BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Beer & Brewing Best Cities For Beer In the US??

I need some advice...I'm thinking about having a quick summer trip of some good beer locations in the US. I might travel with my brother, we both spent some time in Germany and love learning/ tasting beer <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

However, I don't know much about national breweries. I know that there are some in Pennsylvania. Are there any good places on the West Coast?? It would be great to get away somewhere warm for the weekend...and I can usually get good airfare through Independence...so I need some ideas of where to go!

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California is absolutely awesome!!! A spectacular brewhouse, a uni-tank fermentation cellar, incredible restaurant and gift shop - and award winning beers - Pale Ale (gold medal winner at the GABF), Porter (First Place California Brewers Festival)Stout (Gold medal winner California State Fair) Wheat (Silver Medal Winner California State Fair)Bigfoot Ale (Gold medal winner GABF) Summerfest (Gold medal winner California State Fair)and more! They also make first-class mustards with beer.

Anderson Valley Brewing in Boonville California has 4 shire horses, an 18 hole disc golf course, carriage rides, and 4 All copper Huppman brewing vessels, each of which is over 10 feet in diameter, originally from Kassendorf and Stoffelstein, Germany. Also loads of gold medal winning brews!

There is Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, the essence of Steam Beer, and the original beginning of "craft brewing" as we know it today, thanks to Fritz Maytag.

Stone Brewing in San Marcos, California is the epitome of extreme beer on the West Coast, while Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware is the best in "off centered beer for off centered people" on the East Coast. Oh! And may I mention Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon? Incredible!

Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio - complete with holes in the bar from the famous Eliot Ness, and some folklore about Al Capone!

Boston has Boston Brewing (Sam Adams), Boston Beer Works, Harpoon Brewery, and more. Washington State and Oregon are also loaded with great craft breweries.

Oh - and don't forget Canada! Ontario and Quebec (Chambley, where Unibroue brews) and (Montreal with McAuslan Brewing) have some spectacular craft breweries and brewpubs!

Geez! So does New Orleans, Philadelphia (Manayunk Brewery), New York (Brooklyn Brewing, home of the famous Garrett Oliver), the Blind Tiger (most fantastic beer bar in the USA), (Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Glimmerglass Opera, and Fenimore House and Farmers' Museum), South Burlington, Vermont (Magic Hat Brewing Company - always something going on there). Don't forget the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado in October.

There are more! The US Beer Drinking Team is in the process of starting a US Tour, stopping at major US cities to create beer fests and ruckus! Anyone for Fun???

Got another one for All Beer Lovers:

Fresh from beeradvocate.com:
American Beer Fest is just around the corner! ABF is being held at The Cyclorama @ The Boston Center for the Arts in Boston, MA

JUNE 17 - VIP PARTY (5pm-10pm)
* Everyone is invited, but it's limited to 500 tickets!
* Private casual screening of American Beer (the movie)
* Complimentary food by the Sunset Grill & Tap
* Exclusive line-up of 25+ SPECIAL BEERS!
* Four versions of Triticus Ale! (an 11.5% wheat wine brewed by us @ Harpoon)
* Hangout with brewers and others in the beer industry
* 15 beer tickets w/ tasting cup
= $37.50 per ticket (on-line only; includes handling and food)

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The Boston region definitely has several good breweries in it, within easy driving distance <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Great information!! I'm copying it all down so I can look into the breweries you mentioned. So far it sounds like California or Boston would make for the best trips. I can get good rates to SanFran/Boston on Independence and then for CA I guess the best bet would be to rent a car?? For Boston I probably wouldn't need one.

But these are all great suggestions. I'm going to confer with my brother. See which one he'd prefer <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Portland, Oregon....hands down....no contest. You can't spit without hitting a brew pub and they hold several brewfests every year. The next one is on the last weekend in July. They are serious about beer in Portland!

I'd have to agree with angelroost. Portland and the surrounding area is locally known as Beervana!

Visit http://www.oregonbeer.org/mapport.html for a map.

The combination of beer and good music in the Pacific NW can't be beat and I can't talk about Portland without mentioning the local cuisine and wineries.

If you get a chance to visit during the Rose Festival Parade (June), you won't be sorry.

By the way, the public transportation is outstanding. There's a light rail that will take you from the airport right into town where you can get a bus to just about anywhere (in case you don't want to drive after sampling all the beers). Or you could rent a car so you can drive to the coast (more great beers).

Don't be shy. Portlanders are friendly. Ask around town and you will won't have any trouble finding exactly the spots best suited to your personal tastes.

I hope you have a chance to check out Portland and the Pacific NW in general. You won't be disappointed.

<img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Munster, IN - Three Floyds

My husband and I are going to the Portland, OR area the summer of 07 to see if we want to move there. Can anyone tell me what it's like to live and work there and on a whole what are the people like? Liberal, conservative, etc. We know how much "good beer" is out there as we are both active members of RateBeer.com.

Cheers!

I really enjoyed reading Carolyn's recent article about the Brickskeller in Washington, DC. Great place!
My favorite local (DC Metro) beer is the lager from Old Dominion Brewing Co.in Ashburn, VA http://www.olddominion.com/
They also put on a nice beer festival once a ear.

--SP Gass, Editor
MidAtlantic Travel & Leisure
BellaOnline.Com

Celebrator Beer News June/July 2006 Issue just published the Top Ten Beer Cities in America list - Results were from a poll of Celebrator writers:
#1 - Portland, Oregon
#2 - San Francisco, California
#3 - Denver, Colorado
#4 - Seattle, Washington
#5 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
#6 - San Diego, California
#7 - Washington, D.C./Baltimore, Maryland
#8 - Boston, Massachusetts
#9 - New York, New York AND Chicago, Illinois (Tied)

Impressive list!

Beer Fox Top Ten? Here was my submission:
#1 - Philadelphia, PA
#2 - New York City, NY
#3 - Chicago, IL
#4 - San Francisco, CA
#5 - Portland, OR
#6 - Denver, CO
#7 - Washington, DC
#8 - Seattle, WA
#9 - Austin, TX
#10 -Boston, MA

What about yours?