Finding the Most Unique Craft Breweries in the United States

Pelican Brewing

📍 Pacific City, Oregon

Contributed by Jess of Uprooted Traveler

Pelican Brewing, with a handful of locations along the Oregon coast, embodies the quintessential Pacific Northwest brewery. Here, you’ll find lots of beer and other drinks made with the most beloved crop in Oregon- hops!- from standard Indian Pale Ales to a unique non-alcoholic refresher, called Sparkle Hops. 

While breweries serving hoppy beers are a dime a dozen in the Pacific Northwest, the original location of Pelican is quite unique, offering the only brewery actually on an Oregon beach in Pacific City, just steps away from the famed sand dunes of Cape Kiwanda.  For a truly unique experience, grab a beer and a seat on the patio, look out across the sand, and watch the sunset over the iconic Haystack Rock. While the Pacific City brewery has the most unique location, you can find locations of Pelican in three other charming coastal towns along the Oregon coast.

Hermit Thrush Brewery

📍 Brattleboro, VT

Contributed by Taima Ramsey of Poor In A Private Plane

Hermit Thrush Brewery is a must-visit if you find yourself in southern Vermont. Hermit Thrush Brewery is located in Brattleboro, VT, and is known for its unique sour beers brewed with 100% wild yeast. The brewery has been fermenting since 2014 and is always pushing the boundaries when it comes to new sour beer flavors. 

The Brewhouse is fueled by wood, not fossils, which gives the beer a unique flavor that can only be found in the Brattleboro region. In addition, the brewery prides itself on using only local ingredients to create all its sour beers. Hermit Thrush uses local hops and fruits, as well as barrels from area distilleries, which results in beers that are unlike anything else on the market. 

If you’re looking for a truly unique beer-drinking experience, then be sure to check out Hermit Thrush Brewery the next time you’re in Vermont.

Hermit Thrush is open Monday-Saturday from 11 am-7 pm and Sunday from 11 am-6 pm. You can purchase beer to go or enjoy a flight on-site. 

Burial Beer Company

📍 Asheville, North Carolina

Contributed by Erin of Super Simple Salty Life

Burial Beer Company began as a beer blog and has grown to include four taprooms in various cities, a winery, restaurant, and a barrel-aging facility. After living in New Orleans and then experiencing the Seattle craft beer scene, the owners of Burial Beer Co. traveled in their red van across the country and settled in the funky and artistic town of Asheville, North Carolina. Here they opened their first taproom, with a mission to “connect people through immersive and introspective experiences that inspire the celebration of life and individuality”.

Burial’s Asheville taproom sits in a grouping of 100-year-old historic buildings in the heart of downtown, which were originally used in the 1930’s to house workers completing the Blue Ridge Parkway. The ever-changing beer menu has new brews released weekly ranging from lagers, pale ales, and hazy IPA’s to sours, ciders, and coffee porters, so there is a drink for any beer aficionado. Choose either inside seating or grab a table on the large covered patio or garden seating area, where the full-service kitchen offers dishes inspired by local farms and fresh produce.

Head over to Burial on a Sunday afternoon to experience “Brunch and Beats” pairing brunch-style menu specials with live local bands. Or take a guided 60-minute tour, sampling some of the current draft brews along the way. Don’t miss the colorful wall mural out front, and be sure to check out the famous red van that now resides right on the patio!

Moon River Brewing Company

📍 Savannah, Georgia

Contributed by Erin Clarkson of Savannah First-Timer’s Guide

Whether you’re a beer fanatic or not, there’s no doubt Moon River Brewing is one of the more unique breweries in Savannah. It’s actually considered one of the most haunted places in the city! The building the brewery is housed in was constructed in 1821 and originally served as the City Hotel. Notable guests include the Marquis de Lafayette, wildlife sketch artist James Audubon, and war hero Winfield Scott. A lion and lioness even lived in the hotel for a while (as a marketing ploy).

Moon River Brewing Company purchased the building in the mid-90s, started a lengthy renovation process, and then began serving craft beers in April of 1999. All their brews are produced on-site in a 15-barrel copper kettle system. You can watch the brewing process as it occurs by peering in the windows from outside or while relaxing at the bar. The brewery’s own craft beer options include pale ales, IPAs, porters, and German-style lagers. They offer up a rotating list of approximately 15 other local brews, as well. Not to leave anyone out, they also serve wine, cocktails, and a decent selection of mocktails.

Moon River is a popular stop on many Savannah ghost tours and has been featured on Buzzfeed Unsolved and The Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures. They also host a fun monthly drag show that includes a brunch buffet. Although they’re losing their popular outdoor beer garden soon due to new development, they do have plans to extend the restaurant portion of the business.

Stillmank Brewery

📍 Green Bay, WI
Contributed by Lindsey Puls of Have Clothes, Will Travel

In a warehouse on the East Side of Green Bay (away from the hustle and bustle of Lambeau Field), you’ll find an incredible brewery cranking out some of the state’s most unique beers – Stillmank Brewery. Visiting Stillmank Brewery for a tasting is one of the best things to do in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Stillmank Brewery is a family-run affair that started with the founder, Brad Stillmank, creating his signature Wisco Disco. This Amber beer is brewed with a small amount of milk sugar, and it’s what gives it such a smooth body (goes great with Wisconsin cheese too).

Stillmank also has some unique “fruit” beers like the Mango Philly, which is a thicker beer and tastes more like mango juice than a beer. It’s very tasty on a hot summer day! And their guava Juiced IPA is brewed with 440 pounds of fresh guava fruit puree. It’s a nice, not-so-bitter IPA for those who “don’t like IPAs”. They also make a variety of wild fruity seltzers for those who aren’t into beer, such as “Watermelon Gummies ” and “Tropical Thai Thea Berry”. Even if you’re not a fan of seltzers, you won’t regret trying a few of these delicious concoctions!

Faubourg Brewing Company

📍 New Orleans, Louisian

Contributed by Vince DiLoreto of FittinginAdventure.com

New Orleans’ oldest operating brewery. In 1907, Valentine Merz establishes the South’s largest and most innovative brewery. To say they were met with enthusiasm would be an understatement. With a capacity of 75,000 barrels a year, the first entire output of kegs are contracted before a plant site is even secured. 

Formerly known as Dixie Beer this brewery has stood the test of time after losing the brewery to Hurricane Katrina and reopening a new state-of-the-art facility with a new name, Faubourg Brewing.

Castle Danger Brewery

📍 Two Harbors, Minnesota

Contributed by Kassidy of Kassidy’s Journey

Located on the North Shore of Minnesota, along the coast of the beautiful Lake Superior, is the small town of Two Harbors. And as you roll through town, you’ll come across one of the best and most popular breweries in the state, Castle Danger Brewery. Since opening in 2011, the owners of Castle Danger have been brewing what they call, “dangerously good” brews, serving them in their taproom. Each of their beers is crafted lovingly with water straight from Lake Superior, which allows guests to have a special connection with Minnesota’s beloved great lake. 

During your visit to Castle Danger Brewery, you can sit inside their large, year-round taproom, or take a seat outside on their balcony, which overlooks Lake Superior, so you can watch as the mighty waves crash into the shore. Throughout the year, food trucks line up outside of the brewery and local musicians play live music for guests to enjoy. From brews offered year-round to ones only offered seasonally, Castle Danger has a great option for all brewery lovers.

Buoy Beer Company

📍 Astoria, Oregon

Contributed by Jess of Uprooted Traveler

Buoy Beer Company is located in Astoria, one of the most unique Oregon Coast towns that offers a quirky mix of industrial grittiness with a smidge of hipster thrown in. And Buoy is kind of the perfect example of that- it’s housed in a building that was constructed in 1924 as a feed and grain warehouse and throughout the years, has served as everything from a fish processing plant to a mink feed production plant. The old wooden building juts out over the Columbia River, providing views of cargo ships as they chug out to see and plenty of sea lions and harbor seals. In fact, the building even has a glass window in the floor so you can keep an eye out for a new seal friend playing in the water below! 

Unfortunately, one of Buoy’s buildings along the river collapsed in July 2022, so the original building is currently closed. While they work to reopen it, Buoy is still open and serving up a healthy mixture of beloved old classics, like pilsners and cream ale, with funky, experimental brews, like a cranberry sour or a modern take on Oktoberfest.