djk7

Thanks, I wasn't aware of beermapping.com. Beeradvocate.com is another site that rates beers and beer places.

greggwiggins

After reporting on the industry for more than a dozen years I'd have to agree. The differences are mostly the sort of things that only the serious beer geek/brewing professional will get excited about.

But the tasting rooms/associated pubs are often worth visiting. I'll mention the Stone Brewery and World Bistro in Escondido, near San Diego.

kipper

Tasting rooms/pubs are usually worth a visit, yes. That said, I don't know the last time I visited one.

Anyone know of a good one in MSP?

CMK10

One of my favorite brewing companies is in Minneapolis, the Surly Brewing Co.:

http://www.surlybrewing.com/

They have a brewery you can tour and everything!

kipper

Thanks. Since our firewall at work won't allow me to access it, how close to downtown is it?

CMK10

Weird, my firewall which is usually pretty strict let me in! Anyway:

Map For You!

kipper

Thanks. I may try to swing by there that weekend.

CMK10

Do let me know how it is. I first had a Surly beer at Joe's Garage, one of my favorite Minneapolis restaurants Judging by their (Surly's) website and Facebook page they seem like a fun company which takes real pride in their product.

realjd

I always look for local breweries and tasting rooms. I usually skip the tour because they're almost all the same, save for the larger commercial breweries like Yuengling in Tampa, or any of the AB breweries which are cool since they're essentially beer factories.

I've also never found a brewpub with bad food.

The best beer in the country comes out of San Diego IMO. It's becoming the Napa Valley of beer. My favorites that I try to hit up whenever I'm there on business:
Stone Brewing, Escondito (great restaurant also)
Pizza Port, Carlsbad (great restaurant also)
Port Brewing / Lost Abbey, Vista (tasting room only - food truck rally on Wed. evenings though)
Green Flash, Mira Mesa (tasting room only)
Ballast Point, Mira Mesa (tasting room only)
Rock Bottom Brewery, Gaslamp (it's a chain, but still good food and beer)
Karl Strauss, various locations in SD (excellent food, average beer)

wizzy

A few that I've hit over the last few years:

• Triumph Brewing, Princeton NJ (and other locations) - Good beer and food, several other locations of this brewpub
• Troegg, Hershey PA - Right next to Hershey Park. Huge space, willing to give a few free tastes. Had 4-5 brewpub only beers on tap, most part of their Scratch series
• Lancaster Brewing Company Harrisburg, PA - more of a restaurant feel
• Appalacian Brewing Company Harrisburg, PA - Outpost of larger chain, only has one or two non-standard beers on tap at a time
• Founders - Grand Rapids, MI - Hometown brewery. Large tasting room, sandwiches available at separate counter. Table service available for food before late afternoon.
• Brewery Vivant - Grand Rapids, MI - Located in an old funeral home so has a church-like feel. Belgian-style beers. Food is fairly pricey, I'd recommend drinking here and eating next door at Grove or across the street at Green Well
• Jolly Pumpkin - Ann Arbor, MI - Beer is brewed in Dexter so this is just a brewpub. Non-bottle options available. Also fully stocked with North Peak beer (same owner). Good food, my brother called it fru-fru.

kipper

LBC in Harrisburg is actually a restaurant, with LBC brews on tap. IIRC, they do very little actual brewing in Harrisburg. Most of it is brewed in Lancaster.

ABC in Harrisburg confuses me. The location on Cameron Street in Harrisburg is their main location, with their other locations (Camp Hill, Gettysburg, Collegeville, and soon to be Lititz) brewing small batches, primarily of special beers, but most of their main beers being brewed at their headquarters location, on Cameron Street.

wizzy

If that's their main location, I'm disappointed at the lack of special, brewery only beers. I've been there three times, I think, and the only specials they had were the monthly special, nothing comparable to Troeg's Scratch or other unique items.

tcook052

Seek them out? No, not really but will make a detour if I am doing research or scouting tours and see they are nearby.

One example was on an Alaskan cruise in '09 there was a combination biking and brewery tour in Juneau that held lots of appeal and more than the other options.

kipper

They have usually 6-8 "standard" ABC beers, plus a cask beer, plus 1-3 "special" beers. The "special" beers are a monthly beer, plus a few rotating beers that come and go from their menu.

tev9999

I always seek out brewpubs when I travel. I've got no idea how many I have hit over the years. I always pick up a beer mat as a souvenir when I visit someplace new, but I probably just have 200 sitting in a box and never get around to doing anything with them.

Back in college we had to do a marketing plan for a startup/small business. I decided to use Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo, so it was official class work when I had to go to a brewery and drink beer.

I was a regular at Bluegrass Brewing Co. in Louisville back in the late 90s when I had clients down there. Found them through one of those hotel lobby tourist displays. These days I just use Google maps and search on "brewery" and "beer" to see what is around my destinations/route.

I also had to visit the Guinness brewery when I was in Ireland - it used to be my primary beer until my digestive system couldn't handle it any more.

My latest find was this one near CLT. I was expecting a full brewpub/restaurant and it turned out to be a one man startup brewing small batches in a strip mall. He had a small tasting area set up and let me try each of his beers. The t-shirt is my favorite brewery souvenir.