Ever vacation just to try a beer?

Yeah, for a state with effed up liquor laws, PA gets crazy good distribution.

 

Piggybacking off of this, I've recently started packing a couple of bombers or a six pack of stuff I can't get back home in my checked luggage. Has anyone run into any problems doing this, either from stuff going missing or breaking?

To answer the original question, yes, I have started researching what beers will be available where I am going, but really my beer-nerdness has coincided with becoming a father, so I"m really not traveling much at the moment.

 

yeah your not kidding! the only issue is having to make 4+ trips to my car just to purchase everything I want haha.

 

You must fly Southwest. I do everything I can to avoid a checked bag. I have brought several liquer items back from the islands in checked bags and only had a problem once with leakage. Lesson learned...put each item in a ziplock and make sure it's burried well in your "soft goods" and you should be fine.

 

oh...come on...none of you find respite in business travel by seeking out craft beer opportunities? Let's hear the best stories .

 

Great to know. I had six fresh Dale's Pale Ales in my suitcase coming back from Denver this last spring, and 3 bombers of Three Floyd's stuff after leaving Chicago for a wedding this summer, both experiences went well but I was curious to see if there were recurring problems for the practice.

I know some friends who basically bring an extra bag to fly home with (I'm assuming Southwest), although I don't think I will ever be doing that.

 

I travel back and forth between TX and MI regularly. I was just picking up some Ballast Point Scuplin this evening and was offered some Dogfish Head 120 from "behind the counter". Not something that I run into often. In fact, I only have one loyal retailer that I can get it from a bottle at a time in GR, MI. I hated to decline...but I only have carry on baggage and don't want to pay the upcharge. I miss the "good old days" when we could smoke on planes and literally ran over the top of people to get of first. We're so damn civilized now .

Back to the DH 120...I will be letting my hophead coworker about the situation . I actually have a couple of them laid down at home and have never opened one. A bit intimidated actually. I seem to be thinking that the longer I let them age, the easier they will be to tame.

 

I went to CA for an 11 day LA to Santa Rosa an back road trip in July. By the end of the second day I had 4 bombers... I actually bought a duffel bag and paid for the extra checked bag just to get my haul back. I lost one Sucaba to breakage but it's the only duplicate I had so, eh, it's ok. I'm going to start traveling for work again and you can bet I'm dragging beers back with me!

 

If they still offer it, I would look into doing the tour at Anchor. Thought the brewhouse was one of the neatest I have seen and, at the time I was there (it has been a few years), they gave you samples of every beer they had on hand. At that time, the tour was only given once a week (Tuesday, IIRC) and you had to reserve a spot. Don't know if it's changed with the new ownership.

 

Absoutely...pack it up

 

Gross but effective tip-on a long trip wrap your dirty clothes around the bottles in your checked bag. They protect it well and you don't care if they wrinkle. The one casualty was in its box that was against the edge of my bag with no stinky protection. Everything else made it perfectly!

 

BTW...ain't it kinda nice to see that Josh H is pretty much still suckin' this year with the Angels?

 

It's more than kind of nice it's freaking awesome! I got to see him go 1 for 4 with an error when I went to the Angels/Red Sox game on 7/5 in Anaheim. I quite enjoyed it.

 

Who has recommendations for Denver? I'm going there over Labor Day weekend. What IPAs or BA beers should I buy? I'm hearing River North Brewery is awesome. Is Great Divide or Avery worth the visit? I'm in Chicago and get ALOT of their beers here. I'm staying at the Hyatt connected to the convention center. Gimme recommendations!

 

Of course, it's always fun to explore new beer.

 

My travels are the main reason I finally joined BA a few years ago. I think the city list here is one of the most complete. I like the mapping feature on (an)other site. I've used them to find amazing beer everywhere I've traveled.

Biggest surprise is probably Cambridge Brewing in MA. Stumbled across it looking for a couple of other places nearby that I found in the database. Whenever I go to Boston, this is a place I always go to now.

Biggest disappointment is "hands down" Tired Hands. Indignant staff, stupid policies, and the beers weren't worth 1/10 of the hype they get. Forest & Main was way more enjoyable in western Philly.

 

Definitely- and this site can be a great resource. This year I went to Italy, and put out feelers on the Europe Board. I got a great recommendation, and had a fantastic time. I even told everyone else on the trip at the outset that I wasn't leaving Rome without visiting Open Baladin at least once!

 

To the best of my knowledge, they were draft only, but that was in March.