Best State for Microbrews

I second that.

The one I'm living in. Costs too much to fly to Oregon.

Intoxication

Phil =====visit the New York City Homebrewers Guild website:

No way. There's a few good brewers in De-La-Warr (you forgot Fordham), but where's the beer bar scene? Damned near non-existent. DE's got a long way to go on beer scene, despite the brilliance of DFH and Iron Hill.

A few years ago I'd have agreed. These days it seems like there's a brewery or brewpub in every Wisconsin town that has either more than 500 people or a lake.

snipped-for-privacy@see.headers (Joel) sings of arms, the man, and Usenet news:dilmes$oto$ snipped-for-privacy@badger.ncsa.uiuc.edu:

I'd be comfy with Oregon, Wisconsin, or Pennsylvania, but I think I'd take PA. Victory, Sly Fox, Weyerbacher, Stoudt's--woo.

Guess I should throw CA into the mix, just for sheer volume.

Funny how Oregon is on everyone's radar, but Washington to the north - with about as many breweries and a wide range of styles brewed - isn't. I'd put Oregon and Washington together as a regional Pacific Northwest "Beervana."

And for the likes of Tomme Arthur's Pizza Port brews, and the likes of Russian River Brewing, and AleSmith, and...

You mean Washington isn't just a part of Oregon, but with a different name?

*The presence of a few greats does not make for a great beer scene. As soon as good craft beer is readily available for sixpack or single purchase on a retail basis, as with Maryland, DC, Virginia, etc., maybe. Also, what's the beer scene like outside of Philly and Pittsburgh? A few royal gems (Selin's Grove, KcLinger's, Lancaster, Appalachian, etc.) in what is otherwise a North American Industrial Lager and Yuengling wasteland, thanks to the case law.

Cascadia, Cascaaaadia, land of our fondest wish! Cascadia, Cascaaaadia, we love to drink your beer and coffee and eat your fruits and nuts and fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! From the crashing roar of the seashore to the misty quiet of the pines, Cascadia, we will drink your beers and fall on our behinds!!!

Choose your own tune.

Sandy, I like you, but you're just talking out of your ass here. The "beer scene" in VA, MD, and DC is almost wholly urban. There ARE six-pack stores in PA. Victory IS outside of Philly, and there are good breweries in Johnstown, Altoona, Mount Joy, Slippery Rock, State College, Titusville, Williamsport, Reading, Easton, Bethlehem...all small towns, some downright tiny. There are a slew of bars serving beer beyond NAIL way out in the hinterlands -- Huntingdon, Newport, Sharon, Pittston, Strasburg, Hanover, New Jerusalem... The case law has led to a great draft beer culture in this state. Is it the best? No. Top ten? You bet. But it's a LOT more than the presence of "a few greats." Dude, you have GOT to start doing more in this state than driving up the river to Selin's Grove!

It almost works with Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell." Or Canada's national anthem.

dgs sings of arms, the man, and Usenet news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net:

Hrmph. I always thought that was Canada's National Anthem.

"We're gonna send you back to momma in a cardboard box, but it will be well-insulated because we don't want you to be cold. You better run."

"Alexander D. Mitchell IV" sings of arms, the man, and Usenet news:q8v3f.2$ snipped-for-privacy@news.abs.net:

VA's micro scene really isn't that impressive. Other than the wonders of Dominion and Legend, there's not a lot I pine for (I moved away from VA recently) from in-state. Founder's in Old Town used to be really good, but now that Bill Madden has off and gone somewhere else I don't trust it has the same quality. There's a couple of other breweries that do some decent stuff in VA (Starr Hill), but, all-in-all, there really aren't that many VA breweries.

As Lew said, PA has plenty of other good breweries beyond the biggies.

dgs sings of arms, the man, and Usenet news:3r7ctlFidlslU1 @individual.net:

Oggi's and Stone and Sierra Nevada and Bear Republic and . . .

But........... Selin's Grove is THAT good................. (^_^)

Yes, there are good brewpubs. Yes, there are good breweries. But "part and parcel" of declaring a state to be "Best State for Microbrews" is, in my opinion, the amount of effort that has to be expended for Joe Nascar or Joe Sixpack to be exposed to beer above and beyond NAIL and to be able to take it home--especially non-mainstream imports. It's the marketing. And Pennsylvania, by and large, fails that test thanks to the case law.

Refine the question to "draft microbrews" and I'll gladly put Pennsylvania in the top five.

Horseshit. The case law has nothing to do with it, "taking it home" has nothing to do with it. If Oregon was ALL draft, it would be no less beer-soaked or beer-cultured than it is now; ditto Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan, Vermont, Maine, or Bavaria. Most micro bottles are just not as good in bottle as they are on draft...and PA has some of the very best draft, thanks to our screwy beer laws that everyone makes the big fun of: PA law requires cleaning draft lines weekly, and keeping a signed log of such cleaning.

"It's the marketing." Sandy. Really. Listen to yourself.

It's really fookin' bizarre how much CA gets overlooked here. I blame Steve. And Binkley, who's just never around anymore. Musta got a job.