Top 20 Breweries in your state

Ah yes Fitger's. There really is a lot of great beer right now. What a fortunate "problem." I haven't had Fitger's in quite a few years, though I do remember a couple good ones. I'm sure they belong on the list! Good call!

 

Unless you live in California or Michigan, your state doesn't have 20 breweries worth ranking, and even then it's a stretch.

 

Ummm not sure if serious... But if you're are you're quite incorrect.

 

Good list. I would add Due South and Tequesta somewhere in there, maybe as #'s 15&16.

 

In no order:

Against the Grain
Apocalypse Brew Works (great variety)
BBC
Country Boy
Cumberland
West 6th (very good IPA)
Beer Engine (soon to open in Louisville - already brewing great things in Danville)
Lore
Alltech (Lexington Brewing)
Falls City
Red Ear (never tasted anything from them)

 

Absolutely serious. Not saying that every state doesn't have a handful of great breweries, but at 20 per state, are you really saying there are 1000 top-notch breweries in America? Bit of a stretch IMO. Even looking at the lists people have posted, beyond the top few entires, most are pretty meh.

 

This is beer, it's essentially liquid bread. If any brewery can't make one good beer then there is something seriously wrong with them. The OP didn't ask for world class breweries, just the top 20 from each state.

And why shouldn't there be 1000 top notch breweries in the US? That's one per 350,000 people or one per city or thereabouts, hardly a stretch.

Again, beer making is hardly rocket science.

 

Not going to list 20, but the really spectacular ones, in my personal order are

1) Short's
2) Kuhnhenn
3) Dark Horse
4) Jolly Pumpkin
5) Founder's
6) The Livery

Shout out to Greenbush. I don't think they are quite to the level as the ones listed, but well on their way and considering how new they are, for sure going to be a big MI brewery name (already are in MI, but I'm speaking about those MI breweries that are sought after all over the country). I could name 20 decent MI breweries easily, and some of my favorite breweries to go to I didn't even list above, but I think those ones are continually putting out amazing brews and very few (if any) drain-worthy beers.

 

Georgia:

1) Wild Heaven (Avondale Estates) - very unique, never disappoints!
2) Terrapin (Athens) - hard to argue with stouts like MooHoo and WnB
3) Sweetwater (Atlanta) - above average in most categories
4) Max Lager's American Grill & Brewery (Atlanta) - great beer and burgers too!
5) Red Brick (Atlanta) - one of the best barrel-aging programs around!
6) Monday Night (Atlanta) - up and coming, can't wait to see what they do next.

7) Red Hare (Marietta)
8) Jailhouse (Hampton)
9) Burnt Hickory (Kennesaw)
10) O'Dempsey's (Atlanta)
11) Strawn (Fairburn)
12) BlueTarp (Decatur)

Overall. I'm pretty happy with the breweries in my state. No 2 are alike. They are all growing and developing different focuses, which is nice to see.

 

I thought someone should help out with Tennessee. I have spent half my drinking there so I'll give my 2 cents for fun:

1) Blackstone (Nashville)
2) Smoky Mountain Brewery (Knoxville)
3) Yazoo (Nashville)
4) Calfkiller (Sparta)
5) Turtle Anarchy (Franklin)
6) Depot Street (Johnson City)
7) Jackalope (Nashville)
8) Ghost River (Memphis)
9) Cool Springs (Franklin)
10) Saw Works (Knoxville)

That is as far as I can go...

 

Yes there are certainly some states that may not have 20, but I would say there are more than 1000 unique beers that are great from more than 1000 breweries in the US. I would say most states that have 20 breweries have at least one great beer from each.

 

Right now...
1. Firestone Walker
2. Lagunitas
3. Stone
4. Kern River Brewing
5. Alpine
6. Russian River
7. Almanac
8. Ballast Point
9. Lost Abbey/Port Brewing
10. Alesmith
11. Sierra Nevada
12. The Bruery
13. Bear Republic
14. Fifty-Fifty
15. Knee-Deep
16. Karl Strauss
17. Greenflash
18. North Coast
19. Speak Easy
20. Anchor Brewing

 

New Mexico has just over 20 breweries, so no point in making a top 20 list. I can give you a top 10 though.

1. La Cumbre
2. Marble Brewery
3. Santa Fe Brewing
4. Il Vicino Canteen
5. Blue Corn Cafe and Brewery
6. Second Street Brewing
7. Nexus Brewery
8. Blue Heron Brewing
9. Sierra Blanca/Rio Grande Brewing
10. Tie- Chama River Brewing and Abbey Beverage Company AND High Desert Brewing

---Nobody wants a top 13 list.----

Bosque Brewing could easily make its way up this list this year, as could the nanobrewery Sandia Chile Grill. An all Belgian style brewery just opened in Santa Fe and could make a big splash this year and in the future, Duel Brewing.

 

Crazy that Drake's didn't make your list.

 

Considering there is only about 15 breweries in Kansas...NOT Boulevard (KC, MO)....I can't list 20...so I will just say that so far I believe Tallgrass is my favorite in KS.

 

North Carolina in rough order (I've tried most breweries):

NoDa
Wicked Weed
Green Man
Highland
Foothills
Catawba Valley
Lonerider
Birdsong
Triple C
Steel String
Olde Hickory
Mother Earth
FullSteam
French Broad
Wedge
Pisgah
Big Boss
Bull City
Duck Rabbit
Aviator

Oskar Blues would easily be top 3, but I'm not counting them since the true HQ is in Colorado.

 

I have to second that. Gnaw Bone is such a solid pale.

 

"Crazy" that they didn't, or that you don't agree with the list?
If the latter, then who would you replace them with?

 

I think you make a fine point when say not every state has 20 top notch breweries. But when you initially state that only TWO(!!!!) states have 20 breweries worth of note and the other 48 states can't/shouldn't field top 20 lists, you showed a bit of ignorance/lack of exploration on your part. Some really obvious states you aren't giving credit to: Oregon (duh), Colorado (duh).

As someone from Illinois, I know out of about 100 breweries there are definitely 20 TOP NOTCH breweries in this state. Definitely not meh, and plenty of other states can same the same, as evidence by this thread. Unless you have drank you way around American and the thousands of breweries this country offers, as well as have an incredibly difficult to please palate, then I think you are exaggerating quite a bit.

 

your list is great, but I'd put Drakes before Hanger 24 or even Green Flash. Not too familiar with Taps, but that's my own fault. Drake's usually makes it into my extras in trades and is well received by our East Coast comrades. I think they've been on a roll and are only going to get better. Cheers!