Best small beer city

I always have a good beer experience in Burlington. Lots of fresh, local brew in close proximity. Love it.

 

+1 to Burlington, but the greater Northampton Mass area also came right to mind and is a microcity

 

Falcon Heights, MN. As in, the city between Minneapolis and St. Paul.

 

Never been to Portland, ME or Burlington, VT but I can't imagine they're much better than Bend, OR.

 

Gotta look to the Left Coast on this one...San Marcos, CA has less than 84k residents and more brewing capacity than many small states.

 

Chico is about the same size; how do these two cities stack up capacity-wise?

 

Gotta agree with this. I was in Bend this past weekend. The beer scene there is amazing!

 

Hood River, OR is no slouch either.

 

In the by-gone days of US History, before there was safe drinking water, most Americans in all US cities drank small beer.

 

Asheville probably gets my vote. Grand Rapids is a bit larger population than 100k, but it would be close second if I could include it.

 

I'm not going to be arrogant enough to claim a "best" beer city, but I think Asheville is a great little beer city. Only ~83K people with ~10 breweries plus another half a dozen within an hour's drive. We get a pretty good distribution of other breweries as well without too many restrictive blue laws (there is a 15% abv cap, but I'll regret that when I have a beer above 15% worth drinking). There are also several great beer stores and bars, and even the crappiest grocery stores and bars usually have Two Hearted or the like on tap/for sale. On top of that, it's a beautiful area, and you can be on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 10 minutes or in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 30-40.

 

bend, oregon holds down the westside, and asheville, nc the east. it's perfect.
god bless america.

 

Asheville, no doubt.

 

Fort Collins, CO.

 

Missoula, MT does a great job. Good beer bars, breweries, and the community embraces it!

 

Placentia/Fullerton, CA for me.

Cheers!

 

+1 to Burlington. Farmhouse tap and grill is always a nice stop.

 

Bamberg, DE if we're talking worldwide
Otherwise, Ft. Collins has to be up there. They've got 8 breweries in 2 miles now.