After a late night of drinking, an early rise, and a heck of a long drive the destination on our GPS finally seemed attainable. As we transitioned into the hills of Tennessee and headed across the border to North Carolina the last episode of S-Town came to an end (absolutely fantastic). I had done some scouting and knew that we’d be crossing the Appalachian Trail. We were running late so we only had a short window of time to jump out of the car, stretch our legs, take a short walk on the trail, and enjoy the amazing weather. We had planned to meet our friends Nicole and Eric in Asheville to share a hotel for the night as well as hit up a pair of breweries. So we jumped back into the car and made an incredibly windy path through the mountains to our first stop: Burial Beer Co.
Continue Reading…Bent River Brewing Company
June 20, 2017
Late on a Tuesday evening in April, Samantha and I spotted the twinkling lights of the Quad Cities. This would be the end of the first leg of our road trip to Charleston, SC. After checking in at our hotel we made our way under cover of night to downtown Rock Island, IL. Our stop was then in sight: Bent River Brewing Company.
Continue Reading…Wild Mind Artisan Ales
May 9, 2017
Flipping through my Instagram feed on a late March day I happened upon a post from Wild Mind Artisan Ales. It described their first bottle release event for their Golden Ho/rye/zon American Wild Ale. I made a mental note but promptly forgot about it. The day of the event I was grumbling at work about being cooped up during the unseasonably warm weather and searching for any excuse to get outside. Just like that the event popped back into my head and, after a quick call to my wife, we were off.
Continue Reading…Four Stacks Brewing Company
April 24, 2017
With a week in Florida under our belts we wistfully left our rental home behind. Since our flight wasn’t departing until the following day we got a hotel room in nearby Apollo Beach. With my in-laws car jammed to the literal brim, we made a few last stops on Anna Maria Island and then hit the road. We had an hour or two before check-in, and what better way to kill the time than to visit the local craft brewery: Four Stacks Brewing Company.
Continue Reading…Motorworks Brewing
April 12, 2017
This March we were given a rare chance to start patio season a little early. My wife’s family had rented a house on Anna Maria Island. We went down for a week, and my parents visited the week prior. Since we arrived on a Friday night and my parents weren’t leaving until Saturday afternoon, they wanted to take us to lunch before they hit the road for the long drive home. It didn’t take too much to convince my father that a brewery was a good idea, and as long as there was food my mother was happy. I’d done a little pre-trip research so I figured what better way to kick off our trip than a visit to Motorworks Brewing, Bradenton’s first craft brewery.
Continue Reading…Giesinger Bräu
March 20, 2017
We ascended the steps of the Silberhornstraße U-Bahn station on a crisp winter evening in Munich. The sun had long set on our merry band of down coated travelers. We’d braved brisk February days and nights by jumping from biergarten to bierstube drinking refreshing Helles (bright) and malty Dunkles (dark) in the homeland of the famous Bavarian potation. On this night, as the warm glow of the underground station disappeared behind us, the neon glow of our destination appeared: Giesinger Bräu.
Continue Reading…Goat Ridge Brewing Company
March 10, 2017
On a Saturday morning in early December, Samantha and I were sitting at a small table in New London’s Middle Fork Cafe. We were enjoying a small brunch in preparation for our the next taproom on our list and trading stories about our travels from the night before. The food was good but once I finished my sandwich the mind switched gears to beer. We paid and then took to the cold streets to arrive at our next stop, Goat Ridge Brewing Company, just as they opened at noon.
Continue Reading…Union Pizza & Brewing Co.
March 8, 2017
On an early December evening Samantha and I were in our car headed northwest to knock the last couple of breweries off of our Northern Ale Guide list. That day the destination was Fergus Falls where the furthest brewery that remained was located. It was a long drive and under the darkness of the night we arrived at Union Pizza & Brewing Co.
Continue Reading…Bald Man Brewing
March 5, 2017
In late November we were settling into winter and trying to prepare for the months ahead. When our friends Megan and Mitch asked if we wanted to visit the newly opened Bald Man Brewing we jumped at the chance. After all, we needed another stamp for our Northern Ale Guide and our list was quickly dwindling.
Continue Reading…Mankato Brewery
March 2, 2017
In early November we decided to visit my wife’s brother in Mankato for some dinner and drinks. We’ve been nudging him towards beer, but it’d been hard to get him to drop his REDD’s Apple Ale. With an upcoming tripped planned to Munich we officially had a good enough reason to get him to take the dive once and for all. So on a Monday evening we grabbed a quick bite and jumped over to Mankato Brewery.
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