Abita Brewing Company in Abita Springs Louisiana on the Northshore of Lake Ponchartrain near New Orleans is the best.

(01-09-2015 02:25 PM)geef Wrote:  

(01-09-2015 02:20 PM)Lush Wrote:  

(01-09-2015 01:15 PM)geef Wrote:  Great list, Lush! I wish I was more on top of things and tracked the breweries I've been to. I've lived in Oregon for 3 years after 15 in Colorado (I moved there straight from undergrad at UC). I love our breweries in Portland. I bike past (well, I don't always get past it) HUB and a few others on my way home each day. Bend is absolutely killing it right now in terms of quantity and quality of breweries. CRUX Fermentation is easily my favorite in the country these days. Keep your eye on Double Mountain in Hood River - they're making some fantastic West Coast IPAs. Portland has a ton of breweries, but they aren't among the best in our state. If you like the Belgian farmhouse style, which I've taken to quite a bit recently, Agrarian out of Eugene is making great beers, as well as Logsdon and Pfriem out in the Hood River/ Columbia Gorge area.

In terms of the high hops, nobody beats San Diego. I try to get down there once a winter for a long weekend of tasting. Green Flash, Ballast Point, Alesmith, Lost Abbey and Stone are all killing it. The problem with San Diego is property values. Very few of the breweries are able to open in the center of town. Instead, they go out to the warehouses north of the city where it's cheaper. In Portland, we can bike and walk to a handful of breweries in nearly any part of town. That's not the case in SD. Which gets me to Cincinnati. There's no other urban district in the country with the history or the future potential that Over The Rhine has. The owners of Rheingeist - who are from the west coast - picked Cincinnati for that reason. In a matter of just a few years, I do believe that Cincinnati will be seen as one of our great (and walkable) destinations for beer and, just as importantly, brewing history.

Damn. You made me thirsty. Upright Brewing is my brewery of choice after work today. Cheers, all.

you're in portland are you? my aunt lives a few streets down from hub. she owns the hardware store on division street. give her some business. i stopped by double mountain on my way home a few years back. i had my mind set on full sail, but i walked past double mountain instead. great town. that's a town a man could settle in. i haven't been to colorado yet, but it's obviously on the agenda. going to washington in the fall

Division Do it Best! I'm already a supporter. Regardless of the future of the store, she has an awfully valuable piece of real estate - Division is blowing up, and has some nationally-acclaimed restaurants.

Yep, Hood River is pretty sweet. We generally go out that way to ski, primarily so we can hit Double Mountain on the way home......

that's the one! yeah,division is going places. i wouldn't blame her if she sold the business, (not saying she is) it was my uncle's store before he passed away. though she seems to be keeping the customer satisfied. a woman running a hardware store, it can happen in portland. when i was working there 16 years ago, most of the people in the shop were my uncle's friends. i made popcorn and couldn't hide the fact that the only reason i got the job was because i was related. he used to have belt sander races. customers would modify belt sanders that would compete somehow

Well, when I worked at Sambo's 40 years ago, we had a container of prune juice get shoved to back of a cooler one time. Didn't find it for a few mos, was well fermented wine by then. Does that count??

Went to go see my favorite this year



Hard to beat perfection, even after hundreds of years of trying.

(01-09-2015 03:28 PM)KnightLight Wrote:  Went to go see my favorite this year



Hard to beat perfection, even after hundreds of years of trying.

Guinness is not a Microbrewery (the topic at hand), and are just as guilty in Ireland of keeping competition down as were the big US breweries. Not to mention, there are plenty of other Stout beers better than Guinness.

(01-09-2015 04:04 PM)knightalum74 Wrote:  ... there are plenty of other Stout beers better than Guinness.

Top Rated Irish Dry Stouts

As part of Uncle's Day, we were able to enjoy the VIP Connoisseur Experience at the Guinness Storehouse...and it was AMAZING!! Only 2 others plus our 3.

https://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/C...r-Bar.aspx

Foreign Extra Stout was outstanding too! (Believe most popular in India and Africa).

Irish know how to pour a proper Guinness (119.5 seconds). Most american bartenders are clueless.

In Ohio I've been to Maumee Bay, Columbus, Elevator, Great Lakes, Findlay, Put-in-Bay, Moerlein, and Listermann. Hoppin' Frog and Jackie O's are two of my favorite Ohio brewers, but I've yet to visit either brewery.