Less than a year after Middletown’s First State Brewing Company won a USA Today poll and was named the best new brewery in the country, another Delaware brewery has He was once again honored as the best in the nation by the same newspaper.
Dewey Beach’s Dewey Beer Company was named America’s Best Brewpub on Friday at the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, which determine the nation’s top 10 brewpubs by reader voting and a panel of experts.
That shouldn’t be too surprising.
Founded in 2015 by owners Mike Riley, Brandon Smith, and Scott Kaufman, Dewey Beer’s beers are rated highest among Delaware beers on the popular beer rating app Untappd. are doing.
“Just to be nominated was incredible, and to have won the number one spot, I don’t know if it has really hit home yet,” Smith said.
To celebrate, Dewey Beer (2100 Coastal Highway, Dewey Beach) will be offering specials, $4 core beers, limited-edition shirts and merchandise over two days on Thursday and Friday, March 21 and 22. Host a party to serve.
Inside the big victory
USA Today, owned by Gannett Co., which is also the parent company of the Delaware Online/News Journal, accepts nominations from a panel of experts at 10Best, a website that publishes reader-voted and editor-recommended best-of lists. Ta.
A panel of 10 industry experts narrowed the field down to 20 before narrowing the list down to the top 10 through reader voting. Readers were then allowed to vote for her once a day.
Which Delaware brewery tops the list with DEWEY BEER CO.? Beer Enthusiast Ranks 29 First State Beer Makers
Have you been to Middletown’s first state brewery, Winshave? The best new brewery in the country, according to USA Today, is in Delaware.
Readers and breweries were able to see the rankings in real-time as voting began, but the final stages of voting became even more tense as the results darkened. Dewey Beal was either number one or number two for most of the voting period.
“So we had no idea where it was going to end up,” Smith said. His brewery encouraged fans to vote through its social media channels. “There’s a fine line between not being too intrusive or too spammy, but this win is forever for us.”
Experts included Beth Demon, craft beer writer and host of the podcast “Good Beer Hunting.” Beer guru and journalist Dennis Malcolm Byron, aka Ale Sharpton. Gary Monterosso, beer writer and adjunct professor (“Craft of Beer”) at Wilmington University; Ruth Berman, CEO of beer tour company Bon Beer Voyage. Alexis Dickey is a beer and travel enthusiast who has visited his more than 1,275 breweries in 36 states and 34 countries.
“Dewey Beer Company is located in Dewey Beach, Delaware, just a stone’s throw from the Atlantic coast. Visitors can enjoy dozens of beers on tap, from fruit beers to IPAs to stouts, as well as handheld beers and hearty beers. ‘s food menu, including mains, lo mein, pappardelle, carne asada, and more,’ he wrote announcing Dewey Beer’s big win.
The rest of the list includes Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (No. 2), Forbidden Root Restaurant & Brewery in Chicago, Illinois (No. 3), The Answer Brewpub in Richmond, Virginia (No. 4), Georgia Includes From the Earth Brewing Company in Roswell, State. (5th place), Tumbled Rock Brewery & Kitchen in Baraboo, Wisconsin (6th place), Tumbled Rock Brewery & Kitchen in Baraboo, Wisconsin (7th place), and Pig Mind Brewing in McChesney Park, Illinois. Company (8th place), Red Light Red Light of Orlando, Florida (9th place) and Crack Fermentation Project of Portland, Oregon (10th place).
In 2022, Dewey Beer opens its second location in Harbeson. The focus here is on production for national distribution. Just two months ago, the company announced the opening of his third store in Denver, Colorado.
Delaware’s second big beer win in seven months.
It was in August that First State Brewing topped the list of the nation’s best new breweries in the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
They conquered breweries everywhere from New Jersey (Birdsmouth Beer) and Maryland (Wico Street Beer Company) to Colorado (Public Offering Brewing Company) and Oregon (Grand Fir Brewing).
“First State’s wide range of crafts includes some very unique names, from Intrinsic Chaos, a blood orange double IPA, to Whimsical Anomaly’s hazy IPA, to Droid Dreams Sour, aged in tequila barrels. with a colorful label,” they wrote. result. “Visit us Tuesday through Friday and Sunday to enjoy a selection of food and beers at happy hour prices.”
“This is really great,” First State owner Paul Hester said at the time. “This is really a recognition of all the hard work, sacrifices and long hours by our team. It’s something that happened.”
Have a story idea? Contact Delaware Online/The News Journal’s Ryan Cormier at rc******@de************.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and his X (@ryancormier).