Top U.S. Cities for Beer Lovers

Which is an absolute shock since anything that is considered "hip" has to have Austin in it. I visit Austin a couple times a year and I love the city but when it comes to beer, there are so many better cities with superior craft beer offerings. Now, about that Harbaugh avatar....Go Bucks!

 

I'm a fan of Portland, OR. The breweries are very good. The bars have good prices and you can always drive up to Seattle as well.

 

I agree that it is not a premier city, but its definitely above average, and you don't have to be on the lookout for steaming coolers like in another city you might be familiar with

 

Have you been to Cleveland or tried many of their beers? in fact, Ohio as a whole, is home to some insanely crazy good beers that a lot of people don;t know about. In fact, Rhinegeist (although not one of my local faves) is featured in a mixed box by New Belgium with the likes of Avery, Firestone-Walker, HopWorks, and Allagash.

 

Haven't been to Cleveland in more than 15 years. Nothing against it, I've always had fun there, but I have a hard time seeing it in the top U.S. beer cities.

 

Than you, my friend, are missing out. Hop JuJu was the gold medal winner in Imperial IPA at GABF 2015. says a bit, eh?

 

This was exactly the reply I would write.

 

Again, people who have not tried Ohio beers.

 

Exactly as much as it says about Fort Wayne. Or, any other city on this list:

http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/the-competition/winners/

I'm not discounting Cleveland, or it's breweries, but, GABF medals are not the be-all-and-end-all. Hell, even Bellingham WA took home multiple GABF golds last year, and we're certainly not a top 30 beer city. Yet.

 

I've done my share of beercations. Did Cleveland with the wife a few years back. Stopped at Southern tier on the way, then hit up Erie breweries, then on to NE OH for Hoppin Frog, Thirsty Dog, Fat Heads, Rocky River, Buckeye, GLBC, Market Garden. It was remarkably...average. Not a real standout in the bunch. The most memorable parts of the trip was that Market Garden was the biggest ripoff I've ever been to and I had one of the best meals of my life at Michael Symonds restaurant. Cleveland certainly does not belong on a list with Portland (either one), Austin, Asheville, Boston, Burlington, San diego, Denver, Chicago, Baltimore, etc, etc.

 

I have tried many Ohio beers. Just this week I had Hop JuJu. Cleveland has some great beers, just not top 10 worthy.

 

agree to disagree. no worries

 

If a single beer makes an entire city top 10, then Greensboro Bend and Monson are the greatest beer cities in the country.

 

We are spoiled with the likes of Jackie O's ,hoof hearted, fatheads to name a few.Ohio definitely has to be in the mix

 

I'm in LA, which is great, but San Diego is the best. That place is a beer mecca, and it's only getting better

Edit: saw the discussion above about LA and San Diego. I definitely wouldn't consider LA a part of the SD beer scene. And I agree, Stone being in Escondido wouldn't count in any other part of the country. If you're driving back to LA though, it's on the way, which is nice. They also built something in SD proper a while back.

Still, throw out Stone (which is HUGE) and SD still has to be in the running. Tons of great beer there within the city.

 

Recently came back from a trip to Seattle, I was blown away by the craft beer community up there! I had no idea there were so many breweries in the city. I was very impressed with their offerings - Cloudburst being a personal favorite. Chucks CD might have been one of the best bottle shops/bar I've been to.

 

It's always good to believe bs you hear without checking things out for yourself.

 

Just got back from a Portland/Bend trip. You sir, are not lying.