New England Beer Tour

A brewery not mentioned in this thread was Foam Brewers in Burlington VT. Honestly its a small place but beer is great there. Also right on Lake Champlain, the view is gorgeous in the summer.

Allagash is great, a fun tour, brewery is really nice. I'd recommend a stop in Portsmouth NH and hit up Portsmouth Brewing Company. Local favorite of mine, was the genesis of Smuttynose, food is great, atmosphere there is so damned cool (IMO at least). Actually, the city of Portsmouth is great in general.

Personally had a great time doing the Harpoon tour in Boston, pretty in depth, staff was knowledgable, good times in general.

And recently have done a newer place in NH called called Great North Brewing. IMO the beer is super solid there, wasn't too busy when I went. Low key spot to have some pints if you are in the area.

 

Definitely swing into Castle Island if you're going to Trillium. It's about 5 miles away and their product is much easier to come by and cheaper, but still a high quality beer.

 

Also as cliché as it may sound Sam Adams is a fun way to kill 45 minutes. Sometimes you get lucky and they have something unreleased on tap. Key is at the end of the tour have your group sit a little away from the rest of the tour, you usually wind up with your own pitcher.

 

Welcome to New England (make sure you bring your hat and gloves). If you are driving up, I'm sure you would have no problem finding lots of trades if you pack every last nook and crany of your car with some good beers from the South.

 

Welcome. I say go to Hill Farm or Portland (Bissell, Austin Street, Oxbow, Foundation). If youre going to be in the Hart beat, thats close enough to go to Treehouse or Nebco after work.

 

Even stopping in NJ for Carton could be pretty productive.

 

Welcome to CT. All previous posts are on point. That being said, assuming you are here for the foreseeable future, might as well check out CT breweries first. Do yourself a favor and ease in. Mild winter so far but that can change at the drop of a hat. Being from the South, you need just trust me. Check out some CT breweries (no order as I know not exactly which styles spark you). NEBCO, Beer'd, Hanging Hills, OEC, Relic, Two Roads, Kent Falls. Two new "hot spots" are Lasting Brass and Fat Orange Cat (might be closed for winter). Also, just hit some package stores. My brother in law lives in St. Simon's. Admittedly, distribution is much better in Hotlanta but I am still aware of relative availability in GA. Overlap is, relatively speaking, rather insignificant. Have fun, experiment, enjoy.

 

Once you move up here, you've got lots of time to visit breweries and taste great stuff. No rush. It shouldn't be a chore or a job. Hell, I wouldn't try to hit many of these places until it warms up.

 

I was finally able to check out Forest City in Middletown this weekend, tried both of their Hazegiving IPA and Exp2 which I think is a pale ale. Extremely impressed by both of them, no wonder they run out of beer rather quickly.