Beer-cation

I'm considering one through Oregon. The hotel chain I work for (Red Lion) has many properties in Oregon so my wife and I could theoretically spend a pretty good amount of time driving around the state.

In addition I had no idea that Portland was a 2.5-3 hour drive from Seattle. Knowing that I now have zero excuse not to go more often.

 

Best birthday present ever...a weekend of Hopslam, Double Trouble, Hell's Black Intelligencer, Zombie Dust, and Headhunter...

 

Honeymoon in Holland and Belgium, with trips to In de Vrede and St. Bernardus. Paris also but that doesn't count towards the beer. Portland turns itself into a beercation without even trying.

 

If you don't want to rent a car and don't want to spend a fortune on a cab, Portland is your place.

 

You can do Grand Rapids (Founders) and Kalamazoo (Bell's) over a weekend. Both cities have several downtown breweries besides these two that I mentioned, plus several good beer bars in each of the downtown areas that are walkable (a mile or less circle).

 

4-5 days in Oregon: Block 15 (Corvalis), Cascade (Portland), Hair of the Dog (Portland), Green Dragon (Portland), De Garde (Tilamook), Logsdon (Hood River)... Boom.

 

every beer is like a mini vacation

 

Doing an east coast trip in two months. We are leaving from Atlanta and going all the way up the east coast to Vermont and hitting 15 or so breweries along the way. Going stir crazy!,

 

Since my part time job, coaching track, has me traveling all over the US, I use that as a chance to try local stuff. The distance coach and I have enjoyed some great stuff, from FL to NY to VA to OR and parts between.

 

Portland is the answer if you want to forgo the car, you can get from the Airport to city without a cab and there are LOTS of great beer points of interest within easy walking/bus/metro. then when you leave, you can stock up on beer at the airport AFTER security. I don't know of anywhere else that can do this.

 

We did Seattle the last few years in September for the hop harvest. Took the train from the airport to the center of town. Stayed next to the public market. Pike was the "home" brewery for a quick brew. Had a few pleasant surprises there (stout, fresh hop). Never needed a car. Walked (a lot), water taxi, and a few buses to visit Elysian (downtown & fields), pyramid, hales, fremont, elliiot bay, rock bottom/gordon biersch (not planned, but was on a walk route), bainbridge (long walk after a water taxi), and a few others. Also have some other local brews (some cask) at area bars. The Seattle public transportation makes it easy to visit a lot of places. This year's trip will be split between Seattle then a car to do Portland.

 

Asheville, NC is a town we just got back from and there's some great beer places there. Wicked Weed, Green man, Hi-Wire, etc, etc... great vacation place. In the hills and beautiful area.

 

Ohio has outstanding IPA's, as in really outstanding.

 

I second Asheville. Bruisin' Ales carries so many great bottles for good prices, the Weinhaus has a good selection too, it's just not as big. The Thirsty Monk has an incredible tap selection. There are several breweries within walking distance there. Just outside of Asheville, Oskar Blues has a brewery in Brevard, and in between Brevard & Asheville is where the new Sierra Nevada brewery is located (Mills River).

edit: also, the food is incredible.

 

Every beer should be a vacation.

 

some of my favorites:
1. coastal maine & vermont: allagash, oxbow, hill farmstead, lost nation, lawsons & heady.
2. grand rapids & kalamazoo: founders, oddside, bells, perrin. you can even do trips to dark horse, arcadia, and greenbush
3. sonoma: russian river, lagunitas, bear republic.

i love vacations.

 

We are staying at the state park near Waterbury. My only concern is getting from downtown to the park. Bringing bikes, don't know how that is going to work out. I am a firm believer in starting early and quitting early.

 

One of our fellow BA members recently visited Seattle and Portland (2 1/2 hrs) over a 6 day stay. They were from MN. They visited breweries and bottles shops. Had a great time. We met for beer/dinner at Hotd and also hit Apex. Enjoy getting together with fellow BA folks.

 

Portland is always a great beercation.

Eugene is pretty sweet too. Ended up stumbling into a hostel in the whiteacre neighborhood only to find out it was the middle of a street festival and 4 breweries were within a 5 minute walk.

bend is probably the best for incorporating an actual vacation for families. great brew pubs and lots of family activities such as skiing, rafting, biking, hiking, etc.

pretty much, if it's a beercation just go somewhere in oregon and call it good. lol