Best Brewery Experience?

SN Mills River... The tour, the epic brewery/tasting room and sitting outside on that porch drinking a tall Hefeweizen or Pils, is just incredible. I can head down to the Asheville area and do nothing else but SN and be happy as can be. They remain my absolute favorite brewery of all time, when you look at the entire portfolio and the quality of the products, bar none.

We are going to Chico in April on our Cali trip and already booked out beer geek tour there as soon as they went on sale a few days ago. It's the last SN facility we have yet to get to (Only did torpedo room last year on our vacation, which was awesome and I want one in CLE thank you!).

@SierraTerence - I still want that Gothic Pils in cans for national distro! That beer was just unreal.

 

Sitting down at Red Cypress. Bartender looks at me, "Here. Take this." While handing me a 32oz crowler. They needed to kill a keg just so they could put on a new one. That's love right there.

 

Can we all just admit that New Belgium's brewery in Colorado is a damn theme park shy amusement ride of what Heineken does in Amsterdam? Their tour is awesome.

 

Vanish in Lucketts VA, is about the best setup of a farm brewery I've been to. Multiple indoor halls/beer gardens, an large outdoor pavillion with beer garden tables, a huge outdoor seating area with picnic tables, cornhole games, and playground for the kids. Local BBQ and food trucks on the weekends. If you can get away from the crowds that congregate in the main taproom, its quite a pleasant place. Beers are very solid across the board as well, and they offer lots of styles. I guess it helps to be on a farm in the wealthiest county in the USA with patrons with a boatload of disposable income to help pay for such a palace.

 

Best overall atmosphere, including quantity and quality of beers, food, social aspect, entertainment, facility, etc...Founders Brewing. Kind of a homer answer since that is my profile picture, my local brewery, etc. but I have been to quite a few breweries around the country.

Most beautiful setting...Sierra Nevada, Mills River, NC. No question.

 

US
Beer Camp at Chico is #1. Mills River is beautiful.
Bell’s has a nice tour at Galesburg.

Belgium - Cantillon

UK - Fullers. Young’s Ram brewery was great, but now closed.

Germany - Schönram, Ayinger, Spezial, and Eck were all great.

 

Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee will always hold a special place in my heart. Haven't been back in ages but used to go all the time in the early-aughts. Hands down the funniest tour guides around. Perfect for large groups. And you got a token for a free beer that you could use at any number of nearby bars and taverns.

 

Oxbow’s Goods From the Woods festival is just about the most perfect beer and brewery experience one could have, in this drinker’s opinion.

 

A close second to Cantillon is definitely De Dolle Brouwers. Kris is a fun guy to talk to, and there is nothing quite like the sight of hundreds of gallons of beer fermenting in an open-top concrete pool. His brewing equipment is similarly old, and he actually brings his tours down into the aging cellar for a nip from one of his Reserva barrels - a rare and awesome (if a little rough!) treat.

The tasting room is in a very pastoral setting, as it opens up into a view of a large field, with a pond, and the fresh Oerbier I had after the wonderful tour, sitting in the cool tasting room and looking out into the beautiful scenery is one of the top 2 or 3 best and most memorable beers I've ever had.

 

My best experience was with Sam at DFH. Went in and enjoying the samples when he walks in. He recognized me from other events and DUH (Delmarva United Homebrewers) meetings as a home brewer. It was a slow off season day and we sampled beer together. A great time.

 

Best Brewery Visits - Stateside (no order):
- Harpoon - Windsor, VT
- New Belgium - Fort Collins, CO
- Odell - Fort Collins, CO
- Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn, NY
- Sam Adams - Boston, MA

Best Brewery Visits - Belgium (no order):
- Brouwerij Het Anker - Mechelen, Belgium
- Van Honsebrouck (Bierkasteel / Castle Brewery) - Ingelmunster, Belgium
- Duvel Moortgat - Puurs, Belgium
- De Dolle Brouwers - Esen, Belgium
- Brouwerij De Halve Maan - Bruges, Belgium

Worst experiences:
Harpoon - Boston, VT
3 Floyds - Munster, IN

 

SN (Chico) - I have been their several times for brewery tour and festivals. The food and beer is always excellent only to be surpassed by the friendly, warm service. Add the town of Chico and you can have a great weekend!

Caldera (Ashland, Oregon) - Start off with just beautiful scenery and a cozy, friendly staff to great beer and food. Kid friendly with games is an added plus.

Rip Current - (San Marco, CA) - Small, friendly tap room. Spent a weekend afternoon talking with staff, locals, and visitors. Nothing special except for the beer and people!

 

Good call. When they opened their new facility, some 10+ years ago now, I was very happy to take their tour and drink in their tasting room. Neat place.

 

I'll go with one in my backyard. Foley Bros. in Brandon It's a beautiful location, directly abutting a golf course. They have picnic tables and tents and lawn games set up to make for a relaxing visit. The tasting room is housed in a 200 year old barn. The servers are the nicest most no-bullshit Vermont women. Not a smidgen of pretentiousness. The beer stands up with the best in Vermont. You can get flights/full pours/cans/bottles/growlers. It's never been overcrowded. The last time I was there a gentleman that worked there was making a fresh cauldron of stew atop an outdoor campfire. This is the opposite of hyped and such a gem.

 

Best (in no particular order):
Holy Mountain - Seattle
Cascade - PDX
Alesmith - SD
Strange Fellows - Vancouver
Cantillon - Brussels

 

We've got a Berlin, a Georgia, a Charlotte.... pretty sure no Boston though

 

Zero Gravity's patio with the sun out is tough to beat. Also Lost Nation's beer garden and Bent Hill are both solid options

 

Mine was with Sam as well in Rehoboth. Drinking a vintage Olde School while talking beer with Sam.
Such a cool guy.

 

Drinking saison on the deck at Casey was pretty epic. Hoping Sante Adairius in June exceeds my expectations.

 

When I went to Alchemist this past October, and there was no line whatsoever, and I was able to buy multiple 4 packs of every beer except Heady. Also, in the same day I was at Hill Farmstead, and aside from the awesome beer, the location is sooooo nice.