Your State's Up & Comer

Didn't read every page, so don't know if it's been said.

In Iowa, Toppling Goliath is becoming a big regional player, and well deserved. Within the state I would say that Confluence Brewing is the brewery on the rise.

 

Current Home - Utah: Epic Brewing Company, because of fast growth and willingness to experiment.

Real Home - Michigan: Brewery Vivant, located on Grand Rapids' east side in the Cherry Hills District. Wow. Beligans galore, Belgian Tripels, IPAs, Ryes, you name it. Also of note is they are very big into sustainability and are the US's first LEED-Certified microbrewery. Me loves

 

Enegren Brewing out of Moorpark.

 

Hardywood Park for Virginia has become the popular answer, but I'll go with Strangeways and Blue Mtn (not necessarily "up and coming"...just so so good).

I'll take some Full Nelson and Woodbooger here in Richmond over anything by Devil's Backbone, Center of the Universe or Hardywood Park.
...plus an IPA from Strangeways to be released 2 weeks from 2 days ago...

Bonus points to DC Brau being available.

I guess my answer is..."yes"

 

Jacks abby from Framingham ma.. Superb stuff

 

Thank you. Very odd statements.

I believe Indeed is also releasing a tequila barrel aged beer. Steel Toe's Lunker is one of the best beers brewed in the state.

 

Mother Earth Brewery from Vista,CA. Their pocket booksaren't big enough to play with the big boys like Ballast Point and Greenflash as far as distro.and marketing is concerned. But they got some good I.P.As and will eventually attract people to theircompany by what matters most :their taste

 

Haha yea, I solely mentioned their name based off of size. But, by being 3rd largest in the state, I figured they merited a mention in this thread.

I can't speak from personal experience of their sours, but everything that I've heard is they are incredible.

 

Rite of Spring is one of the, if not the, best Brett Saison I've had

 

I think this statement is pretty unkind to West Virginia breweries/brewpubs; things are merely happening on a smaller scale than in the majority of the other states and it's all highly localized. And you certainly can't fault the currently open breweries/brewpubs for focusing on quality over quantity/a larger distro footprint considering the low traffic of outside visitors to the majority of the state and the overall population. In five years or so, as they begin to gain a stronger foothold and greater experience, WV is going to begin gaining a stronger foothold in the brewing world. A lot is starting to occur as people only begin to start experimenting with the early days of a brewing renaissance all over the state.


For example:

1. Mountain State Brewing Company out of Thomas- with brewpubs in Morgantown & Deep Creek, MD- offers growler fills and recently began bottling their Seneca Indian Pale Ale, putting out kegs for small scale distribution, and offering tours.
Though they don't offer any heavy hitters ABV-wise (Willie and Brian wanted to concentrate on "easy drinking and well rounded beers"), all of their beers are well-made for their style. The Pumpkin Porter seasonal is a personal favorite and I always look forward to the Fall months because of it. The guys try to have a cask-conditioned offering available every Thursday as well.
The Brewskies Festival, their music and beer fest, is gaining an increasingly larger outside following. They have local movie nights in Thomas and all of the locations participate in a corn hole tournament and provide live music most weekends. They have put on several homebrew competitions to date and announced they were expanding the Thomas brewery a few months back. For a brewery that began life in a town with a population of ~600? That's impressive.

2. The Morgantown Brewing Company was reopened under new management a few years ago and has been putting out some great things. They offer growler fills and tap new small batch beers every Friday- a few of the latest ones were an English Brown, a "Peanut Butter Blonde", an Unfiltered Saison, a Kiwi Strong Pale, and a Belgian Strong Ale. They have multiple events throughout the week, including live music, tours, and trivia.
They've participated in several beer/brewing classes offered by WVU (Apologies for the older article).

3. Chestnut Brew Works was only just granted a WV State Brewing License in March and already has several new beers approved and local distribution in Morgantown. I'm extremely excited to see what he does in the future.

4. Bridge Brew Works out of Fayetteville just started distributing to more locations in West Virginia, in particular the aforementioned Thomas/Davis area. They put out a variety of styles and have possibly some of the coolest tap handles. They are active with homebrewers and even have a specific segment on their site dedicated to answering questions regarding it. They have bottles available.
There are no tours, but then again I'm fairly certain that the entire production still consists of only two people.

These are just the things that I can think of that are going on off the top of my head. In my mind, the breweries and brewpubs in West Virginia are just beginning to thrive and becoming slowly more popular.

 

was talking with Neil (Strangeways) over the weekend and they are getting ready to flood us with new brews. he was talking like 3 new beers a week on wednesdays!

 

NH - Blue Lobster

 

Pipeworks and Spiteful brewing out of Chicago and Solemn Oath out of Naperville Illinois(suburb outside of Chicago) Literally have yet to have anything less than a good beer from all of these guys. I would say Metropolitan and Revolution breweries but they really aren't new so I dont know if they are considered up and coming.

 

Everything happens here on a small scale, I'm aware. I'm not saying that efforts aren't being made, just that they never really seem to come off quite as they would elsewhere. Such is the state.

1. Mountain State Brewing Company--If only they would concentrate on quality over quantity. This is a bad example to pick for that statement. Willie and Brian started out with a limited line-up of mediocre brews and quickly stacked their portfolio with as many accounts as they could manage. Currently they have such demand from that business model that they have very little room for experimentation, and they are obligated to keep cranking out those same mediocre brews in quantity to keep the accounts happy. Their quality has actually gone down since they opened, and it becomes increasingly apparent that their passion has succumbed to profits.
Their last homebrew competition (the 2nd annual one) consisted of only 6 brewers vying for bragging rights given by thirsty volunteer judges instead of anybody that has any BJCP credentials. That's not really a serious attempt if you ask me and hardly indicates growth. The BrewSkies festival is limited in scope, designed to highlight only themselves, and is clearly a money-grab. More of a music festival with non-traditional beers being served.
And for the record, neither Morgantown nor Deep Creek are brewpubs, they are restaurants. All brewing is done at the Thomas location and shipped to the other two.

2. The Morgantown Brewing Company--they have potential, although their quality is inconsistent. Hard to be a serious brewery when half at least of your energy goes toward catering to a college crowd. I'm still waiting for this one to blossom, and they could. But still they do not bottle and have limited tap availability in the state.

3. Chestnut Brew Works--new brewery, and could get their act together given time. Their initial offerings have not really been anything that will put WV on the beer map however.

4. Bridge Brew Works--this is the only one that I really see any potential in. They grew slowly since opening, have kept their focus on quality, and are serious about getting their footprint on this state. I like Bridge. Those cool taphandles however...I'm just waiting for the Magic Hat C&D letter to hit them. Compare with #9 when you get the chance.

One that you should give a try is the new Charlestown Brewing Co. Again, you have to go there to try it as there is zero bottling and distro, but they have huge potential and could be a game-changer.

WV breweries are holding ground but I would not say they are thriving. Some of the brewers in my small homebrew club create better beer than most of the licensed breweries here.

 

Texas has a lot of up and coming breweries just because most of our breweries are fairly new.

 

Have to give a shout out to Greenbush in Michigan. Local bar had 7-8 of their beers on tap and between my gf, professor, and myself we had them all a few nights ago. All were delicious; their Hefe is one of the best American-brewed that I have had and it wasn't even one of my top 3 favorites from the Greenbush beers I tried that night.

 

Uncle rusty is a good one as well

 

He needs a beer called Rusty's Trombone

 

BLUE LOBSTER in Hampton, NH... As stated by a few folks earlier in this thread, the brewmaster Dave
apprenticed at Hill Farmstead and it shows. I have had every one of their offerings since they opened
and the depth and character of everything they make is outstanding and creative. They're currently brewing a brux saison with all Brett yeast in collaboration with Prairie! This brewery is gaining steem!

 

I love their beers! I love that I can go to Bidwell Farmers Market and get my growlers filled every weekend! Cheers Buffalo!!!!