States where craft brewing is exploding

Connecticut in the past two years has really seen a boom in craft breweries throughout the state. Cheers!

 

Indiana has been adding a bunch of new breweries

 

Literally had this with a can of Uncommon Brewers Bacon Brown Ale in my trunk....drove for 3-4 hours home with it and when I opened the trunk the can had blown open. Pretty tasty beer though..

 

As a new Masshole, I have to agree...there are a LOT of local brews on the shelf, but most are mediocre. Here's to hoping they are willing to look in the mirror and acknowledge it and tweak those recipes! That is something I don't get...a brewery keeps making a beer that gets rated 78 (and I presume sells accordingly although I know that is not always the case)....try to improve that crap instead of getting ready to crank out some new style that you are going to do a similarly mediocre job with.

 

I gotta say VA and DC. Devils Backbone won lots of awards at GABF, Blue Mountain is solid and expanding distribution. Then there is Williamsburg Alewerks getting consistently better, their bourbon barrel porter and cafe royale gaining popularity, and their new Bitter Valentine double ipa. Hardywood Park in Richmond apparently makes some great brews that are gaining popularity. DC Brau and their OTWOA. Within the last few years there has been a good number of small breweries popping up in northern virginia , dc, and out along the shenandoah mountains, really all around VA I guess.

 

Exactly what I do. There's only one local that I drink, though I make an effort to try every local brewery and a good sampling of their beers.

There's too many regional crafts imported here. I could drink a Sculpin, or a mediocre local option. I could drink a Bell's Two-Hearted, or a mediocre local option. On and on...

 

I have to second @pimpmidget and @legend8706 that the NC craft scene is really starting to blossom. An established first wave of high quality pioneers (Foothills, Olde Hickory, Duck Rabbit, Highland, Triangle, etc) but a number of newer, smaller breweries popping up (Mystery, NoDa, Catawba Valley,etc.) Asheville quickly becoming a center of excellence as Oskar Blues and Sierra Nevada open up outposts.

I'm lovin it.

 

You really need to move.

 

I was actually blown away by how prominent the craft scene was in the Tampa area in my recent visit. There were quite a few quality breweries within a 30 mile radius around Tampa. Of course the heavy hitters like Cigar City and Pegs, but Seventh Sun was fantastic, as well as the grandpa around the block Dunedin Brewing. Also craft beer was apparent in most bars, and there was a good sprinkling of craft centric locations through out. Cheers to FL!

 

I'm currently in the process of relocating from Seattle to Oklahoma City and in terms of quantity Oklahoma isn't close to exploding but please just hear me out for a second.

The quality of the beer that is being produced out there just absolutely blew me away. Coop, Marshall, Redbud, Choc, and Prairie Artisan could be the start of something special for them. They are somewhat hindered by laws currently on the book but hopefully these laws will change in due time. Keep an eye on Oklahoma though as more and more breweries will continue to pop up and they have a very unique set up I was reading about where many of the brewers brew at Choc's facility in Krebs (please correct me if I'm wrong Oklahoma BA's!) which I feel adds a little to the culture being fostered out there. On top of that, breweries like Green Flash are beginning to distribute out there which will only help aid the process as people are introduced to more and more world class breweries and start to see what craft beer can be.

**Side note, I tried Coop's F-5 IPA and I'll tell you what, as someone who loves a fine IPA, this beer was top notch!

 

Do you have a brain tumor or something?

 

Ha ha! Trust me man, I love it up here but my hands are tied on this one. Please, don't be so harsh!

 

While not necessarily happening state-wide, the front range corridor of Colorado (Co. Springs to Fort Collins) seemingly gets a new brewery every week…and I’m not exaggerating. It has gotten to the point where I wonder if certain neighborhoods can even sustain it.

 

If you root for the Thunder, you're dead to me.

 

With the rise of craft beer popularity, there is a rise in investors who are interested. And don't think the economy has put a damper on the number of people who have money to invest. The rich stayed rich, just a little less rich. Since the goal of an investor is to maximize their return on investment they will invest in those industries that show current and sustainable growth. If the popularity of craft beer was showing signs of plateauing, I don't think there would be as many investors looking to jump on the bandwagon. So, since there are plenty of dreamers who believe their home brew is as good or better than what's out there, those with ambition will seek out the investors and open up a brewery or brewpub. Doesn't mean their product will be as good or better than what's out there, it just means they were ambitious and lucky enough to get their brewery into operation. So IMHO, the current and sustained growth of craft beer is why you see so many breweries in planning, opening, etc.

 

I wouldn't say Alabama is "exploding" but I see more and more new beers come into stores, especially over the past 6 months. Birmingham alone has 3 breweries, I believe.

 

I don't think Wyoming is exploding, per se, but we're definitely making a decent effort (especially considering our population/land mass). My town of Sheridan has Black Tooth Brewing which has done exceptionaly well. They exceded their 5-year goals by the 2-year mark. They've been buying more and more fermentation tanks and definitely have plans to start canning. I feel that just our town (pop: 17k) could easily support another brewery. We also had Clear Creek Brewery in Buffalo, WY (teeny tiny little town). They were the result of a Kickstarter effort; they had just been a group of homebrewers. They're also doing really well. I try to get over there as often as possible, and they're packed every night of the week.

I want more of the Colorado scene to spill up to Wyo. A lot of people want to open breweries, but the market is much more saturated down there.

Wyoming (at least in my part of it) has a tragically feeble distributing effort.

 

All I see in Southern Vermont is Otter Creek, Long Trail, McNeills and sometime Northshire. If there is a craft beer explosion in Vermont the pieces aren't carrying very far.

 

Yeah, I thought that might be the case...

I've never seen anything on the current TTB site (which isn't always user-friendly, and seems to be constantly "updated" - i.e., "can't find something you once did but forgot to bookmark").

The ATF used to put out a print copy of licensed breweries (probably cost 8¢ a page or something). This one's from 1976 and was only 5½ typed pages and even included sake breweries, pilot and experimental breweries (schools, malt houses, etc) but just barely broke 100 total.

 

Love too many other factors. Plus, like I said, we do have an incredible import list of American crafts. So it's mostly beer bar & home consumption for happiness here.

Lot of places are worse. Have you been to Indian Wells?