Best Brewery Experience

Well, somebody's gotta be a fan of Coopersmiths. I stepped up.

 

I visit a lot of breweries too and I've seen these 2-3 times. They look identical each time so that I'd guess that somebody is in the business of crafting these things and selling them.

 

Summit in St. Paul. I went there on a first date and arrived early, so went into the gift shop to browse while waiting. Struck up a convo with the keeper...and mentioned I was waiting for her and more or less killing time .

He then handed me two drink tokens and wished me luck.

Date went great BTW

 

Plan Bee Farm Brewery-- spent a couple hours with my buddies on barstools in a converted barn on a gorgeous farm drinking delicious wild ales and shooting the breeze with owner/ brewmaster/bartender Evan Watson, an extremely gracious host.

 

Was out in Bay area a few weeks ago with big intentions to visit Russian River. Went to the Armstrong Redwood forest first then circled back very hungry to stop for a bite to eat and beers at R.R. Walked in around 6pm on a Wednesday evening and the place was completely packed like an Irish pub on St. Patty's day. Couldn't get a seat by myself for over 1/2 hour wait. I said screw this, bought a few beers to-go and heading down to Lagunitas about 20 min. away in the next town south. Got a great burger there, awesome vibe, no crowds, talked to 2 guys (one from Napa and one from Phoenix) and had 2 brewery only samplers (4-5oz pours...can't remember), that both were great. One was a brandy barrel aged stout at 14% and a NEIPA (forget the name but it was quite tasty as well), and couldn't believe my bill for those 2 drinks came to only $4 ($2 each). Won me over. Lagunitas was great experience all around..and the outdoor seating area looks really nice as well.

 

Stone Escondido and Sierra Nevada Mills River are really cool “Beer Disneyland” experiences that everyone should have.

Pretty excited about a work trip to Austin in October and the chance to visit Jester King. Been on my “destination brewery” list for awhile.

 

Diamond Knot Brewery in Mukilteo WA has them cut from Budweiser kegs.

 

Yeah that's what I figured, too. Cracked me up & made me think of cheap beer I drank in college.

 

Ha ! That's brilliant !!

 

I've had plenty of great brewery experiences, so here's a couple quick shout-outs:

Selins Grove brewing in Selinsgrove PA has an awesome space, friendly folks, great beer, and tasty food.

Sitting on the outdoor patio at Bend Brewing in Bend OR, overlooking Mirror Pond, ya know, what Deschutes named their tasty Pale Ale after, while enjoying fresh blackberry cobbler with ice cream, alongside a tasty IPA, is a favorite memory.

And, as always, drinking at Bale Breaker Brewery in Yakima WA is a treat. The family that owns are multi-generational hop ranchers, and they carved the space for their brewery out of a hop field. Fresh beer feet away from the bines is awesome.

 

Sierra Nevada, Asheville, Trip in the Woods. Two hour walking tour of the brewery and surrounding property. By far, my best brewery experience (can't recall a bad one, though).

 

I enjoyed my visits there, and Blackback too. The Resiovoir not so much, overcrowded and noisy.

 

Blackback def. our spot. Not a big fan of Nate's beer, hafta admit, is my main complaint at Pro Pig. Their mac and cheese is heavenly, and their tap list is pretty good.

 

Funny place to get pretty good nc BBQ too, 800 miles away. Beers aside the young lady at the bar made us killer Mint Juleps, fresh mint was the special of the day and she gave me a Lawsons tulip too for the asking. My son being at Drum made it a pretty good dude trip.

 

As a young guy back in the early 70s, Heineken in Amsterdam and Tuborg in Copenhagen were amazing. We were treated very well and met people from everywhere. The old Red Oak at Guilford College was a pioneer and classic. Now, Little Brother on Elm Street is really a cool spot, that seems well haunted with its saloon heritage..it draws all kinds of folks and it's fun.

 

Tired Hands and Ithaca stand out to me. TH more so for the food and beer, and Ithaca more for the environment (large open outdoor area which is awesome in the late summer/fall).

A fried chicken sandwich and a couple IPAs/saisons at Tired Hands is my happy place.

If I can include some beer-oriented restaurants, I'll add Monk's Cafe in Philly and Hopleaf in Chicago.

 

Is that where Coors Light comes from?

 

Kloster Andechs for sure. I don't think I've ever had a less than stellar day there, regardless of the weather or the day. Such a wonderful view and possibly the best beers on the planet. At the very least they're my favorites. The food is quite good, too.

A couple hours northwest, I'll also include all of the traditional breweries in Bamberg. They basically all have something they do better than the others. They're packed in so close to one another I can't really choose just one.

Over here in the states I'm still a huge fan of New Belgium. I love the way they walk the line between old school do-it-yourself craft and an automated modern marvel.

Most recently, I'd say Great Notion is the first place to stand out for me in a long time. Tons of beers (including the highly sought out ones) on tap every day, fantastic food, and a super relaxed atmosphere. It's the kind of place most brewpubs wish they could be.

EDIT: I almost forgot Cantillon and Dri Fonteinen. Even beyond the beers, it's pretty amazing to be able to see, ask questions, and even simply spend time at places with that kind of passion.

 

So many great ones to chose from for me. I will give August Schell Brewing in New Ulm, MN.

First - history. It is the second oldest family owned brewery in the nation. Seeing that history on the tour really was exciting.
Second - After the tour they let us try their beer. I only had 1, because I still had a lot of driving, but could have had more.

I travel to New Ulm a lot, because my aunt lives there, but I haven't had the chance to take the tour again because of logistical issues on my end. I hope to take it again someday.

 

Granted my experience at proper breweries is limited, but my visit to Sierra Nevadas NC facility on my 21st birthday likely won't be topped anytime soon. The tour itself was great, the guide was enthusiastic and obviously gave a shit. The two taprooms were like beer eden, filled with taps you could never find elsewhere. To top it off we got a shot of my aunt who works the lower taproom giving me my first (legal) beer. Plus it was there i grabbed the raspberry bigfoot that'll be sitting in my fridge till Thanksgiving.