The Bar Towel

Hi all:

I planning a road trip this summer to the east coast and I need some advice. We'll be travelling from Hamilton to Halifax and we want to go out through the States. Looking at the Map the quickest way seems to be through Albany to Boston, up the Coast to Bangor, then into Canada. On our return trip we'll probably take a more northerly route through the States.

Now, what I need to know is what beer related attractions I absolutely must stop at on this trip. To be fair to my family, I will have to be selective. I believe Ommegang is not far off the route and I would like to see Cooperstown. Also, we seem to go right past Smuttynose on the way out. On the way back, I would like to see Magic Hat in Burlington, Vermont. Are these breweries worth going to? (One note: though we will go right past Boston, we have decided not to venture into the city.

As for Canada, I have Beaumont's guide to use as . . . my guide, though I would like to hear your opinions. We'll be in Southern New Brunswick, but we haven't decided if we will travel trough Fredricton or St. John to Moncton. We are planning on touring all of Nova Scotia.
Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks, Joe.

PS If there anything not related to beer worth doing on this trip, I'd be interested to hear that too.

Joe,
Sounds like a great trip.
I imagine the whole trip will not revolve around beer but I could recomend a couple of stops along the way.
In Syracuse NY, the best brewpub I found was Empire, but there are some I have not tried yet. In Utica, NY you could visit the F.X. Matt brewery (I believe they have tours). Both are not too far from the I-90.

You mentioned that you were not venturing into Boston, a wise move if you do not like bad trafic. There are two brewpubs I could recomend just east of Boston. There is a John Harvard's in Framingham (in a large outdoor mall for those who would prefer to shop). Watch City is in Waltham and is my recomendation. This is in the rough area of I-90 and the highway you take to get around Boston (I have forgotten the highway #). In addition, if you wanted to p/u some beer, I know of a decent liquor store in Springfield MA that has a very good selection of locals - Paper City, etc.

If any of these are of interest let me know and I will give you additional info. Have a good trip.

Hello from New Brunswick.

Travelled pretty extensively out here; have had much beer and still have much to go. Halifax has been my favourite port-of-call so far. Three brewpubs within five-ten minutes walking distance of our hotel and most of the bars had the local micros (Propeller and Garrison) on tap. I'll report more when I return home. Hope everything is fine in Toronto.

Cheers, Joe.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jcappadocia on 2002-08-20 15:54 ]</font>

Well, I'm back and I'm working on a couple of reports which I hope to post by the end of the week. One will be on the breweries and brewpubs I visited in the maritimes and the other on New England--both worthy destinations.

Joe.