3 favorite brewery taprooms

Well I was JUST about to start a similar thread - favorite brewery visits, or something like that, kind of spurred on by the recent "bucket list breweries" thread, which was about places so many HOPED to visit. I'm not sure the following are my 3 favorites but some places I've really enjoyed:

Brew by Numbers, London - visited this January, everyone is spilling out into the streets drinking and have a great time in a funky area of south London (Bermondsey) where there are breweries and little street markets and great things to eat everywhere. Beers are good to great, company was pretty cool; brewers were welcoming; they and the locals dug talking to American beer geeks. London street drinking in the winter, awesome.

Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe Vt - nice German lagers, decent snacks, incredible alpine scenery in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Everyone wants to go to Hill Farmstead, and so do I, but I put the beer in my car and split (maybe now I'd have a glass in the new building but I still have to drive a good ways afterwards). I never got the welcoming, stay awhile vibe at HF (although things have improved in that regard); go to Trapp and sit outside in the back among the mountains in the summer and breathe in the clean crisp fresh air....aaaah.

Forest and Main - Ambler, PA - Such a cool spot, an old farmhouse with a beautiful porch, gracious staff and brewers, offbeat beers, relaxed vibe. Just different and a great time. Nice food! Kind of hard to put into words what makes this place great, you just have to go and check it out. Thinking back on all the spots I've visited there are plenty where I might dig the beer more but the atmosphere is severely lacking, either with the industrial warehouse thing, sportsbar vibe, disinterested staff, etc. F&M has a terrific vibe and they do their own thing.

Honorable mention: Stone beer garden in Escondido, my old love Tired Hands (not in the area so I don't go anymore - i was a frequent customer in the first 2 years), Hair of the Dog, etc etc - tons of great places).

 

This'll be some Southern California fun...

1.) Tustin Brewing - while technically a Brewpub, this eclectic mix of cool regulars, fantastic staff and killer food makes it my Go-To. Even taking their great beer out of the equation, the place is stellar.

2.) TAPS Fish House & Brewery - Any of their three locations works fine for me...lotsa dark wood, stellar food and hi-touch staff make this a no brainer

3.) Noble Aleworks - Best pre-game in the area if heading to a game in Anaheim. Both Ducks and Angel fans pack this bare-bones taproom to the gills...yet the staff is professional and the people-watching is phenomenal.


While the beer in each of these places is world-class, that didn't even enter into the equation for me.

It's all about the people...

 

#1, Gold Medal winner by a long shot, Selins' Grove Brewery, Selinsgrove PA. It's in the basement of an old PA Governors house. Old stone walls. Old wooden beams. Nice people. Good food. Great beer. Awesome. A must hit if you're within 100 miles.

#2, the deck seating at Bend Brewing Company, Bend OR. Sip tasty beer in the sunshine while overlooking the Mirror Pond that Deschutes named a beer after. If it's available, try the fresh Marrionberry Cobbler.

#3, the bar at the North Fork Brewery, Pizzeria, Beer Shrine, and Wedding Chapel, Deming WA. A former garage turned in to a brewery. The bar is an old high school basketball court. Mostly English-style ales, but some wild sours as well. Great NYC style pizza. One of the owners, Vicki, is often behind the bar, and she's a great character. A wide and vast collection of breweriana surrounds you.

Honorable Mentions: Big Time Brewery, Seattle; Machine House Brewery, Seattle; Skookum Brewery, Arlington WA; Bale Breaker Brewing, Yakima WA (drink in the hop field where the hops in your beer were grown!); Icicle Brewing, Leavenworth WA; and Birdsview Brewing, Concrete WA (beer ain't that good, but sitting outside to watch hawks and eagles soar overhead is pretty awesome).

 

I decided I needed to break this up into categories.

International
In de Vrede - Westvleteren. Nuff said.
3 Fonteinen - didn't hurt that we met Armand.
The Kernel - I guess it's closed now, but was a really cool place.

NY
Ithaca - good food, good beer, nice outside area.
Ommegang - awesome food and Belgian beer, like going to the farmhouse.
Two Goats - just an amazing location on Seneca Lake. Can't get enough of it.

Elsewhere in the US
Wicked Weed - so many beers up and down stairs.
Jester King - I really enjoyed getting there and drinking in the Texas sun.
Hill Farmstead - new building is really cool for hanging out on the deck.

 

1. lagunitas. petaluma, ca. yes, russian river is close & great in their own right, but lagunitas' space in petaluma is just awesomely chill. an outdoor music venue, great outdoor space, dog friendly, great beers, good food. yes, yes, yes.
2. fonta flora. morganton, nc. great brews, vintage board games, charming, comfortable. the kind of place you want in your backyard. limited snacks, but easily forgiven. real deal.
3. founders. grand rapids, mi. i always have a blast at founders. great beers, good food, expansive space, venue for music.

 

Not sure if it counts but:
Stone Brewing's little restaurant thing in SD had such a cool atmosphere. Food was great and beers were cool, ones that aren't available out here.

Also love Portsmouth Brewing Company in New Hampshire. Food is amazing, has a patio are where you can get some air, pool table and bar in the basement and the vibe inside is pretty chill, albeit busy.

Cambridge Brewing Company also has some amazing beer and cool interior with amazing food.

 

Taking this literally as "favorite" and not what I think is actually best. In no particular order:

1. Troegs - this is the first brewery I visited where I determined I needed to visit more breweries. I wasn't much of a "craft beer" fan at this point. I think this was 2011. This is what set off my obsession to visit more breweries and then begin really nerding out through BA.

2. Hill Farmstead - I love the location, the scenery, the food in Montpelier and Waterbury... and oh yeah, the beer.

3. Jolly Pumpkin Pizzeria & Brewery (Detroit) - You know when you visit a place and just have an absolutely amazing time there and this same place completely changes your perception of the surrounding city as well? That's what this location did. Detroit is a very interesting city, the beer here is great and the food is fantastic. I can't wait to visit again some day.

I almost put New Glarus as number 3, but I just loved Jolly Pumpkin too much. Sand City will probably wind up on this list once I move from the area, but this is where I stand right now.

 

Damn it, I forgot about Stone. Stone Gardens is definitely the most impressive tasting room space in the country. When I move to SD, I plan on bringing everyone who visits me to one of their locations.

 

In the US (in no particular order): New Belgium, Cigar City, and the Crooked Stave barrel room.

Internationally: Kloster Andechs, Cantillon, and Mahr's.

 

California: Highland Park Hermosillo, Stone World Bistro, Modern Times Lomaland
Other US: Haw River (Saxapahaw), The Church (Pittsburgh), Buoy (Astoria)

 

Well Wicked Weed for me also like Surly and New Glarus.

 

Side Project
Founder's
Bell's

 

If it's got decent beer and someplace to sit, I'm generally happy.

I'll give a shout out here to Woodstock Brewhouse in Virginia. Went there the other weekend. They had a surprisingly big space for such a small town; the beer was good enough; and they had brisket by the pound with these great vinegar-based barbecue sauces you served yourself. I had a good time.

 

Firestone Walker
Out of Bounds
Stone

 

The Kernel in London?

 

Yes, I had heard that they were not going to be open to the public at all or not as much as they used to be.

 

Hmmm, so many breweries.

Locally, La Cumbre because the beer is great and it's close to home and feels like home and they treat me well.

Ones that I've really loved my experiences:

Jester King- Love being outdoors. Love the beer selection. The different pour sizes. The beer. Beautiful place.

Casey Brewing- Beautiful scenery. Relaxed vibe. Superb beer. Generally a communal feel as I'm there with pals and we share lots of Casey bottles.

Finback- Feels like an escape from NYC. Spacious. Open-aired. Cool bar. Like the various pour sizes. And love that they play hip-hop. A breath of fresh air in the beer world where bluegrass seems as ubiquitous as beards.


Honorable mentions that could easily be in the Top 3: Holy Mountain (airy space, various pour sizes, great beer and prices), Other Half (great beer and hip hop), Barrio Brewing in Tucson (beautiful view, nostalgia), Dragoon (awesome beer, great service, friendly people, nostalgia), Cellarmaker.

 

Surprised you didn't give a shout out to Casey! And damn, yes, absolutely yes about Andechs if we're talking the monastery atop the hill with the biergarten and massive pretzels (I still haven't had a pretzel stateside that could match those).

 

Good thread topic.

For me it is a tough call, I've been to a lot of great places. These 3 stand out.

1 - Oliphant Brewing in Somerset, Wisconsin - I've been to this one the most of all of them. Why would a brewery an hour and a half from me be such a high priority stop?Atmosphere, and the beer is out of this world.

2 - Backpocket Brewing in Coralville, Iowa - The beers are good, but their pizza is killer. Always try to stop when on I80.

3 - Montgomery Brewing in Montgomery, MN - Kick ass beers. Great atmosphere. Only downside is there is really a lack of room there.