Ultimate United States Beer Vacation

UUBV, my man (pronounced "ooobvuh").

 

I did my Ultimate Vacation last year....Day One between Boulder, Longmont and Fort Collins....Day Two in the mountains then GABF...Day Three in Denver...Day Four at GABF and Denver....Days Five, Six, and Seven...hungover.

I can't wait to get back to Denver and do it all over again.

 

pfffft, you can't piss out your back window in CO without hitting a brewpub.

 

Northeast = Hill Farmstead, Alchemist, Lawson's Finest, (Food/Beer spots; Mad Taco, Positive Pie, Three Penny) {VT; Jack's Abbey, Treehouse, Sam Adams, Harpoon, Cambridge Brewing Co. (Food/Beer: Lord Hobo, Sunset Grille, Armsby Abbey) {MA; New England Brewing Co., Willamantic. (Food/Beer: Eli Cannon's, Krust, Mikro) {CT; Brooklyn, Sixpoint {NY.

 

OP, he has a great point. I visited DFH last summer and it is way the hell out in the middle of nowhere (at least in terms of anyplace that you would otherwise want to go) and a very low return on the investment of almost a full day to go and visit the pub and production facility. I was also quite disappointed by what was available, only one unusual beer at the brewpub and nothing special on tap at the brewery. For what it's worth, the brewery tour is pretty good, but not even close to worth dealing with the summer beach traffic to get to the poor mans Panama City beach that is Rehoboth beach/Milton DE.

There are plenty of great places to go in the mid Atlantic and north east, but I'd strongly encourage you to stay away from Delaware.

 

I live in central NY, and I planned out this Beer Pilgrimage to embark upon soon. The complete route is 15 breweries/brew pubs in only 457 miles, or about 9 hours 28 mins. Has some heavy hitters, sleepers, new guys, and wildcards. I'm hoping someone else might benefit from it(Please excuse the long link. It was the short url version):
https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=...kzciTFQE00o4dfK6A&oq=cave+moun&mra=ps&t=m&z=8

 

Getting after mine starting Wednesday, thank you. Heading north from Florida before bootlegging back. Two+ weeks - the planned itinerary(haul list) includes: Westbrook, Coast, Troegs, Jack's Abby, Maine Beer Co., Oxbow, Marshall Wharf, Hill Farmstead, Alchemist, Lawson's................. ought to be enough. Man, this looks ambitious typed out, but it is about to happen !

 

If you want a little bit of adventure with your sudscapade, I would suggest taking the Alaska Marine Highway up the Alaskan Panhandle, hitting Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, Haines, Kodiak, and Homer. (Baranof Island Brewing, Alaskan Brewing, Skagway Brewing, Haines Brewing, Kodiak Island Brewing, Homer Brewing). Then and from there, head up to Anchorage via the Kenai Peninsula (Kenai River Brewing, Saint Elias Brewing, Kassik's Kenai Brew Stop, Seward Brewing Co). In Anchorage: Anchorage Brewing Co, Midnight Sun, King Street, Broken Tooth, Glacier Brewhouse, Sleeping Lady. Then from there, head into the interior through Palmer, Wasilla, Talkeetna, Healy, to Fairbanks. (Arkose Brewing, Last Frontier Brewing, Denali Brewing, 49th State Brewing, HooDoo Brewing, Silver Gulch.) *Silver Gulch is in Fox, AK - near Fairbanks*
I know these are mostly small, unheard of breweries, but their beer is solid. Plus, you would never forget the trip. World class scenery, big wildlife (whales and bears!), and great beer!

 

Just finished this tour of Michigan/Indiana/Illinois, and you could continue with more if you had a second week.

We started in Detroit and went to Jolly Pumpkin and Ashley's Pub in Ann Arbor and wanted to go to Arbor Brewing but ran out of time. Next up was Kuhnhenn Brewery in Warren MI (thought about Dragonmead Microbrewery and Frog Island but didn't make it). Staying at Kuhnhenn's sister B&B called Sitting Room Inn was awesome and right across the street.

Next was Dark Horse Brewing in Marshall, MI and Bells in Kalamazoo, and then up to Grand Rapids.
Made multiple trips to HopCat and Pyramid Scheme beer bars in Grand Rapids, one quick trip to Grand Rapids Brewing (meh), and multiple trips to Founders. Odd Side Ales in Grand Haven was an easy side trip and was great. Dinner and drinking at Brewery Vivant in GR was also fantastic.

On the drive down to Indiana, we stopped at the Livery and and meant to hit Greenbush but we skipped it to get in two shots at Three Floyds in Munster, IN.

In Chicago, we went to Local Option and Half Acre, but there are lots of other options there as well, such as Off Color Brewing, Haymarket, Revolution, Hopleaf, and Goose Island.

Taking on more from there, you could do Central Waters, New Glarus, Hinterland, Surly, Town Hall, etc.

 

Portland to San Diego for me.

Cascade
Hair of the Dog
Deschutes
Toronado SF
Russian River
Firestone Walker
Kern River
Slaters 50/50
Beechwood BBQ
Alpine
Ballast Point
Stone
Toronado SD

 

Hell ya, would love to be sitting in the Pig or Blackback right now.

 

There's only one place where I've driven alongside a pod of Beluga whales, and within pretty decent camera range.
Most beautiful place I've ever seen. And yes, the beer is solid and keeps getting better.

 

Two weeks? Howzabout no driving and drinking the best beer in the country. Bring a bicycle and stay in Portland, Ore. for the two weeks. Should I get the opportunity this is my plan for an UUBV.

 

For me, this one is easy. I'd like to recreate my road trip through New England during Fall Foliage 12 years ago. I visited all 6 states in 10 days meandering through small towns using back roads. I avoided the major highways for most my trip. Only this time I'll hit all the top breweries while photographing my journey.

 

This is what I'd like to do next. I've visited just about all of the breweries in Michigan, and have made tow trips thru different areas of Wisconsin, so a New England trip as described above would be my next choice.

 

This. My wife and I are trying to plan to do this in the summer of 2014. Fly into San Diego, drive up the coast, fly out from Portland.

 

All I know is my sister in law was born and raised somewhere in Michigan, about 3 hours away from where Bell's and Founder's sit just 45 minutes apart. She and my brother drive from GA to Michigan twice a year and keep saying I should join them.

It will be done. Oh yes, it will be done.

 

Start in Missoula, MT -> Coeur D'alene/Sandpoint, ID -> Yakima area, WA -> Seattle, WA -> Portland, OR -> Bend, OR -> Eugene, OR.

 

If you have time in Massachusetts, there are a few others you might want to try to hit - Trillium in South Boston, and the Everett group - NightShift, Idle Hands and Mystic.
If you have some time while in CT, (and depending where in CT you would be,) it's not a far trip to Tree House Brewing or Berkshire Brewing.


For me, being in the Northeast anyways, most anything here is a day / weekend trip away - from the Vermont group, out to Cooperstown / Ommegang, down to New York / New Jersey.
I would do the West Coast Swing, starting in Seattle and working my way down, especially hitting RR, SN, Port / Lost Abbey, Stone, Ballast POint and so forth. I would think that 2 weeks would be enough, a couple days in Seattle, couple in the wine country (and hitting a couple wineries while I;m there)
couple in San Diego, with time elsewhere as needed.

 

FYI - For the adventurous types who want to do a VT beer trip, go in the winter and travel the state via snowmobile on VT's snowmobile trails. The trails are maintained, criss-cross the entire state, and have signs for gas, lodging, interests, etc., like a separate road/highway system. Trunk space to haul beer would limited, but you can always mail it home. DUI still counts on a snowmobile too. If you're really adventurous, you can X-country ski the snowmobile trails too.