Unknown Brewery Gems

I don’t have two picks, but I have one very enthusiastic choice...

Referend in Pennington, NJ. I wouldn’t call them “unknown” but they’re certainly not as well known as they deserve to be. All spontaneous fermentation. Some of the best examples of spon beers that I’ve had from the States. Their Sanctus was a revelatory beer.

The owners are extremely cool and hyper-literate (always nice) and it’s just the kind of place that I enjoy wholeheartedly.

 

Frost Beer Works out of Hinesburg and Foley Bros out of Brandon are both hitting home runs with both their IPAs and their dark stuff. Both breweries starting canning last year and have ramped up distribution significantly. They're certainly 'known' in Vermont and parts of New England, but not so much at large. As for the really wee folks: I'd say 4 Quarters out of Winooski (their Little Umbrellas coconut pineapple sour is amazing) and Hired Hand out of Vergennes doing some amazing hazy unfiltered NE style IPAs.

 

How long have they been open? I use to work in Pennington.

 

Two NY breweries that may still be under the radar are Equilibrium and Hudson Valley, at least for out-of-staters. Equilibrium is making some awesome IPAs and Hudson Valley is making the best sour IPAs I've had, and I don't event like sours.

 

Breaker brewing in Wilkes Barre, PA. They've been on the cusp for a while, but have really upped their game in the last several months. Plus, they added cans recently. Their "smooph" series can stand with other IPAs of the style(lactose added). Worth checking out, great food as well.

 

Opened in December 2016.

 

There are a number of high quality small, local breweries in my area but for this thread I will discuss two ‘newer’ breweries that I think deserve mention.

One is Hidden River in Douglesville, PA. Their beers are very good – excellent and it is located in an older (historic?) building in a bucolic setting. This brewery opened a couple of years ago.

The second one is Root Down in Phoenixville, PA which opened in the summer of 2017. I have been there a number of times and I have enjoyed drinking every beer I have had there (which is quite a few via ordering samplers). Their beers are very good – excellent.

I could add others to this list but these two will suffice for now.

Cheers!

 

I'll chip in a couple from Rhode Island. Proclamation and the new brewery (in Proclamation's old digs), Shaidzon. I have had four current beers from Proclamation and rated them all around 4.2 - what seems to be hurting them is that even though they have expanded the operation and moved to a new place, the taproom experience remains a bit sketchy according to reviews.

Shaidzon - the head brewer is one of my wife's former students, so he's really local from my perspective. He had successes at Mayflower and Grey Sail (Captain's Daughter), and I think Shaidzon may be a gem in progress. The old Proclamation location - down near URI - is a challenge to find until you know where it is so that is a concern, but I don't think the beer quality will be an issue at all and Josh isn't brewing just another IPA. Right now, looks to be about 50/50 growler sales or on tap at the brewery and 750 ml bottle format. Really wish them the best and hope they are on the upward trajectory.

 

Tough one as I'm not entirely sure how many people have heard of them. In my area (Northern NJ), I would say:

Twin Elephant Brewing. They made a nice array (style-wise) of really good beers. I'm hoping they don't fall prey to the NE IPA/hype/line culture. They make really good Saison's, Browns, Pale Lagers, Stouts and ESB. I would really like to see them put out a Pilsner (they may have before I discovered them, but I haven't had one from them yet). I also think if they did a cask version of their ESB it would be excellent. They're still a bit small, so I don't think they're quite ready to blow up yet, but quality-wise I think they have a few that could take them there.

Ramstein Brewing. They have a larger footprint that Twin Elephant, and have distribution, but I still think they're good enough to be a larger name. They focus on the traditional German styles (which may curb popularity in the current landscape), and they do them well.



From my time living in CA, I would have to say:

Smog City. They had a fantastic coffee Porter, and some other real solid offerings. I know they had distro and I'd seen them at a few bars.

Monkish Brewing. They were just starting when I moved away, but I'd had a few good Belgian offerings from them and were hoping they caught on.

I moved away a few years ago, so not sure the fate of both places as I haven't been following.

 

Some of these answers are more like answers to the question “what is your favorite local brewery”. I think any brewery that has a dedicated thread in its regional sub-forum, and/or is regularly featured on the trading boards, doesn’t qualify as an unknown / hidden gem.

My answer is that there aren’t any where I live. Too many beer nerds in the NYC area for any brewery producing remotely good beer to stay hidden. I’m skeptical of there being any truly hidden gems in the vicinity of any major city.

 

+1 to Foley Brothers. Very solid beers and super folks.

Hoppin Moose in Rutland Vermont also has excellent IPAs and decent dark brew. They are looking into expanding production.

Foley Brothers seem to add on every year boosting production.

 

In the Middle Tennessee area I would say Southern Grist. They seem to live in the shadow of Bearded Iris, but Southern Grist can make a damn good hazy IPA also. They are just as good in that department while also having a bit more variety on their taplist. They've got a good brown, gose, have a few different rotating stouts, and a handful of sours too.

 

Not sure I’d categorise them as a gem, but certainly not spoken about that much.