Your Top 5 U.S Lager Breweries

Enegren
Eppig

 

How many of these are available nationwide?

I could list a few in the Chicago area, but they wouldn't mean much outside the vicinity -- sort of like Olde Meck and Jack's Abby to me -- let alone Enegren or Eppig.

 

Smith & Lentz
Urban Chestnut
Jack’s Abby
Zero Gravity
Barrique Brewing

Interestingly, this list reflects the places I’ve been in my life.

 

Jack’s Abby
Boston Beer Company
F.X. Matt Brewing Co
Genesee BrewIng Co
Anheuser-Busch

 

I agree but I’ll go ahead with my mostly regional choices anyhow (in no particular order);

1) Frankenmuth Brewery (Frankenmuth, MI)
2) Dovetail (Chicago, IL)
3) Enegren (Moorpark, CA)
4) Farm Club (Traverse City, MI)
5) Upper Hand (Escanaba, MI)

With that being said, it’s hard to find a brewery in Michigan right now that isn’t doing at least one or two good lagers, or that hasn’t done some highly rated ones in the not so distant past. There is also several very much lager centric breweries in Michigan that I haven’t had the chance to visit. Cheers.

 

Red Oak in NC.

 

I think you make a very good point in that a brewery does not have to be a "lager brewery" to produce high quality lagers.

I was about to construct my own list but a number of those breweries on that list would not be "lager breweries" (i.e., they produce more ales than lagers by volume) so I just stopped constructing the list.

Cheers!

 

Wooly Pig - Fresno OHIO

Awesome brewery

 

Seeing as how there are now somewhere on the order of ten thousand breweries in the U.S.A., I find this to be almost an impossible list to make in good conscience, as I am no doubt ignorant of at least a few thousand “new” or newer capable of brewing decent to excellent lagers.

Breweries that brew very good lager (at least that I have experienced) number in the dozen or so from out of the hundreds of breweries that I can recall sampling beers from regularly, over the years.

I am not sure what you would call elite, but here are some in no real order (other than approximately alphabetical) that I recall as being among my favorites:

August Schell
Capital Brewing
Sly Fox
High Point Brewing / Rammstein
Urban Chestnut

 

East Rock

 

Idk if I can do 5 before my break ends but Bierstadt for absolute certain and then Jack's Abby is pretty good.

 

Second that.
Mumford also makes a good lager but they aren't a "lager brewery "

 

I ran into the same trouble Jack. My highest rated lagers aren’t necessarily from “lager breweries”. I decided to go with what I felt were well rounded breweries that produce mainly lagers.

 

Here are my top five - there are of course many other good lager breweries whose products I haven't been able to taste. I've had enough styles from each of the below to be very confident in their quality.

Hill Farmstead (VT)
Schilling (NH)
August Schell (MN)
Tree House (MA) - yes, I know this is about lagers, not NEIPAs.
Fox Farm (CT)

Honorable mention to Jack's Abby for putting out lagers that are really, really close to as good as all the above, while still being priced under $10/4pack.

 

August Schell
Waldmann

I hope to get some Bierkeller (crowlers?) on an upcoming trip to the south east (should be in SC in mid-to-late October). @herrburgess, do you distribute locally in Columbia?

 

Chuckanut
Jack's Abbey
Heater-Allen
Suarez
Chuckanut

 

Other excellent brewers of lagers who I would not consider to be "lager brewers":

Utepils
Summit
Fair State

 

Jack, I for one would be interested in your list anyways!

 

Von Trapp
Jack's Abbey
Boston Beer
Troegs
Victory