Best U.S. beer city: the poll

I say: both Portland's (OR & ME). But can't forget Philly, Boston and Grand Rapids (MI).

 

I'm just going to add another Portland vote. Top notch breweries, beer bars and bottle shops. Plus it seems like there's some kind of beer festival/party/release/event every week.

 

Yes it does....
San Diego County

Alpine
Alesmith
Stone
Lost Abbey
Pizza Port
Ballast Point
Coronado
Manzanita

Plus all the beer bars...Toronado, Hamiltons, O'Briens, Downtown Johnny Browns, Churchills, Pizza Port

SD for the Win.

Cheers!

 

The key word in your statement is County. We are talking about an actual city.

 

Bend, Oregon!

 

Fort collins Colorado, they have nine different brewries

 

let me guess... your from MilwaUkee, not MilwaLkee... ok.. I do apoligize... hey, would you do me a favor and just check my spelling on this post... thank a bunch....

 

Having been to both (well I live in one) in the last 8 months, Ft. Collins and Bend are two great small cities/towns that definitely fly under the radar!!

 

Bend is the correct answer to this question. It's not even close, Bend wins in a blowout!

 

Be curious to see results for best beer city with under a million people. Of course San Diego and Philly are great beer cities. No denying that, but can you go from brewery to brewery with eas and comfort? I've heard the San Diego breweries are VERY spread out and I for one need to keep my buzz going and not worry about transportation! Portland amazed me in how many different beer stores, pubs, and breweries you could hit in half a day! I love San Diego and rank Cali as my favorite beer state, but not sure how easy it is to get around and enjoy these breweries like it is in Portland, Bend, Ft. Collins, and Denver. Just my opinions. How about best beer cities with under a million people?

 

My wife and take 2 beercations every year. Last summer it was driving the state of Oregon and this past winter we drove to many of the Michigan breweries. San Diego and Vermont high on my list!!

 

As an entry outside the obvious choices Austin is quietly a becoming a huge beer town.
Jester King, Austin Beer Works, and 512 are the tops (JK is awesome with their sours and farmhouse mantra).

Independence, Live Oak, Draught House, South Austin Brewing, Real Ale, North By Northwest, Black Star, Thirsty Planet, Adelberts, Hops & Grain, and Circle provide additional competition and periodically have some great things.

The brewmaster from Odell is opening up a new brewery here as well.

Great beer bars in Draught House, Black Star, Flying Saucer, Gingerman, Easy Tiger, Hopfields, and Whip-In located throughout the city.

There's a ton to like about Austin as a craft beer drinker. The most encouraging is that pretty much all the breweries listed are less than 10 years old and already have strong offerings. The biggest downside is that the TABC keeps so many great beers from every coming to the state.

Weather-wise, it's no San Diego, but nowhere near the hell of western MI or the northeast.

 

I'm a bit partial, but I think Philly wins.

 

Grand Rapids!

 

I will say philly is to me the overall winner. Though there are not as many world class breweries as many other cities, the distribution, culture, and quality and quantity of establishments is second to none.

I am surprised though that chicago has gotten as little attention as it has. Though it doesn't have the great beer culture that lots of other world class beer cities do, but it has tons of world class established breweries and a bunch of great new ones.

 

Denver.

 

Asheville!
Seriously with the lineup of breweries and availability of brews there, its no wonder it was voted beer city 3 years in a row and SN moving there with a possible move by NB. Asheville is about to explode with more opportunities. If you want beer go there!!!!

 

Minneapolis is a great beer city with both great diistro and bars

 

I think Philly is a very strong contender. Not as many brewpubs or as local-centric as Portland seemed to be, but when you look at the variety Philly gets it's pretty impressive. Also, a big seller for Philly is that you can always find a good beer bar close by. Even the "crappy" bars there usually serve some good local micros. Other great beer cities I've been to don't seem to have the sheer number of good beer bars, and often still don't get the variety.

 

It's definitely Philadelphia. From what I've heard and found in the city it is 100% this and you can end the thread. We even get PtY when basically nowhere gets that except SoCal. Philadelphia isn't the best area for brewing, but as far as what this region gets, I doubt anything beats it. I love it. So it depends on the criteria. As far as what you can get it's Philly, if you want to define it by breweries that are local, no. It's something like San Diego. SoCal does it up right as far as brewing. Same thing with the northern Midwest FFF, Bell's, and Founders are like the trifecta to end all brewing east of Cali.