Our Favorite Brewery Experiences in 2018
December 26, 2018
A great brewery experience is about more than just the beer on tap. It takes a friendly staff. It takes a welcoming environment, a sense of community. Often it takes games and/or food, elements that can elevate the experience beyond the mere quality of the beer. And, yes, when you visit as many breweries as we do, it usually helps if the brewery is serving top-notch craft beer, fresh and locally brewed. Not every drinker is the same, not everyone has the same favorite tastes, and not everyone is looking for the same thing when they visit a brewery, so we aren’t calling these the “best breweries of the year”– they’re simply our favorite experiences of the year.
We’ve been to over 175 different breweries this year alone, so it’s been nearly impossible to narrow down our experiences to a short list. However, these twenty visits— fifteen by the both of us, five by Russell alone— were so memorable that we felt compelled to highlight them as our favorite experiences of the year. They may not all have the top Untappd ratings or win awards at beer festivals (although some do), but they will stick in our minds forever when we reminisce upon our beer drinking in 2018.
RUSSELL’S SOLO TRIPS
I’ve enjoyed the Blendery’s sour beers for years— they’re among the best you can find in Southern California— so I took a solo trip to Long Beach one afternoon. The good people at Beachwood Blendery served me sour beer and poutine, and they showed Starship Troopers on their TV. So I gleefully coated my throat with wild ale and gravy and watched the whole movie start to finish. Bonus points to the Blendery for their “Tumball Machine,” a gumball machine that dispenses antacids. After chugging Careful With That Peach, Eugene and Strawberry Provence for two hours, you may need them.
Okay, so cideries aren’t technically breweries, but I had very few brewery experiences as delightful as my time at Broad Street Cider and Ale in New Orleans. The ciders hit the perfect balance between sweet and complex– my mouth still waters thinking about the One Night in Marrakech, one of the most unique ciders I’ve ever tasted, boasting a distinct peppermint flavor. One of the owners, Jon, engaged me and a few other out-of-towners with hours of lively conversation as the Footloose soundtrack played on vinyl in the background. Delicious drinks come and go, beer and cider alike… but places that warm and welcoming are rare. I’ll be back on my next visit and the one after that.
I refer to E La Palma Avenue in Orange County as “Sour Alley,” because in a mile and a half stretch of road, you can enjoy world-class sour beer at Hoparazzi Brewing, Bottle Logic, and Bruery Terreux. A trek down Sour Alley with my friends Dan and Jamie culminated in a bacchanalian takeover at Bruery Terreux, in which we tried nearly everything on its mind-bogglingly extensive menu. The visit ended with Dan buying at least two dozen bottles that I transported to his wedding, and rarely have I felt such a surge of pride as I did whenever I’d open my trunk and show my friends that it was packed to the brim with Bruery Terreux bottles.
I asked the bartender at Spencer Devon in Fredericksburg, “What’s good?” He launched into an answer that differs from that of nearly all other breweries in 2018: they aren’t staking their reputation on hop bombs or juicy haze or dessert stouts. They’re instead looking to be known for lighter, more balanced flavors— and do they deliver. Their 3-4-5 Pilsner was one of the best I had all year, and same goes for their blonde ale, the Sunken Road. They also had outstanding happy hour tacos and a bevy of chatty regulars who were happy to welcome me to Fredericksburg.
New Orleans is one of the great party towns in America, and there’s no better craft brewery for a party in the Big Easy than Urban South. I was there as a stop on a wild bachelor party weekend, and its giant warehouse of a taproom made it easy for us to throw down without bothering the countless other customers– there were easily over a hundred other people there, yet it wasn’t too loud or too crowded. They have a number of eminently drinkable IPAs and goses (the Holy Roller my personal favorite), but what really sent this one over the edge was the basketball arcade game. There’s nothing more fun than drinking beer and shooting baskets– except perhaps drinking beer and shouting at your friends as they shoot baskets. I came tantalizingly close to the high score– meaning I’ll have to come back in 2019 to break it.
TOGETHER:
The legendary brewpub in Richmond lived up to the hype. It was the first place in town we stopped, so we enjoyed a breakfast of their Wake N’ Bacon, a sunny side egg and bacon fried rice plate, and flights of as much beer as we could humanly consume. The hazy IPAs were as advertised, but the stouts were the true standouts— perhaps it was just our breakfast mindset, but the I Am CM Bryant was one of the best coffee stouts we’ve ever had, laced with a splash of bourbon-barrel-aged honey to give it just the right finish of boozy sweetness.
Branch & Bone Artisan Ales opened this summer in Dayton, and their homey taproom made for exceptional Friday lunchtime drinking. Unlike most breweries, which tend to specialize in one or two styles primarily, Branch & Bone ran the gamut with great options up and down the tap list— tart Berliners, hazy IPAs, smoky porters, crisp pilsners, and everything in between. We sat, played Uno, and drank *everything* they had on tap. Special mention must be made of the Passion Fruit Salty Salute, the perfect salty and sour start to a delightful Dayton day.
The Great American Beer Festival‘s Very Small Brewery of the Year was one of our favorites regardless of size. The Cincinnati taproom has several unique attributes: they have a Scrabble chalkboard mounted on the wall, and its bathrooms are lined ceiling to floor with beer labels (special thanks to the kind bartender who humored our bathroom photoshoot). On top of it all, Brink’s offerings on tap were all flawless. Bold flavors like the cherry porter and mango habanero IPA impressed, but their Moozie Milk Stout, a GABF gold medal winner itself, blew us away. No added flavors or dessert infusions, just old fashioned milk stout perfection.
We hear from friends who don’t like sour beer that we favor sour breweries too much. First of all, if they don’t like sour beer, can we really call them true friends? Second of all, it’s because there are few delights in the beer world that match the face-scrunching pucker induced by a fruity and acidic barrel-aged wild ale. Casa Agria in Oxnard delivers the tart bombs that we hold near our hearts, but for our pucker-phobic “friends,” their IPAs and stouts both rank highly among Southern California options, and those who prefer their saisons and farmhouse ales more complex and balanced will find plenty to love. The Sol Y Miel, a sunflower seed saison, stands out as one of the more memorable flavors of 2018. We placed second at Casa Agria’s trivia night, but we’ll return for the crown in the coming months.
The taproom for Epic Brewing in Salt Lake City can hardly be called a taproom: it’s more like a tap-closet, seating only a half dozen people. While you may have to wait to be seated, and you’ll have to order food due to Utah’s crazy alcohol laws, it’s worth the expenditure of time and money. They have a ton of high-ABV options– a rarity for Utah– and the close quarters and high alcohol content combine for an intimate experience unlike any we’ve had anywhere else. We swapped stories with the other patrons, got to know our bartender Russel (the only Russel with one L we’ve ever met!), and filled up on Epic’s tremendous sours and stouts. Anyone taking a trip through Utah absolutely must put this at the top of their list: eat some charcuterie, drink their legendary coffee stout Big Bad Baptista, and chat with everyone around you til closing. (And if you can’t make it to Utah, their Denver taproom is also terrific.)
Fiction Beer in Denver is one of the most impressively “on brand” breweries we’ve ever visited. The beers’ names are inspired by works of fiction, the tables contain literary quotes, the taproom features a huge shelf of books one can read— even the bar is coated with book spines, making it look like a giant wall of novels. Still, this would all be a mere gimmick were the beer not fantastic. The Cleveland Whiskey Barrel Aged Malice and Darkness warmed us up on a cold and windy afternoon, and we felt their IPAs were the best in Denver, chief among them The Recurrence, a monster of a triple, and Madame Psychosis, a tremendously well-balanced hazy pale. We learned later that GABF agrees with us.
Great Central had easily the biggest single room we saw in Chicago, with rows of benches and tables that could seat 150+ with ease, a family-friendly environment, a huge selection of games, and an expansive tap list featuring a variety of local brewers in addition to Great Central’s own concoctions. We went with Russell’s brother, and we played an intense game of giant Jenga with a tower so high that we attracted the attention of those at the bar and the tables around us. Everyone’s collective interest in our game underscored the sense of community fostered here, and it led to conversations with– and game challenges from– the other patrons. It’s hard to imagine a better place for a party in the greater Chicago area.
Moksa Brewing Co./Moonraker Brewing
Sacramento boasted plenty of terrific beer on our visit, but a short excursion north of the city reveals two of the best breweries in California. Moonraker in Auburn has had a sterling reputation since its opening three years ago, and its Yojo hazy IPA has earned its acclaim. Even though we came on a crowded weekend night, the lines moved swiftly and efficiently— the only thing better than delicious beer is delicious beer served quickly. Down the road in Rocklin, Moksa only opened in February of this year, but it’s earning its own Moonraker-esque reputation. While Moksa also has tremendous IPAs, their stouts are where they truly shine. In a year of exemplary coffee stouts, their Cold Steeped Vietnamese stands near the top of the pile. Between Moksa’s stouts and Moonraker’s IPAs, that 19 mile stretch of I-80 has been blessed by the beer gods.
Denver is regarded as one of the central hubs of the American craft beer scene, but one of the best breweries in Colorado rests in the quaint suburb of Lafayette, about 20 miles north of Denver. Odd13 Brewing has developed a reputation staked on the quality of its IPAs— and whether you want hoppy, hazy, milkshake-y, or anything in between, Odd13 has you gloriously covered. We went on a football Sunday, and we encountered plenty of locals there to watch the Broncos, play foosball, and enjoy each other’s company. Odd13 genuinely feels like a “neighborhood” brewery— if you were fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood with world-class IPAs.
Russell is an aficionado of horror movies (and a writer of modern-day ones!), so Phantom Carriage in Carson was one of the first breweries we visited after moving to LA. They boast a dark, horror-themed taproom replete with coffins, skulls, and their own mini-theater constantly screening old horror flicks. They also feature delicious food– the pulled pork panini is Russell’s standard– and a number of guest taps and bottles available. We were introduced to their outstanding sours at Santa Monica’s Beer Art and Music Fest (R.I.P.), and we’ve made a couple of visits annually since. Their Belgian and wild ales remain top-notch, but we’ve especially been impressed with their recent foray into New England IPAs: Los Angeles has a massive supply of top-notch hazy IPA breweries, but Phantom Carriage’s Enigma Machine emerged as one of the best in the city in 2018.
As sour aficionados, we went out of our way during our Chicago visit to make the trek to Niles to visit Une Annee. After a combined train-and-Uber journey, we hit the intensely unassuming strip mall exterior of Une Annee, which just reads “BREWERY.” Inside rests a small and quaint slice of sour heaven. Une Annee is for those who, like us, enjoys their sours to be intensely acidic. If that’s not your thing, no worries: Une Annee is also home to Hubbard’s Cave, which makes some of the best IPAs and stouts in the Midwest. The bartenders were friendly and informative, liberally doling out free sips of off-menu items. Along with Russell’s brother, we played games and drank beer until we missed our train. Then the next. Then the next. Soon we found ourselves out of trains home, out of new beers on tap to try, and out of money— but in a state of pure beer euphoria. Anyone visiting the Midwest owes it to themselves to find a way to get here.
This year we took our second trip to Urban Artifact in Cincinnati, and like a wild ale sitting in a barrel, Urban Artifact just gets better with time. They have one of the more singular tap room locations in America, set up in the basement of a historic church. Their Midwest Fruit Tarts are always divine, but we were especially blown away this time by their Curiosity Series, experimental beers made with exotic fruits. We’d never heard of a yellow mombin, a Brazilian fruit that tastes like a banana-mango hybrid, but the Tumi, their Fruit Tart made with the yellow mombin, was one of the freshest and most distinct beers we had all year. Urban Artifact is a must-visit for any adventurous beer drinker.
Russell used to teach high school in Virginia, so when he re-visits the area, he loves seeing former students. Luckily, this year, we had several kids agree to meet us at The Veil in Richmond. The Veil’s large, open interior certainly can get noisy during a crowded weekend visit, but this worked to our advantage— we were a large party that drank everything they had on tap, so in a quieter location, we may have disturbed the peace. Any Veil visitor will want to try everything too, as it’s good across the board. Its IPAs are on par with The Answer’s, The Double Peanut Butter Hornswoggler is one of the thickest and tastiest peanut butter stouts we’ve ever had, and its sours bring the perfect amount of pucker. Don’t forget to pose with the stuffed bear during your visit.
Birthday brewery trips are always special, but Yorkshire Square in Torrance took it to the next level. Russell ordered a flight of their superb British cask ales, and when the bartender saw it was his birthday on his ID, he changed the order to an entire flight of pints. This began a wild afternoon of dart games, dances with Royal Family cardboard cutouts, and pint after pint of Castle Dangerous. Torrance tends to attract craft beer lovers seeking out Monkish and Smog City, but anyone in Torrance who doesn’t take the time to try Yorkshire Square is missing out on one of the more memorable breweries in the greater LA area.
What were your favorite brewery visits in 2018? Where do you think we should go in 2019? Please let us know in the comments below– and keep an eye out for the rest of our Best of 2018 pieces, coming soon!
