Favorite Brewery to visit

I have always enjoyed Magic Hat. A short and usually humorous tour followed by unlimited samples in a very nice atmosphere. I know there are better beers than Magic Hat, but I have always seemed to enjoy them.

 

3 Floyds for sure. Would love to make it to Vermont next year to see them all.

 

I love the adventure of Hill Farmstead, usually because I'm coupling it with a hiking/camping trip. The whole experience is good for the soul.

 

FFF

 

It kinda depends on the path youre taking

 

For the whole experience, NOT just beer, I'd highly recommend Double Mountain in Hood River Oregon, Crux in Bend Oregon, and Stone in Escondido.

As much as I like RR, it's just so over the top crowded. DeGarde and SARA are so friggin tiny, but cool in their own right. Bear Republic is nice, but a bit limited I feel, same with Lagunitas (also quite crowded) FFF is solid, but very pub like. I like Firestone and Sierra Nevada, but they're just a bit industrial and big for me. Triton in Indianapolis is also pretty cool on the old Army base.

For me, it's really a fine balance of crowd, location, quality of beer, atmosphere.

 

I'm throwing a vote out for Tired Hands. Every visit feels unique, and visiting is basically the only way you'll get to try their incredible beers.

 

I would agree with this 100%.

I love visiting breweries, but some of my favorite brewery experiences have been unplanned (Hops and Barley - Berlin, Germany; De Struise - Oostvleteren, Belgium; Rogue - Newport, Oregon).

Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary! My wife and I are also about to hit 10 years since our first date (October 30, 2004).

I am planning a trip next week to Lagunita's and Russian River, but only because my dad lives nearby. If you end up seeking anything out, maybe try some pubs as well as breweries. They generally have a bit more atmosphere, and usually stay open later. They get to choose the best from all of the local breweries

 

I still love visiting Stone in Escondido. I live about 100 miles away in Orange County, but I love going there and trying a lot of my favorite beers (IPA, Ruination, Levitation, Go-To IPA) straight from the source. Awesome restaurant and beer gardens, too!

 

Hands down, Hill Farmstead

 

While some breweries don't have the best beer, it's the combination of the tours and hospitality that makes the experience rememberable.

From my beer travels I am thinking of breweries visited in different states that I had tour of and enjoyed a pint or two at.

Liked Saltwater, Orlando Brewing, and Funky Buddha last month. The original Funky Buddha in Boca Raton was cooler. Long Trail during their 25th Anniversary party the previous month. You can never go wrong with both Harpoons (VT&MA). Odell's, Fort Collins, Great Divide, Dry Dock, Golden City, Coors, Boulder, Midnight Sun, and Avery in CO. Sixpoint in Brooklyn, NY.

Baxter, Banded Horn, and Allagash in Maine.

 

Hardywood Park in Richmond, VA is fun. Very good brewery/tap house and the typically have a band and food trucks on site. Plenty of indoor and outdoor space to roam around while you enjoy the beer and whatever is going on.

 

The only time that I've ever been in a brewpub and commented that "This is the perfect brewery" is when I was at 10 Barrel Brewing in Bend, Oregon this past summer. It has the perfect facility with its garage doors, a beer garden with a fire pit, great food and great beers. (I noticed that this brewery's name showed up 2-3 times in the list of winners at GABF as evidence of the great beers.)

 

The favorite of our friends who live in Bend.

 

Haven`t visited enough of them. The Sam Adams tour was quite nice.

 

This is just weird. There are so many amazing breweries in CO but this is not one of them. In fact, TommyKnocker's brew pub plain old sucks- way overpriced, beers are average, food is average to bad.

The best brewery visits I've had were New Belgium in Fort Collins (amazing tour) and Upright in Portland.

 

That's your opinion. Different people have different experiences. I haven't been to many breweries so my response is limited to what I've experienced. I'm sure there are hundreds of breweries better than TK but if I haven't been to them then I can't say they are my favorite to go to.

 

Against the Grain is pretty good.
Hofbrahaus has great food and brew there own right there.
Jackie O's left alot to be desired there is nothing like walking into an establishment and having them act like it's a privelege
for them to let you purchase their goods.

 

I think Flying Dog's is a really fun tour they give and vibe overall once you get to the tasting room. It's moderately crowded, but lots of taps and rarity / specialty beers offered in tasting room.

Worst experience to date has been Troegs at the new Hershey, PA location. Self guided tour, set up like in a museum down in DC. Beers were expensive to buy from my recollection, and I went up there almost specifically to get Nuggett Nectar (just released a week before), and they had none for sale at the brewery. Then the tasting room was too crowded to deal with so the whole experience was a complete waste of time IMO. Maybe I went on a bad day or something.

 

While I'm relatively new to this "insanity", I've had the pleasure of touring 2 local breweries.

The most interesting, as far as history, was Yuengling in Pottstown, PA. Rich in history, very informative, and the gift shop had a display of all of their bottles from the very beginning. The Rathskeller at the end of the tour offered 2 different samples.

Weyerbacher in Easton, PA was short & sweet and ended in their Visitor's Center where you get to sample up to 8 different varieties. Plus, you can purchase directly from them at a much reduced rate.