Youngstown, Ohio

Vintage Estate is a must visit if you are in the area; massive selection and one of the better beer stores in the country.

 

Only brewery I know of in that area is Rust Belt which is solid

 

Pretty much this.

 

FTFY

 

Same store that marked up regular Oil of Aphrodite to 13.99 and Rum Oil of Aphrodite to 14.99. I'll stay away from now on.

 

Well if you have a little more time to spend dedicated to beer, it would be worth it to do a little traveling. You're going to be around an hour (driving, of course) from Pittsburgh and Cleveland is not much further of a trip. Either way, Fat Heads has locations in both areas, about an hour and 15 minutes from Youngstown. I don't know much about Pittsburgh, but I would assume they have a decent beer scene. Northeast Ohio has great options. I haven't been to many places up there, but The Brew Kettle was great when I visited. Hoppin Frog and Thirsty Dog (both Akron ~an hour from Youngstown) are both nice (and quick) brewery stops as well.

Can't say I know much or have heard much about good beer destinations in Youngstown itself... not going to lie (and this is in no way meant to be a shot at the city), I haven't heard many good things about Youngstown in general. Regardless, I've never been to Youngstown (so I can't personally make those judgments), but you will have some amazing places to visit in that general area.

As for your final question... I have a feeling there will be plenty of good choices to try or take back to Texas. Not sure what your favorite styles are, but Ohio is putting out some great IPAs. Fat Head's Head Hunter (not my favorite) is highly regarded, as well as The Brew Kettle White Rajah and Columbus IPA (not sure if available in Youngstown). Pick up some Great Lakes stuff. Maybe a variety pack. I personally enjoy the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, it is exceptional. There is a lot a great stuff coming out of Ohio right now. Bell's is another great regional brewery out of Michigan. There will be plenty of options for you.

 

I've also found some solid beers at the Havana House in Niles, OH which isn't too far from Youngstown

 

Unless it's changed a lot in the last couple years, Pittsburgh's beer scene is pretty bad.

 

I highly recommend taking a drive to Columbus and checking out Four String and Zauber. Both have very good beers and especially Zauber has a great taproom/biergarten.

 

It has changed A lot. We've had a good beer scene as far as distribution and bars for a while, but were pretty lackluster when ot comes to breweries. Over 10 breweries have opened in the past few years, several doing some great stuff. Also, you could hop on 80 and get to voodoo within an hour as well.

 

Voodoo is setting up shop in Homestead, they are currently renovating a building...it's either going to be a retail store/taphouse or another brewpub. No official word on what it's going to be but it will make Voodoo more accessible in the Burgh. I frequent Fathead's, Piper's Pub, and Smokin' Joe's three traditionally great "holy trinity of beer" in the Burgh spots...all are alive and well. The nano breweries I've checked out so far were either good or great: The Brew Gentleman, Roundabout, Draai Laag, and Hitchhiker.

Pittsburgh isn't the best beer scene on earth but in the last two weeks I've gotten 5 four packs of Hop Stalker at 13.99 a piece, and a case of Victory Harvest for $35. Our case prices kick Ohio's state minimum six or four pack pricing's ass...the only breweries that are in Ohio that the Burgh can't get are New Belgium, Three Floyd's, and Prairie, also some of the Cincy/Kentucky micros that I found last summer at Jungle Jim's.