American Breweriana Journal May/June 2007

The Newest Brewery Collectable – Brewery Visits

By Scott Reich

Late last year we discussed visiting breweries and asked readers if and how they kept track of the breweries they had visited. Here are the results.

Tony Moore has been to 36 different breweries, many of them long since closed regional brewers. Robert Liesinger has made it to 40. Eric Rosengrant has been to 40 active breweries, but also nearly 100 defunct Pennsylvania breweries and beer depots. Tom Byrne has tasted beers in 69 breweries in 17 states. Bob Stowe says he has visited “about 100”. Scott Reinhart has 139 brewery visits, 119 of them in the United States. Lee Rasmussen has stopped by 175 breweries, some of them in foreign countries. Art Santen has been to 412 breweries, 21 of them in foreign countries. He has his photo taken and collects a breweriana item from each one.

Casey Letlow is trying to visit a brewery in every state. He has been to 227 different breweries and brewpubs. Craig Stichtenoth has been to 284 and tries to taste a pint of beer in each one. William Tetola has made 475 stops at breweries worldwide. Your author has been to 480 in 35 states, including 78 breweries in Wisconsin alone.

The grand champion for this poll is Rich Wagner, who has been to 521 operating breweries, including 32 in Canada. In addition, he has photographed 443 defunct Pennsylvania brewing sites since 1980. You have read some of his research in past issues of American Breweriana Journal.

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