Top 5 in your hometown

[Klurejr]

I saw this article this morning and it got me thinking about what my top 5 is just for San Diego. Top 5 Craft Breweries in San Diego 2012

Mine is similar to the list in the article.

#1 Ballast Point
#2 Alesmith
#3 Mission
#4 Societe
#5 Lost Abby


What city or county do you live in and what are you top 5 local breweries?

[debaucherous]

Easy since there are only 3 w/in an 2 hours drive from home (Troy, ID).
Palouse Falls
Riverport
Paradise Creek

[jtmartino]

Mine is similar to the list in the article.

Surprised Pizza Port is not on that list...


I don't have a lot of really good breweries "locally," so I'll expand it to the Bay Area:

1. Russian River
2. Lagunitas
3. Sante Adairius
3. Bear Republic
4. Drakes

[JFryauff]

What's local...less than an hour, 100 mile radius?

I'll stay Norther Philly suburbs.

1. Weyerbacher
2. Forest & Main
3. Tired Hands
4. Fegley's Brew Works
5. Sly Fox

Just a stones throw beyond though, we've got all the great Philly breweries...Dock St., Boxcar, Yard's, PBC, Manyaunk, Nodding Head, Prism, Victory, Etc.

[mbakes]

Within roughly 4 hours of me is:

Cigar City
Swamphead
Seventh Sun
Funky Buddha
Due South

[jtmartino]

I'll chime in for both Bend and SD, since I consider them hometowns as well:

Bend:

1. Deschutes
2. Boneyard
3. Crux
4. The Ale Apothecary
5. Bend Brewing Co.

SD:

1. Pizza Port
2. Alpine
3. Alesmith
4. Port/Lost Abbey
5. Societe

[Howeler]

Favorite San Diego Breweries:
1. Alesmith
2. Alpine
3. Port(s)
4. Ballast Point
5. Lost Abby

Favorite San Diego Places to Drink:
1. Toronado (I should have my own stool engraved with my name by now)
2. Hamilton's
3. Blind Lady Ale House
4. Small Bar
5. Tiger Tiger

[jonz]

Oh man, this is no fair, I live in middle-of-nowhere central PA. But I'll chime in to represent the boondocks.
1.) Old Forge Brewing Co - walking distance
2.) Turkey Hill Brewing Co - 10 miles
3.) Selin's Grove Brewing Company - 15 miles
4.) Berwick Brewing Company - 20 miles
5.) Bullfrog Brewery - 35 miles
6.) Nearest good craft brewery with wide regional distribution: Troegs - 70 miles.

[JFryauff]

...But I'll chime in to represent the boondocks.
1.) Old Forge Brewing Co - walking distance
2.) Turkey Hill Brewing Co - 10 miles
3.) Selin's Grove Brewing Company - 15 miles
4.) Berwick Brewing Company - 20 miles
5.) Bullfrog Brewery - 35 miles

The boondocks with some damn fine beer!
Old Forge firkin nights are amazing, as are most things coming out of Selin's Grove, and even with Terry gone Bullfrog is top notch.

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I'm from Chico, so...

1. Sierra Nevada Celebration
2. Sierra Nevada Narwhal
3. Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye
4. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
5. Sierra Nevada Torpedo

But seriously, it's Northern CA (the real northern...) so there are a few breweries I'd consider "local"; Sierra Nevada, North Coast Brewing Co, Anderson Valley, and Lost Coast Brewing Co.

1. North Coast Old Stock Ale (or Old Rasputin?)
2. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
3. Sierra Nevada Narwhal
4. North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner
5. Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout

[Poe4soul]

How can you just pick 5? Seriously, from Portland, Oregon and there are too many good beers here to just pick 5. Or I'm not the picky about my beers. Probably the latter.

[jtmartino]

How can you just pick 5? Seriously, from Portland, Oregon and there are too many good beers here to just pick 5. Or I'm not the picky about my beers. Probably the latter.

Breweries, not beers. TwoHeads got a little excited

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Breweries, not beers. TwoHeads got a little excited

GODDAMMITTT! Ah well, my post stands as a memorial to the 2 beer late lunch.

[debaucherous]

Oh man, this is no fair, I live in middle-of-nowhere central PA. But I'll chime in to represent the boondocks.
1.) Old Forge Brewing Co - walking distance
2.) Turkey Hill Brewing Co - 10 miles
3.) Selin's Grove Brewing Company - 15 miles
4.) Berwick Brewing Company - 20 miles
5.) Bullfrog Brewery - 35 miles
6.) Nearest good craft brewery with wide regional distribution: Troegs - 70 miles.

You came up with a list of 6 w/in 1.5 hours of home. It appears that nowhere in PA is boondocks.

[Bike Whisperer]

Portland, Oregon...where do I start?

Hopworks Urban Brewery
Hair Of The Dog
New Old Lompoc
Laurelwood
Alameda

[jtmartino]

Portland, Oregon...where do I start?

Hopworks Urban Brewery
Hair Of The Dog
New Old Lompoc
Laurelwood
Alameda

No Deschutes, Cascade or Upright?



Tough living areas full of awesome beer

[dirt farmer]

Bend:

1) Deschutes
2) Crux Fermentation Project
3) Boneyard
4) Silver Moon
5) Good Life (they slowly get better all the time)

Johnny Martino, I really must try (read: become a member of) Ale Apothecary. Some of their beers sound delightful. Tell me more!

[jtmartino]

Tell me more!

They're great - I think you can pick up some of their stuff from the Brew Shop/Platypus. I've only had Sahalie and La Tache, but they were good enough that I'd take them over the other places in Bend. Anyone who specializes in wild ales and barrel aging is doing it right - and besides Deschutes, they seem to be the only dedicated joint in town.

I'll have to try Good Life again. The last four or five times I've tried it, it's been a little disappointing. Maybe Curt and the gang have worked out their system. Silver Moon makes some great hoppy beers (I really liked Hoptagon) but I haven't had their non pales/IPAs.

Really glad you didn't list 10 Barrel - that place still doesn't know how to make good beer. I've been there probably 10 times (because it's a great venue) but their beer always fails to deliver. I know a big group of MTBR guys just went to Bend and went to 10 Barrel a few times, and they agree that it's not one of the better breweries in town.

[dirt farmer]

They're great - I think you can pick up some of their stuff from the Brew Shop/Platypus. I've only had Sahalie and La Tache, but they were good enough that I'd take them over the other places in Bend. Anyone who specializes in wild ales and barrel aging is doing it right - and besides Deschutes, they seem to be the only dedicated joint in town.

I'll have to try Good Life again. The last four or five times I've tried it, it's been a little disappointing. Maybe Curt and the gang have worked out their system. Silver Moon makes some great hoppy beers (I really liked Hoptagon) but I haven't had their non pales/IPAs.

Really glad you didn't list 10 Barrel - that place still doesn't know how to make good beer. I've been there probably 10 times (because it's a great venue) but their beer always fails to deliver. I know a big group of MTBR guys just went to Bend and went to 10 Barrel a few times, and they agree that it's not one of the better breweries in town.

I always thought Ale Apothecary was an ale club; cool beans if I can buy elsewhere!

Yeah, 10 Barrel never ceases to disappoint. Why is that?? But their food is, IMO, sublime for brewery food.

By the way, has anyone tried their new Rye'm or Treason Rye Ale? As much as I dislike their beer, I really must try this.

[Slow Danger]

I went to 10 Barrel not long after they opened. I liked the beer, at least in the sense that I found it very drinkable, but did not like the food. So I guess I'm the opposite of you, DirtFarmer. But that was long ago. Maybe food has improved since the early days, or I ordered the wrong thing. I still like 10 Barrel's IPA quite a bit, especially when I need an Oregon IPA in 6 packs.

I just had Boneyard's RPM IPA for the first time. On tap. I loved it. Excited for the bottling to begin.

I've liked both Silver Moon beers I've tried.

I'm one of the folks who live so rural that there are no breweries in the area. Two hours to get anywhere. I have Rogue over in Newport. And there is Ninkasi and, I think, Oakshire in Eugene. Pelican up in Pacific City wins awards, but I've never had a beer I really liked from them, though I've only tried, perhaps, three from them. I guess there are some guys in Florence, Oregon, who are brewing in a warehouse, or something, and one never can be quite sure when they are open, or if they have beer. I'd like to get there to try them out.

[Bike Whisperer]

No Deschutes, Cascade or Upright?



Tough living areas full of awesome beer

Deschutes is brewed in Bend which is a 3 hour drive from PDX, haven't had a Cascade or Upright but I'll keep my eye out for them.

If I included all of Oregon then Deschutes and Ninkasi would be in my top 5

[jtmartino]

Deschutes is brewed in Bend which is a 3 hour drive from PDX, haven't had a Cascade or Upright but I'll keep my eye out for them.

If I included all of Oregon then Deschutes and Ninkasi would be in my top 5

Deschutes Portland is a Brewpub, meaning they brew beer too. Ryan Schmiege is the brewer. You should definitely go check it out - some of their beers are insanely good (just like Bend's brewpub.)

[Poe4soul]

Portland, Oregon...where do I start?

Hopworks Urban Brewery
Hair Of The Dog
New Old Lompoc
Laurelwood
Alameda

Good ones but then there's
Amnesia
Gigantic
That I would add.

Or just about any other brew pub that is within about 5 miles of where I am at any time in Portland. Plus every bar has rotating taps of very good local beer.I feel sorry for you guys that have to settle.

[dirt farmer]

Deschutes is brewed in Bend which is a 3 hour drive from PDX, haven't had a Cascade or Upright but I'll keep my eye out for them.

If I included all of Oregon then Deschutes and Ninkasi would be in my top 5

Deschutes Portland is a Brewpub, meaning they brew beer too. Ryan Schmiege is the brewer. You should definitely go check it out - some of their beers are insanely good (just like Bend's brewpub.)

I agree. Sometimes the Portland Deschutes pub beer tap list makes the Bend list pale in comparison.

[Poe4soul]

I agree. Sometimes the Portland Deschutes pub beer tap list makes the Bend list pale in comparison.

Love their beer, hate the location of the pdx brew pub. That's the only reason it didn't make my list.