List your top 10 breweries

I toyed with excluding them related to some reasons expressed by others (see @dele post above). Any love I have for their portfolio came from an earlier time, but I still think they make good beer. If I was gonna make a list of 10 in the normal way (instead of quoting others), I don't know if I'd include them.

 

I liked the open criteria from the OP. For me, it's what breweries give me most joy. Seeing a charge on my credit card statement and bringing a smile to my face remembering the good beers and times enjoyed, and people I have supported.

Similar to great dedicated beer bars with a well curated list vs. one say focused on several similar beers over one or two styles. When I leave The Beer Temple or The Silver Stamp, or my favorite breweries, there beers I would love to come back to that I didn't have a chance to try due to the depth of quality already enjoyed.

 

How did I forget to add Schenkerla to my list?!

 

I thought maybe Mahr's & Keesmann would be on your list!

 

Keesmann makes my singular favorite beer (Herren Pils), but their other beers aren't necessarily anything amazing. Really good? Sure. On par with Andechs? No.
Mahr's is damn close to making that list, though. I love U and ETA. To me the catch is that they no longer brew my favorite weissbier. Had that one stuck around, they'd be there for sure.
Ayinger, Augustiner, and Weihenstephaner are also very close. From the US, La Cumbre (NM) is also VERY close to making that list.
If I were to make any edits, I'd probably put New Glarus in place of Sierra Nevada. I kinda spaced them since I'm no longer in Wisconsin very often.

 

In no particular order, and always subject to change

Treehouse
Foam
Finback
Other Half
Trillium
Inner Voice
Jester King
Pohjala
Toppling Goliath
Little Cottage

 

Lots of great breweries mentioned but this is the one that I can't believe I left off my list.

 

Schell's
Oxbow
Fair State
Surly
Andechs
Bingo
De Struise
St Bernardus
Brasserie Thiriez
Prairie

 

Cycle
Jackie O’s
Founders
Bell’s
3 Floyds
Spring Lake
New Glarus
Odd Side
Revolution
North Coast

 

This is so hard. How does one compare a lager brewery to a barrel aging specialist? Are we talking just the beer or other aspects of the brewery?

 

Now I'm fully convinced that this site is only filled with weirdos.

 

Sierra Nevada
Penn Brewery
Fat Heads
Stone
Bell’s
The Alchemist
Other Half
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Tröegs
Bieres de Chimay

Honorable Mentions to some breweries that were once favorites of mine.
Victory
Smuttynose
Alpine
East End Brewing
Straub
Weyerbacher

 

Start off by saying if a brewery is in my top 50 or 100 I’ll want to stop and say hi every time. No particular order because top ten is good enough:

- Philipsburg Brewing Company - Brewery that helped saved its town in the 2000s. Home of 5 Phantoms. Accidentally proposed to be my wife at the brewery.
- TRVE
- La Cumbre
- Westbound & Down
- Comrade Brewing
- Sierra Nevada
- Russian River
- Schilling
- New Ventures (Bozeman-ish, MT) My favorite local spot.
- Suarez

If someone makes an “on the outside looking in” thread I can list another 50 or so.

 

Hill Farmstead
Tree House
Russian River
Monkish
The Alchemist
North Park
Troon
Other Half
Grimm
McIlhenney

 

I'm going to create my list by selecting breweries that I've visited at least twice, which means my faves are mostly local, although there is one, no two, no three exceptions because their beer is so good.

1. Bell's is semi-local to me so that I see all of the pub-only brews at the cafe and store, contrary to those comments above that cite less distribution in the post Larry era.
2. Territorial - a local but I love their German-inspired beers. They now have a new brewer now who makes pretty good IPAs. (Anybody remember Josh Davies, formerly of Arcadia Brewing?)
3. Handmap - local
4. New Holland - local branch
5. Dark Horse - semi-local
6. Grand River - semi-local
7. Albion Malleable - semi-local, and I go there for my Belgian fix
8. Russian River
9. Waypost - a MI brewery that makes great saisons/farmhouse beers. Only been there once, but now I can get their beers at the store
10. Speciation Artisan Ales - a blendery, and only been there once, but the beers are oh so good.

And I just discovered that I can't count correctly or plan ahead with useless details. For #11 I'll list Barrique Brewery & Blending. I just visited there briefly (first time) while passing thru Nashville last weekend, and fell in love with their European-style lagers, and am also enjoying a couple of their barrel-aged sours that I bought to drink on this beercation that I'm in the middle of. You all will be hearing more about this brewery to come.

 

Top Ten? Hard to do but here goes, no order mentioned. Based on visits. Ones I return to.

Sierra Nevada (both locations)
Russian River (both locations)
pFreim (Hood River OR)
Bell's (Kalamazoo MI)
ABGB (Austin TX)
Schlenkerla Brauerei Heller-Trum (Bamberg Germany)
Spezial (Bamberg Germany)
Augustiner (Munich Germany
Schönramer (Schönram Germany)
Witzgal (Schlamersdorf Germany)

Lots of honorable mentions. Left out some in the UK and Czechia because it was just 10.

 

In SD, many of the "Legends" are simply not available. So for this list, I'm sticking to what I can get without having to drive, swap, or have someone bring back. Do I have to put them in order? What criteria? So many questions!

1. Fair State (MN)--They will take a run at anything, and the eclectic "hits" far outweigh the "misses." They make my favorite Dark Czech (Tmave Pivo); an excellent BA stout (Lobster Stuffed with Tacos); my second favorite Dortmunder (Union Lager); good NEIPAs (Mirror and Double Universe); and an underrated German Pilsner (Pils).

2. Boulevard (MO)--So many great "stateside" takes on European styles, like The Sixth Glass (Quad); Tank 7 (Saison--admittedly boozy); Dark Truth (Stout); as well as some highly-regarded versions of lesser known styles like Saison-Brett (Brett Beer); Rye-On-Rye (Rye Beer); and a solid wheat-wine. Common to all is what I've perceived as an intentional goal of solid carbonation. Their beers are all very "drinkable" as a result.

3. Toppling Goliath (IA)--Would be number one, except, like Surly and Stone, they issue really good but tough-to distinguish IPA after IPA when their best beers are not IPAs.

4. Surly (MN)--See Toppling Goliath. Too many barely distinguished IPAs. However, among the IPAs, there is a long run of hits here: Furious and Axe-Man (flagship IPAs), Abrasive (booze and bite IPA), and One-Man Mosh Pit (NEIPA). Then there is the Darkness Series (how many ways can we BA a RIS); Pentagram (Wild Ale); and underrated Coffee Bender (Brown Ale).

5. Lupulin (MN/SD)--Known mostly for IPAs, and they are all distinguishable from one another. They make the list here for making my favorite version of one of my favorite under-appreciated styles--the Dortmunder.

6. North Coast (CA)--Old Rasputin might put this one in my top ten all by itself. Old Stock and Pranqster cement it. Just not enough range.

7. Founders (MI)--Starting to feel dated and resting on its laurels. But there are a ton of icons here. KBS, CBS, Breakfast Stout, the underrated Imperial Stout (RIS), and Dirty Bastard.

8. Bell's (MI)--See Founders--Two Hearted, Hopslam, Black-Note, Expedition.

9. St. Bernardus--Because I value versatility, it was tough to get monks on the list. These folks make the list because, in addition to Abt 12, they make my favorite Wit.

10. Drekker (ND)--Sort of a "joke" at the end, but only sort of. My favorite beer names and beer-can art, coupled with some boundary-pushing gimmicks (they even put "gimmicks" on the list of ingredients on the can).

 

Jester King
Live Oak
Lone Pint
Saint Arnold
Samuel Smith
Acopon
Sierra Nevada
Rochefort
Southern Star
Real Ale