Southeast PA Visit - recommendations

TJ's in Paoli is incredible, as is the Flying Pig in Malvern.

 

Also, if you're going to Victory there is a nice bar in Downingtown called The Station Taproom... literally right across the street from the train station, on the north side.

 

Station Taproom is a good rec. when you're in Victory's neck of the woods, check website for fairly-regularly updated tap list... they've got a good bottle selection too

When you're in Tired Hands area, TJ's/Pig/Teresa's are good visits, and if you want to do some shopping hit up WF Devon and the newly opened Beer Store Malvern. Enjoy your day trip!

 

I think Forest and Main's beers are awesome. But their beers are basically split between traditional English and Belgian styles, so check out their taplist to make sure they are the kind of beers you would enjoy.

Where exactly are you staying? That might help narrow things a bit, because with traffic, the area described as "SEPA" can take some time to cover. For instance, some one might suggest Weyerbacher, but that's like a 1.5 hour drive from Victory.

 

If OP is planning to visit Victory and Tired Hands as their 'musts', that's definitely enough for a day trip between the two areas. I commute back and forth between the two for work...
Two breweries, a few bars, maybe a little bottle shopping is a full day already...

 

Forest and Main
Capones
Whole Foods Plymouth Meeting
Beer Yard

 

How is that any different than what Tired Hands does? (eg splitting between saisons and hoppy beers)

 

I'm not sure how much you'll be able to get to. Victory and most of the bars mentioned here have day hours but Tired Hands and Forest & Main don't open until 4pm on weekdays. If you can make it to both of those places I highly suggest making the trek.

 

I've never been to Tired Hands, so I dunno.

Between the couple of times I've been to Forest and Main - they've had great English style dark beers - Porter (Isis), Stout (Queen Anne), Export Stout (Rocket Bird), Barleywine (Omphalos). I think they were all from hand-drawn cask as well. I loved them, but it's not everyone's cup of tea.

 

If you are looking for any specific beer or a beer list prior to going to any bar, be sure to visit www.phillytapfinder.com

I travel a lot for work, but live in Philly. I wish every city had a site this well organized. I use it all the time to plan my nights out.

 

Be aware that weekday traffic can be a bear in this area. Trying to go from TH to F&M in the afternoon and early evening could be a nightmare. Much as I like EBB, Barren Hill, Capone's and F&M, I think your best bet is the Route 30 corridor. Station Taproom, Victory, MacKenzie's, Flying Pig, TJ's, Whole Foods Devon, Teresa's, Beeryard, Tired Hands are all on or close to 30. There's also the new bottles shops in Malvern and Ardmore, plus the Greeks in Narberth, but I haven't been to any of those.

There's also the option of parking at one of the stations and taking the R5 Paoli Thorndale train line. With the exception of Victory and MacKenzie's, all the places I listed are very close to the stations, in some cases across the street or a block or two.