Hello all, My girlfriend and I are driving from DC to Orlando for a family vacation at the end of this month. I had the idea of stopping at a couple breweries to pick up a few bottles or two of delicious beer that I can't find in DC. I was wondering if there are any recommendations for breweries/beers that are worth pulling over for. I will be driving on I-95 South and don't want to venture too far off the highway. Appreciate any suggestions y'all may have. Cheers!
Not many bottle shops with easy access to 95 in NC. But there is a brewery in Smithfield making some good brews right now. Double Barley Brewing. Haven't been there but I've had a few of their beers and have been pleased. http://doublebarleybrewing.com/
Intuition Ale Works in Jacksonville is worth a stop. Not sure about bottles but they have a nice little tasting room with lots of tasty brews.
Depends on how much time you want to spend meandering around. With kids in the car, usually our family wants to get to our destination as quickly as possible. Intuition does growler fills and they have cans of their regs. They're not easy to navigate to off of 95 though as they're in a residential neighborhood off of Riverside Ave closer to I-10. You could take I-26 off of 95 to Charleston, SC and hit Westbrook off 526 north in Mt. Pleasant. The distillery in Savannah, GA is worth the side jaunt. Great bottle list and the food is spectacular, and it's not far off I-95. When you get to Orlando, check out redlight redlight.
Where is Hardywood? I actually got one of their Gingerbread Stout through a trade. Haven't tried it yet, but heard good things about that brewery.
About 40 some miles to 526 (COAST/Holy CIty being ~1/couple miles south of that respectively) and maybe another 5 or so down 526. Downtown and CBX is 10miles south of 526.
Two places to stop that aren't breweries, but great for bottles are Beer:30 in Jax(right off interstate and right by Intuition brewing) and Lake Mary ABC Liquor right off I-4 on Rinehart Rd. before you hit Orlando. It's the best ABC in the state.
Awesome- I will definitely stop at ABC Liquor - it's right to Disneyworld lol. Any recommendations for bottles there? Am hoping to see some Westbrook/Cigar City in the area, any local offerings I should keep an eye out for?
Hardywood's decent, although their Gingerbread Stout is about the only thing i've had by them that I was impressed by. I hear their people are great though so it might be worth the stop. Whiteki has the mileage about right for Westbrook. Approx. 40 miles to get from I-95 to highway 526 north towards Mt. Pleasant, then about five more miles (I forget the exit) and wind your way back to the brewery. They keep funky hours in their tasting room last time I was there (like, closed Mondays & Tuesdays) so check their website. Warren at Beer30 in Jax is a good man and he knows his stuff. His stock is small but what he has, he turns over often. He's located close to the corner of Park and King St. in the Riverside area of Jacksonville (on the same street as Intution brewing and Bold City brewing). At the end of Park street, there's also Grassroots natural market that has a respectable amount of Craft offerings. Other good beer spots are Kickbacks Gastropub (85+ rotating taps + 1,000's of bottles and good food), Dhalia's Pour House (lots of taps but no food) and the newly opened Silver Cow. In Orlando, go check out Total Wine & More and Knightly Spirits for bottle shops. You shouldn't be disappointed at either. Redlight Redlight has been named one of the best 100 beer bars in America for the past few years in a row. I thought it was o.k. but Kickbacks in Jacksonville and The Distillery in Savannah I felt were both actually better.
+1 for Beer:30 in Jacksonville. Great guys, outstanding beers and low prices. I haven't been to Kickbacks here in Jacksonville in a while, but they had an awesome selection and I would imagine it hasn't changed much, if at all. Knightly Spirits in Orlando also has a very good selection and is worth stopping by if you have the time. Have a safe trip!
