I don't know what it is, but the I've found my favorite pilsners and lagers are brewed in the NE and NW regions of the US. The NE has Victory, Yuengling and Sly Fox in PA; Smuttynose in NH; VT has Trapp Family, Otter Creek, Longtrail, and Switchback; NY has Paradox, and Industrial Arts; MA has Sam Adams. In the NW, I've found Full Sail, Widmer Bros, and Deschutes in OR; and New Belgium and Redhook in WA.
The thing I miss the most from the NW is the wide variety of growler fills available. Any bar/restaurant would fill a 64 oz growler.
Victory is very good and operates a brewpub down here in Charlotte, NC. Though I think the beer is still brewed in PA. My only gripe is that none of the staff have a clue as to the Victory logo and slogans, emanating from a great piece of literature, "1984" by George Orwell. Few have even heard of the book to begin with. Sigh.
Last edited by Bobmcgahan; May 31, 2021, 01:06 PM.
Stone brewery out of Escondido Ca and Ballast Point ( beforw they sold to Corona Brewing) is what opened my eyes to the amazing lack of limitations in the microbrewing world. Stone has everything from IPAs to Bourbon barrel aged beers to even your average wheat beers. Ballast point before they got big was actually next to a home brew mart and the people who worked there would tinker with their brews ans make unique, and i mean unique, styles of their beer. My favorite beer has to be Ballast point indra kunindra which is a curry stout. And i am not a huge stout person. Its flavored with Madras Curry, Cumin, Cayenne, Coconut, and Kaffir Lime Leaf. Crazy mix but it works. Id never turn my nose up to any beer especially if its a free one but that one is definitely the favorite
I love that Stone is holding out from being taken over by a big brewer. Also love that they have no sign identifying the place. If you cannot find it you are not worthy...lol
Here in NW Oregon we have all kinds of breweries. Our thing is to go to breweries and have a beer while our son has a root beer. Many of the small breweries also make their own root beers.
Some of our favorite breweries are: Sun River, Hop Valley, Pelican, Three Creeks, Rogue, Prodigal Son, Heathen, Pfriem, Backwoods.
There are many others, these are ones we’ve actually been to. This has been a great way for me to learn the types of beers I like (lighter ones) while my husband likes IPAs mostly. Many of these places have awesome food too.
Giving a shout-out to Dreamchaser's Brewing Company in Waxhaw, NC. Their selection has become much more interesting in the last 18 months. Also, Armored Cow Brewing Co. in Kannapolis, NC is really good. Established by combat veterans. Every veteran is entitled to a free beer on their first visit. Or, you can "pay it forward" and buy a beer to be provided free to other veterans.
I've yet to try the brew pub as we are new to the area but have bought their local IPAs that are really good. Four Peaks in Phoenix. Although I do not live there I must give a mention to Russian River in Santa Rosa, CA. The Pliney the Elder IPA is the smoothest hoppy IPA I've ever tasted. It is worth beating a path there as it is not widely distributed.
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