Beercation!

Theres nothing better than a good beercation. I've been on several - next one is in Oct, headed to NC - still working on the details. Being from Jersey and having done 2 VT beer trips recently I know you'll have a blast and enjoy some amazing brews. While in Jersey Kane and Carton are both excellent. I'd also suggest a Magnify/Ramstein/Crickethill stop up in North Jersey. They are close to each other ( Magnify and Crickethill are 5 mins apart ) and have some great brews some of which are only avail at the brewery. Theres also some fantastic craft beer bars nearby, Poor Henrys - the Cloverleaf as well as the Shepherd n the Knucklehead all have great beer lists and excellent grub.
Onto VT. I would strongly suggest that you plan your Heady/Lawsons stops. If you just want to try them you'll be fine as all the bars up there have them but if you want to take a load home plan ahead, don't just think because you'll be in the area you'll score. Thats not the case. Plan my man - check delivery times/dates. If you're staying in VT the best night/bar scene is Waterbury. Stay in town if possible. The Prohibition Pig is a must stop but theres lots more. The center of Waterbury you have the Pro Pig, Reservior Taphouse, Arvads alehouse, the Blackback Pub as well as the craft beer cellar all within walking distance - and a very short walk at that. We hit the Craft beer cellar first, ate at the Pro Pig ( amazing ) then did the bar crawl with the Blackback being our last stop - perfect night.
Oh, before I forget - while in VT don't miss Fiddleheads brewery.
Enjoy -

 

I'm currently on beercation in Auckland, New Zealand. Cheers!

 

The wife and I went to Denver over the 4th of July and had a great time. It wasn't all about beer, but if you stay downtown you can walk to probably 10 brew pubs/breweries. We tried to go to Crooked Stave, but they were closed on the 4th ha

 

Munich.

 

We went to Denver this past spring and hit up a ton of breweries, good town they've got there.

We also made a long weekend out of the VT Brewfest this summer. Tough to beat that one - Burlington is teeming with great beer all weekend long.

 

Gonna be in NYC this labor day weekend. So many great bars, so little time

 

not to worry... long since gone...

 

So................I'm pretty offended that you left out the state of Connecticut. We're here, we're beer, deal with it. You can't get to Massachusetts or Vermont particularly easily without passing through. What do we have in Connecticut? I'm glad you asked! OEC does fantastic sours and New England Brewing does the always delicious Ghandi Bot, among other beers. So since you have to drive through the state anyway, you should check out our beer. We have great Pizza (Frank Pepe's Famous Pizza in New Haven) and gentrification.

 

My wife doesn't drink beer, but she's good about letting me explore local beer on vacation. I'm doing that in Michigan right now. The best experience I had was a couple work trips to Munich. My German colleagues seemed as concerned with ensuring we got to all the good beer spots as they were with getting work done. Turns out you can get a lot of business done at a beer garden over Munich brews and encased meats.

 

Next one is a return pilgrimage to Chicago in late September. Trying to lose weight now to gain it back while there.

 

Asheville is a few hours away and a very fun time. Be back in October

 

Gasp!! Gimmie Dat!

 

One of my best buddies lives in San Francisco so that typically turns into a 4 day beercation! Usually a ride up to Santa Rosa, some stops at Southern Pacific in the Mission, beers at Mikkeller, Monk's Kettle, Rogue..and I do have soft spot in my heart for Joe's at the Cannery on Fishermans Wharf.

Sadly, he now lives way out in Richmond area and just had a baby, so I doubt we'll be hitting up bars every night for a few days next time :/

 

I have Beercations every Friday night on my couch.

 

Agree with earlier post, if you are looking to get Heady and Lawsons to take home, check their delivery days and schedules on each website or headyspotter.com. I stayed in Waterbury on my visit. Got there on a Tuesday afternoon, found Sip of Sunshine at Craft Beer Cellar Tuesday afternoon. Got Heady at Waterbury Village Market Weds morning around 9 am (delivery guy showed up right as I got to the beer section, limit two 4 packs). Heady also hits Waterbury Craft Beer Cellar after lunch on Weds, but I missed this one since was at Hill Farmstead (limits also). I got to Hunger Mtn Co Op at 7 am on Thurs morning (case limit there), was 30th in line, Heady sale started at 8 am. They let 10 or so in at a time, I was in/out with a case by 8:15 am. Wherever you try and find them, plan on arriving early!

 

My wife doesn't drink beer - she quilts. So on our vacations we visit a lot of quilt stores (I sit in the car and read) and hit beer stores and brew pubs. I always try whatever local beers I can find. I usually have one 12 oz low alcohol (say 5%) beer for breakfast (gotta drive), a maximum of two with dinner, and one to two in the evening after we're in for the night. Share the wealth!

 

We spend a month in Portland Oregon every summer and I basically turn it into a beercation...this year I had around 250 different beers (around 200 new to me), hit around 25 breweries and 2 different beer festivals.

 

4 day/three night road trip of New England with @HeavensGoblet and our buddy Bill. Stayed in Boston, Portland, and Burlington. In those 4 days, we hit 13 breweries, and a bunch of great craft bars and restaurants. Awesome trip.

 

My wife and I recently went to Asheville for 4 days for our 34th anniversary and had a great time. We visited many breweries, ate great food, stayed at The Haywood Park Hotel and we'll go back as long as we can. Next up is Charleston, Boston, San Francisco, and next Summer the family (kids 30 and 33) is going to England and Scotland and drive around aimlessly.