I figured I'd post this in Great Lakes subform since most of the states I'll be passing through apply to this group. I'll be flying out to Decorah for the KBBS release, then renting a car and driving back to Charleston WV. I'm looking for suggestions on must-stop breweries, bottle shops & bars along my way. Below is the general route that I've been looking at, but open to suggestions that aren't too far out of the way. Thanks!
18th Street in Indiana in Chicago area half acre Pipeworks(newly opened tap room) revolution Two brothers in Aurora Metal monkey in Romeoville Imperial oak in willowsprings Hailstorm and 350 in Tinley Plus open bottle in Tinley too.
Indianapolis. Breweries: Sun King Flat 12 Black Acre Deviate Bottle Shops: Kahn's Crown Liquors Payless Liquors Big Red Liquors
At the point where you are to turn south in Dayton, reroute to Columbus via 70 East and then to Athens via US 33. This will allow you to make stops at Wolfs Ridge, Hoof Hearted, and Seventh Son in CBus then Jackie O's in Athens. Shouldn't change your ETA too much as US 33 will connect you to 77 South and will be a much better leg than the one currently pictured between Dayton and Charleston, which is full of nothingness.
I'll second Dworker33 with Hailstorm, 350, and Open Bottle. From a convenience standpoint, 350 Brewing and Open bottle are literally right off I-80 and happen to be great spots. Open Bottle keeps a very accurate and up-to-date to date beer menu too, so you can scope them out ahead of time. Enjoy!
Ale Asylum or Karben4 in Madison. 3 Floyds & 18th St. Hammond Chicago is pretty avoidable considering it will take a chunk of time getting off the highway, hitting up various places like Pipeworks(we can recommend this now that they have a storefront!), Off Color, Half Acre, Goose Island, and like 40 other places. Windmill and Devils Trumpet aren't too far from FFF or the turn off down to Indy. Any of the Uplands in/around Indy.
I just noticed that the Goose Island Clybourn/LP Binny's double dip hasn't been mentioned yet. Probably the best place for bottles in the city plus a solid brewpub with a bunch of stuff you don't see in stores. The one caveat is to make sure the pub is open, they're supposed to do a renovation soon. Oh, and obviously 2nd 3 Floyds, Half Acre, Revolution and/or New Glarus (though NG is almost as remote as Decorah).
Depending upon the time of day, I would not recommend going into Chicago. Traffic on the expressways going into the city can be a nightmare at times. Instead, go to a Binny's http://www.binnys.com/ for your Chicago area beers, such as Pipeworks, Revolution, Half Acre, et al. Looking at your route, the Algonquin, Schaumburg, and Oak Brook locations are 3 that would be easily reachable from the expressway. In Wisconsin, pick up some Milwaukee Brewing Co beers, http://mkebrewing.com/. Sasquash, Louie's Demise, and O-Gii are 3 of my favorites. Bulldog Brewing, http://www.bulldogbrewingco.com/, in Whiting, IN, has very good beer and great food. They're a few miles north of I-94, right after you pass from Illinois to Indiana.
I think your biggest decision is whether to go into Chicago or avoid it altogether. Other than that, and depending how much time you have, I'd forget about Indianapolis and swing through NW IN/SW MI stopping at Transient in Bridgman, MI (there's also Tapistry, Greenbush, maybe Haymarket by then, and Burn 'em Brewing near Transient), then east on I-80, south on I-75 to Columbus and Athens.
Tyranena is a short drive out of your way east of madison. They usually have a nice selection of barrel aged stuff on tap and bottles/growlers to go. I would check their Facebook/website when youre in the area and see if theres anything that you think looks interesting. If you went through Milwaukee on your way to chicago instead of rockford it would be right on your way, about 2 minutes off the interstate.
Kind of last minute - but the Topling Goliath site says the release is the 13th or so - so I still have a bit of time to weigh in. Be careful, as many of the brewpubs I'm thinking of on your route have somewhat limited Sunday hours and some are closed on Mondays. It really depends how far out of your way you want to go based on the route you have. Like, if you go farther south along the Mississippi, you'll hit Potosi Brewing, which has fairly pedestrian beers but an really great brewing museum. Then you'd head to Madison via 151. You might not see that detour as worth it. Trying to stick as close to the highway as I can all the way - here's my 2 cents: If you're just going to skirt Madison to get to 90 south, Vintage Brewing is closest to "on your way". Otherwise, you will be detouring into downtown to get to Karben4 and Ale Asylum up north. Likewise you'll travel a good bit towards Milwaukee to get to Tyranena in Lake Mills. That WOULDN'T be out of the way, however, if you decided to go via Milwaukee. Then you could hit Good City and Black Husky, grab a pizza at Pizza Man or Zaffiro's (all admittedly north of your southern turn on 94 but Milwaukee is easier to navigate than Chicago). Third Space and Urban Harvest are very close to the highway and very new - haven't been yet. If you skip Milwaukee and take 90 south, you'll find Pig Minds in Rockford right on your route. I've had some of their beer - not bad - but never been to the brewpub (a friend said it was good). If you go via Milwaukee down 94, Uncle Mike's is right off the highway. It's "just" a beer bar, but they have like 80 taps with a strong WI/midwest focus. Then, Only Child Brewing is right off the highway when you see Great America in Gurnee. If Chicago is essential to you, trying to stick close to the highway (whcih, trust me, isn't saving you much time) I'd hit either Revolution (the brewpub has food). I'd like to say Half Acre, but it's a couple street miles north & east of Revolution. Farther south both Haymarket and Moody Tounge are close to the highway. I agree with others that - at the times brewpubs are open, Chicago traffic is worth avoiding. You could cut a tiny bit west to 355 south and hit (in order and all fairly close to the main drag) Pollyanna (Lemont), Hailstorm ((Tinley Park) and maybe One Trick Pony (Lansing) on your way to 3 Floyds in Munster. After a long dull drive to Indy, you'll find you're either going around to the north or south. North seems a little more on your route so you'll hit Deviate (good beer, nothing else), maybe Upland's Carmel Tap House, then maybe Blackacre. I personally think Sun King is the only possible reason to head downtown and a worthy but time consuming detour to the south would be to Taxman way down in Bargersville. After that, I'm out. Never been to Cincinati (but if you went by way of Lexingon, KY, I'd say stop at Country Boys Brewing). Hope you have a driver for all of this (and one with a little snow/ice experience - it's still a little far off, but the midwest is predicting some snow around the 15th.) Sounds like a fun way to waste a little time, anyway! Enjoy
