Ever vacation just to try a beer?

Blimey! A few more details please. What states did you visit?

 

No, but I do often add an extra half day or so to my business trips to facilitate a brewery visit. Surly is up next.

 

I have made a small few to Minnesota and Indiana, but I am in the early stages of planning trips like this to California (traveling through Colorado on the way), Vermont, Michigan, and, years down the road, Belgium/Germany. Words can't express how amped I am to get on the road, even if it is in the somewhat distant future. Of course beer is just the impetus for these journeys, though since I seldom plan out vacations entirely, I don't know what else I'll be doing besides searching for great food as well; I like to keep it impromptu.

Beer pilgrimages are the best; I highly recommend taking one if any of you haven't. There's something so relaxing knowing all you're moving towards is a relaxing, delicious beer, and being on breweries you've admired for some time really feels like a religious experience, like standing on hallowed ground.

I think I may take beer too seriously.

 

I try my best to pick a place that the wife will enjoy and that has good beer spots for me included.

Last year we went to Traverse City. She has lots to do and I had lots of beer destinations to hit that kept me happy between Shorts/Jolly Pumpkin/Right Brain. It also helps that TC is just flat out a great place.

Did the same thing with Colorado. I think I'm being sneak with my vacation suggestions, but my wife knows what I'm up to. I can't get her into beer much though. If it comes from Belgium and costs more than 20$ a bottle she probably likes it, outside of that I'm no so lucky.

 

Nah not too seriously at all. My 1st trip to Waterbury it was last October it was 17 degrees outside and spitting a little now and was inside Prohibition Pig sipping on my first HT on tap. Really quite an experince, and at Black Back Pub everyone in the bar was a BA guy, one couple was from Coastal NC, Beer me fitz was in from Chicago, really very cool.

 

OF COURSE!

 

I only hope my own trip to VT will be so awesome. I actually plan to go this winter, so here's hoping its a winter wonderland (that I can still drive in).

 

This is a serious question, right?
Center your trip around a beer event or brewery you really want to go to and build around it from there.
No reason you can't tour Alcatraz in SFO just because you just traveled 1k miles to attend the PtY release (one personal example of many)

 

I would consider a trip to Stowe,VT in the winter but can you get to HF? My wife has informed me we are going to Maui next year and it has nothing to do with the brewery.

 

HF could be a bitch the last few miles are on an unpaved road, bring a GPS.

 

Spent the 2 weeks I had off this summer going to Vermont to try out HT-HF-Lawson's. Then dropped off the haul at home only to fly to Portland shortly thereafter to go to the Brewer's Festival and visit some breweries.

 

Location to me trumps beer. RR is excellent, but so is the region. SF, sonoma coast, etc. Would you fly to Oklahoma for a Prairie release?

 

My wife and I went to Vermont to do a half marathon, but the whole point of the trip was to go to The Alchemist. She's not into the craft beer as much as me but she's a good sport when it comes to traveling to beer destinations. We stayed in Burlington which is a nice little city, plus Hills Farmstead is about 20 minutes north of the Alchemist. I regret not going there at the time, I didn't realize what a good brewery they are, and if you're into trading they have a lot of stuff that is in demand. I plan on making the 6 hour drive to The Alchemist when they go back to the 6 case limit rather than the 2 that is currently in effect. This will be the second year that we are going to Dogfish Head in September for a 10K run followed by lots of beer. Whatever you decide, enjoy! Oh, if you go to Waterbury visit the Prohibition Pig, nice bar/restaurant with a good beer/bourbon selection.

 

Ha! You came up with a ridiculous example to disprove my point why exactly?
The places I've chosen that's never been an issue. As when attending Surlyfest last year or visiting New Glarus and Toppling Goliath now, as we speak. Besides you made my point for me. Those places you mention are what makes it stand out and be much more than just PtY.

 

My daughter played in AAU and USJN basketball tournaments all summer so most of my "vacation" time and money was spent doing that but I did what any respectable BA would do and exploited my surroundings.When she played in Champaign,IL I went to Destihl and also grabbed some Two Brother's Sidekick and AleSmith Speedway Stout.Chicago tournament yielded Revolution's Anti-Hero IPA(possibly the coolest beer can ever)and Arctic Panzer Wolf and when she played in Wisconsin it was New Glarus Black Top,Oskar Blues Gubna and Weyerbacher Double Simcoe.I was also planning on hitting Upland but her team decided not to make the Indy trip.

 

Drove from Michigans UP to Tampa last winter for RareR DOS release. Hit 43 breweries/beer bars on the way and back. Spent three days crushing Jai Alai out of the can on the Gulf Coast...
That is definitely a beer vacation.

 

Enjoy your vacation. I would love to check out both breweries you are visiting, your trip seems more like a brew focused vacation than the bay area. I can see going to Portland or Seattle for vacations and love their beer scenes, but they are kick ass towns to explore. I use Prairie as an example cause they are my favorite new artist in the beer game but doubt i will ever drink from the source. I will go to Santa Cruz to drink Sainte Andrairus ales, or check out breweries in SD but don't see myself going much farther than mentioned areas.

 

One can travel, experience the local history, sights, culture, food and drink. Been doing it for a long time.

 

NY, MA, MO, TX, NM, OR, WA.

NY/MA was a leisurely kind of pace at various bars, 1 brew pub in MA (Opa Opa) plus a meet the brewers event which yeilded plenty of samples when I was in MA.

MO and NM I must confess were transfers at the airport although I managed a pint at both St Louis and Albequerque airports so can say I've had a beer in those states

TX was in the form of Heuston and the usual joints that top the bar lists: - Ginger Man, Flying Saucer and the Hay Merchant.

Then onto Portland where the real work began. Various haunts in PDX such as Cascade, Green Dragon, Gigantic, HOTD, Upright, The Commons, Lucky Lab, Laurelwood, various tap rooms and others I cant remember

An overnight trip to Bend taking in pretty much all Bend has to offer then on the way back to PDX we skirted Hood River hitting Solera, Everybodys, pFriem, Walking Man, plus a few others.

Throw in a few tastings and a session in Washington before flying home and hay presto !

It was hard work !

 

I'd like to do a few night trip to Asheville NC. Supposed to be a great craft beer destination along with all the other things to see and do there. For sure visit the new Oskar Blues and Sierra Nevada breweries.