Filed under: Beer, Lists, America

Some beer drinkers will tell you that the best place to drink beer is on the couch, with a sports game on and a couple friends around. Others will point you to their favorite after-work pub. A few will scoff at the notion of American beer entirely and advise you to pick an import, a wine or a cocktail, instead. In truth, there are a lot of great American brews and more people are realizing it all the time. If you're looking for the best, though, you might consider taking a look at the recommendations for the five best places to drink American beer from Christopher O'Hara, author of Great American Beer: 50 Brands that Shaped the 20th Century. His picks include: the Ironworks Barbecue in Austin, Texas; Blue and Gold Tavern in New York City; Straub Brewery in St. Mary's, PA; St. Nick's Pub in Los Angeles, CA; and Axel's Inn in Milwaukee, WI.

Of course, given the number of brewers in the country, there must be far more than five great ones. It never hurts to have a jumping off point if you're going to hit the road (not while drinking, of course), to track them down.