Beer Debate: Top 5 American Breweries

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I would like to pose two simple questions. The first allows you to express personal taste and examine your biases. The second however, seeks to objectively pick 5 breweries that you feel are the top contenders.

  1. What are your top 5 favorite US craft breweries?
  2. What US craft breweries should be in the top five?

I realize everyone has not sampled every craft brewery in the US so give it your best shot and state your reasoning (if you feel so led). Not all my favorites are in my top contenders.

Here are my own answers for question #1 in order:

  1. Boston Brewery (Samuel Adams)
  2. North Coast Brewing Company
  3. Great Lakes Brewing Company
  4. Dogfish Head Brewery
  5. Redhook Brewery

Here are my answers for question #2 in no particular order:

  1. Dogfish Head Brewery
  2. Founders Brewing
  3. North Coast Brewing Company
  4. Three Floyds Brewing Company
  5. Rogue Ales

Looking forward to seeing what you everyone thinks!

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Comments

  1. good stuff tom. i’m gonna have to think about this a little bit…

    Noel — February 7th, 2010, 2:06 pm

  2. Dang it. On second thought…scratch Redhook from my list and replace it with Two Brothers Brewery for question #1.

    Tom — February 8th, 2010, 10:59 am

  3. you must have forgotten Bell’s….?

    Jennifer — February 8th, 2010, 4:51 pm

  4. Jennifer,
    Bell’s does makes some good beer and boasts a wide selection. However, their beers that I’ve sampled did not live up the standards set by the 5 I listed (I’m trying to be as objective as I can here). I’m interested to hear what you think and welcome your feedback.

    Tom — February 8th, 2010, 5:06 pm

  5. My top 5 faves:

    1. Three Floyds
    2. Dogfish Head
    3. Boston Beer Co. – Sam Adams
    4. Sierra Nevada
    5. Goose Island

    I haven’t had Deschutes yet … eager to try.

    Taylor — February 8th, 2010, 5:21 pm

  6. This post just reminds me that I need to expand out of mostly Michigan Breweries. It is difficult though – since my state is in the economic crapper – I’m just trying do my part by drinking Michigan beer…lots of it. But I tend to agree with Jennifer, Bell’s is on my top 5 along with another Michigan great – Founders.

    Britton — February 14th, 2010, 8:40 pm

  7. My favs (I need to sample more west coast breweries).

    1. Rogue Ales
    2. Great Lakes
    3. Two Brothers
    4. Boston Beer Co.
    5. Goose Island

    Noel — February 14th, 2010, 9:33 pm

  8. It’s sad, because I don’t even think I have had enough American craft brew exposure to even know my top 5! Guess its time to start drinking a bit more from the good ol’ red, white and blue!

    Michael — February 19th, 2010, 8:37 am

  9. Tom, I also just noticed that we haven’t gotten a single review from anyone on Great Lakes yet. We need to start exploring this ‘favorite’ of yours.

    Michael — February 19th, 2010, 8:39 am

  10. I’m reviewing the Irish Ale tonight.

    Tom — February 19th, 2010, 10:24 am

  11. 1. Three Floyds
    2. Great Divide
    3. Avery
    4. Bell’s (write in)
    5. Founders

    Chris — February 20th, 2010, 10:17 pm

  12. Wow. What a difficult question. It’s like ranking your favorite movies or favorite songs, or better yet ranking your kids.

    What does being the “best” brewery mean? Is it at all about how many people drink their beer? If so, then that’s easy…
    1. Anheuser-Busch,
    2. Miller,
    3. Coors,
    4. Shamus McShittybrew, and
    5. JT I’ve-drank-ten-of-these-and-still-don’t-feel-a-thing and Sons, Inc.

    Sorry, just having fun. The real question is how much should market share have to do with this decision? And how much of that is due to solid marketing rather than solid beer?

    How about the quality of the brews? Well that means different things to different people. It could mean true to style or it could just mean they taste great. Does being the best include innovating? Brewing difficult styles in creative ways? Which styles do they brew well: commercial or specialty and what’s more important?

    And there’s the fact that I just haven’t tried every brewery in the country, I guess we’re all limited to the beers we’ve imbibed.

    So here’s what I think and I invite discussion. My choices are ranked by:
    1. My personal tastes
    2. Diversity of beers
    3. Innovation/Creativity
    4. Sold business practices
    5. I’d love to also find out which breweries are using the most sustainable methods like recapturing CO2 and using sustainable energy (New Belgium is a good example) though I didn’t put this in the mix.

    So I have to go with, for my favorites:
    1. Rogue
    2. Stone
    3. Great Divide
    4. Three Floyds
    5. Dogfish Head

    and what I think should be on there:
    1. Three Floyds
    2. Great Divide
    3. Stone
    4. Rogue
    5. Ommegang

    Lot’s more to talk about but I leave it there for now. Cheers

    Timmy — March 2nd, 2010, 12:36 am

  13. 1. Deschutes
    2. Rogue
    3. North Coast
    4. Dogfish Head
    5. Russian River

    this all may change tomorrow however…

    Nate — March 3rd, 2010, 12:23 am

  14. Awesome post Timmy! Thanks for the insight behind your thought process. I’m right there with you, but lacked the words which you so skillfully used.

    Loved your thoughts on how you choice a solid brewery. When you wrap all five of those qualities into one, it sure makes for a tough “who’s the best” pick.

    I would personally place my “personal taste” lower at 4. I say this because I’d rather change and develop my tastes/palate, than have a brewery constantly changing to meet market share whims. Sure we want them to change and innovate for the better! However, I think we can agree that having a brewery produce a couple quality beers and make them well, is better than sacrificing quality for simply cranking out a wide range of styles (this is one point where I think Sam Adams needs to be careful).

    Taking a look at craft breweries, I’m confident that most are brewing: 1) shamelessly for their own likes/tastes, 2) creating a unique niche of followers, and 3) continuing to think “outside the box.” Thankfully, we get to reap the benefits. Cheers indeed!

    Tom — March 3rd, 2010, 10:23 am

  15. In no particular order:

    1. New Glarus
    2. Three Floyds
    3. Lagunitas
    4. Southern Tier
    5. Great Lakes

    Paul — March 8th, 2010, 3:57 pm

  16. in no particular order:

    north coast
    dog fish head
    ballast point
    russian river
    groninger (germany)

    Mike — March 11th, 2010, 1:50 pm

  17. Paul: Solid list. I can get behind that.

    Mike: I’m interesting in Ballast Point & Groninger. I’ve have not heard of/tried anything from either of those breweries, but I’ll be on the look out. Thanks for the list and for posting new brewery options.

    Tom — March 11th, 2010, 2:16 pm

  18. In no particular order:

    1. Dark Horse
    2. Mad River
    3. Schells
    4. Boulevard
    5. New Glarus

    Sean — March 11th, 2010, 3:14 pm

  19. in no particular order

    Sierra Nevada
    Dogfish Head
    Russian River
    Deschutes
    Firestone Walker

    chuckl — March 11th, 2010, 5:39 pm

  20. Who is the best? I have no idea. Which breweries are my favorite? That’s easy – my favorite breweries are those breweries that, if they were to go out of business, I would deeply miss. Based on this I can only name three:

    Three Floyds
    Bells
    Dogfish Head

    Lets qualify this with a short list of breweries that I have little to no exposure to: Rogue, Stone, Russian River, Deschutes, Avery, North Coast, and a host of others likely worthy of consideration.

    Let me qualify this with another list, one that includes breweries whose beer I thoroughly enjoy, but ultimately could live without: Boston Brewery, Sierra Nevada, Founders,and Victory.

    One brewery that just doesn’t do it for me: New Belgium.

    Craig — March 11th, 2010, 8:06 pm

  21. Ninkasi
    Dogfish Head
    Lagunitas
    Full Sail
    Deschutes

    Al — March 12th, 2010, 12:05 am

  22. My favorites:
    1. Russian River Brewing
    2. Alpine Brewing
    3. Lagunitas
    4. Green Flash
    4. Port Hop
    5. Stone
    5. Ballast Point

    Oh, wait! That’s too many. As for who “should” be in the top five – you didn’t give criteria – so, how do I judge – very subjective. Breweries that have brews available nationwide? or the best? but if the best, that’s very subjective! I would put who “should” be in the top five the same as above because it’s very subjective. Perhaps better to say who shouldn’t be in the top five? But then I would put “Three Floyds” on that list and offend lots of people!

    Richard — March 23rd, 2010, 7:16 pm

  23. Richard,
    Thank you for your comments! I appreciate and respect your taste for massively hopped-up West Coast beers. I have not sampled a few of those breweries you listed and I’m eager to do so.

    Tom — March 23rd, 2010, 10:30 pm

  24. 1. north coast
    2. dechutes
    3. lagunitas
    4. rogue
    5. alesmith

    Jason — March 24th, 2010, 8:57 pm

  25. Tom,

    Definitely try the West Coast brews – admittedly, I do like the massively hopped beers – more hops, no malt. My idea of a perfect IPA or DIPA is very little malt. Founder’s is doing some great beers and Dog Head as well – though, for a West Coast hop head, Dogfish just doesn’t get the hops and uses too much malt! Just as Three Floyd’s, Avery, and Southern Tier – all great beers, but they are the “traditional style” based on the British style of hopped bitter malts! Didn’t we have a revolution in 1776 (to 1789!) that said “the he!! with England and the Queen! And this is why I like the all American hoppy beers – they are so hoppy they would beat the Easter Bunny in a hop race! So, please do try the beers you haven’t – Alpine is very possibly the best brewery on the West Coast – coming in a very close second behind Russian River. Ballast Point is a close third and Port Hop is up there in the top five. I think, though am not sure, that the Stone, Lagunitas, and Green Flash are fairly widely distributed – but all good brews in the top 10. And, Founders, Alesmith, and Dogfish would round out that top 10. If you need a supplier, there’s a great beer store near San Diego who ships nationwide – let me know and I’ll give you his info. Don’t publicize it because I want to selfishly keep him to myself!

    Richard.

    Richard — March 25th, 2010, 9:40 pm

  26. Good to know Richard. Stone beers go on tap in Illinois after April 1st, which has got a lot of people excited. When I started drinking beer I was a huge hop head. I’ve tried Hop Stoopid and thought the hop extract was overkill. Two Brothers (a Chicago suburb based brewery) makes a good DIPA called Hop Juice. I enjoy that from time to time. Over the last year or so I’ve gotten into more malty beers. I will definately try to locate the ones you mentioned in your top 5. I’m currently on an Oak Aged beer kick, but do get a hop craving from time-to-time. If you have not given Goose Island’s IPA a try…please do…just for the sake of saying you tried it at least. I really like it.

    Cheers!

    Tom — March 25th, 2010, 10:18 pm

  27. 1. Dogfish Head
    2. Sierra Nevada
    3. Flying Dog
    4. Oskar Blues
    5. Boulder Beer Company

    tanis38 — April 1st, 2010, 2:09 pm

  28. Sierra Nevada is too commercial now. Cant believe more people didnt pick Deschutes in Bend. Great beer. Six Rivers outside of Arcata is awesome. And, can’t get to North Coast often enough for my taste.

    Tracie — April 2nd, 2010, 10:38 am

  29. Top 5 in no particular order

    Port/Lost Abbey/Pizza Port
    Dogfish Head
    Russian River
    Avery
    Ommegang

    Brad — November 15th, 2010, 2:22 am
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