30th Birthday - Brewery Trip

Grand Rapids, Michigan.
There's enough Awesome breweries in the city alone.
But you are also shortly away from Dark Horse, Bell's, Odd Side & New Holland.

 

July in Michigan in a house near The Big Lake. Breweries galore. Laid back. It is on my list of things to do!

 

Portland, Oregon. More than enough great beer and great food to keep everyone happy. If you get bored in the city you can always drive out to the coast or the mountains.

 

Chicago is close and awesome. Spend the money on a hotel instead of a house and take public trans where you need to go.

 

Denver, Minneapolis, or up to Chicago or Michigan.

 

An awesome "dilemma" to have! I can't argue with any of the suggestions above. Been to Grand Rapids in mid-February, had an amazing time and wanna go back in the summer. Portland's on my to-go list.

Places I can vouch for:
* Boulder would be a cool place to set up for a few days since you're between Fort Collins and Denver with the Rocky Mountains in your "backyard." Ridiculous.
* The greater Asheville, NC, area.
* (pretty far away from y'all but I can't NOT throw this out) Burlington, VT

Recommendations obviously depend on -- among other things -- how far you want to travel and what else, if anything, you want to do on the trip.

 

I second the greater Asheville area. I just came back from a trip there and it blew my mind just how many breweries there are there and the quality of the brews. The breweries in Asheville proper are pretty close together and traffic is pretty good all things considering. Also, the Sierra Nevada brewery nearby is fantastic!

 

Screw city's, just head to Vermont

 

+1 on Grand Rapids
Our Brewing, right up the street from New Holland, was a really great "discovery" (as in, "Hey, what's this place?" "I dunno but let's pop in.") on our trip to the Grand Rapids area.

 

If you hike then the answer is Colorado. Day hike whenever you want based on skill level and then enjoy some brews. Oscar Blues was amazing and so was Falling Rock and Great Divide. Can't wait to get back out there again.

 

July at the Jersey Shore. Doesn't get much better. Hit up Kane and Carton.
You can split up the week and go down to Rehoboth and hit up Dogfish Head.

 

I did San Diego for my 30th and hit 12 breweries in 2 days. If I did something like that again, it'd be Portland or Michigan. I don't know the Geography of the NE breweries well enough to know if that's remotely practical.

 

Philadelphia has more then enough to satisfy a beer lovers craving of any style beer/bar/brewpub and you are not far from Jersey breweries and the shore and Delaware breweries too! Lots of good music too that time of year.

 

Not really. Unless you want to do one city.

 

My advice is pick a city you have always wanted to go to. Pretty much every major city has a great blend of breweries and craft beer bars.

 

Portland, OR ftw.

 

Lots of places would fit the bill, just depends on what your #1 priority is. For me, if I'm taking a big trip primarily for beer then the only two choices in the U.S. would be Oregon or Vermont.

 

Asheville for sure. With some of the big breweries having a second location there (Oskar Blues, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium is being built right now). And then there are all the local breweries, many within a few blocks of each other: Wicked Weed, Green Man, Burial, Twin Leaf, Hi-Wire, Asheville Brewing Company, Lexington Avenue Brewing, and One World. Also right there downtown and walking distance are Thirsty Monk (fantastic beer bar) and bottle shops like Bruisin Ales and Appalachian Vintner. Other breweries nearby include Pisgah, Highland, Wedge, French Broad, and Altamont.

Asheville in general is a great mountain with great beer and great food.

 

Fly to Boston for the week. Hit up Treehouse, Trillium, Jack's Abby, Night Shift, and Sam Adams (yeah I included them) along with several awesome taprooms. Hell you could even make the journey to Vermont for some heady / sip of sunshine from here on one of your down days.

Did I mention Treehouse??