How to Drink Your Way Through 5 States (From Home)

On a recent weekend in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, a man around the age of 80 scrolled through an Untappd menu for Shangy’s, a retail shop with 40 beers on tap and more than 4,000 options in bottles or cans. He asked the owner, Nima Hadian, for a suggestion with one stipulation: The beer had to be from New Orleans, because he was going on a state-by-state brewery hop that night with his wife, and the kitchen—or “New Orleans”—needed more options.

The pandemic has made travel unsafe and near impossible—especially if your travels center around eating and drinking experiences. Yet there’s always the option of traveling via your tastebuds.

While bars and taprooms are beginning to reopen, there’s no telling if or when they’ll return to the centers of beer discovery that they were in the before times. Gathering spots, including breweries and bars, became dangerous work environments for both staff and patrons during the pandemic, so breweries and bars had to find other business models to stay in operation.

“The brewery has been in full production, chasing the appetite of the essential grocery sector, and now other retail segments are coming back on line,” says David Walker, co-founder of Firestone Walker Brewing Company. He adds that “the long road to help return our pub and restaurant friends back to normal is just beginning. It won’t be easy, but the unique spirit manifest in many of the operators will no doubt overcome the challenges.”

Business has also been down overall for breweries like Brewery Ommegang. One bright side is that the brewery is now open for food truck and outdoor bar service. Allison Capozza, from Ommegang’s marketing team, says that some beer releases have been postponed over the past three months and some weren’t put in kegs. Meredith Anderson, of Half Acre, notes that the brewery has stopped kegging almost entirely as the brewery focused on cans for grocery, liquor stores, and curbside pickup.

In addition to canning and typical distribution methods, an increasing number of breweries are partnering with craft beer delivery apps like Tavour and Craft Beer Kings. This is good for both the breweries and for drinkers, as rare and regional beers are slightly less rare and regional. It’s almost just as easy for someone in Arizona to get a bottle of A Deal with the Devil barleywine from Anchorage Brewing Co. as it is for someone in Alaska to do so.

“The greatest advantage of Tavour is working with craft breweries from around the country that often do not distribute their speciality beers past their own breweries,” Megan Birch, director of marketing at Tavour, says. Tavour isn’t the only one. Depending on local distribution laws, you can source out-of-state craft beer from sites like CraftShack, Best Damn Beer Shop, Craft City, Bottle Direct, and Total Wine & More. 

So even with the bar stools largely put away, the overwhelming number of new and classic beers to try remains. That means now is the perfect time to follow the lead of that Pennsylvania man in Emmaus and design your own at-home, destination-focused beer crawl. The following five states are some of the best to organize an at-home, destination-based beer tasting around. There are other states that could have made the list, as well as many other breweries that could be named. By all means, drink those others as well.

California

When it comes to a diversity of styles, it’s hard to match California. There are more than 1,000 craft breweries in the state making everything under the sun.

“California is probably the state with the most variety when it comes to national distribution,” says Mandy Naglich, a New York City-based cicerone and beer writer. “Mixed fermentation from Firestone Walker and Russian River, classic West Coast IPAs from Lagunitas, Bear Republic, and Stone; the iconic Anchor Steam, big stouts and Belgian styles from Ale Smith.”

Firestone Walker’s 805

This is a beer that represents California style, says Brandon Montgomery, a San Diego based cicerone and beer judge who created Black Beer Travelers. 805 is an easy-drinking blonde ale that sets itself apart so much that Firestone gave it its own website complete with short films and mini-profiles of “authenticos” who represent the California lifestyle. The site also has a handy beer locator to see where you can buy some for yourself.

Bear Republic Brewing Company’s Racer 5

A hoppy West Coast IPA that’s been winning awards since the late 90s. Racer 5 helped define what a West Coast IPA even is, and it still holds its own in the era of milkshake IPAs and haze bombs. Racer 5 is easy to find through the brewery’s “Bear Tracker.”

The Bruery’s Wineification III

The Bruery puts out some of the best barrel-aged beers not just in California, but in the country, and they are available in over two dozen states. The Wineification series is a fun place to start for anyone who thinks of the state as more of a wine place, but truly any of The Bruery’s barrel-aged beers are worth a try.

Colorado

It’s near impossible to have a deep conversation about craft beer without mentioning Colorado. It’s where the Great American Beer Festival is held, and is the home of the Craft Brewers Association. It’s also, obviously, filled to the top with quality craft beer of every style. The simplest approach to tasting what Colorado has to offer would be to buy the below first and then every other Colorado beer you see on the shelves. 

Avery Brewing Company’s White Rascal

An unfiltered Belgian-style white ale that’s beloved by everyone who tries it, probably. The beer uses a proprietary Belgian wit yeast, is spiced with Curaçao orange peel and coriander, and is widely distributed across the country.

Left Hand Brewing Company’s Nitro Milk Stout

Left Hand put its classic milk stout in a nitro bottle back when Guinness was the only nitro beer people really knew. Both the nitro and non-nitro options are the standard for milk stouts everywhere, and, importantly, are easy to find at beer shops.

Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project’s Sour Rosé

At first glance, this beer looks like a gimmick with a ticket on the rosé-everything train. It’s not. Crooked Stave is emblematic of Colorado’s impressive lineup of breweries making distinct sours. One of the brewery’s more fun and accessible beers is Sour Rosé, a wild ale fermented in oak foeders with raspberries and blueberries and packaged unfiltered. Find it on Craft Shack.

Illinois

Chicago is the main beer claim to fame in Illinois, with more breweries in Chicago than any other city in the U.S. 

“For the longest time I think Michigan and Wisconsin had the best craft beer scenes in the Midwest,” says Austin Harvey, co-owner of Beermiscuous and an advanced cicerone who has worked in Chicago’s beer industry since 2007. “But I think especially in the last five to ten years, just the sheer number of breweries, especially in the Chicago area, has really helped the scene.”

Une Année Brewery’s Pêche

Dive into Une Année’s well-loved fruited wild ales with Pêche. This particular sour centers around peach (pêche means “peach” in French, and while we’re translating things, Une Année means “one year”). Mouth-puckering is a description that gets thrown around a lot, but it’s apt here without dominating. Une Année can be ordered through Tavour.

Pipeworks Brewing Company’s Ninja vs Unicorn

Harvey describes Ninja vs Unicorn as “a classic without being a throwback.” This double IPA was released in the mid-2010s and is hazy without reaching parody level cloudiness. Loaded with hops and characteristic pine and citrus notes, Ninja vs Unicorn is the rare 8% ABV beer that won’t overwhelm you. You can find it on Tavour.

Half Acre Beer Company’s Bodem IPA

Half Acre is best known outside of Chicago for its flagship Daisy Cutter pale ale, which was released in 2009. Daisy Cutter is still a go-to, but Bodem IPA is a year-round beer with tropical hop notes that shows where Half Acre is 10 years after making a name for itself with the pale ale. Half Acre can be found in retail shops across the country.

New York

“There is great beer produced here in every style,” Naglich says. “But the super-hazy IPAs, very clean pilsners, and mixed fermentation beers have really taken over the scene.”

The who’s-who of these styles in New York include Suarez Family Brewery, Threes Brewing, Other Half, and Hudson Valley. Not to mention the stalwarts like Brooklyn Brewery and Ommegang. While Naglich acknowledges the best way to experience New York beer is to travel through the state, some of the best can be assembled for a New York-centric tasting regardless of where you are.

Brooklyn Brewery’s Sorachi Ace

This NYC institution may have made a global name for its lager, but Naglich says brewmaster and beer legend Garrett Oliver’s “finesse is best in the Sorachi Ace.” The saison gets its flavor (and name) from the Japanese Sorachi Ace hop, which is lemony and herbal. Brooklyn Brewery’s beer can be found across the country.

Ommegang’s Idyll Days Pilsner

Ommegang is known for farmhouse and Belgian ales, but it succeeds at pretty much everything under the sun. Idyll Days is an unfiltered pilsner made with Belgian lager yeast that’s available in every state Ommegang is available (so, most). It’s the perfect warm weather beer regardless of whether you’re the active type or the type who would rather enjoy summer from the comfort of the A/C.

Sixpoint Brewery’s Hootie

New York breweries took the hazy New England IPA and ran with it. “Hazies are always going to be best at or close to the brewery where they’re made,” Naglich says, but also notes that Sixpoint distributes a number of beers that fall into the style. Hootie is easy to drink at 6.2% ABV and low bitterness. Find the beer on Craft Beer Kings.

Oregon

Oregon’s craft breweries have a lot going for them (and there’s a lot of them). The state grows the third most hops in the country, and Oregonians love supporting hyper-local businesses. It also doesn’t hurt that the strong beer competition from neighboring Washington keeps things fresh and original.

“It's a neighboring state thing,” says Lucy Burningham, an Oregon-based cicerone and author of My Beer Year. “Of course Oregon beers are better, but only a blind tasting could properly provide the proof.”

She would hold up beers from Pfriem, Breakside, Little Beast, and DeGarde as some of Oregon’s top contenders. Yet for all of the state’s influence in craft beer, it’s not exactly easy to find a whole lot of Oregon’s most loved beers outside of the Pacific Northwest. Here are some others you should seek out for a taste of Oregon outside of the Beaver State.

Breakside Brewery’s IPA

Breakside IPA will make you realize why Pacific Northwest IPAs are so cherished. The brewery’s standard distribution is focused on the western half of the country, but Breakside collaborates with other breweries in places as close to home as Oregon and as far away as Iceland.

Ninkasi Brewing Company’s Prismatic

Ninkasi established itself in Oregon’s competitive IPA field in 2006 with the extremely hop-forward Total Domination. The brewery’s IPA style has continued to evolve to give the people what they want in the best way. Prismatic is loaded with six types of hops, and lands somewhere in between on the haziness scale of West Coast and New England style IPAs. It’s a juicy IPA that doesn’t taste like literal juice. Craft Beer Kings stocks Prismatic and other Ninkasi beers.

Little Beast Brewing Company’s Dream State

You have to respect a brewery that names itself after wild yeast cultures (the “little beasts”). Dream State is aged in a cabernet sauvignon foeder for six months and has 100 pounds of fresh Oregon strawberries per barrel. It’s a taste of Oregon’s sour beer bona fides that’s about as Oregon as it gets when it comes to ingredients. You can find the beer on Craft Beer Kings.