The Most Unique Breweries in Your Area

I’ll throw out CA-based Dokkaebier, https://www.enjoydkb.com/, as they’re moving to Oakland sometime soon (or maybe already?). They are brewing Korean/Asian-influenced beers for a US market. While I’ve been …underwhelmed, say, by what I’ve had from them so far I applaud the concept and look forward to sampling a few whenever I make it over to their taproom.

From visits to Michigan I’ve become a fan of Speciation, speciationartisanales.com, for their experimental & natural yeasts-focused program. (Natural yeasts? Wild ale?) Again, not everything is a winner but I can’t say I’ve had anything boring from them, either.

 

Not to be that guy, but by definition something can’t “most unique” or “more unique”—something is either unique or it’s not.

u·nique
/ˌyo͞oˈnēk/

adjective

1. being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.

That said, in the Seattle area I guess I would say Holy Mountain. Their beers are just a little different from what most breweries are producing.

 

Machine House with their exclusively English Style cask beers? Maybe Lucky Envelope? And the entire PNW with the breadth and depth of Fresh Hop beers?

 

I was about to say - those were ones that first came to mind. Even new-comers like Bizarre seem to produce something more out there. Floodland???

 

Not in my area but I always thought “The Answer” in Richmond VA was one of the strangest breweries with the facility it’s in, the vibe and their beers. The place feels like an 1985 VFW,American Legion or Moose Lodge etc. And then you have the MeKong restaurant connection on the other side of the strip mall which adds another level of strange. Great beers and food, just bizarre.

 

It's a bit out of my way, but it was started by/owned by/still run by a Homebrewer here (I'm not sure who exactly)

Offset Bier - Park City, UT

 

This leads me to question, is it common for breweries to also dip into distilling?

I know of 4 locals off hand that all do

 

I will avoid the term “unique” since this could be controversial for some but instead I will discuss a couple of breweries near me that are ‘different’ in terms of serving styles. Each of these breweries mostly have ‘regular’ taps but also they provide alternative serving methods:

Forest & Main

At their taproom/pub they have three beer engines and three Lukr faucets. They beer engines typically have English style beers on tap while the Lukr faucets will typically have lagers (e.g., Czech Lagers). Right now they have:

Hand Pumps

Served cellar temp from our stillage via British beer engines

Porter - 6%. This porter is one heck of a nice ale. We brewed it with lots of British Golden Promise, crystal, chocolate, black, and roasted malts; hopped it with some Centennial and lots of East Kent Goldings; and fermented with our favourite British ale yeast. It has notes of cool chocolate baking powder, dark cherry Twizlers, chocolate covered strawberries, whiffs of cedar, a fresh bag of coffee, and some cold raisins.

Dry Irish Stout - 3.5% Boy, do we have a real nice Dry Irish Stout for you. We brewed this one with some nice heirloom barley, roasted malts, and a bit of oats; delicately hopped it with some Styrian Wolf; and fermented nice and proper with our favourite ale yeast. We’re getting notes of ethereal chocolate cake, hard black liquorice, toasted hazelnut, clean coffee, and some chocolate pudding. It has all that lovely stout character, but is still quite light and dry, keeping you ready to drink some more; and with only 3.5% abvs that’s just what you should do.

Best Bitter - 4.2% This is the kind of beer where you can eat the whole loaf. Brewed with quality British Maris Otter, two types of Crystal malt, and hopped with the classiest East Kent Goldings. We’re tasting lovely notes of fresh homemade wheat bread, cottage marmalade, well seasoned firewood, craisins and dried cherries, classic London-style yeast character, and a couple digestive biscuits. Get moreish!

Side Pulls

Poured from Czech Lukr faucets for an extra creamy head

Dinkel Lager - 4% Spelt Lager. This beer is so damn nice. Brewed with a double decoction of German barley and lots of German Spelt malt, hopped singularly with Saaz, fermented slow and cold with our favourite lager yeast, and spunded at the end of fermentation to capture lots of beautiful tight bubbles and extra flavors. We’re getting notes of lemon verbena, Nilla wafers with royal icing, homemade pasta and homemade white bread, and maybe a whiff of white pepper. Very guzzleable, indeed.

Dark Lager - 4.8% This is a really pretty dark lager. We brewed it with our favourite German barley and a special mix of dark and roasted malts, and hopped it with the finest European hops. We’re getting notes of baking with chocolate, grape “flavor,” a whiff of some toasted hazelnuts, classy amber lagers, and an impeccably balanced hop flavor. It goes down nice!

Wall of Time - 4.7% Our favourite little Kolsch returns! This batch features premium German malts and Saphir and Styrian Fox hops. Most of us here at F&M don’t show our emotions very much, but please know we have a lot of inner excitement when it comes to Kolsch. This one has notes of artisan crackers, lemon peel and herbs, homemade strudel, and perfect honest beer flavors.

Troubles End

At the taproom they have two beer engines and two Lukr faucets. Right now they have a Mild and ESB on tap and via the Lukr faucet: The Peak - Pilsner (5.75%) Poured off the czech-style sidepour faucet. 100% Pilsner malt, 100% Michigan grown Saaz hops.

When visiting these breweries, I typically order one (or more) beer via the beer engines (hand pumps) and one via the Lukr faucet.

Cheers!

 

Have you visited Wasatch Brewery? If so, what do you think?

Cheers!

 

Depends on state laws I imagine. In WA, a brewery can't make cider, which is classified as a wine. There used to be a brewery/winery in my town, and in the back where the brewery was, they built a cheap 2x4 and drywall wall between the winery side and the brewery side. Used the same taproom.

 

I think you used the appropriate language in the existing parlance. Uniqueness is definitely perceived on a spectrum these days as many people will perceive every brewery as "unique" and will have no problem understanding the concept of "more" or "less" unique.

Locally, we have Humboldt Regeneration Brewing. They focus on making beer with locally grown ingredients. Given our coastal environment this means that they use uncommon malt and hop varieties meaning that their beers are unusual.

My favorite thing they ever made was probably a porter flavored with various wild crafted mushrooms.

They've made several beers entirely out of ingredients that never left the county. That's pretty unusual in modern beer making.

 

Not in my area, but Father John's brewery in Bryan, OH was a unique experience for me. It is located in an old church, medieval decor, pews for seats, beer list served in a hymnal. Good beer and food as well.

 

Newsylum in Newtown CT. The building is unique in that it used to be a mental hospital, hence the name

 

I think everyone knew what you meant, which is the main thing. I’m kind of a grammar nut (it’s my actual job), so I sometimes point out a random grammatical pet peeve when I’m so inclined. I usually just bite my tongue but sometimes I can’t resist

 

I can think of at least a dozen breweries here in Michigan that also have a small distillery license. There are probably more. A number of breweries also make wine or cider. I don't understand the legalities, but many use some other brand name for these other beverages.

 

I enjoy Wasatch, been to their brewery on Main St, Park City a few times. I really enjoy their apricot hef and ghost rider white IPA. If they were closer I'd go more, but they're not a top 5 UT brewery imo. Especially because I can get most their good stuff fairly fresh at the grocery store.