http://www.chow.com/best-brewpubs I've never been to any of these, so I won't vote, but I figure some of you have. It looks roughly coast vs. coast.
According to Brewers Association stats, there were 1,063 brewpubs operating in the US in 2011, yet this survey has winnowed the number down to 16 before a single vote has been cast? Give me a break. Congtratulations to the 16 that made their silly little list. Tough shit to the more than 1,047 who didn't. I guess they weren't "at the top of their game." What a joke. I'll pass, thank you.
Happy to see one of my locals in the mix, Chuckanut, but honestly, while I love their brews (they absolutely kill it with their Lagers), they aren't even the best brewpub in town. And there's only 2. I realize they probably wanted a broad selection from across the country. but the brewpub culture in the PNW is so strong, we could do a tourney 64 brewpubs just from WA/OR, with no weaklings.
Without an explanation of the selection process of how the breweries made the list to give it some credibility (the person who developed the list has been to only 16 brewpubs in his/her experience, or was there a beer geek editorial committee that selected them?) I think the list is almost meaningless. Yeah, the eventual winner may be a great brewpub, but I just question the reality of the competition. How about Hopcat or Founders or Bells? (Yeah. I'm from Michigan.) Those three alone get more notice on this BA site that some of the ones on that list that may not have much of a national reputation. The winner will likely be the one that is located in the greatest population area where votes come quickly (especially if you can vote multiple times), so it's going to be a skewed vote.
