Beercations

My wife's job takes her out of town about one weekend a month. I tag along and either hit
bottle shops or a brewery if possible. April is Surly. May will likely be TG

 

Last two days i took off of work i drove 4 hours to chicago, first time scored two cases of Zombie Dust and a few growlers of Half Acre Navaja & Space. Totally worth it. A few weeks ago tried again, ...instead of going to Toppling Goliath, I got no ZD and missed out on King Sue & Morning Delight. Still worth it, but i kind of feel sick about missing out on those two jewels. I had been watching tg's website up until the 6th when they announced that they were tapping that keg of MD, but got sidetracked somehow the next two days. Woe is me.

 

Not quite out-of-state (since California is pretty damn big) but my wife and I incorporated a week long beer trip to Northern California last summer around a family reunion. We have done other beercations over long weekends since then and it has totally been worth it. It helps if you can drive as shipping gets pretty expensive. If you are single, get out and do it now. If your loved one likes beer (or you can find distractions/other activities) do it. You will meet other incredible people and run into surprises you won't find at home.

 

I've gone a few beercations, some by myself and some with others. They are defanitely worth it, especially if you go were you really want to go. And aren't stuck doing someone else's itinerary. I've been on a three week vacation up and down the west coast. We stopped at many breweries on the way up to Canada, as well as a few wineries as well. We didn't really have a schedule of things to do, but we knew that there were certain places that we were set on going to. The rest of the trip was kind of just going with our mood, and what we thought would be cool to check out. I've also taken a four day trip by myself to Russian River a couple of years ago. It was one of the best times that I've had. I also have had a few trips just in one day to pick up special released beers, and brewery festivals.

 

I used to do it all the time, but less since marriage. As far as money goes, it is no better or worse than any other vacation. It is way better to spend your money on a vacay than to waste it on trading.

 

I always try to support in-state breweries first on my trips (some trips are just for an in-state pub crawl), but I've visited almost all of the breweries here in Michigan now. So, whenever I travel out-of-state I plan my itinerary for lunch and/or dinner at a brewpub somewhere. It adds a new dimension to the trip (rather than just eating at McDonalds) to go along with whatever tourist attraction might be the reason for the trip in the first place. A trip to Oregon (incl. Washington and Vancouver) is planned for May, and then another trip to Massachusetts and Vermont will happen in June. To answer the question, yes, stopping at breweries is well worth it.

 

We've gone to Europe twice on beercations. Last year we also we up to Wisconsin for a weekend. This year we're flying out to Portland.

 

Though I've never gone of a beercation, I would love to visit San Diego, the Bay Area, Chicago, and Vermont to try some elite beers. Until then, I'll happily embrace the fantastic beer available to me in Michigan.

 

I flew to Tokyo for their Craft Beer scene and I plan to do again this year.

 

We travel a lot for drinking.
Fortunately, we live in Chicago, IL, so we have lots of affordable options nearby. We head to Michigan, which has an awesome scene... Grand Rapids is our favorite, but we've been elsewhere to check out breweries like Dark Horse and Shorts and Paw Paw. Wisconsin also has a lot of good breweries. We've been up to the Milwaukee area. Price-wise? Affordable. Definitely go on an off-peak travel time, cuz, well... you can drink beer anytime. And we also drive. Toronto has a smaller scene, but we've been there too - and booked that trip using miles. And finally, there's Indiana, which is great for a day trip, and it has 3 Floyds! We just recently checked out newly-opened 18th Street Brewery in Indiana, on St. Patty's day.

And when we don't travel out of the state, we also head to local breweries, both within the Chicago city limits and in the suburbs.

The Midwest is a great place for beer. We probably wouldn't be able to afford travel if we couldn't drive to most of these places, but its definitely worth it.

 

I spent three weeks in Tokyo and their beer scene is severely underrated.

 

Almost anywhere in New England is good for vacay and beer...Portland Maine is a wonderful old seaside town with great history and great beer all around.

 

Rent a place for a week every summer on Torch Lake in Bellaire Michigan. Every day we'll make time for Shorts. A couple of times we'll make the half hour ish run to Traverse City for Jolly Pumpkin, Right Brain and the others. Makes for a cool family vacation with great beer too.

 

My wife and I went to Vermont this winter, it was great because it was also a Cheesecation!

 

Denver is a great location for beer cation. YOu have great beer, food, art, can walk most places and just take a cheap cab as well. Also a side note, pot-cation available as well.
California is great for beer but very expensive but also worth it.
I revolve all my vacations around food and beer. My girlfriend loves it as well. You have to be around people who love it too or your beercations will be limited.

 

My wife and i vacation2-3 times a year and yes i always look at beer distro and and amenities for the states we visit

 

My dad and I go on a couple motorcycle road trips a year, we plan where we go almost exclusively on breweries we want to check out

 

Yep! So many great craft beer bars in Tokyo. And tons of local craft breweries that are too small to export out of the country, so you're guaranteed to try something you never had before.

 

Annafest.