Distance for beer

I keep telling my husband we need to take a family vacation to Vermont. My strategy has failed so far. Child and spouse gave me the fried-weasel-and-cheese look any time I mention anyplace further than Birmingham AL. or the TN. state line.


Husband: "Vermont?! What the hell is in Vermont? Like, Cows?"
Daughter: "But Mommy, you wouldn't even go to the beach! You hate the car!"

...
This is true. I would travel more if I enjoyed boredom, discomfort and fatigue. I reckon it will take a lifetime to get through every beer in the Tennessee Valley.

 

Me and my buddy just did a 700 mile roundtrip(11 hours) to Russian River, it was so worth it considering the area I live in doesn't get great distro. Will be doing this many more times!

 

196 to Hill Farmstead, but it was part of a long weekend. About the same for Maine Beer Company, also an overnight.

 

75 miles each just to check out a Beer Store that opened in the area! It was an impulse, but a good one!

Today I drove over 60 miles off my path to visit breweries and beer stores, getting some brews to have for trades.

 

It's 47 miles from the Mojave Walrus Sanctuary to the closest bottle shop with a good selection of Beers.

 

I've been doing about 90 miles out to Tree House once a week recently. If it weren't so pretty there I would never do it, but I really enjoy the change in scenery. One of these weeks I will make a run up to Hill Farmstead or the Warren Store, but those are longer drives and harder to get motivated for.

 

I've done several UK road trips visiting breweries, collecting new bottles of beer as I go. But I've always had another reason for the trip, like this April for a wedding in the Lake District in the north of England.
But it does take 5-8hrs on a car ferry from my island, Jersey, to just get to the UK. I really went to town filling the car up with beer- final total was 125 different bottles from many different breweries I visited over the 1200 mile round trip all in the wife's Mini Cooper. I got her to fly there and back just so I could maximise the space!
Next trip might well be a sole beer venture, to Belgium.

 

It's about 25 miles to a really nice bottle shop that I frequent.
I also walked about 70 blocks total from my hotel to Good Beer and back in Manhattan, which honestly probably wasn't worth it.

Kinda sorta counts:
I just got back from a 580 mile round-trip to Pittsburgh visiting friends where the beer available over there played a major factor in me going.

 

Not all that far. About 20 miles or so, one way, to get to Deschutes Tap Night at the Red Cow in Minneapolis, last April. Might go the 30 or so to get to Casanova's in WI so I can buy beer on a Sunday (and get some New Glarus) sometime in the future.

 

I hope you are employer is not on beer advocate !

 

I did the same thing once in Alabama. It was only after checking in that I inquired as to where I could get a beer. The clerk looked at me and said "Honey, you're in the middle of a dry county. Go 35 miles whichever direction you like and you'll find beer." And I too have never made that mistake again.

 

If it's something you really want and you can spin it into a little road trip then I say 130 miles is highly reasonable.

I'll be making the 3ish hour drive for Heady Topper in a couple of weekends if that helps!

 

584 miles. Each year we drive to Colorado to go camping, but technically it's a huge beer run.

 

I've driven about 160 miles round trip into Central PA to pick up several cases of beer. Every beer drinking deserves a road trip. Next year I'm driving back from the Midwest with a trunk load of beer! Can't exactly haul 2 cases and 5 sixers on a plane. Bootleggin' all the way!

 

Made the 7 hour drive HF a few times, grabbing all of the vermont brews I can in the process. Also, I've driven to DFH brewery a few times, usually for events(vinyl swap is my favorite) that they run but I always bring a lot back with me when I go. And I've driven to CT for gandhi-bot and other stuff I can't get locally a couple times, that was only about 110 miles or so. I guess the gist of this is that 130 miles for zombie dust is nothing and I would personally make that trip once a month if it were that close.

 

before we had Totalwine and others, I used to drive to Orlando about 3 times a year. Our selection's of Belgian's was really poor. Ironically ABC used to carry Orval. and sell them as singles. Euro street had some but prices sucked. So we get in car and spend 200 bucks in Orlando and make a day of it.

We also been to Asheville, Charleston, Savannah, just for a day (or weekend) trip. Did not do it just to go pick up 1 beer though.

 

We'll I suppose the answer could be going to Waterbury Vt from Nc on a beer run. My son is stationed in Watertown Ny, and we obviously stop and see the girls for a few days, primary reason to drive that far. Secondary trip into Vt, maybe 5-6 hours drive all told, via Montreal. Love Waterbury area, we stay 2 days or so fill up the trunk full of beer, and it's a long drive from Waterbury Vt to Burlington Nc. Little side trip a week or so ago to Charlotte for some HDR, maybe 4 hr round trip.

 

Did a 1550 round trip trek to go to the KBS release back in march. Also visited my parents in Indiana/FFF and my sister in Chicago/Goose Island on that same trip. My wife took me from Atlanta to Gainesville, FL on fathers day this year because there was a KBS tapping. Drove down friday, drove back saturday. Crazy to think this year i have been almost as far north and almost as far south as i could go to drink KBS. I guess i like KBS.

 

Back in the day, and before Smokey and the Bandit, my girlfriend and I drove from Greensboro to Dallas to pick up 50 cases of Coors. This was before the delicious "Banquet" nectar was distributed east of The Mississippi. We didn't know any better, but we sure had fun.

 

Was it worth the trip? I have family that lives about an hour from Hill Farm. Thought about going but heard that the lines are crazy. I don't mind long drives, despise standing in lines.