What breweries should I hit?

Aslin in Northern Virginia (you can buy beer to go, but no taproom when I stopped in in January). Tired Hands outside of Philadelphia. I believe there's a place called The Alementary in Hackensack, NJ. New England Brewing Company outside of New Haven.

I don't have a beard at the moment but happy to make some suggestions.

 

Is there particular styles of beer you like (or dislike) that you'd be looking for? Might help narrow down suggestions

 

Just about 30 minutes from Boston is Jack's Abby - I think its a must visit if you happen to like lagers. Barrier in Long Island is my favorite NY brewery by far but it might be a little out of your way.
I really want to go to Yards next time I'm in Philly.

 

I had a little fun with this and tried to find a somewhat direct route from Virginia to Massachusetts with the final destination being Trillium, unfortunately, Google Maps only allows you to enter 10 destinations. Lol.

Based on that, you can do something like this:

Aslin Beer Company
Tired Hands Brewing
Neshaminy Creek Brewing
Kane Brewing
Other Half
Finback Brewery (this would be a slight detour)
Singlecut
Equilibrium (this would be a slight detour)
New England Brewing Company
Tree House
Trillium

I'm sure there are plenty of other breweries on the way that I've missed. Cheers!

 

Most Neshaminy creek cans can be purchased in stores, so I wouldn't call it a must visit. Go to Tired Hands if you like IPAs and saisons. Forrest and Main if you like English bitters

 

Define slight detour. Haha. I would say Kane, OH, Finback, Singlecut and Equilibrium are all significant detours.

 

Haha - he mentioned NYC, so if you google maps Neshaminy to Kane, it's on the way into NYC. I'd say Equilibrium is the biggest detour. He could skip Finback from OH and go to LIC Beer Project to Singlecut as an option. Again, just having a little fun with this.

 

If you hit up Kane, could be worth making a trip to Carton as well. They're only about 25 minutes apart.

 

I concur with both tired Hands and Forest and Main on you way through PA.
On the way between Neshaminy and Kane/Carton, look for Troon and or Conclave in New Jersey. Both are well worth the time.
Just check out the hours that everyone is open. I'd hate for you to make a detour on a Tuesday only to find out somebody isn't open until Thursday night.

 

If you happen to be going through Richmond, VA The Answer brewpub and Veil Brewing are just 2.5 miles apart and the Answer has great Asian cuisine.

Also, seeing as how Yards in Philly was mentioned I'd check to see that the new brewery has opened before you stop by (they're moving).

And if you're going to Neshaminy Creek, Broken Goblet is just 2 miles aways and has been doing some interesting stuff.

 

If you are really willing to get off track a bit, go to Gettysburg and then check out Pizza Boy and/or Troeg's.

Also, Appomattox Court House isn't too far from Richmond (maybe 45 minutes) if I remember correctly. Or maybe it was Monticello. One of the two.

 

Surprised no one has mentioned treehouse. Get on i91 in new haven, go to treehouse,take i90 to Boston. Totally worth the detour imo.

 

Looks like it was mentioned. Sorry. You should go to treehouse.

 

Between DC and Philly you can hit a few easily accessible ones in the Baltimore area. Manor Hill is about 20 mins south of Baltimore(requires a reservation on their website because of their small tap room), Diamondback is right off of I-95, Union is on the north side of Baltimore

 

If you're timing works out to be at Neshaminy Creek around a meal time, a little north of that is Vault Brewing in Yardley, PA. Cool place, good food and solid beers.

Your path after that into NJ really depends on day of the week and time of day, but the Kane/Carton combo would be great. I don't think I'd consider that route normally, but if I was a beer tourist I would. Both have Thurs-Sunday hours.

You mentioned college campuses, so I'll throw in that Princeton is sort of along that route. Triumph Brewing is across the street from the campus, food is good, beer is average, prices are a bit on the high side.