I recently was quizzed over the “United States of GOOD Beer” post on good.is and, of course, disagreed with a lot of it. I spent a lot time trying to figure out what people would probably say, and was often wrong, and in that process, learned of some places I had never heard of. Nevertheless, I have my own list.
I chose these places much of the time based on having been to the brewpub and having tried their specialty beers. Some are just brewpubs and have no distribution. Some are more well-known breweries. And, with some states, I have an “N/A” because I either have never had beer from the state or have never had anything from the state that I particularly like. Items that agree with the “United States of GOOD Beer” are highlighted.
I also included the Canadian provinces I’ve visited, because Canadian microbrew gets ignored too often.
- Alabama: N/A
- Alaska: Alaskan, Anchorage (cheap shot, is there another brewery there?)
- Arizona: Sun Up, Phoenix
- Arkansas: Diamond Bear, Little Rock
- California: Ale Smith, San Diego
- Colorado: Avery, Boulder
- Connecticut: N/A
- Delaware: Dogfish Head, Milton
- Florida: Cigar City, Tampa
- Georgia: Terrapin, Athens
- Hawaii: Kona, Maui
- Idaho: Sockeye, Boise
- Illinois: Two Brothers, Warrenville
- Indiana: Bier, Indianapolis
- Iowa: N/A
- Kansas: Tallgrass, Manhattan
- Kentucky: N/A (Bluegrass kinda sucks, sorry)
- Louisiana: Abita, Abita Springs
- Maine: Allagash, Portland
- Maryland: Flying Dog, Frederick
- Massachusetts: Cambridge Brewing, Cambridge
- Michigan: Jolly Pumpkin, Dexter (big runners up: Dark Horse & Founder’s)
- Minnesota: Summit, St. Paul
- Mississippi: Lazy Magnolia, Kiln (only one in the state, but it’s actually very good)
- Missouri: Six Row, St. Louis
- Montana: Bitter Root, Hamilton
- Nebraska: Upstream, Omaha
- Nevada: Chicago Brewing, Las Vegas
- New Hampshire: Smuttynoise, Portsmouth
- New Jersey: N/A
- New Mexico: Marble, Albuquerque (High Desert is a close 2nd)
- New York: Ommegang, Cooperstown
- North Carolina: Wedge, Asheville
- North Dakota: N/A
- Ohio: Buckeye, Lakewood
- Oklahoma: Coop, Oklahoma City
- Oregon: Rogue, Newport
- Pennsylvania: Victory, Downingtown
- Rhode Island: N/A
- South Carolina: Thomas Creek, Greenville
- South Dakota: N/A
- Tennessee: Smoky Mountain, Gatlinburg
- Texas: Live Oak, Austin
- Utah: Epic, Salt Lake City
- Vermont: N/A
- Washington: Marine Pacific, Seattle
- Virginia: Legend, Richmond
- Washington, DC: Capitol City, DC
- West Virginia: N/A (only been to one place and it was awful)
- Wisconsin: N/A (only been to a couple, so I need to come back)
- Wyoming: Bitter Creek, Rock Springs
- British Columbia: Steamworks, Vancouver (need to come back and try more)
- Newfoundland: Quidi Vidi, St. John’s
- Ontario: Mill Street, Toronto
- Quebec: La Barberie, Quebec
