The 15 best cities for beer lovers in the US

[James Bond Agent 007]

Another list!

The 15 best cities for beer lovers in the US

What makes a great beer city? The criteria surely changes from person to person. Quality craft breweries may be a priority for some, while prevalence of bars and cheap beer close to home are must-haves for others. The real estate site Redfin and the Beer Institute have combined forces to hone in on what elements need to come together to make a great beer city and what those cities might be.

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[SD_Phil]

I always considered San Diego a surprisingly strong beer city.

[j korzeniowski]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Another list!

The 15 best cities for beer lovers in the US

can't argue with most of that list. my wife is from grand rapids, and that area has terrific beer.

i, of course, quibble with chicago not being on there (long island and philly?! someone enlighten me), as i think we now have more brewing space than any other city in the us. however, most of that is probably lagunitas (not really a chicago brewery) and portland and seattle are 2nd and 3rd, so chicago obviously not as strong on a per capita basis.

my recommendation to anyone living in or visiting chicago: pipeworks.

one more thought: st. louis. outside of belgian-owned a-b, i know schlafly is a big one down there (they're up here, too, but haven't tried them enough to form an opinion), and another one i'm forgetting. what else is going on down there.

[Austinlee]

Legacy industrial cities with their german immigrants.

[Steely Dan]

while their methodology is highly suspect (and flat out nonsensical when using statewide brewery per-capita stats to determine a list of best beer cities), it's still nice to see the midwest recognized for its hard-drinking, beer-swilling ways.



THE MIDWEST: we may not be cool and hip, but shut up and drink your beer!

Originally Posted by j korzeniowski

my recommendation to anyone living in or visiting chicago: pipeworks.

seconded.

when i die, i'm going to live in heaven.

the best part: heaven is actually just a really large swimming pool filled with pipeworks' lizard king!

[hauntedheadnc]

Crazy... I think this might be the first list of this sort that Asheville didn't make.

[spoonman]

No San Diego? Wtf? San Diego has more breweries than every city on that list.

Also, Portland and Denver halfway down the list. Total garbage.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by j korzeniowski

one more thought: st. louis. outside of belgian-owned a-b, i know schlafly is a big one down there (they're up here, too, but haven't tried them enough to form an opinion), and another one i'm forgetting. what else is going on down there.

this may not be up to date, more are jammed in on the margin, though. i can think of two more under construction right now in the urban core that arent on the map. st. louis doesnt have a lot numerically compared to denver or portland, but we do have some really high quality stuff with 4 Hands, Perennial, and the seperate spinoff brewery not on that map called Side Project down in Maplewood. I think they were rated a top 5 brewery in the US. Urban Chestnut just opened a new brewery in Germany (with two locations in St. Louis), and many St. Louis breweries distribute nationally, though usually target the midwest and northeast, and increasingly the south (st. louis breweries should have pushed harder in the south to begin with). I think Schlafly has a new brewery in Nashville.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

Crazy... I think this might be the first list of this sort that Asheville didn't make.

I would have definitely included Asheville on a top 15, no doubt.

[Centropolis]

Also, Minneapolis-St. Paul is a glaring omission. i'd bump one off that list for MSP, instead.

[Centropolis]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

A note on the Western Great Lakes Region: Michigan and Wisconsin sort of form solid powerhouse blocks of a prolific upper midwest beer scene...the waters get muddy as it were and there's beer coming at you from all directions, small towns, cities...wherever you are. Chicago is sort of the pivot, showroom where all of that is most easily on display. It gets complicated drilling down to just individual cities up there, and it almost functions as one creature.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Another list!

The 15 best cities for beer lovers in the US

No San Diego? Ballast Point and Stone alone should be enough to get them on this list

[urbanlife]

Portland isn't at the top of this list? Then this list is obviously garbage.

[dc_denizen]

Long Island?!

In Portland, they have a whole wall of microbrews at the 7-11.

Where else can you find this level of enthusiasm? Not NYC, Long Island, or Pittburgh.

[Hockeyfan85]

Originally Posted by j korzeniowski

can't argue with most of that list. my wife is from grand rapids, and that area has terrific beer.

i, of course, quibble with chicago not being on there (long island and philly?! someone enlighten me), as i think we now have more brewing space than any other city in the us. however, most of that is probably lagunitas (not really a chicago brewery) and portland and seattle are 2nd and 3rd, so chicago obviously not as strong on a per capita basis.

my recommendation to anyone living in or visiting chicago: pipeworks.

one more thought: st. louis. outside of belgian-owned a-b, i know schlafly is a big one down there (they're up here, too, but haven't tried them enough to form an opinion), and another one i'm forgetting. what else is going on down there.

You're surprised Philadelphia is a beer town? It's one of the top cities for beer, easily. Up there with the best. They have the history, they have the numbers, and it's even got it's own section (Brewerytown).

Microbrews are massive in Philly, and Philly is a dive-bar town to a T.

[dc_denizen]

IMO NYC is the worst large beer town in the US. It's nearly impossible to buy beer to begin with (grocery stores have stone, lagunitas, sierra, and sam adams basically, that's it), without much else...there are no specialty beer stores. corner stores have bud, miller, etc.

the liquor laws don't allow stores to sell both wine and beer, thus most just go for more profitable wine sale...there are literally 5 wine stores near me that don't carry beer!

at bars and events people drink a lot of heineken and corona...little appreciation for microbrews, they haven't really caught on here.. I think it's viewed as a midwest hippy thing or something (all about cocktails and fine wine).



upstate is a different matter, so many good breweries.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by j korzeniowski

i, of course, quibble with chicago not being on there (long island and philly?! someone enlighten me), as i think we now have more brewing space than any other city in the us.

That's almost un-American to question the inclusion of Philadelphia in this. The place has been brewing ales since the 1600s. A couple centuries later Philly invented a little refreshing concoction called American lager. Philly (and SE PA) has a bunch of old and newer great breweries... and the region was at the forefront of the resurgence of craft brewing in the 1980s with stalwarts like Dock Street, Stoudt's, Yuengling (America's oldest brewery).

[Private Dick]

Pittsburgh's a great beer town... always has been a beer town, not always a great one. Now it seems a new creative local brewer opens up shop every day... this seems to be true for all of I-79 corridor for Pittsburgh up to Erie in western PA, actually.

Though the methodology in this list is kinda skunky... creative, but skunky.

[Omaharocks]

The only one I would for sure remove from that list is Long Island. Good grief. And agreed that NYC generally is a poor beer region.

Some of the cities on this list are places where lots of beer is consumed - Milwaukee, Madison, etc. Others are places where there are lots of good craft brews - Portland, Denver etc, so I can see the arguments for many of these cities.

However, I'd say omissions that come to mind are San Diego, Asheville, and Albuquerque (highest quality per capita tbh). I lived a few years in Madison and Albuquerque back-to-back. Albuquerque had better beer, but folks in Madison sure drink a lot more of it.

[volguus zildrohar]

Originally Posted by j korzeniowski

can't argue with most of that list. my wife is from grand rapids, and that area has terrific beer.

i, of course, quibble with chicago not being on there (long island and philly?! someone enlighten me), as i think we now have more brewing space than any other city in the us. however, most of that is probably lagunitas (not really a chicago brewery) and portland and seattle are 2nd and 3rd, so chicago obviously not as strong on a per capita basis.

my recommendation to anyone living in or visiting chicago: pipeworks.

one more thought: st. louis. outside of belgian-owned a-b, i know schlafly is a big one down there (they're up here, too, but haven't tried them enough to form an opinion), and another one i'm forgetting. what else is going on down there.

You've clearly never anywhere near Philadelphia.

Greater Philadelphia/SE PA offers you Victory, Yards, Troegs, Flying Fish, Dogfish Head, Yuengling, Philadelphia Brewing Company and Sly Fox with dozens of regular and seasonal beers between them and brewpub creations from Iron Hill, Tired Hands and Nodding Head.

Please send me a line if you ever find yourself this way and I'll give you the grand tour. Lists like these usually mean little to me but any such list that doesn't include Philadelphia is straight trash.