Best State for Microbrews

Anderson Valley and Anchor and Lagunitas and....

Caught again!

Is per-capita number of brewing enterprises part of the criteria for "best state for microbrews?" Dang, where did I put that rule book?

It might not have been recently though...

But it's the *good* kind of downright depressing!

Whoa. How recently did you say you lived in the Pacific Northwe(s)t? In Washington state, the number of "tavern" (beer & wine) licenses has been steadily dropping for years, while the number of hard liquor licenses has gone way, way up. The laws have changed a lot here, and liquor-by-the-drink licenses are a lot easier to get than they used to be. There's still a requirement to serve food when you get a hard-liquor license, but it's absurdly easy to get around that one.

At my local, sure; still a "tavern license." At a lot of other places, not so much any more. There's another joint not far from home with a full liquor license. There are a few beer taps, sure, but there's plenty to choose on the back bar, too.

Ah, yes. The good life, Pacific Northwe(s)t-stylee.

Granted, it's been awhile. But, I doubt if the weather has changed. ;)

nb

Reading had four brewpubs only a few years ago. Kutztown, Mount Joy, Easton, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Pottsville and West Chester aren't far. Stout's is only a few miles away in Adamstown. I'll be at Stout's Brew Fest on Saturday.

In central PA, there are many decent brewpubs and breweries as well. St Mary's, Harrisburg, Gettysburg, Williamsport. Lots of excellent beers here is the wastelands.

Throw those into the mix, and I'll take Texas!

Howa 'bout the Deer Park in Newark. A classic townie beer bar. I agree with you about the bar scene, even if I haven't lived there for 22 years.

Really though good ol Pennsylavannia is purty good too. Victory, Stoudts, Iron Hill and Lancaster Brewing to name a few.

I blame you. I bought into that whole line of East Coast nonsense you kept spouting, and I haven't been able to shake it yet.

California is an excellent beer state, and the concentration isn't all just in SF and north, where there's an absolute embarassment of riches. I've been flogging San Diego for a few years now as one of the most underrated beer cities in the country. LA has some of the best beer bars I've ever been in in my life. Etc.

But, yeah, whatever. California's huge. It better have a lot of good beer.

My personal preferences/opinions, because that's what this really comes down to (I mean, WTF does "best" mean anyway? Most? Most per capita? Really good bottle shops? Which state can wag its dick the most?):

Washington is better than Oregon, if for no other reasons than Diamond Knot and LaConner.

Wisconsin and Michigan are two of the most underrated, unrecognized and unmentioned states in the country when it comes to beer. They have huge numbers of breweries, including such sucky ones as New Glarus, Arcadia and some shithole in Kalamazoo. Yeah, they can't measure up to anyone.

If it weren't for the fact that there's not much going on outside of the greater Chicago area, Illinois could jump in there. It can't because there's not much there. But what is there - Goose Island, Flossmoor, Mickey Finn's - can kick pretty much any other brewpub's ass out there. Plus, Three Floyd's is barely across the line into Indiana.

Pennsylvania most assuredly does not suck. New Hampshire seems to do OK. Ditto New York.

Best? F*ck that. Hell if I know. For me, whatever state I happen to be in at the moment, as long as I can find beer I like.

-Steve

Wow, Oregon also has Wyoming, home to hundreds of great beer places. Like..... umm..... lots of places.

I'm glad someone mentioned Maine. We're not the center of the brewing universe by any stretch, but per capita, we sure do have a lot of breweries. The best thing about Maine, I guess, is that it's almost impossible now to go to a restaurant (or convenience store) and only be offered swill. I am happy about that.

I've found good beer in the strangest of places, too. Way up by the south entrance of Baxter State Park, by Ambajejus Lake, there's a little store that sells sandwiches, pizza, lots of corny Maine souvenirs, postcards, and they also have a beer case full of Allagash, Shipyard, Geary's, and Gritty McDuff products.

Even further north, in the little town of Patten (population: not many), their basic grocery store (called Eli's) has an entire section of their beer cooler dedicated to "Beers of the World", complete with a sign advertizing that, with a good selection of Lindeman's, Chimay, Unibroue, Ayinger, and also an entire cooler with 6 or 7 Maine microbreweries represented, among them some of smallest ones, such as Sunday River Brewing.

Granted, if you go much further north than that, you're out of luck.

And to the poster who said that San Diego is an under-rated beer city, are you crazy? Most beer lovers are aware that San Diego is home of Stone, Alesmith, AND Pizza Port, 3 of the most highly regarded microbreweries in the country.

Anyway.

- Chris

Ill Second That one

Got that one, and about four more...in the whole state? And the Washington Street Ale House is really the only one that stands up in comparison to bars in other states. I just don't get it.

It's working!

I gotta wag my state's dick for it, but it gets the job done.

Vermont is the state you're thinking of, surely. New Hampshire, with a very few exceptions (Smutty and a couple brewpubs that rule), is retarded.

Woo! Let it happen!

Yes, Vermont is what I meant. All those narrow New England states look the same from way over here on the left side of the country.

-Steve

You might want to update that; part of the reason for La Conner's excellence was Arlen Harris, and he's now brewing at the Rogue Issaquah Brewhouse. Unsurprisingly, the beers made there - currently a "Harvest" ale, a Belgian-style saison, a Belgian-style triple (nice but a bit on the sweet side), and a hop-monster IPA - have improved quite a bit. The beers from La Conner, not so much; dunno if they've slipped that much, but ...

Elysian deserves its props too.

You're right. Can't figure out how any state not in the Pacific time zone could have decent beer. Not a one... oh, wait.

Global warning! Drought! Pestilence!

Well, not today. It's raining out. Typical PNW fall day.

We went out to our local for after-dinner beers (and I got the restaurant to make a michelada for me). She had the pumpkin ale from Elysian; Ommegang's 3P for me. Nice tap selection at the local tonight.

We don't get many American micros in Canada.Do you think you have much that compares favorably with what's produced in Quebec?

If you're talking Unibroue, yep. Allagash, Ommegang, New Belgium (for La Folie and Le Terroir alone), Russian River, Victory, and a whole lot more.

Best part of all is that we get Unibroue in the USA, too.