no love for boulevard brewery in kansas city, missouri?

Don't forget Spotted Cow by New Glarus. It has a cult following here in Wisconsin.

Bell's = the poo.

Founders and Bells are probably my two favorite breweries of all time. Bells Hopslam is a killer brew. And Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout is super tasty and rowdy.

looove gumballhead wheat

I am rather suprised that Goose Island, which was recently purchased by Anheuser Busch, is on the list. Yes, Goose Island puts out really great beers, but with its mass distribution, it is not exactly a local brewery anymore.

That, and what about the St. Louis love? We have more than Anheuser Busch here. Schlafly Beer is celebrating twenty years of great craft brewing, and their market share in the area is going up every year. Add the many microbreweries (hello, Urban Chestnut, my new favorite place) that have been popping up in the area, and St. Louis is a beer Mecca.

Just sayin'. Thanks for the list!

So many awesome brews popping up in Chicago. We just went to Brew Review that had a ton of our favorites (Metropolitan) and few new to us ones (Half Acre, 5 Rabbit). Goose Island even did a micro brew just for the event, they still have it! Check out the highlights.

I love Great Lakes, but "singlehandedly"? Thirsty Dog (in Akron) is great!

Cool list, anyway. I have had plenty of Bell's, Goose Island, and Great Lakes, but will keep my eye out for the others.

New Glarus, New Glarus, New Glarus. Love Spotted Cow, and love that it's available in local liquor stores.

Leinenkugal from Chippewa Falls, WI, which I've found to follow Wisconsinites wherever they move.

You could have created a whole list of Michigan breweries - so many great ones that missed the list. Local hops is making things more interesting up here in the Traverse City area too...

i'll echo the outrage at no love for st louis!!

What about Milwaukee beer?! Sprecher Brewery and Lakefront Brewery deserve to be on this list.

Two Brothers (Warrenville, IL) over Goose Island any day. Also props to Lakefront. New Glarus is spectacular, but also consider Capital (Madison, WI). I am a recent southern transplant to Illinois, and I must say that I am in hog heaven up here!

Thanks for the Michigan beer love! Totally agree about Bell's and Founder's. Also try Short's if you can find it. My personal favorite is Right Brain in Traverse City, but they don't bottle their beer, so you have to make the trip or find them at a beerfest.

Ditto to sarahndipity. Two Brothers is the best.

We managed to make it out to Three Floyds Dark Lord Day last Spring. It's a great day trip if you can get tickets.

What a timely post! My mister and I are headed over to the Arcadia Brewing Company in Battle Creek, Michigan, for some deeeeelicious microbrews. (a Tuesday's always a good excuse, right?)

Capital in Madison, WI is great. Goose Island should be on the list. Mass distribution frees up space that was devoted to their more popular beers (312 urban wheat), let's them do some of their smaller batch stuff in Chicago and Brew Pubs (bring on more Sofie).

Here in Minnesota our brewing laws have undergone some fantastic changes making it a little easier for craft brewers to start up! Surly Brewing get a lot of the credit for this. But another fantastic new brewery in Minneapolis is Harriet Brewing, who's gutsy decision to found a brewery based on Belgian styles has paid off in the form of a rapidly growing cult following, not to mention some delicious beer! If you love a quality craft beer but are looking to go beyond IPA's then keep your eyes on Harriet Brewing! In fact, keep your eyes on Minneapolis/St. Paul in general because the craft beer scene is booming!
http://www.harrietbrewing.com/home.html

BOULEVARD!! I've lived all over the country and have yet to experience anything that measures up.

Flossmoor Station Brewery. OMG good.

Ditto on: New Glaurus (Spotted Cow -woot woot)
Sprecher (MKE)
Lakefront (MKE)
Harriet Brewery (MPLS)
Summit (MPLS/St. Paul)
Grain Belt ('specially their Nordeast)

Ixnay on Leinenkugels.

Boulevard!! It's all we drink in KC.

I guess Leinenkugel's gotten to big to be mentioned on these kind of lists... but how come NOBODY ever mentions Point Beer... that stuff got me through college, and the root beer's nto bad either.

Boulevard in KCMO! It's outstanding beer. Really, check it out.

Kuhnhenn in Warren, MI. Simcoe Silly. Good stuff.

Great list overall. I think I've tried at least one brew from each of the breweries listed. The craft brew scene here in the Midwest is really starting to boom, particularly in Minneapolis|St. Paul as Laura mentioned. Surly is #1 on my list right now, but I will keep my eyes open for Harriet Brewing as I have yet to try any of their offerings.

Ooohhhhh, Simcoe Silly is the best! We had a keg of it a couple weeks ago for a party we threw. I know, pretty risky getting a 9% keg for a party, but it was delicious and we did end up killing it that night! Love Kuhnhenn, they are hands down my favorite brewery.

From Bell's my all-time favorite is Two Hearted (an American IPA). Bell's Oarsman is my new favorite session beer (a low 4% abv) and great with a meals. I love the slight tartness and the label.

So happy to see more love for Three Floyds! Founder's, Bell's, and Three Floyds are easily my Holy Trinity of Beer.

Though lately Flat 12 out of Indy have my number like no other. Their Half Cycle IPA does not mess around at 104 IBU. And they're not afraid to experiment with things like cucumbers, tabasco barrel aging, rum barrel aging etc. They brought 32 beers to the last Indiana Brewer's Guild festival - half were weird experiments.

So good.

Michigan Beers Represent!
And a Michigan Beer post would be awesome. (wink wink)

Great Lakes is fantastic.
Add New Glarus' Coffee Stout, a brew that started my beer infatuation.
Never was crazy about Goose Island, actually.
However, Cleveland's Indigo Imp is the best, with the newly opened Market Garden Brewery a close second...

Michigan beers truly are the best!!

Last time we visited Traverse City we brought back a case and a half of Short's beer in the trunk since it's not distributed out of state (yet!)

And Oberon from Bell's is possibly my all-time number-one favorite beer. SO GOOD!!

another vote for Boulevard in Kansas City! Also on a much smaller scale, Free State Brewery in Lawrence, KS

Shout out for Tyranena from Lake Mills, WI. My current favorite midwest micro brew, more than any of the others on this list.

Great Lakes FTW! That Christmas Ale is legendary.

I also have to give a shout-out to Michigan breweries! Seriously, craft brewing is the best thing happening in MI right now...there are so many great ones. I love Arcadia's Whitsun, Frankenmuth Brewing's Hefeweizen, and anything by Dark Horse. And being a Kalamazooan, I love me some Bells.

Half Acre - Chicago, IL

Cancoi, I was going to mention Indigo Imp, too! Love them. They made a special beer last year for the Ripe! festival at the Cleveland Botanical Garden that might be my favorite beer of all time. It was basically their Blonde Bombshell with a bunch of "harvest spices" and once I finished the first bottle, it left me wishing I had bought more. I'm actually thinking of heading to Ripe! this year just to see if they do it again...

As far as Great Lakes goes, Blackout Stout (so named for the timing of a big batch of it, and the big blackout in 2003ish) and Nosferatu are my two seasonal faves. But when you go to the brewery, you can get a bunch of other great beers--their oatmeal stout is delicious.

Second the Michigan beer list!

Jolly Pumpkin
New Holland
Shorts
Arcadia
Right Brain
Motor City Brew Works
Detroit Brewing Company
Saugatuck Brewing Company
Hop Cat
Vivant
Detroit Brewing Company

Just to name a few :)

Sad you don't have Frankenmuth Brewery on this list. It is one of my absolute favorite Michigan breweries! http://frankenmuthbrewery.com/blog/brewery/german-tradition-in-michigan-breweries/ Hope you got a chance to go there!