Boston or San Diego?

Greensboro Bend? Agree!

 

Good point, if you just want to drink great beer finding great Watering holes is the way to go. You could hang out at Blackback or Prohabition Pig in Waterbury, 3 Penny Tap Room in Montpielier. Probably a few in Stowe, but the bottom line is you can get Lawson's and HF in most, Heady on tap at Prohabition Pig, canned HT most anywhere I'd suppose. You can hit Hunger Mountain to bring some home with you and no running in circles or standing in line at HF. That's the Vt part anyway.

 

San Diego

 

Yeah, but if those, only Alpine and Modern Times aren't sitting on store shelves even here in metro Boston. But can the OP get Trillium, Treehouse, Night Shift, Wormtown, Jacks Abby, Hill Farmstead (at Armsby Abby), etc? Doubtful. I don't get any great thrill visiting breweries that have beer I can buy in shops.

 

I travel a lot and San Diego is my favorite beer city and second favorite city in the U.S. Boston is cool but for the kind of trip you're taking, OP, I would say San Diego all day.

 

Trillium has had a host of licensing/permit issues, im sure they try hard to stay on the up and up. I liked Wormtown's set up, but just not into their beer at all...

 

Never been to san diego, but if you really plan it out (which you obviously will) you won't be disappointed by boston. New England beer has never been better, and beer culturewise theyve been ahead of the curve for at least 10ish years.

Foodwise i have to admit, i rarely feel like "damn, the food here in boston blows the food back home (NYC) away!" because it doesn't, but there are gems.

Edit: thread is tl;dr for me, but if you get heavy food recs for san diego I'd say go there. Boston is awesome though.

 

I don't think you'll be disappointed by either. Both have their draws and your preference will depend on what you're looking for. I have a fondness for both of these cities.

 

Last time I was at Neptune Oyster in Boston, they had Harpoon IPA on tap, great lobster rolls and shellfish galore. Great little spot. Sat at the bar with my son and we had a blast!

 

If you go into Boston, there is a ton of awesome spots. Most of the cape will be really quiet since summer is over.

In Boston:

Neptune oyster(classic boston spot)
Row 34 - Amazing beer list, service, and seafood. Also literally next door to Trillium
Island Creek Oysters - Same owner as Row 34, so super high quality seafood and a good beer list to boot

Those would be my top 3. There is a TON of other options though.

 

When in October? There are a few beer festivals/Octoberfests here in Boston in October. Also, so much amazing food and beer locally. If you want, message me and I can give you some more recommendations on stuff to eat/places to get beers.

Cheers man!

 

Where are you staying?

 

Boston, probably, for a well rounded trip. Depends greatly on how you feel about sand I suppose. My wife and I have no use for the beach and that is a big part of what is available to do in Southern California. San Diego has better breweries, but Boston has great beer bars and more to do if you don't want to go to the damn beach all day.

 

San Diego, is there any brewery in Boston that's built like Stone Escondido or Ballast Point in Miramar?

 

San Diego. I just came back from San Diego and I'm ready to move there. Beer scene is amazing, fresh fish, and the weather is perfect.

 

Been to both. San Diego rules if you want great beers (no offense to Clown Shoes)

 

Correct, correct...and correct!

 

Don't try to sell the OP on the big flashy ones....check this out instead!

 

To be fair, so much can happen in a year - TH has gone from their tiny building across the street to a huge production brewery just in the past 12 months. By next year, for all we know the experience could evolve further (Full pours? Automated queue?)