Wondering what beer destinations are on people's radar these days.
I will likely do a little road trip in October or November for up to 5 days.
Either drive from Toronto and back, or fly somewhere and rent a car to drive back to Toronto.
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Where would you go for 4 or 5 days?
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El Pinguino
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Some of the ones I was thinking of:
Montreal to Vermont. DDC, Vices and Verses, Pit Caribou, Dunham, Lawson's, Alchemist, HF, etc.
Portland (II) to Vancouver. Too many to list but heard good things about Temporal Artisan Ales and Garden Path. Oregon has so many, including my #1 want to visit in the US, De Garde.
Portland (I) and Boston. Treehouse, Allagash, Novare Res, Oxbow, etc.
Frisco and area. Not as knowledgable, but Russian River is on my list.
Montreal to Vermont. DDC, Vices and Verses, Pit Caribou, Dunham, Lawson's, Alchemist, HF, etc.
Portland (II) to Vancouver. Too many to list but heard good things about Temporal Artisan Ales and Garden Path. Oregon has so many, including my #1 want to visit in the US, De Garde.
Portland (I) and Boston. Treehouse, Allagash, Novare Res, Oxbow, etc.
Frisco and area. Not as knowledgable, but Russian River is on my list.
Those are all great suggestions.
You could also make a good one heading west from Toronto through Michigan (Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo) and on to Chicago and even up to Madison / Milwaukee.
If you like bourbon, one that I did which I would have liked to spend more time on is Toronto - Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati - Louisville - Nashville. Doesn't have some of the more famous breweries but lots of stuff.
In Cali, you could do SF - LA - SD. But for just a few days you could just do LA-SD as there's tons of stuff there.
You could also make a good one heading west from Toronto through Michigan (Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo) and on to Chicago and even up to Madison / Milwaukee.
If you like bourbon, one that I did which I would have liked to spend more time on is Toronto - Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati - Louisville - Nashville. Doesn't have some of the more famous breweries but lots of stuff.
In Cali, you could do SF - LA - SD. But for just a few days you could just do LA-SD as there's tons of stuff there.
These days I see a lot less point in beer-focused travel in the US than I used to. The spread of and access to great beer is so great now that I figure I can go pretty much anywhere and hit up the best breweries and/or beer bars in town and I'll be overwhelmed by fun stuff I've never seen before. So now I travel to the US for other reasons, and just enjoy the beer wherever I happen to be. I might still go for really great beer events though, like I'd love to go to FoBAB again some year.
I'd be a lot more likely to plan a trip to Europe to see traditional breweries, I think. In particular a trip through all the Trappist breweries, or maybe parts of Germany for some of the classics as fresh as they can be...
That said, for the specific question that was asked a drive from Toronto to Chicago can be pretty great. Spend a night in Detroit, or a smaller town in Michigan on the way. There are lots of good little breweries on that route, then Chicago obviously has a wealth of options.
I'd be a lot more likely to plan a trip to Europe to see traditional breweries, I think. In particular a trip through all the Trappist breweries, or maybe parts of Germany for some of the classics as fresh as they can be...
That said, for the specific question that was asked a drive from Toronto to Chicago can be pretty great. Spend a night in Detroit, or a smaller town in Michigan on the way. There are lots of good little breweries on that route, then Chicago obviously has a wealth of options.
You can easily fill a few days in Montreal and surrounding area.
If you haven't been to Buffalo in a while there a several breweries that have opened since the last time I went. Could combine with a Finger Lakes Trip.
Pretty much any part of Ontario, depending on what ratio of beer to other stuff you want to do.
If you haven't been to Buffalo in a while there a several breweries that have opened since the last time I went. Could combine with a Finger Lakes Trip.
Pretty much any part of Ontario, depending on what ratio of beer to other stuff you want to do.
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El Pinguino
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Loving all these suggestions!
There are a LOT of Ontario breweries I haven't visited yet, so it is quite possible I'll keep it more local, but we'll see...
There are a LOT of Ontario breweries I haven't visited yet, so it is quite possible I'll keep it more local, but we'll see...
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that there's a number of nice breweries in London, and a few in Windsor. It would be an easy trip to go from TO to London via Hamilton or Guelph/KW and onto Windsor, and then hop across to Detroit. Lots of stuff, reasonable hotel prices along the way I'm sure too.El Pinguino wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 8:58 am Loving all these suggestions!
There are a LOT of Ontario breweries I haven't visited yet, so it is quite possible I'll keep it more local, but we'll see...
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S. St. Jeb
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If you just consider southwestern Ontario in general, there are a tremendous number of options.Cass wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 9:03 amI'd be remiss if I didn't mention that there's a number of nice breweries in London, and a few in Windsor. It would be an easy trip to go from TO to London via Hamilton or Guelph/KW and onto Windsor, and then hop across to Detroit. Lots of stuff, reasonable hotel prices along the way I'm sure too.El Pinguino wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 8:58 am Loving all these suggestions!
There are a LOT of Ontario breweries I haven't visited yet, so it is quite possible I'll keep it more local, but we'll see...
Definitely. On my travels to and from Michigan over the past year for A Quick Beer, I've made a number of stops at random breweries I never knew existed. Pretty cool that's a thing nowadays.S. St. Jeb wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 9:17 am If you just consider southwestern Ontario in general, there are a tremendous number of options.
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GtownRandy
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I will put in a recommendation for Prince Edward county, lots of good craft there
For sure, a trip to Ottawa or Montreal via PEC could be a ton of fun. Could stop in Kingston or something on the way.
I'm going for the first time this year - very excited. I'll be at the Saturday session, but in Chicago from Wednesday. Maybe a BT meetup!?!