The 14 Best USA Craft Beer Bars.*

*That we've visited.  

Alright, keep your shirts on.  We know there's a bewildering number of mind-numbingly awesome Craft bars there are out there, and we're aware of how many more there are for us to visit.  And it is our QUEST to get to every single one of them - (oh hey, do us a solid and add your suggestions to the comment section, will you?).  In the meantime, it's time to celebrate some great locals.  Check out these terrific Craft Stops:

First, one of our most recent stops, in Midtown Manhattan; Beer Culture. Just next to the Hirshfeld Theatre in the Broadway District, this new watering hole is also a bottle shop.


Winner of Best Beer Bar in NY in 2013? Check. Long Island City? Check. Amazing owners? You've gotta meet the folks at Alewife NYC.  


We happened to stop in to this spot in Hollywood a few years ago, and even though it's weathered some storms it's still going strong: The Blue Palms Brewhouse.


No NYC Craft Beer Bar experience is complete without a visit to Jimmy's. And if you're very lucky, you'll get to hang out with owner Jimmy Carbone, (or Jimmy Pots & Pans), a legend in the NYC Craft Community. Come home to Jimmy's.


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HOPCAT. The Midwestern Craft Beer Mecca in Grand Rapids, MI. We didn't shoot video here, but dammit, we visited. And we came away very, very happy.  By the way, HopCat is opening a new location in Downtown Detroit this year, and we hear it's going to be massive.  Beer hear!


Pacific Standard, on 4th Ave in Brooklyn.  We're pretty sure that this is what the dorm rooms at Beer Appreciation College look like.


Tucked away in the Berkshire region of Western Mass, MOE's Tavern is the bar you always dreamt about. No seriously, it is.


Adobe Blues - This may be the best reason to ride the Staten Island Ferry.  Over, and over, and over. You'll 'flip' for this place...


Pizza and great Craft in Amish Country?  Yup. We've seen rare beers at The Fridge in Lancaster, PA, that we have a hard time finding in a city of 8 million people! 


Truly not to be missed, Proletariat is a tiny (and we mean tiny) place in the East Village of NYC that sports some of the rarest worldwide Craft we've ever seen. A bucket list bar.


Ah, the Pony Bar Hell's Kitchen on 45th and 10th Ave in Midtown Manhattan; the bar that helped turn the Craft Beer wave in this part of NYC into a Tsunami.  We were there at the beginning.


This place in Minneapolis was Craft long before it was cool: Mackenzie, the Bar Next Door to the Theatre is the place you've always wanted in your neighborhood.


Ever been to Portland, Maine?  Once you've seen our episode featuring The Great Lost Bear, you'll be looking to book your ticket.


And lastly, in memoriam: The Collins Bar, which sadly is long gone now, reduced to a hole in the ground on 8th Avenue NYC that's on its way to becoming a tall shiny expensive set of apartments. We fondly remember discovering flavors of Craft here that we never knew existed.  Still one of our favorites, and deserving of the memory.  And as you can see, also one of the first places we ever shot.

That's how our list starts.  What's on yours?

Video episode #118: B. Nektar Meadery. (Yup. Mead!)

The Guys look back a bit to last November when they stopped through Ferndale, Michigan to hang out at B. Nektar Meadery. Brad Dahlhofer and his compatriots are doing some incredible things first with the simple ingredients of honey, water and yeast, and then with additions of everything from fruits, to spices, to bourbon barrel ageing. In fact, the day we were there they were releasing a Bourbon Barrel Aged Mead that sold so quickly our heads began to spin. B. Nektar is definitely worth a look. Big thanks to them for hosting us, as well as to cameraman Jeff Scot Carey, second camera Joe-Joe Gregoria, and Diana Burnett for happy happy joy joy. Mead, everyone. It's what's for dinner. And dessert. Cheers!