Favorite Brewery Name (2023)

Smuttynose. I have no idea what it refers to, but it’s unforgettable.

 

Devil Wind Brewery; taken from native Americans that called the area "Land of the Devil Winds" d/t tornado activity. They currently have a Hefeweizen called "I Want You (She's so Hefe).

 

It's a seal/sea lion critter.

 

My nephew in Texas is fond of a local brewery called the Barking Armadillo

 

There's a lot of truly awful brewery names out there, but, it's very difficult to name things. Look at some band names. For me though, I tend to like names that refer to local features/places, that give a sense of place. Deschutes, Great Lakes, North Fork, Ashtown, Sierra Nevada, Pike, etc.

 

Locally...
Entrenched: Smartmouth... also, Rip Rap
New-ish: Thin Brew Line (brewery started by ex-police)

And I know people groan at Hoof Hearted but I'm kinda glad it exists. Because middle school humor.

 

I also like animal named breweries (like Smuttynose mentioned above), and two I visited this summer were Lucky Hare and Two Goats, both in Hector NY.

 

I agree there’s a lot of bad (or, more accurately, boring) brewery names but I think that’s exactly because many of them are named after their geographical location—so in that sense I disagree with your premise, even if I understand and appreciate where you’re coming from. From a practical standpoint it absolutely makes sense to do this, since most breweries start out as strictly local businesses and are fortunate if they grow beyond their immediate neighborhood. But just thinking about breweries in my area, you have breweries named Fremont, Ravenna, Georgetown, Elliott Bay, and West Seattle—all neighborhoods or areas around the city. There are some more creative names too but they are less memorable because they usually have no association for people like geographic areas (except Holy Mountain, which is also a weird Mexican movie).

 

Ass Clown

 

I'll stick with local, and since I live along the Mississippi River between Illinois and Iowa (Quad Cities), one from each side.
Illinois - Radicle Effect Brewerks
Iowa - Stompbox Brewery

 

I think if the name has to be explained, it's not a good name (also, in addition to the movie, HM has publicly said that it's a mash of two metal song titles, Holy Rider and Man on the Silver Mountain, IIRC), so that makes it even more confusing.

 

Any brewery with river or lake in their name gets my attention, probably because the place might have a nice view. Maybe any brewery with a name that describes its location is also cool as long as there is some accuracy to it. (We have a brewery here in Michigan that's called Arctic Circle Brewing for some reason. I haven't been there - maybe it's too cold.)

 

That’s probably a good rule for naming not just breweries, but also almost anything else.

 

I'm guessing you meant "Holy Diver," but if you are otherwise remembering correctly then it sounds like that brewing company was pulling people's legs with that remark.

Their website claims:

I would bet that the brewery was mainly thinking of the Sleep album first and foremost, but also had the movie in mind... and I guess felt that it worked with their natural surroundings as a bonus. I think the common wisdom is that Sleep named their album after the movie, so it's fair to say that everything really springs from the movie.

 

I'm not much of a metal head, so it's entirely possible I've screwed something up. I seemingly remember that the name was from two songs that Ronnie James Dio sang on. A friend then showed me a clip of the movie @draheim mentions, and some of the brewery's logos and imagery are clearly lifted from that.

 

I agree

 

For what it’s worth, the symbol HM uses in their logo/branding also appears in the film.

Beat me to it.

 

Locally, I like Gyppo Ale Mill. Regionally, I like Ghost Town and Original Pattern.