Beer/Brewery Road trip

Good question. They are definitely a worthy place to visit and should be on anyone's priority visit list.

 

You have to go to Hill Farmstead in Vermont. And while you are in Vermont, you should get some Heady Topper and Lawson's Finest. In my opinion, Vermont is a beer lovers wet dream.

 

San Diego, Portland, Denver, etc...... the list goes on. Everything depends on what things other than beer that you like, where you have been before, what potential weather issues might exist, and how much you like to drive. Take the easy flight to Charlotte (NoDa, Tripel C, Olde Mecklenburg), drive to Asheville (endless options) for some days, to Faunta Flora (Morganton), Olde Hickory (Hickory), Foothills (Winston-Salem), Natty Greenes, (maybe Gibbs will be open by then) in Greensboro plus Bestway on Walker Ave; check out Saxapahaw and the soon to open Haw River Farmhouse Ales (the area is beautiful), check out Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh for the many breweries and great bottle shops. Further east if you like for Mother Earth, Duck Rabbit, Beer Army. The history along the way is alone worth the journey. North Carolina's beer scene is burgeoning and fun!

 

Flights to MDW/ORD are hourly, sixteen hours a day. Rental cars can be expensive/pricey; however, the food, the beer,
and the people make the visit, an enjoyable time. You must leave before one week occupancy; or, you become a resident taxpayer.

 

So I would do a Mid west tour. Go from Michigan to Wisconsin. You could start at either state. That would be the Dream trip.
The hard part is deciding which Breweries to visit. Must for me would be. Kuhnhenn's , Founder's, Bell's, FFF, Pipeworks, New Glarus and last but not least Black Husky, I know they ( B.K. ) doesn't have a tap room I just want do see their brewing set up. There are to many Breweries in between to list them all.

 

I forgot to include this link from the Michigan Beer Guide (michiganbeerguide.com) with my post above. This will help greatly in visualizing your route if you come to west Michigan.
http://digital.zoompubs.com/publication/?i=222820

 

This thread is a lot more fun if you pretend this is The Dating Game and you read every answer as if the person is saying where they would like to take the OP on a beer vacation.

"Bachelor #1. If you could plan any trip to take us on - and it has to be centered around beer - what would it be?"

Answers:

 

Looks like a trip I would love to make. I don't know if you can, but here are other ideas.
Fiddlehead in Vt depending on your route.
tree house in west central mass
trillium in boston and probably a ton more

 

Fly into Chicago and hit up Revolution and Half Acre (Goose Island if something good is on tap). Then rent a car and head northwest. Make a big loop and hit New Glarus, Central Waters, Surly, and Toppling Goliath. You're probably looking a new brewery each night. Figure 5 days.

Or . . extended, hard core version (figure 7-10 days) in this rough order:

Chicago (aforementioned breweries)
New Glarus
over to Toppling Goliath
up to Surly (could probably do TG lunch, Surly dinner!)
head through the UP stopping at Central Waters for lunch, getting across to lower peninsula for the night
lunch next day at Short's (or 7 Monks in Traverse City)
get to Founder's by dinner
spend a couple days in the area hitting up Bell's, New Holland, Saugatuck (and Oddsides because you can)
stop at Three Floyd's on the way back to return your rental car

Boom.

Would be a few miles, but man what a trip. Hmmm . . .

 

Because most of ours don't work anymore. Oh, wait a minute, I thought you said liver.

 

If you're going to Vermont, hit up The Alchemist (or nearby bottle shop/restaurant) for Heady Topper in Waterbury. Also Wolaver's in Middlebury or Three Penny Tap Room in Montpelier, VT

 

You will be driving right by fiddlehead. Magic hat also, but feel free to skip that. If you have time though Magic Hat has a very nice tasting room with ok beers. These are on rte 7 in Burlington. I believe trillium is just south of harpoon by a mile or so (someone closer can correct me if wrong). And tree house is only a few miles from the turn from I90 to I84.

 

San Diego would be my first recommendation, but is probably the priciest beer trip you could take (outside of SF).
Alpine and Societe alone are worth the trip. Too many other breweries to list here. Plus the big boys (Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash, Port/Lost Abbey) to round things out. Plus, they have some of the best bottle shops on California. You'll be flying home with two extra suitcases full of beer, so fly Southwest. If price/travel distance is no object, don't think twice. Go to SD.

My second choice would be a Midwest trip centered in Madison. Take one day to drive to Iowa and hit up Toppling Goliath- this could be coupled into an overnight stay in MSP if you're looking for Minnesota beers. It takes 2-3 days to soak up the beer in and around Madison and Milwaukee, which still leaves you time to hit up Chicago. If you're feeling super adventurous, take the car ferry across Lake Michigan and spend a night in the mitten!

 

Fly to London. Go to the wenlock arms (aka the student union of life) Spend a couple of days. Train to York. Go to every pub in the city. Spend a couple of days. Train to Edinburgh. Go to Kay's or the Guildford or the Oxford. Spend a couple of days and come home.

 

If you're going to Allagash you might as well try and do it late afternoon on a Friday or around noon on a Saturday so you can go to Bissell Brothers, Foundation, and Austin Street which are all in the same building accross the street.

If you're going to Maine Beer Company it would be worth the effort to go nearly an hour further northeast to Oxbow in Newcastle. You can also stop at Ebenezer's Brewpub/Lively Brewing in Brunswick on the way.

If going to Portsmouth, also check out Tributary in Kittery, ME and Stoneface in Newington, NH. Both breweries are about 10 minutes from Portsmouth, though in opposite directions.

If you're going to Harpoon in Boston, Trillium on Congress Street is an absolute must.

 

Oooh, ooooo... ooooo... Pick me! Pick me!


Wait is it dutch?

 

If you're going to stop at Ommegang, you might want to also check out Council Rock which is close by.