Paste Magazine - 50 Most Underrated Craft Breweries in the US

I'm glad Defiance Brewing got some love in Kansas.

 

Nice lineup. Great raft in LA has been getting some good press lately; I need to try and get my hands on some. I like St. Somewhere here in Florida and Cherry Street Coop in GA is definitely one to try.

 

Alpine from California is an odd choice.

 

Hmmmm....

"When we say “underrated” here, we’re talking about breweries that are largely known commodities, but ones that perhaps don’t get the respect they deserve from the beer geek segment."

The Minnesota choice is Lift Bridge of Stillwater.

How can a brewer with over 25% of their beers reviewed at 4.0 or above, listed among the "Best of the Best" in the state by a BA member (and most MN BA's generally agreeing with that list) be among those that "don’t get the respect they deserve from the beer geek segment"?

Lift Bridge is great, don't get me wrong; but I don't see them as "underrated" at all.

 

Highland in NC was a good choice. They have been like that favorite T-shirt. Familiar, comfortable but "nothing special" until recently with some rebooting. Old stuff has always been solid but new things coming out at a faster clip have been really good with more to come.

Alpine mystifies me for a state with more breweries than any other--have to be other choices for most underrated.

Coast in SC is prob one of the best two or three in the state and recognized as such.

Oh well--
Opinions.

 

Duel in NM is pretty much ONLY respected by the beer geeks for their unique stylings. Having a second or third taproom is not totally indicative of a breweries success IMHO. With that said, when I think underrated, it may very well be the states largest brewery, Santa Fe Brewing. Very solid lineup, never really winning big awards, many of their beers I pass on for other locals. Beer Geeks sort of flock to other breweries for sure.

Color me confused by this article

 

HA HA HA HA Oregon: Hair of the Dog. Yep, the State's biggest supplier of Flat Hype Ale. LOLOLOL

 

By local twin cities or minnesota residents, sure not underrated. But they're not even a blip on the regional (dakotas, wisconsin, iowa, illinois) radar. I think thats what they're going for with this list.

Although Alpine is definitely a weird choice.

 

Hair of the Dog is an especially strange choice, even if the article didn't make it seem like people haven't ever heard of it. I generally like them, but the overall consensus is that their beer is pretty overrated, and I'm inclined to agree. Plus, there are a shitload of breweries out here, including a lot of ones that have been around forever but never gotten the respect they deserve, like Laurelwood and Bend Brewing. And that's not to mention smaller places that don't distribute out of the state like Oakshire, though I understand why they might not be considered here.

I assume it's Hair of the Dog's diminishing reputation that led Paste to put them here, as if to say that they're worth revisiting, but it's still a bit puzzling.

 

These are four beers from brewers on the list that I really like:

Blue Mountain Brewery (Virginia) Dark Hollow Stout
Cherry Street Brewing Cooperative (Georgia) Coconut Porter
Highland Brewing (North Carolina) Gaelic Ale
Mispillion River Brewing (Delaware) Black Tie Black IPA

 

I used to get a killer ESB from Blue Mountain at Total Wine, but haven't seen it in a while. I wish those guys were easier to find.

 

Alpine does seem like an odd choice especially with so many breweries in CA.

 

How can the 3rd largest brewery in Michigan, behind Bells, and Founders, be underrated?

 

I love how the excerpt on Kansas is completely wrong stating that boulevard is in Kansas but it's actually a Missouri brewery...

 

I really like Lift Bridge. I don't get the pretty low rating of Farm Girl Saison here on BA. I think that is sold and I think I will pick some up this weekend. I do wish they had more beers available in cans. I also think many brewers live in the shadow of Surly here in Minnesota.

 

Is it me or is this article linking underrating to limited distribution? I am surely no expert on distribution. I think many of these people writing about beer should change their focus to maybe something like "Why kale is number one for greens now!"

 

Casey in Colorado is even odder to me. If anything, they're the highest rated brewery in the state by beer geeks. I would have gone with Left Hand or even New Belgium, given how they defined underrated.

 

Nice to see Evolution and Blue Mountain on the list. good local beers !!

 

I was hoping they picked O.E.C. for Connecticut and they did. But they only brew sours. I would say the most welled rounded brewery that gets overlooked is Black Hog. They are making a push to can and distribute their shelf beers. But their THC series of Hoppy beers is really good and they have limited releases of wilds and they started barrel aging. Black Hog does a really nice job.