Beer-cation

humm nothing here beats anything u get there sadly., CCB is good, but its not that good IMHO.
we got lots of hop bombs here, which frankly I do not enjoy...

 

Just got back from a trip to SoCal with my son (aka 'designated driver') that included stops at:

FW:


Lost Abbey / Port:


Mecca (including tour and dinner):


Karl Strauss:


AleSmith:


Firestone Walker was so good that we drank/ate there on the way home as well.

 

Since you're in Wisconsin, you might want to consider Chicago or Western Michigain. My last beer-cation was in Denver/Fort Collins, Colorado and I have few more coming up in Western Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and then Chicago.

 

Asheville NC. Beautiful little mountain town - the downtown area is a beer and food paradise - about a dozen breweries and who knows how many bars. Wicked Weed is the latest arrival, and they're slaying it, main bar up and a barrel aged & sour bar downstairs. Remarkable food there and everywhere and if you stay downtown, Renaissance or Aloft, you can walk to most everything. The few things you can't get to are a short cab ride away.

 

Throw in Bend and that's about 2 dozen breweries easy.

 

What is Mecca?

 

Stone; so arrogant they don't even have their name anywhere. Guess you know where you're going if you're going there!

 

I second (3rd, 4th, 5th?) Portland. I live in So Cal and while I believe the overall quality and quantity of beers within a 60 mile radius of where I live is unsurpassed, getting around is a major hassle (freeways, etc.). Portland, on the other hand, had tons of places you can walk to and the entire city had a very beer--centric vibe. Tons of great restaurants with awesome taplists, not to mention world class breweries all within walking distance (Hair of the Dog, Cascade, Upright, etc.). Highly recommended.

 

Denver and surrounding area (Boulder, Fort Collins, Longmont...) If you don't want to drive at all, stay in downtown Denver close to 16th Street Mall/Lodo area. But you'll want to see some of the natural sights. Take the drive up to Mount Evans. It's a 14er that is worth the drive up.

 

Go to Portland. Either of them will work.

 

Headed to Vermont in the next three weeks. Can't wait for my first HF experience.

 

Hi! Here's some pictures from my latest beercation (I apologize in advance for the picture quality...)

The moment you enter through the door, you're greeted by a familiar image (those who've visited their website might recognize this)



Those of you familiar with the history of the brewery and their ties with Korbel may understand the significance of this next picture:



Most of our evening was spent feasting our eyes on these:



For which you have to get these guys' attention -- I swear even if I were Megan Fox naked they probably would have ignored me for a good while.



Getting a table at the brewpub is usually an ordeal to itself, so we packed up all our purchases, loaded the car and came back to the brewery while we waited for our seats. Once I got a text from the brewpub saying our seats were ready we claimed our spot on the hallowed benches and started off with one of these:



I tease, I tease. This was the main event:



If you guys ever end up at the brewpub, do yourselves a favor and get the Pliny Bites. They are to die for. Happy Beercationing!

 

Oh, those Pliny bites were so good. Also, get a shirt. Just do it. You'll want it and you'll be pissed if you don't go for it.

 

Have some tentative plans for Germany and San Francisco, have some details scoped out for hiking around Bend and the like, and a return for Minneapolis and perhaps a 2 1/2 drive from there to see what all the hubbub if any is about Peducah Iowa .