A friend and myself are planning a trip that will take us to microbreweries in different states. We will start out in St. Louis and travel through Nashville and Little Rock then on to Dallas and OKC. Sure, I can find microbrews on google, but I was hopIng some locals could give me some suggestions on the places with the best beer. Food suggestions would help too. Any info is appreciated, Adam
For the Dallas-area definitely check out Rahr & Son's in the Fort Worth area http://rahrbrewing.com/ ... they do tours Wednesdays and Saturdays. There are also some fantastic bars in Dallas. I'd recommend The Common Table & The Meddlesome Moth. If you're driving so far anyways, you might as well swing down here to Austin. Lots of breweries down here. Austin Beerworks, Jester King, Independence, (512), Thirsty Planet, Circle, Real Ale, Adelbert's, South Austin Brewing, Rogness, Live Oak... to name a few
I agree with Lutter about The Common Table and Meddlesome Moth, solid selections and the Moth's food is top tier. But as far as atmosphere goes, Gingerman is my favorite and worth checking out. Super relaxed and zero pretentiousness, good jukebox, and an almost overwhelming variety (if there is such a thing.) Have fun on your trip man, very cool idea!
Drove through TN not long ago and was looking for the same thing and it was very slim pickings through there in AR...I believe the laws in TN prevent them from receiving a ton of great beers. If I was starting in STL, I'd head through WI, MI, IN, OH, and PA before heading south. There's some very good places here in TX, but overall there isn't the quality or the proximity you'd find through the mideast and great lakes region on a trip through TN and AR. The only thing with STL is that you probably get a number of better breweries (Founders, for sure) from that region already and want to find things you don't see on shelves.
I don't really see how your trip would work out. If you come to TX, most breweries are only open on Fri or Sat, and the very limited which means you would just be at beer bars. If you go to Nashville, there are two breweries next to each other with tap rooms - Yazoo and Jackalope. They are open most days. There are also two brewpubs in the downtown area. I would just recommend driving to Asheville from there. It'll be a prettier drive and there are A LOT of breweries there with tap rooms open daily. I just got back from a Nashville/Asheville trip with the sole purpose of drinking beer. It is a much better option. Until the TX brewery laws change, it is going to be hard to do an Austin brewery tour like that.
