What's your perfect beer trip?!

UK to Belgium to Germany to Czech Republic. West to east, all in a row. One week in each.

 

Bavaria, Belgium, then home.

 

England, Belgium, Germany, and Czech Republic (in that order).

 

My PERFECT beer trip started a long time ago, and I hope it never ends! Cheers!

 

And "what a long strange trip it's been" or at least I hope so

 

Perfect itinerary, but you need at least two weeks in each country. England, Scotland, and Wales can't be done in a week anymore than the rest. If this is a hopeful fantasy trip for you, why shortchange yourself?

 

I like the excitement of the unknown (American breweries that I've never visited), so that my vacation would not be to any Utopia beer land like Belgium. I'd take two weeks to drive to lunch at a brewery 3-4 hours from home on the first day (or the motel of the night for subsequent mornings) and then drive another 3-4 hours to another motel in a town where there are at least 3 breweries. That would give me 4 breweries per day times 14 for 56 total. I'd have a lot of BA reviews to write after the trip, but that's what I enjoy doing. If I hit any tourist destinations during the trip, that's all well and good too.

OR, I wouldn't mind a bus/boat trip starting in Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Germany and Belgium with a similar schedule as described above.

 

Don't leave out Akkurat in Stockholm

 

I think I already had my dream trip: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany. Only regret is there wasn't enough time to do everything. I barely scratched the surface, but here's some of what went down.

Netherlands: Amsterdam first, not exactly a beer-focused destination, but hey I was in Netherlands. Highlights included Brouwerij 't Ij (it's a brewery and a windmill!) and a lovely spot called Arendsnest where they assist you in pairing great craft beer with nice Jenever (traditional juniper spirit). And a roadtrip south hitting up La Trappe for a tour.

Belgium: Antwerp (Kulminator and nearby Westmalle). Ghent (got to see THE actual Guldendraak which inspired its namesake beer). Westvleteren (picked up my 2 crates of 12 from the monks' drive through; lunch at In de Vrede). Oostvleteren (hung out with the guys at Struise for a night, experienced 1978 Dirty Horse, best beer day of my life). Brussels (Cantillon; also bars that sell you trappist and other excellent beer for only 2 euro).

Germany: Munich (biergartens biergartens biergartens)

 

Well, I live in the land of Russian River, so that's out.
Without much thought, it'd be Portland, San Diego and Grand Rapids.

 

We're driving from Wisconsin to Maine and back. Hitting Hill Farmstead, Tree House, Maine Brewing Company, Allagash, etc. Pretty excited to checkout a lot of breweries I've never been to before.

 

I did something close to your trip last year. We started in San Diego and visited Green Flash, Ballast Point, and Stone in a day. Might have had too much that day. Then headed up the north. We hit Paso Robles next and visited Barrelhouse Brewing and Firestone Walker. Both very cool spots. Then headed up towards San Francisco and hit 21st Amendment. Nice place.

If we had a couple more days we would've gone north to hit Lagunitas and RR.

 

SF Bay Area -> Portland OR and back by way of Yosemite, Tahoe, Chico, Crater Lake & Bend. A week and a half, 69 breweries.

10 Barrel Brewing Company, 21st Amendment Brewery, Alameda Brewing Co., Ale Industries, Anchor Brewing Company, Anthem Brewing Company, Apocalypse Brewing Company (Oregon), Base Camp Brewing Company, Bear Republic Brewing Co., Bend Brewing Co., Big Horse Brew Pub, Block 15 Brewing Company, Boneyard Beer Company, Breakside Brewery, Brew Wërks Brewing (Oregon), BridgePort Brewing Co., Burnside Brewing Co. (Oregon), Carneros Brewing, Cascade Brewing Company (USA), Coalition Brewing Co., Columbia River Brewing, Crux Fermentation Project, Deschutes Brewery, Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom, Drake's Brewing Company, Elevation 66 Brewing Company, Elysian Brewing Company, Everybody's Brewing, Flat Tail Brewing, Full Sail Brewing Company, Gigantic Brewing Company, Gilgamesh Brewery, Great Basin Brewing Co., Green Dragon, Hair of the Dog Brewing Company, High Water Brewing, Hop Valley Brewing Company, Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB), Klamath Basin Brewing, Laurelwood Brewing Co., Lucky Labrador Brewing Company, Mammoth Brewing Company, McMenamins, Napa Smith Brewery, Ninkasi Brewing Company, Northwest Brewing Company, Oakshire Brewing, Pacific Brewing Laboratory, Pacific Coast Brewing Co., Pfriem Family Brewers, Rogue Ales, Russian River Brewing Company, Santiam Brewing, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Silver Moon Brewing, Silver Peak Brewery, Southern Oregon Brewing (SOB), Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, Stateline Brewery, Sudwerk Privatbrauerei Hübsch, The Brew Brothers, The Commons Brewery, Third Street Aleworks, ThirstyBear Brewing Company, Triple Rock Brewery, Tugboat Brewing (OR), Two Kilts Brewing, Upright Brewing Company, Walking Man Brewing

 

Bavaria, Belgium, then Amsterdam. Amsterdams for different reasons, but if I'm in Europe I'm at least stopping for a few days.

 

Tree House with no lines!

 

Hit Alley Kat in Edmonton on the way to the airport.

Fly to Vancouver and Victoria BC Canada. Driftwood, Four Winds, Central City, etc., etc.

Hit Portland. Then to Calfornia and hit Stone, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, and Russian River.

Fly to Fort Collins. Focus mostly on Odell (I love that brewery).

Then Hop an international flight to Belgium.

Coming back hit Montreal and other Quebec breweries.

Stop in Regina at Rebellion brewery.

Land back home in Edmonton.

 

Teleportation needs to be perfected before I can describe my perfect beer trip.

 

Exactly what I would do. Great taste, sir.

 

Start in Portland and will need 3 days to scratch the surface on that Mecca of a beer city. Too many specific places to list. Then drive down towards Bend hitting the coast for Pelican along the way and possibly Ninkasi in Eugene. Stay in Bend for 2 days doing Boneyard, Crux, Ale Apothecary, 10 Barrel, etc. do some nice hiking. Then the long drive down to San Fran area doing Bear Republic, Russian River, Lagunitas, Rare Barrel in 2 days. Fly out of San Fran home.