Top 5 breweries you have been to

My personal five best would be

AZ Wilderness for hometown love
Russian River
Stone
Alpine
Bruery
Honorable mention would have to go to DFH, Victory, and Cigar City from my East Coast Days.

 

DogFish Head
Kane
Cigar City
Funky Buddha
Troegs

 

They used to be a big deal. People used to mule them into Iowa.it's amazing how far craft beer has grown.

 

Considering I have only been to about 5 or6 breweries, I would have to say my 2 favorites are Williamsburg Alewerks and Devil's Backbone, with an honorable mention to Wild Wolf brewing, Cheers !!!!!!!

 

These choices are inextricably linked to associated memories from visiting them, but here goes (in no order):

Cigar City
Stone Bistro and Gardens - Liberty Station
Carton
Troegs
Dogfish Head

I expect this list to change drastically within the next 3 years of travelling.

 

Great Lakes, Cigar City, Stone, Fat heads, The Boston Beer Company. Not necessarily in that order.

Eric

 

1. Founders - Excellent beers, awesome sandwiches, chill vibe, always a great time.
2. Revolution - My favorite Chicago brewery, they are just totally dialed in to my palate, love the bacon fat popcorn.
3. Bell's - Always has some interesting pub-only offering, great place to relax.
4. Firestone Walker - We were driving from SF to LA, got off to a late start, got lost hiking in Pinnacles, the kids were complaining about being hungry, I had no idea where to stop, and we were all in a bad mood...then, like a sign from above, my buddy sent me a text saying we should stop there. Lo and behold, it's at the next exit, Hallelujah! I don't even remember what I had, just that everything tasted amazing after all we'd been through.
5. Devil's Canyon - I know, the beers are good but not great. And yes, I know they're only open the last Friday of the month (back when I lived there, maybe it's changed). I don't care, because I always had a blast hanging out at Beer Friday. Every time I went it was so much fun.

Incomplete: Russian River - Tried to go on our last trip to CA, got there at 2pm and the wait for a table was "maybe two, but probably closer to two-and-a-half hours." Not a chance that the wife and two young kids would agree to that.

 

Tree House (Brimfield)
Portsmouth
Fremont
Hair of the Dog
Ithaca

 

Russian River
Firestone
Bruery
Kern River
Noble Ale works

 

Struise
Cantillon
Het Uiltje
Dolle Brouwers
3 Fonteinen

 

1. Great Lakes - First brewpub I ever visited at age 21. Had first date with wife there. Had rehearsal dinner there. Too much history to ever not be #1 on my list.

2. Full Sail - The patio in summertime is the best scenery you could ask for, lots of excellent lagers.

3. Great Northern Brewing - Went to Whitefish, MT for a friend's wedding, and spent much time here. Unique brewery construction makes the tour a bit different from others, and the beer was tasty.

4. Fat Head's - Now that I have two small children, I appreciate that Fat Head's is the kind of place where my kids can be noisy and I don't have to worry about them disrupting other diners, yet we can all still hear each other. And before the first kid, my pregnant wife always craved their food so I had a DD there frequently. And their beer is amazing.

5. Hopworks Urban Brewery - Love the vibe. Kid friendly, bike friendly, great beer.

 

Tree House
Hill Farm
NEBCo
FFF
Half acre or Trillium

 

1. New Belgium (Ft. Collins, CO)
2. Brothers Craft Brewing (Harrisonburg, VA)
3. Odell (Ft. Collins, CO)
4. Epic Brewing (Denver, CO)
5. SingleCut Beersmiths (Queens, NY)

Honorable Mentions: Ithaca, Browerij 't IJ, Flying Dog, and Chaos Mountian

 

Three Floyds
Founders
Half Acre
18th Street
Bell's

*Will update list in a week after traveling to NoCal next week

 

I've really only been to Northern CA breweries but you can't go wrong with these five...

1. SARA
2. Russian River
3. Cellarmaker
4. Rare Barrel
5. Anchor

 

1. Stone 2. New Glarus.

Based upon atmosphere and interaction, nothing else I've been to comes close.
If this was simply based upon favorite beer it would just be called "what's your favorite brewery" and then Central Waters would be my pick.

 

All of these are listed because of the quality of my experience, not necessarily the overall quality of the beer.

Santa Fe Brewing - Santa Fe, NM - an oasis for three sunburned flatlanders in a rented Mustang convertible
Jasper Brewing Company - Jasper, AB - good beer, laid back, community minded, one of my favourite mountain towns
Great Northern Brewing Co. - Whitefish, MT - watching World Junior Hockey surrounded by Canucks on New Year's Day
Pike Brewing Company - Seattle, WA - they may not be on the cutting edge any more, but I always make a stop here when I'm in Seattle
Blitz-Weinhard - Portland, OR - the first brewery tour I ever took. Henry's will always be a sentimental favorite

 

Founders
Stone
Dogfish
The Bruery
Troegs

 

Hair of the Dog
Ska
ODell
Marble
Jester King

 

Cantillon--amazing look at brewing as it used to be

Troegs--Selfguided tour makes it possible to really watch the process closely

Stoudts--Some favorite beers there and a chance to get some up and close questions answered.

Yuengling--Pre-prohibition facilities and traces of the effects of prohibition still there to be seen

Weyerbacher--The whole process packaged along with a really nice tasting facility and chance to build a case of beer.