Hidden Gem breweries

I'll nominate Stormcloud here in Michigan, which brews mostly Belgian styles, won a 'best new brewery' award from an in-state local news site a few years ago. Since then they have expanded with a production facility and are distributing in cans, although I have yet to see them in my area. I don't read widespread stories about them in these forums, so they don't seem to get the love that they deserve. Very good food too at their pub too.

I'll also nominate my hometown brewery (no bias here), Territorial Brewing, which mostly makes great German-style beers. They took the first place ribbon a couple years ago in the Light Lager category at the GABF, and even for not being a lover of light lagers, I'll admit that it's a good one. Also great German-influenced food at their pub.

There are likely others around the state, so someone else from Michigan can chime in about them. (Wax Wings Brewing maybe?)

 

I really enjoyed all the styles I had from Highland Brewing when I visited NC. Seems to be a gem hiding amongst the rest of the grocery store beer.

 

Red Bus Brewing, Folsom, CA

 

True. If they had some crazy hazy ipa's they'd be up there as one of SoCal's best beer spots. But their west coast is crazy good. I've been buying ESBC beers since they been open.

 

We had a thread on the Mountain Forum on this topic last summer, specifically asking about "sleeper" breweries in Colorado that are unheralded but excellent. I just read through it again and there had to be over 3 dozen breweries mentioned, so I guess we have a lot of "hidden gems" around here.

It seemed like Baere, Our Mutual Friend, 4 Noses, and Strange may have gotten slightly more mentions than others but at least two posters mentioned Fiction, Finkel and Garf, Loveland Ale Works, Elevation, Eddyline, Bull and Bush, and LowDown.

 

Dovetail - Chicago, IL (Top underrated brewery in the country IMO)
Metropolitan - Chicago, IL
Maplewood - Chicago, IL
Riverlands - St Charles, IL
Noon Whistle - Lombard, IL
Scratch - Ava, IL
Tyranena - Lake Mills, WI

 

I have always enjoyed Seapine in Seattle. Don't go out of their way to distro much or do anything totally crazy or big. They just do quality work consistently of a good array of styles. Not much else I can ask for.

 

Indeed. After sampling several of their excellent offerings during a FOBAB one off drop, I planned a two day trip in Long Beach.

Thanks, I will be looking for Highland Park and El Segundo at local bottle shops when in town.

My local breweries which do not get the same level of love (Revolution, Half Acre) or hype (Phase Three, Mikerphone, Hop Butcher) but who are in my Top Ten local brewery rotation are:

Spiteful Brewing: Located next to Half Acre, this is my favorite "Double Brewer" spot in the city. Spiteful brews many different styles and puts out very good to excellent quality consistently. WCIPAs are in my Top 5 favorite styles, and their 10/9 Bike Messenger Appreciation annual fall release is my favorite in the area. If you are in Chicago and can make it to the North Side, Spiteful and Half Acre are definitely worth a visit. If you have additional time, HopLeaf bar two miles east is an excellent Belgian / Lambic bar.

Une Annee / Hubbard's Cave: Soon moving closer to me in a much larger and nicer building in Niles, these guys put out consistently great sours and their stouts are top notch.

Alarmist Brewing: They usually put out one new offering per month, across many styles, and they usually are spot on. One of the few places I order NEIPAs from due to the fact that they are well balanced. They also have one / two cask pours available, which I really appreciate.

 

Local NJ brewery, Tonewood Brewing....small little brewery in Oaklyn NJ does a good job for their size.


This past autumn I was up in Littleton, NH and I just happened to stumble upon Schilling Beer Co...probably in my top 10 list of "most beautiful breweries". Very chill spot. Incredibly relaxing. They do a great job with their lagers, too. It's definitely not a "hidden" gem, but it's a gem nonetheless.

A couple of pics from their taproom porch....nothing you can't find on Google but I think they're worth sharing:

 

Conclave in Flemington NJ, already mentioned at least once, is a very small (although about to expand a bit) but consistently excellent brewery that could fall into Hidden gem status. Their beers are delicious and they’re clearly committed to consistency and the highest standards.

 

Forest and Main, Ambler, PA - They specialize in saisons and traditional English styles; and have 3 cask lines dedicated to their English beer. They have some hazy IPAs to keep the haze bros happy, but their focus is clearly the English and saison styles. A unique little gem in the Philly area.

 

Lineage
Land-Grant

Both in Columbus

 

Would add Icarus to that solid NJ list.

 

I think they are one of the best in Illinois. Wild ale and sours are unmatched. Their IPA's hit the right notes for me too.

 

Deft Brewing - Linda Vista, San Diego
Home Brewing Co. - North Park, San Diego

 

I'm always down for rattling off my favorite local breweries:
Veracious Brewing (Monroe, CT)
Brick and Feather (Turners Falls, MA)
Fox Farm (Salem CT)
Tribus Brewing (Milford, CT)

 

FF is great. That marzen I had this past fall was the best one I've had by a US-based brewery

 

Great topic.

Pigeon Hill (Muskegon MI)
Transient Artisan Ales (Bridgman MI)
Bare Hands (Granger IN)
18th Street *Miller* (Gary, IN)
Imperial Oak (Willow Springs IL)

 

Seems like outside of a handful that have the scarcity and quality levels to boost their hype (WW, Casey, BP, ORB, Cerebral), just about every city on the Front Range has a few seriously sleepy bois to boast... lots of great beer options all over the state, for that matter.

Doesn’t seem like the mountain region self hypes the way other areas do either

But sticking to the thread:
Zwei
Equinox
New Image
Grimm Brothers
Verboten
New Mexico as a state seems to fit this from my experience lol

 

Both new to me, there’s no many popping up I can’t keep track.