Rhode Island Bound!

In reality it's not, but growing up on Aquidneck Island you get this mentality that anything that requires you to cross a bridge is a long distance trip. Now it takes me as long to drive within Dallas as it did the entire state of RI.

 

I get that feeling from the people I work with here.

With that said, Pour Judgment, Noreys, Wharf Pub, and Buskers I thought had really good taps down here, with PJ being my favorite.

 

Rhode Island is lovely but any beer lover moving there from San Diego is likely to be deeply, deeply unfulfilled, and if you doubt that I question whether you've actually been to San Diego. Road trips will help a bit but southern cal is one of the true beer Meccas in this country.

 

You must be a transplant...

 

Born and raised. Had a severe case the Rhode Islanditis when I used to lament my North Providence to Pawtucket commute. Took this job and now any drive under my commute time is so insignifcant.

 

It's been ~ twenty years since I moved here and the Infection gets stronger each year. My wife (Johnstonite) breaks out in a rash if she leaves the state for over 48 hours...

 

When I moved to europe for a year I thought I was cured, came back for the last 3 years and I'm only marginally better than before I left!

 

San Diego to Newport....
Newport is a great drinking town...period... many of the best Pub Pours in Newport have been listed...RI puts u within a 5 hr drive to the mountain top of Breweries Alchemist..Hill Farmstead etc.....Some decent pubs in Providence...Trinity brewhouse in Providence is worth the trip..Malted Barley in Westerly....Liquor stores need to go to Julios in Westborough Mass...Visit Armsby Abbey in Worcester for a great Tap List...Boston is home to many decent craft beer pubs... Enjoy the adventure man...The Weather will not be 70 degrees every day but u will enjoy the diversity the region provides...

 

You know, it isn't like it is a total wasteland. I don't frequent Newport, but it isn't really that far away from some very good breweries like Jacks Abby, Mystic, Tree House, Nebco, etc. and a getaway to Maine would be fun. Not too far from Boston, really, especially if you time around the traffic and hitting up Providence isn't too daunting. Providence is a fun city...great college vibe in places and all the diversity of Boston in a smaller package IMHO. There is plenty of amusement and good brew to be found in the region. Plenty of bottle shops, but you might have to hunt a bit sometimes. Julio's is a great take and there is a Wegmans supermarket right down the road (just check the bottle dates). Wegmans is just a freakin field trip...I find it a blast even without the beer.

Get an EZ pass certainly, but you can escape Newport without going over the big bridge too.

I dunno though...living in Newport, does he have to learn to say "cawfee" and understand that cawfee milk is made only with Autocrat syrup?

 

I went to college near there - in Bristol.
For my 21st birthday we went to a brewpub in Middletown / Newport border. I forget the name, though.
Is it still there (may be a dumb question, but that area is so small, it should be obvious what I;m talking about if it is still there)
In Bristol I did have a store with a pretty good selection of craft beers - though this was mid-90s, so the term was microbrews at the time, lol.
In and around Newport, I would presume you should be able to find a store or 3 that stock everything that comes to Rhode Island, and within a half hour drive, you should be able to get to a Massachusetts store that has almost anything there.
Boston is just over an hour drive from Newport, and there's plenty of stores and brewerys south of Boston you should be able to get to. Yankee, in Swansea and Attleboro, Nikkis, there's a couple decent ones in Norton / Foxboro.

 

Coddington

 

I commute to West Hartford twice per week. It's 90 minutes one way on the best days. Rhode Islanders look at me like I have seven heads when I tell them that I do this. They get this look in their face like they are completely baffled by my situation.

 

Aside from the gas money, I really don't mind. Plus I don't own a house so when my lease is up I am going to try and move closer. Somewhere like Bristol/Warren. 90 minutes does suck but I have a friend who goes from the ass end of Little Compton to Walpole every day, so I know people do it and do it frequently.

 

At least you're covering some ground in that commute. We were in San Diego a few months ago and it took a hour to go like 10 miles....f&#* that !
One of the main reasons we moved to Coventry is because it like 20 minutes to everywhere - beach, woods, downtown, airport, etc.

 

Yeah, it definitely blows, but it's worth it (and like I said, it's only twice per week and actually, it's only twice per week during the academic year).

 

Couldn't disagree more. Newport has Norey's, Pour Judgment, Yesterday's, Coddington Brewery - all with good stuff on tap. Is a 40 minute drive really that bad? You have Track 84 in Warwick (unbelievable selection), Julian's in Providence..terrific bottle shops Yankee Spirits, Bottles, Gasbarro's all in the area. I always find plenty of new stuff to try.

Plus - Vermont isn't too far away. Nice weekend road trip.

 

I never said Newport and/or RI sucks in the beer scene, but come on, the dude's coming from San Diego, he's going to be disappointed. No way what we have competes with San Diego.

 

SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo have a better beer selection than most bars in Rhode Island...

 

Ha ha. The localism and homerism in this thread is hilarious. I mention that our beer scene is nothing special and people are like, "come on man, we're pretty good, don't you know we've got that place on the corner that serves Brooklyn Lager in tulips now." Stop. We're nothing special. It's much better than a lot of other places and it's definitely gotten way better over the years, but compared to other areas we're a non-destination. It's all good, I'm happy with the state of things, but let's not call a Hyundai a Ferrari.

 

You can get most of the great SD brews in RI/MA - Stone, Ballast Point, Alesmith, Green Flash etc. Our local breweries can't compete but at least he'll have new stuff to try for a while.