyds, in Munster, Indiana, which I've never made it to, but whose beers are beyond compare).

New Glarus is a damn slice of heaven with unbelievable beer, in New Glarus, Wisconsin (while there, visit Puempel's Olde Tavern, a bar that has been in continuous operation since the 1890s and is essentially unchanged).

Lakefront Brewery is consistently rated the top tour of any kind in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

And Capital Brewery has a hilarious tour and a wonderful outdoor hang-out atmosphere, in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

Another vote for Jester King. Its like beer heaven.