Yes, I always like trying out local beers when traveling. Have been everywhere from the Guinness factory to small cider houses in the Hudson Valley, NY.
The ones I have been to are:
Anchor Steam - San Francisco CA.
Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Petaluma CA.
Sweetwater Brewery- Atlanta GA.
Terrapin Brewery- Athens GA.
Bear Republic Brewery - Healdsburg CA.
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Always seek out breweries and beer pubs when I travel but, I don't think I've ever done a tour. Did a self guided one at Sierra Nevada in Chico but, that's it. Did the George Dickel distillery tour but, that's not beer. Was recently in Tennessee and decided to head to Asheville, NC for a day because they call themselves "Beer City USA." Basically did nothing but, hit up breweries and beer pubs. Visited too many breweries to list but, one of my all time favorites is Russian River brewery. The beers are so good. Favorite beer festival by far is the Zythos Beer festival in Belgium. Been 4 times. If I'm vacationing in Europe I almost always have to plan for a few nights in Belgium.
I don't seek them out, but I usually end up in breweries/brewpubs etc
Guinness Storehouse, Dublin (self guide) - worth doing just for the sample along the way andthe drink in the rooftop bar. There is a definite change in Guinness taste with age, what they serve at the factory is noticeably creamier and less bitter.
Heineken Experience, Amsterdam (self guide)
Brugge Blonde Zot, Bruges (guided) - actually really great, was good to see a small operation rather than a big factory. Unlike some of the bignames it is a working factory as well, and they do their own malting. I can't remember the name of the brewery itself, it was something like Moonlight Brewery or something.
James Boags, Launceston (guided)
Cascade, Hobart (guided)
Jameson's Distillery, Dublin (guided) - not a brewery, but related.
Brewpub -
RedDot, Singapore - there are two, I always go out to the one at Dempsey. A number of pretty great beers and the food is usually pretty good too. The Green Monster beer is worth trying.
Pretty sure I've been to a few other breweries, but buggered if I can remember which ones.
Over 30 years ago I took tours of:
(1)Munich Lowenbrau (brewery), you had to arrive by 8 am to get a tour ticket, and then return at 9 am for the actual tour; besides getting to sample the beer, they served wurst with bread.
(2)Carlsberg in Copenhagen, they had you do lots of walking; I always found seeing the bottling process very interesting--at the end you got to sample lots of beer.
(3)Turborg in Copenhagen (later merged with Carlsberg) also had a similar tour.
In the mid 90's (2) was self guided of a minimal area of the brewery; but you still got to taste some beer. (3)No longer exists, does (1)still have tours?
Heineken had a tour back then, but I recollect you had to give a donation to UNICEF--and the tour spots filled up fast.
The ones I have been to are:
Anchor Steam - San Francisco CA.
Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Petaluma CA.
Sweetwater Brewery- Atlanta GA.
Terrapin Brewery- Athens GA.
Bear Republic Brewery - Healdsburg CA.
Do the Anchor brewery or the Sweetwater brewery have brewpubs/restaurants? Or is it just the brewery tour?
I was sad to see that the old Baltimore Brewing Company near the Inner Harbor had closed a few years back. They used to have some great German style beers and fantastic lump crab cakes.
I had one of the best oatmeal cream stouts ever at the Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg PA. I think it was the main location mentioned above.
The various Karl Strauss locations around San Diego are also good.
In San Francisco there is the SF Brewing Company, as well as the Magnolia Brewery, which is on the Haight. Both are good for the beer but not so much for the food.
It's not a brewery but there is a tap room in Bellevue WA called Tap House (IIRC) which has a breathtaking selection of craft beers on tap.
Do let me know how it is. I first had a Surly beer at Joe's Garage, one of my favorite Minneapolis restaurants Judging by their (Surly's) website and Facebook page they seem like a fun company which takes real pride in their product.
Surly is a fantastic brewery. I usually have somebody from Minneapolis send me a case or two of their Bitter Brewer every year. It is a lighter, but still very flavorful, low alcohol beer for the summer time, in a can. Down here in the heat of Florida, it is perfect. One of my favorite beers.
Surly Hell, and Bender/Coffee Bender, are also fantasic. Darkness is one of the more sought after beers in the entire U.S.
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I always try to visit breweries while traveling. One of my favorites was in Cooperstown, NY- Brewery Ommegang.
I just visited a brewpub in Rapid City, South Dakota for lunch yesterday. The place is in an old firehouse which was awesome. I can't say that I liked the beer but they had an awesome beer-cheese soup and the beer bread was AMAZING!
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Originally Posted by TravelMutt
Surly is a fantastic brewery. I usually have somebody from Minneapolis send me a case or two of their Bitter Brewer every year. It is a lighter, but still very flavorful, low alcohol beer for the summer time, in a can. Down here in the heat of Florida, it is perfect. One of my favorite beers.
Surly Hell, and Bender/Coffee Bender, are also fantasic. Darkness is one of the more sought after beers in the entire U.S.
I wish they distributed here. Great brewery.
Ok, ok, so I'll definitely try to swing by there if I have time.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tonerman
The ones I have been to are:
Anchor Steam - San Francisco CA.
Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Petaluma CA.
Sweetwater Brewery- Atlanta GA.
Terrapin Brewery- Athens GA.
Bear Republic Brewery - Healdsburg CA.
How could you go from Healdsburg to Petaluma, and not visit the mecca that is Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TravelMutt
Surly is a fantastic brewery. I usually have somebody from Minneapolis send me a case or two of their Bitter Brewer every year. It is a lighter, but still very flavorful, low alcohol beer for the summer time, in a can. Down here in the heat of Florida, it is perfect. One of my favorite beers.
Surly Hell, and Bender/Coffee Bender, are also fantasic. Darkness is one of the more sought after beers in the entire U.S.
I wish they distributed here. Great brewery.
Does anyone know if Surly has a taproom or pub attached to their brewery like 3 Floyds does? www.surlybrewing.com
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I did Heineken experience in Amsterdam and kind of regret it - classic tourist trap.
But I enjoyed immensely a beer tour in Brussels (found via Viator.com). We stopped by at 5 different bars and tried all kinds of Belgian beers including Westvleteren 12.
Best beer restaurant I have ever visited, by far. Spectacular.
Check my sig line for the ZBF tour some of us did last year and are planning to repeat next April, including a repeat visit to De Heeren.
I live 25 minutes from Three Floyds and in fact went there today for lunch. Picked up a new beer called "Deesko," a Berliner Weisse. Guy brought it out as I was waiting for something else and said I better buy it if I wanted, as it would sell out almost immediately. Also got a case of Gumballhead and a bomber of a collaboration Oyster Stout with Half-Acre called "Mutiny and the Mollusk."
Zombie Dust returns next week!
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Last edited by toomanybooks; Jul 24, 12 at 5:30 pm..
I was planning to go to Russian Rivers brewery in Napa last time I was in SF, but was a bit sick and decided against drinking. Pretty mad too, as it was the day their two week limited run of a triple IPA was going on. I will be back hopefully next time during those two weeks if not I'll be there at some point just to buy a few cases, good stuff from them is hard to find!
