Celebrating the microbreweries

In continuing our previous story on the authentic value of microbreweries, thanks to the producers of the documentary, America Beer, here’s a list of 38 of the U.S.’s top microbreweries that they visited in 40 days, followed by their abridged notes on what made each of them unique:

1. Brooklyn Brewery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY - Black Chocolate Stout
2. McNeill’s Brewery, Brattleboro, VT - In a former firehouse and police station
3. Long Trail Brewing Co., Bridgewater Corners, VT - Visitor center inspired by Hofbrau House, Munich, Germany
4. Magic Hat, Burlington, VT - Blind Faith, #9, Chaotic Chemistry
5. The Shipyard, Portland, ME - On Portland, Maine’s waterfront
6. D.L. Geary Brewing Co., Portland, ME - English style ales
7. Allagash Brewing, Portland, ME - Belgian style ales
8. Boston Beer Works, across from Fenway Park- Blueberry Ale, Watermelon Ale
9. Harpoon, Boston - IPA
10. Empire Brewing Co., Syracuse, NY - Ideal beer crawl starting point.
11. Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY - Complex spiced Belgian ales
12. Victory Brewing Co., Downingtown, PA - Home of the famous ‘Hop Devil’
13. Climax Brewing, Roselle Park, NJ - Only available in half gallon jugs
14. Cricket Hill, Fairfield, NJ - The newest brewery in the group
15. Dogfish Head Brewing, Rehobeth Beach, DE - One-time smallest brewery in America
16. D.G. Yuengling and Son, Pottsville, PA - Oldest brewery in America, remaining independent, not selling out, unlike Redhook…
17. Great Lakes - Cleveland, OH - Where Eliott Ness drunkenly fired his gun into the bar, rumor says
18. Bell’s, Kalamazoo, Michigan - Bottle conditioned ales
19. Lakefront Brewery - Milwaukee, WI, new home to Bernie Brewer’s Chalet and Beer Slide, a landmark of the old Milwaukee Brewers baseball stadium.
20. New Glarus, New Glarus, WI - Belgian Kriek style beer (each bottle uses 1.4 pounds of fresh cherries), raspberry, apple. Woman-owned, apparently the only one in the group.
21. Left Hand/Tabernash, Longmont, CO - Formed their own distribution company to help local craft brewers
22. Seabright Brewery, Santa Cruz, CA - Live music
23. Anchor Brewing, San Francisco - Bought in 1965 as it was going out of business.
24. Sierra Nevada, Chico, CA - The founder was a homebrewer since he was 13 or 14.
25. Anderson Valley, Boonville, CA - Made where the area is known for having its own language.
26. North Coast Brewing - Fort Bragg, CA - Red Seal Ale
27. Lost Coast, Eureka, CA - . The Downtown Brown, made in the middle of the Redwoods.
28. Rogue Ales, Newport OR (pictured) - The only brewery/bar/hotel on the tour.
29. Hair of the Dog, Portland, OR - Beers are named Ruth, Fred, Adam, and Rose.
30. Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River, OR - Employee-owned celebrated with their own community-wide annual party.
31. Hale’s Ales - Ballard, Seattle - Traditional English-style ales, plus a double-decker English bus transformed into a roving pub.
32. The Pike Pub and Brewery - Near Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA - Great pub scene, with brewery below.
33. Red Hook, Fremont, WA - One of the first craft breweries in the NW, still independent, but with Anheuser-Busch (aka the ‘bad guys’) distribution.
34. Pyramid, Seattle - Bavarian-inspired Pyramid Hefe Weizen
35. Berts Grant’s, Yakima, WA - The ‘first brewpub in America’ (1982)
36. Snake River, Jackson, WY - Small brewery of the year, 2000 and 2001 by the Great American Beer Festival.
37. New Belgium, Fort Collins, CO - Celebrates beer and bicycling with their Tour De Fat. Home of ‘Fat Tire’, originally a home brew named by the owner after returning from mountain biking through Belgium.
38. Abita - Abita Springs, LA - On Bourbon Street, New Orleans, many bars offer 3 for 1 deals on Abita Amber
*39. Cape Ann Brewing Co., Gloucester, MA - Founded by one of the film’s producers after being inspired by completing cross-country brewery tour.

See more detailed descriptions and websites of the breweries here.