What's your most RESPECTED brewery?

Victory
Ommegang
Yuengling-they are great to their employees, great pay and great benefits

 

Well, all starting workers in Germany get a minimum of 5 weeks vacation and a living wage. Plus the brewery is committed to environmentally friendly production techniques: http://www.bosch-industrial.com/files/RB007_en.pdf

 

Oh that's right, when governments take measures to ensure adequate vacation and wages for workers we don't have to cross our fingers and hope individual business owners provide workers with the quality of life that makes them happy and healthy people (and good workers). I forgot about that.

 

Not my favorite brewery but my most respected...Maine brewing!
Green-e certified
donate used grain etc to local farmers
donate 1% of all sales to environmental non-profits

Most of all simple message on all bottles
Do what's right.

 

I have heard that they treat employees very well.

 

Dark Horse brewery. I admire all of their beers, never have had a bad brew from them. I like that it was started with two (I think) brothers and that they do a lot of charity fundraising. I thought it was pretty neat that they had a TV show about their brewery (even though it did have some unnecessary drama and whatnot, but what TV show doesn't?) I hope that they continue to thrive from their once small brewery because I fully support everything that they are doing and absolutely love their beers.

 

A four way tie. Lagunita's, Stone, SixPoint, Sackets Harbor Brewing Co.

Which also happens to be the only breweries I would work for. Maybe one day. The forth I currently work at!

 

Lagunitas. They make world class beer and haven't jacked their prices sky high like many other breweries have.

 

Treehouse or Trillium

 

Sierra Nevada, first they are pioneers in craft beer, second, they've been in the game a long time, third, they make great beers. I could probably go on.

 

So many great ones to choose from, but I'll go with Allagash.

They've handled growth really well, keeping their year-round stuff amazingly consistent, and good. Adding a great, sessionable saison was a good move. And while doing that, they continue to innovate (Coolship series and the special releases). In the tasting room, the staff is friendly and they definitely try to make sure the customer has a good experience.

They're also literally surrounded by upstart breweries (Maine Beer Co & Rising Tide for a while, now Austin St and Bissell Bros), and they seem very supportive of the new guys, and collaborative as well.

 

Another vote for Stone. Their push for fresh beer and total transparency on the issue is amazing. And also their recent retirement of Levitation and the upcoming change of their Pale Ale recipe. Total props to them for staying ahead of the pack and giving hop heads everywhere a no brainer in the beer aisle.

 

Do Good Brewing here in Philly is a good example of what brewers can do to help local charities and incorporate that into their business model. They opened a few months ago in my neighborhood and only have 2 regular brews so far, but they planning on attaching each new beer release to a local cause. So far it has only been to fight child poverty but they announced they will be expanding to other organizations with future releases.

 

Dogfish and Stone. I feel like these companies always try to make good beer for money rather than money from good beer. Greg and Sam seem to be great people and well deserving of their respected brewery. They don't price gauge like I see from some breweries.

 

Unibroue. They have quietly been making world class beer for as long as I have been drinking beer.

 

maine

 

Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada for making great beers decently priced! Honorable mentions Stone and New Belgium

 

Agree with Stone. Always pushing the envelope, always coming up with something new, interesting one-offs.

 

The Alchemist blows me away every single time.

 

Yea, I too was wondering why Oskar Blues was not mentioned until yours. Always enjoyed there beer, but recently visited the main brewery and the restaurant. Really good company without pretentions.