Park City Brewery, Park City, Utah
With names like Last Pitch IPA and Breaking Trail Pale Ale, ’s ales are brewed with the outdoor enthusiast in mind. The company was founded by a couple of former employees in a garage. Their new brewery, which opened last spring, is housed in a former auto body repair shop. Stop into the taproom for their après ski special from 3 to 6 p.m., where you can get a fancy grilled cheese sandwich and a beer for $10.
Ska Brewing, Durango, Colorado
Founded by two homebrewing aficionados in a warehouse in Durango in 1995, has evolved over the years: the new wind-powered facility uses half the energy per barrel of most operations through solar power and recycling waste. Take a tour and stop into the beer garden for a pint of pinstripe red ale and a brick-oven pizza cooked in a repurposed shipping container.
Beehive Basin Brewery, Big Sky, Montana
, which opened last summer, is a small craft brewery at its finest—it’s small batch production with just a few rotating beers on tap, like a Baltic porter and a cream ale. The taproom has an intimate, locals’ vibe, and there’s no food menu, but you can order grub from elsewhere and bring it in.
Tahoe Mountain Brewing Co., Truckee, California
Known for small-batch, barrel-aged sours and beers, the , established in 2012, is a more recent addition to the list of must-visit mountain town breweries. The beer is brewed in Truckee, where you can take a brewery tour or stop into the taproom for a growler of Party Boy IPA to go or check out unfiltered views of Lake Tahoe and a quality burger and pub menu at the brewery’s Tahoe City brewpub.
The Alchemist, Waterbury, Vermont
Deeply hoppy IPA is the specialty brew of choice at , a family-owned brewery in the heart of the Green Mountains. Their brewery is currently closed to the public, but you can taste their ales at places like the Big Picture Theater in nearby Waitsfield—while catching a movie or live show—or paired with grub like sweet corn mac and cheese or a BBQ pork sandwich at the Blackback Pub in Waterbury.