What makes a brewery great?

Define shitty beer. Is it an experiment failed? Because I like it when a brewer isn't afraid to try different things. That's different from bad craftsmanship. I think a brewery is as good as its best brew.

 

A great brewery has a solid year round line up, seasonals that are must buys, negligible batch differences, solid distribution, & a solid price point based on the competition as much as it is on it's own solid reputation. Several come immediately to mind, but everyone of us have differences based on region & what's available so let's hear it gang...

 

A great brewery is a brewery that you want to visit no matter the locale. A place that you dream of visiting in the twilight minutes before sleep. They make the beer that you won't even share with your dog. It is the place that you bring up when your idiot friends preach about how they have discovered Blue Moon. It is where you would like to spend the last few hours before death. They make the beers that you slave over cloning in your garage for 6 hours while your wife bitches from the kitchen. A great brewery is what makes you happy. Find it, love it, drink it, and preach it.

 

great beer, seems so simple to me

 

Mostly agree, but I think the year round line up should be more than just solid. I can forgive a so-so seasonal or a one-off special release that is more hit than miss, but if they brew something iffy as part of their year round line up then I have a problem with that.

 

Experimentation is fine but if it fails shame of the brewery owner for selling it to the public if its not up to standards.

 

The test of time has to be figured in there somewhere, too.

 

Preaching to the choir on that.

 

1. quality
2. consistency
3. customer service

 

I have got to agree with those who have said consistency because to me a great brewery is a brewery that brews a line-up of great beers over multiple styles. I don't consider a brewery that brews one or two great beers as a great brewery.

I kind of think of it the same way that I think of music. A lot of bands can write a couple of great singles, but I'm not going to call them a great band unless they can consistently put out good albums and play great, full live sets. You can have the occasional failed experiment, but you need to have a deep and solid playlist.

 

Agreed.

 

IMO, you have a good analogy here. Producing a great single is not much of an accomplishment but producing a great album is indeed an outstanding accomplishment.

Cheers!

 

Iffy isn't solid.

 

If the above quote is accurate, and I believe it is, then Golden Road is definitely not in this category. They pump out many unremarkable beers. Nothing horrible but nothing stellar either.

 

FWIW, I have not had a single beer from Golden Road so I personally can not contribute to this discussion.

Cheers!

 

And that is so sad.

A great brewery starts with great beers, plural.
I think a great brewery is driven mostly by passion for what they do.
A shitty brewery can make some great beer, but a great brewery will never sell a shitty beer.
After great beer comes many aspects, including, but not limited to, great customer relations, fair pricing of their products, and ethical business practices at all times.

 

I don't really get the variety criteria. If a brewery only produces one beer, and it's absolutely fantastic, would they be considered a good but not great brewery?
I also don't understand why one would judge a brewery based on it being a destination. A great brewery doesn't need tours or buckets of wings.
Seems like people want breweries that fall into some American craft ideal of 'master of many styles', flagships, seasonals, and attached brewpub. I'll happily call a brewery "great" that produces great beer but doesn't fit this mold.

 

I would say a look at Sierra Nevada would be a good example of a great brewery. I am speaking within the confines of the craft segment of beer. I would say a brewery like Sierra Nevada is great because one they have been around for a long time, two, they are still making great beers, three, they've made great beers, and four, they have been an inspiration for many newer breweries (a wild guess). Also, their beers are reasonably priced and available. But I would also say that just because a brewery makes great beer(s) does not make it a great brewery. There's more to a brewery than its beers but of course its beers are the starting point as a brewery is recognized for the beers it makes, yet, that's not the end all with a brewery being great. Just my humble opinion.

 

I could be wrong about this, but I believe Eno & the BeerGraphs crew source their data from Untappd, not BA.

https://twitter.com/BeerGraphs/status/343040740319977474?s=09

 

Great, consistent beer.