Nanobrewery - What is a nanobrewery?

There is no official definition, but the general consensus is that breweries operating systems no larger than 7 barrels are considered nano. And many are far smaller than that; 1-2 barrel systems, operated on evenings and weekends by people who maintain non-brewing day jobs. My personal guidelines is a licensed brewery that uses a 10 gallon to 3 barrel brewing system.

Nanobreweries in North America
 
Automatic Brewing Company - San Diego, California
Lee Chase of Blind Lady Ale House fame has started a brewery in the back of BLAH and is brewing on a 2 Hectoliter custom fabricated brewhouse! Sex Panther indeed.

Backstreet Restaurant and Brewery - Guayabitos, Mexico
They brew on a 20 gallon More Beer Tippy Sculpture. Viva la MexiNano!

Beetje Brewery - Portland, Oregon.
Beetje is a Flemish word that roughly translates to "little", or "little bit". This brewery will live up to that notion for the foreseeable future.

Black Husky Brewing - Eagle River, Wisconsin
They brew seven types of beer on a Brutus system. That's about all I can garner from their website.

Blind Bat Brewery - Long Island, New York
Started on a 10 gallon kettle system and has recently upgraded to a 3 barrel brew kettle. It is run by Paul Dlugokencky.

Blind Pig Company - Champaign, Illinois
Brewing starts in the SW corner, with the 62 gallon English style single infusion brewhouse. From there the 'wort' is pumped to the fermenters, either in the NW corner or in the back room, where it spends several weeks.

Boxcar Brewing Company - West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Founded in 2008 by cousins, Jason Kohser and Jamie Robinson. Boxcar began selling its Original Ale to local bars and restaurants in April of this year. The brewery was officially announced in May. It is owned and operated by Chester County residents Jason Kohser and Jamie Robinson and their wives, Kristen and Kymberly respectively.

Breakside Brewing Company - Portland, Oregon.
Breakside Brewery is the invention of Scott Lawrence and Tony Petraglia. Some mutual friends introduced the two after learning they both had a desire to leave their corporate jobs in order to pursue their dream of opening a brew pub. With limited knowledge, they jumped in head first and committed their minimal financial resources and made it happen.

Brewer's Union - Oakridge, Oregon.
The Brewers Union Local 180 brewery has been adapted from the equipment belonging to the former Hawks Brewing Company out of Roseburg. It features a propane-fired 3 US BBL.

Cave Mountain Brewing Company - Windham, New York

Chappel Brewing Company - Mariposa, California
Chappell Brewery is a small one man operation created with the help of some friends. For now I only sell tasters and bottles out of the Tasting Room Shop.

Cocoa Beach Brewing - Cocoa Beach, Florida.
A Family owned and operated brewery and pub. They brew on a 1.5 BBL system with three 1.5 BBL stainless steel fermentors.

Cooper's Cave Ales - Glen Falls, New York
Not only to they make handcrafted ales but they make gourmet soda and ice cream as well!

Copper Kettle Brewing Company - Millmont, Pennsylvania
They produce around 50 BBLs per year, or at least hope to.

Craft Brewing Company - Lake Elsinore, California
Four home brewers have opened a great looking nanobrewery and appear to be brewing on a pair of brutus-style systems.

Dunbar Brewing - Santa Margarita, CA

Epic Ales Brewing - Seattle, Washington
Located in SoDo ran by Cody Morris inside of a location previously used as a salon. He brews 1 barrel at a time.

Foggy Noggin Brewing - Bothell, Washington
Jim is brewing on a 1/2 barrel custom system.

Great South Bay Brewery - Bay Shore, New York
Rick and Greg run this nano out of Bay Shore.

Healdsburg Beer Company - Healdsburg, California
My main man, Kevin McGee! There is more than enough wine in Healdsburg, just trying to level the playing field.

Keg and Barrel Brew Pub - Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Not only did they land on Draft Magazine's 150 best beer bars list they brew their own beer. Currently brewing on a homemade "Brutus Ten" with 30 gallon kettles all in a 120 square foot brewing area. They have two rotating taps for 26 brews yearly. The owner is John Neal and the brewer is Sam Sorrells.

Keuka Brewing Company - Hammondsport, New York
Operated by Linda and Richard Musso. It is the first Microbrewery on this breathtaking lake and the only microbrewery on the Keuka Lake wine trail. Surrounded by some of New York State’s best wineries, Keuka Brewing offers an alternate world-class epicurean experience for wary wine drinkers and beer connoisseurs alike.

Lawsons Finest Liquids - Warren, Vermont
Sean Lawson runs this one barrel brew system. Sean won a bronze medal at the World Beer Cup this year for his Maple Trippel.

Lefty's Brewing Company - Bernardston, Massachusetts.
They brew on a two barrel vessel and have 16 barrels worth of fermentation space.

Manchester Brewing - Concord, New Hampshire
Brewmaster Kevin Bloom. They haven't updated their website since November 2009 so I am unaware if they are still operating, but let's assume they are...

Mattingly Brewing Company - St. Louis, Missouri
Not sure what size system they brew on, but apparently they are a nano brew pub.

Maine Beer Company - Portland, Maine
Maine Beer Company is a very small micro brewery located in Portland, Maine. They don’t concentrate on any particular style of beer and donate 1% of their sales to environmentally friendly non-profits.

Mt. Carmel Brewing Company - Cincinnati, Ohio
Mike Dewey and his wife run this brewery... though their website is a bit hard to follow, I've been told they are in fact a nanobrewery.

Mt. Tabor Brewing - Mt. Tabor, Oregon
Ran by Eric Surface & Brian Maher in the heart of the Montavilla business district he provides single barrel handcrafted ales to local restaurants.

Mother Earth Brew Company - Vista, California
Kamron and Daniel run this AWESOME home brew supply store and nanobrewery. They are currently on a 1.5 BBL system and make some tremendous beers. They also contract two of their beers from a local brewery.

Naked City Brewing - Seattle, Washington
Don and Don run this three barrel DME system brewing exclusively for their Naked City Tap House.

Natian Brewing Company - Portland, Oregon
Ian McGuinness and Natalia Laird are operating on a 1.3 BBL system while learning the ropes of the beer business.

Oyster House Brewing Company - Asheville, North Carolina
They run on a 1/2 bbl Sabco Brew Magic system.

Parish Brewing Company - Lafayette, Louisiana.
Parish Brewing Company was founded by Andrew Godley, an enterprising engineer who found beer fascinating. In college at LSU he drank a lot of it. Once a responsible adult, he decided to learn how to brew it. This curiousity turned into a passion, which turned into extra fine beer - thus Parish Brewing Company was born!

Plan B Brewing - Smithers, B.C. Canada
Mark Gillis and Glen Ingram run this nanobrewery out of the great white north. A strange brew indeed.

Red Jacket Brewing Company - Calumet, Michigan
They brew on a 1/2 BBL SABCO brewing system at their restaurant.

Roth Brewing Company - Raleigh, North Carolina.
Apparently they are very small. Hard to get any solid info from their site.

Steffan's Aldergrove Brewery - Tulalip, Washington
This guy is brewing on a 1/3 barrel system (re: 10 gallons), but he brews five days a week to make up for it. That reminds me of Dogfish Heads early days.

Stillwater Artisinal Ales - Baltimore, Maryland.
Great looking logo. I think they are a nano. Anyone have more info on them?

Three Barrel Brewing Company - Del Norte, Colorado
As their name would imply they are brewing on a three barrel system.

Vertigo Brewing - Hillsboro, Oregon
Brewing on a one barrel system in a warehouse. Both are named Michael. That is eerily similar to our nanobrewery operation.

White Birch Brewing - Hookset, New Hampshire
Bill Herlicka runs this one barrel brewery. Each batch is bottle conditioned and aged at the brewery.

Wolf Hills Brewing - Abingdon, Virginia
A one barrel brew system fermenting six barrels a week. You can stop by and fill up a growler if you like.

Woody's Nanobrewery - Reno, Nevada
Pat Wlodarczyk runs this small neighborhood nano recalling a time when brewing was done by a community or family.

Worth Brewing Company - Northwood, Indiana
Brew on a 10 gallon Sabco system and fermenting in a 27 gallon conical.