Great American Beer Festival: A dozen non-Colorado breweries to try

Colorado makes some of the best beers in the world, but when the Great American Beer Festival is in town, it's your chance to try something from another state, especially the ones that are talked about by beer aficionados across the country.

We're lucky in that some of these breweries - like Dogfish Head, Stone, Jolly Pumpkin, Deschutes, Ommegang, Lagunitas, Rogue, Anderson Valley, Alaskan, Russian River and Port - distribute their beers in Colorado. But most don't.

So, unless you travel a lot, this is the only time that Square Staters can try some of these brews.

The following is a list of a dozen breweries that I'm looking forward to sampling (among dozens of others, no doubt) - some of which I've never had a chance to try before.

Via Betterbeerblog.com

12. Allagash Brewing, Portland, Maine
From the northeast corner of the country, Allagash distributes to 22 states, but not Colorado, and their beer, particularly their signature Belgian-style White, ends up on just about every list of the best beers in the nation. This is my chance to find out why.

Image via 43north89west.files.wordpress.com

11. Bell's Brewing, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Anyone who has ever lived in the Midwest talks about this brewery ad naseum. I've tried them before -- and I thought their beers were very good, if not great -- and want to give it another shot. In particular, I want to try Two-Hearted Ale and HopSlam Ale.

Photo by Stephan Segraves

10. Cambridge Brewing, Cambridge, Massachusetts
I'd never heard of this brewer until last year when a friend tipped me off to it. Cambridge turned out to be my favorite brewery from last year's Great American Beer Festival. And as the lines got longer, they ran out of beer quickly. Hopefully, they'll bring more.

Cascade Brewing

9 .Cascade Brewing, Portland, Oregon
A friend smuggled a bottle of Cascade's Kriek sour cherry ale into Colorado a couple months ago, and it was awesome. I want more. Much more.

Photo by Bernt Rostad

8. Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, Florida
The beers from this little brewery are getting smokin' reviews! Its Hunahpu's Imperial Stout garnered an A+ from Beer Advocate. I'll be hitting this one first.

Image Via

7. Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Farmville, North Carolina
Maybe it's the name. Maybe it's the logo. Or maybe it's their Rabbit Milk Stout, which I have heard is awesome. But Duck-Rabbit is one I have to try.