Driving to Seattle

I think this is good advice, as in my experience, there really isn't much that would qualify as "great" along I-5, until you get to Oregon. Once you get there however...

Just north of Ashland is the Caldera brewery/brewpub, and I would recommend a stop there. They have a lot of "brewery only" beers on tap here (hell, they have a lot of beers on tap period - I think the number was just over 30 last time I was there), and quality is pretty high across the board (definitely try the coconut chocolate porter if you have a chance). Food is pretty decent as well, so this would make a great lunch or snack stop.

From there the next town you want to stop at for great beer is Eugene. I'm not sure any of the breweries here compare favorably with RR (just for example), but places like Oakshire, Ninkasi, Falling Sky, Agrarian, Hop Valley, Sam Bond, etc., should at least keep you interested and busy. The Bier Stein tap house and bottle shop is definitely world class (I would argue), with an outstanding bottle selection and a generally more than solid tap selection. Food is decent here as well. The 16 tons taphouse is also worth a visit (skip the 16 tons cafe), with again, a very good bottle selection (huge selection of Logsdon and Cascade bottles, and a decent selection of Upright stuff) and a usually very solid tap selection. They don't serve food at the tap house, but as is fairly typical at such places in Oregon, you're free to bring in anything you want to eat while there, or you can order from one of the nearby restaurants and have it brought in. You're not in California any more, so bring a growler along, and get a fill at either bier stein or 16 tons, or one of the numerous growler stations in town (growler guys, tap and growler, growler nation, steel pail, growlerl U, etc.). Doesn't matter what logo is on your growler, they'll fill it for you. Didn't bring a growler? Then go instead to the Growler Underground over in Sprinfield (Eugene is on the West side of I-5, and Springfield is on the East side), where they'll throw in a free growler jar with every fill. Also, most places keep their online tap menu up to date (bier steins list is in real time), so it's easy enough to check to see what's on hand before venturing over to get a growler fill of notorious or hop venon at growler nation. I would also add that prices will likely seem pretty cheap in Oregon after California, and remember, Oregon has no sales tax.

If you didn't get your fill of great growler stations in Eugene, don't worry. b2 in Salem is outstanding, or you can wait till you hit the mother lode (at least when it comes to craft beer) up in Portland. I won't begin to try to tell you where to go in PDX, because 1) there are too many to recommend and/or list; 2) I'm lazy; and 3) it's already been taken care of for you:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/visiting-portland-winter-2015-update.243817/

After you stagger and wobble your way out of Portland, there's not a whole lot more to recommend until you get up to the Puget Sound area. However, I would recommend the Eastside Club tavern in Olympia (cash only, but they have a huge tap selection and really low prices), and then of course places like Pint Defiance (grower station/tap house, but with an impressive bottles to go selection), Engine house Number 9 (the legendary E9), the newly refurbished and upgraded Red Hot (just across the street from the E9, for your one stop shopping and drinking needs), and of course the Parkway Tavern, all in Tacoma. Bottle selection at Pint Defiance not good enough for you? Never fear, Federal Way is just up the road a bit, which is home to arguably Washington's best bottle shop (they do growler fills as well), 99 botlles.

After that, you're no more than a half hour from Seattle. As for recommendations there, see my Portland comments.... but also be sure to take a look at this as well:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/visiting-seattle-winter-2015-update.244972/


Just one warning and caveat Vivified... after your trip up to the NW, you will not want to go home. Trust me on that.

Cheers!

 

It's your call, but seeing as how you asked to have it moved, I'll be happy to do that. You're much more likely to get a lot more responses that way.

 

I'm not opposed to the idea, but it means someone will need to maintain it. For the Seattle and PDX threads, there are enough folks coming from outside the area, that those threads are constantly getting bumped up with questions, comments or observations from folks visiting the area. As a result, the post/thread always stays fairly current (listed on the current regional post page). In the case of an I-5 corridor info post, questions on places to go come up far less frequently. Consequently, I've just saved a basic information post in my email box, which I cut and paste into a new thread any time someone comes up from out of the area, and asks for area information. I typically have to update the basic information a bit each time a request is made, but that's not much of a problem, especially as requests for information don't come up all that often.

Just my opinion of course (I'm happy to create a semi-permanent post/thread if there's a perceived need), but that's my take on the creation of another area information post at this point. I just don't think there'd be enough interest to keep it active.