OK kids... here it is! With COVID restrictions easing up quite a bit in 2021, we were able to visit an unprecedented number of breweries this past year. More on our annual statistics at the end of the blog. For now, here's our picks for our ten favorite new-to-us breweries we visited in 2021. While there's no specific equation used in determining our final list, we did take all of the following into consideration: beer quality, atmosphere, service, and general awesomeness as well as our initial and lasting impressions.
However, this year's task was even more daunting since we visited so many new breweries. I had to whittle down my initial list of 25 breweries, which put me at around 14. Then, Brewslut and I discussed which should be listed as "honorable mentions". It wasn't easy, but it had to be done.
With all of this taken into consideration, we present to you the Pour Travelers’ Top 10 New Breweries Visited in 2021 (in alphabetical order).
1. Crooked Crab - Odenton, MD - First visited in August 2021
We visited Crooked Crab on our way to a nearby pool party, and I'll be honest; I didn't have high hopes for this place. Turns out it left quite an impression on us! From a variety of excellent beers across the board to clever beer names, evocative artwork, top-notch branding, and an extremely friendly and knowledgeable staff, Crooked Crab checked off all the boxes of a great brewery. Favorite beer? We tried many but the most memorable was Stay Krispy, a Japanese Rice Lager that I took home with me.
2. DSSOLVR - Asheville, NC - First visited in November 2021
Drinksgiving 2021 was as epic as you can imagine with any trip to this east coast beer mecca! This place was in our top 3 of Asheville, and all three of those breweries also made the top 10 list for 2021. The ratio of world class breweries per capita in this small town is staggering. I tried four completely disparate beers while visiting DSSOLVR: a Japanese rice lager, a dark English mild, a pumpkin spice vanilla cheesecake sour, and a BBA Imperial Stout with sea salt, maple, coconut and coffee. The beers were all exceptional. As an added bonus, this place is metal as fuck. I have to like a brewery A LOT to buy a shirt, and this one is still in regular rotation.
3. Eurisko - Asheville, NC - First visited in November 2021
Another one from our Asheville "Big 3," this place hit our radar a few days before we embarked on Drinksgiving 2021 by way of our beer bud, Taylor, who went to brewing school with one of the owners. This place has the distinction of the only brewery we visited twice during this trip. Describing itself as "a place both wonderful and strange," Eurisko was just one of those places that I didn't want to leave. Exotica IV, a Sabro-hopped double milkshake IPA might have been my favorite beer of the trip. It was insanely good... so good, in fact, that I'd have bathed in it. Well, maybe not, because then I wouldn't have been able to drink it. But you catch my drift.
4. Human Robot - Philadelphia, PA - First visited in February 2021
If you'd have told me 10 years ago that there would be a brewery in Philadelphia making the best lagers outside of Europe, I'd have laughed in your face. Well, that time has come. It's kind of fitting that we first visited this place - easily my favorite brewery in Philly - on Valentine's Day. Folks, I'm telling you... the honeymoon ain't over with this place. We've since stepped foot inside this brewery many times over the last year and a half since our inaugural visit (which, by the way happened by accident). Long story short: We were having a beer a few blocks away at Punch Buggy Brewing, and the owner asked if we liked lagers. I said yes. He said, "Are you going to Human Robot?" I said, "What's that?" He said, "It's a brewery about 4 blocks away." I said, "Um... we're going there next!" The rest is history. Seriously people, this place absolutely rules. To put in it perspective, the last two times we were in Philly for a weekend, we visited on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Yeah, it's THAT good!
5. Nepenthe - Baltimore, MD - First visited in March 2021
We first visited Nepenthe on the day after my 47th birthday. Although the term "nepenthe" dates back to ancient Greece, it's likely taken from this quote by Edgar Allan Poe (who is buried in Baltimore): “Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!” We've since been back a few times and it's likely our favorite brewery in Baltimore. Beer aside, their food is fantastic and their artwork is dope (if you like colorful retro sci-fi monster movies).
6. Sapwood Cellars - Columbia, MD - First visited in August 2021
Oddly enough, we ended up at this fine brewery after a recommendation from one of the bartenders at Crooked Crab. Since we liked his brewery so much, we figured we'd probably enjoy one he recommended, too. So, we altered our plans accordingly and headed to Sapwood Cellars. While they do the hazy thing well, they also dabble in everything else. We really enjoyed Molé'd, an Imperial Stout with dried chili peppers, amburana wood, cacao nibs, and vanilla beans. Brewslut bought a sweet tank top. They also host some cool food trucks and other vendors, like a cool plant bus (a converted school bus that's now a garden). Brewslut bought a plant.
7. Southern Prohibition - Hattiesburg, MS - First visited in July 2021
Prior to our Texas road trip, I had received reviews of Southern Prohibition from several friends in my beer circle, and all of them were quite glowing. Not only was this brewery a highlight of that particular trip, it was also a highlight of 2021. Since only had about an hour and fifteen minutes to spend here, we made every sip count. First off, the two bartenders (one, a young male college student and the other, a young twenty-something woman), were amazingly friendly and talkative. As for the beer menu, I wanted to try everything. They even had a collab with Ingenious on tap! Southern Prohibition was a favorite of Pleeps as well. He absolutely loved the Sherbet Sherpa Banana Split.
8. Urban South - New Orleans, LA - First visited in July 2021
Another one from our Texas Roadtrip, Urban South just blew us away. We weren't familiar with this brewery prior to our visit, but I'm glad we included it on our agenda. With a penchant for eclecticism, Urban South is firmly planted on the American end of the brewing spectrum. Think hazy, hop-drenched and lactose-infused IPAs and "glip-glop" beers (our friend Justin's term for thick, heavily fruited sours) and you can paint a pretty vivid picture of the types of beers Urban South serves. At the end of the day, all of the beers we tried were fantastic. Also, if you like the 1980's and bright, colorful geometric shapes, then you'll enjoy the tasting room.
9. Xül - Knoxville, TN - First visited in July 2021
Xül Beer Co., the new kid on the block in Knoxville, came with high praise from a bartender we'd just encountered the previous night at Cascade Taproom in Bristol. It turns out it was a pivotal moment in our trip, because Xül was one of those rare places that just blew me away on every level. As a child of the 80's, this place was right up my alley. Given her vast depth of movie, TV, and pop culture trivia knowledge, Brewslut called out the fact that Xül (pronounced like and actually spelled Zuul) was in fact the gatekeeper in the movie Ghostbusters. The brewery itself has a very "retro modern" look that reminded me of a car dealership you might have seen on an episode of The Jetsons. And Xül gets bonus points for having an umlaut in its The beer, you ask? Friends, let me tell you: Xül ain't fuckin' around. I still get wet thinking about the mouthfeel of Beyond the Lines of Reason, an Imperial Stout conditioned on mounds of fresh and toasted coconut across multiple additions. Simply put: "This fuckin’ beer rules." - Untappd user ffejherb, July 22, 2021
10. Zebulon - Weaverville, NC - First visited in November 2021
This brewery came with high praise from my elder beer brother, Deuane. As a matter of fact, he was confident that it would end up on our year-end list of favorite breweries visited in 2021. He's seldom wrong, and he was definitely correct in this assumption. Just north of Asheville and owned by a husband and wife, Zebulon Artisan Ales is specializes in farmhouse style ales, wild ales, sours, and historical recipes. The English Bitter I had here transported me to a tiny pub in rural England. I can't wait to get back to this place. We'll be staying much longer next time!
Honorable Mentions
These places were so good, I had to at least give them all a shout-out. I mean, narrowing down a list of 170 breweries to just 10 was extremely difficult... kind of like picking a favorite Rush song! So, kudos to these places as well.
Cursus Keme - Asheville, NC - First visited in November 2021
One of the most aesthetically beautiful places we visited in Asheville. I already included three breweries from the Asheville trip; otherwise this place would have made the list! This place had not one but two doppelbocks on their short list of Belgian and European-inspired brews, one of which was smoked... and you know me and smoked beers!
Equal Parts - Houston, TX - First visited in July 2021
Our Texas road trip was the summer of the pilsner, and this brewery's amazing German pilsner named Löggerbier was, without a doubt, one of the best pilsners I had on the entire trip. I think I drank more pilsners on this trip than most fair-weathered lager drinkers consume in a year. While Equal Parts is crushing lagers, they also do quite well in other categories, like fruited sour hazy Double IPAs and Imperial Stouts.
Ingenious - Humble, TX - First visited in July 2021
Ingenious would have made the Top 10, but I felt weird including this amazing brewery since we're close friends with the owner. It was a joy to finally visit Ingenious after three years... not to mention getting to hang with our friends Justin and Nate. This place is easily one of Texas' envelope-pushing breweries. Hazy IPAs? Check. Fruited sours? Yup. Milkshake IPAs (dubbed FroYo)? Tons of 'em! Mammoth barrel-aged beers with lots of adjuncts? You bet yer sweet ass! I hope we get to visit again someday.
Right Proper - Washington, DC - First visited in February 2021
A smoked doppelbock. A dark, robust saison fermented with a house yeast blend. A mixed-culture Foeder beer blended with a dry-hopped Farmhouse Ale. You'd think that'd be enough, but add a Fried Tofu Bowl into the mix for dinner and this place won my heart. I even got to visit again when I attended a Mastodon/Opeth show in November 2021.
So, how did we fare in 2021? I'd say we crushed it! All in all, we visited 170 new-to-us breweries across 14 different states (7 of which were uncharted territories), compared to last year's paltry amount of 76 and 2019's slightly higher number of 79. I'm no mathematician, but I'd estimate that's more breweries than the previous two years combined. Brewslut wasn't able to join me at two of the new breweries, but otherwise my she and Pleeps were with me for the entire ride. With that said, we've got our work cut out for us in 2022, and I doubt we can top that number. But... who knows?
Here's hoping that the state of the world improves in 2022 and will allow safer beer travels for everyone. Cheers!
- The Pour Travelers
