Hidden Gem breweries

I can't say what "German feel" means because I've never been to Germany. The brewery taproom and the adjacent restaurant are located in Iowa's Amana Colonies, which were a German-speaking socialist communal living community up until the late 1950's, so there's certainly a lot of Germany-type shit going on, but it's very much it's own thing--there's not, like, ladies wearing lederhosen/.

 

I've confirmed on the website that the food menu has German-style items, so I am hoping that the surroundings have a bit of a German feel instead of a sterile American restaurant to go along with the German beer and food. Wall decorations, etc. that give the impression of 'Old World.' Just something extra to add to the experience.

 

Having visited the Amana Colonies a couple of times, and eaten in the restaurants (but not the Millstream Brau Haus), I can say that the restaurants are family-style German in atmosphere. I would expect Millstream to be Iowa-Germanic, like the restaurants. Can't say for sure, though.

 

Some Personal Favorites:

Lion Bridge Brewing, Cedar Rapids IA
Postmark Brewing, Vancouver, BC Canada
Alulu Brewery, Chicago IL
Moody Tongue Brewery, Chicago IL
Castle Danger, Two Harbors MN
Pearl Street Brewery, La Crosse WI
Lazy Hiker Brewing Franklin NC
Forager Brewing Co, Rochester MN

 

How about Lone Pine in Portland, ME? I went to the taproom twice last year and enjoyed myself and suddenly their cans are showing up here in NY and their hoppy stuff is fantastic, easily hanging in with the competition if not exceeding it. Now I feel like a new four pack here is a must try.

 

Why isn't there a brewery named Hidden Gem?

 

I can second MacLeod as being a gem. I'm not from the area, so I can't say how hidden it is, but their cask bitter was amazing. Tasted like the real thing.

Altstadt Brewery in Fredricksburg probably qualifies as a hidden gem.

 

USA Today has a 10 Best poll for best new brewery including 3 of the breweries listed in this thread: Branch and Bone (Dayton, OH), Vitamin Sea (Waymouth, MA) and Reve (Atlantic Beach, FL).

https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-new-brewery/

The others listed are:
1840 Brewing Company, Milwaukee
Axe And Arrow Brewery, Glassboro, N.J.
Channel Marker Brewing, Beverly, Mass.
Core3Brewery, Clayton, N.J.
Dog Rose Brewing Company, St. Augustine, Fla.
Dssolvr, Asheville, N.C.
Elder Pine Brewing & Blending Co, Gaithersburg, Md.
Hacienda Beer Co., Baileys Harbor, Wis.
Halfway Crooks, Atlanta
Is/Was Brewing, Chicago
Keeping Together, Chicago
Love City Brewing, Philadelphia
Mathews Brewing Co., Lake Worth, Fla.
Primitive Beer, Longmont, Colo.
Roaring Table Brewing Co, Lake Zurich, Ill.
Three Chiefs Brewing Co., El Segundo, Calif.
Unseen Creatures Brewing & Blending, Miami

 

In North county San Diego, there are a bunch. My go to's are:
Culver Beer Co- Carlsbad's hidden secret- they also have a fabulous Deli.
Eppig Brewing- Vista- outstanding clear clean beers/lagers.
Breakwater Brewing - Oceanside- numerous GABF wins and still rather unknown. Great food too.

 

Picked some up in CO, I thought it sucked, price was fantastic ($12 for 6x 16oz cans) but I could barely finish a can. It was like half assed hazy IPA.

 

Odd, it's a decidedly clear ipa

 

Hightower Brewing in Rayland Ohio has put out some great beers. Granted they're all buzz beers, fruited sours, IPAs and stouts, but they are strong.

Bare Hands around Notre Dame also makes in my humble opinion the best classic IPA in the state, Westy.

 

Steuben and Upstate Brewing here locally. Both are known mostly for juice bombs, but rightly so. Steuben's IPAs reminds me of Tired Hands, and Upstate has been making great lagers recently in addition to NEIPAs.

 

Shhh...don't tell too many people

 

Asheville, NC and surrounding area
Eurisko Brew Co
Burning Blush Brewery
Zillicoah Beer Co

 

Wren House, Phoenix, AZ
Narrow Gauge, Florissant, MO
Beer Church, New Buffalo, MI

 

So i'll jump on this 8 months late and shout a a couple hidden gem norcal (Sac) breweries.

Urban Roots- Making great examples of under represented German beers and killing it with their WC ipas/Saisons/Ba Stouts. Not to mention solid BBQ and a nice atmosphere.

Slice Brewing Co- Churning out what seem to be the most flavorful WC ipas on the WC. Not to mention their mastery of the haze game. One dimensional in that regard but they are the King of that dimension

Feather River Brewing- (Redding) Fantastic beers at reasonable prices. With all the complaints about 20$ 4 packs they've been able to consistently make high quality beers at 14-16$ 4pack. They still work with 22oz bottles for their Irish Coffee Cream stout which for the price may be one of the best values in beer!

 

That's Fall River Brewing, but yes good beer at great prices

 

Haha thanks for that, I noticed I wrote that wrong and was going to go back and change it back got distracted by a few sunday morning sours, and now the edit option is gone

 

I'm glad you mentioned this because they've steadily improved their beers through time. The Cleveland Brewery on East 185th is a really small operation that makes good beer that very few people talk about

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45724/