The Beer Thread

[sweetcell]

 
so the missus has just come back from Vermont, and clearly she loves me...

yes, that's a case of Heady, a case of Sunshine, and two cans of Tribute.  2 soldiers didn't survive the trip.  first time i've heard of cans not making it, then again this suitcase had nothing but beer in it, no clothes for protection.

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

...my wife got me some leftovers from her company party

So thinking of making a overnight in Roanoke ...what's the beer scene there
I know Deschutes and Ballast Point are close...but would rather find a cool local brewery

Or is there a better beer related pit stop on the way to Asheville.

and on the asheville topic...I know wicked weed is all corp now, I still am going to check it out
any recommendations on 2 other breweries to hit
Burial was on the list, but looking for suggestions (also, kid friendly would help)

[grateful]

...which gets me thinking.

What's the best beer that has been bought out by the Big 3 (or is it Big 2 now?)?  What beer would you still drink *even though* it's owned by AB-InBev etc.?

[Space Freely]

...my wife got me some leftovers from her company party

So thinking of making a overnight in Roanoke ...what's the beer scene there
I know Deschutes and Ballast Point are close...but would rather find a cool local brewery

Or is there a better beer related pit stop on the way to Asheville.

and on the asheville topic...I know wicked weed is all corp now, I still am going to check it out
any recommendations on 2 other breweries to hit
Burial was on the list, but looking for suggestions (also, kid friendly would help)

We overnighted in Roanoke when we did Asheville for Spring Break. Didn't hit any breweries, though Parkway in Salem was on the radar. Depending on your route, Appalachian Mountain Brewing in Boone and Fonta Flora in Morganton are highly recommended.

If you go to Wicked Weed, Funkatorium has a much cooler vibe than the main Wicked Weed. But if you insist on going to the main Wicked Weed, the basement (I think it opens after 2 or 3 or something) is the place to go for the best beer.

My favorite kid-friendly brewery we went to in Asheville was actually New Belgium. They have a slide on the tour, just like in Ft Collins. They have a huge lawn where the kids can roam, play frisbee, or whatever. Good food trucks. Dogs everywhere. Free craft soda (or was it juice?) on tap for the kids. Generous samples, including La Folie, on the free tour (and unlike Sierra Nevada, you don't have to sign up months in advance to score a spot on the tour). Pleasant river view. Also, check out White Duck Taco for casual eats and Curate for a more fancy meal.

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

I was dating a young lady from Roanoke a few years back and we did a beer bus thing that was kind of fun. None of the breweries were fantastic but Flying Mouse was definitely the best. Very family friendly too, roasting marshmallows and whatnot outside. It's probably 25 minutes outside of Roanoke proper, though.

The downtown brewery we started at was pretty Ok but I'd have to research the name for you tomorrow.

[herman otto]

Aren't you a, dear.

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

Aren't you a, dear.

I have, my, moments.

[Space Freely]

WASHINGTON — Famed California craft brewing company, The Bruery, is opening its first brick-and-mortar store east of the Mississippi this fall in D.C.’s Union Market district.

The 5,000 square-foot shop at 513 Morse St. NE will sell bottles and cans from The Bruery’s three brands (The Bruery, Bruery Terreux and Offshoot Beer Co.) — including special releases — and will serve as a pickup site for the brewery’s Society (club) members.

A news release from the company says the shop could also have up to eight rotating taps for growler and crowler fills.

The Bruery Store at Union Market (the former home of Kramer & Sons butcher shop) is on track to open in November for bottle pickups of the brewery’s special Black Tuesday release. Society memberships for the 2018 calendar year will also be available this fall.

[Space Freely]

For dinner, we're having Dominoes Pizza (won a free gift certificate at a kid's function, definitely not paying for it) and a Veil DIPA. Should be an interesting combo.

[Yada]

We bought a few beers last week on our #maine vacation. Maine is an amazing state and I hope to return again in the very near future. I hadn't been in 13 years.

Tree House – Absolute hop #mecca. The new brewery is one of the nicest (if not the nicest brewery I’ve ever been to). Phish blasting on outdoor speakers upon arrival, other random white guy reggae playing as well that I didn’t recognize. A massive pavilion with tons of outdoor seating and the stars aligned on both of my Friday stops and there was a 15 minute wait for cans the first night and a zero minute wait for cans the second stop. For the amount of people stopping in and beer they produce a day, couldn’t be more organized. Second stop they were also pouring drafts of three beers. A+, would go again. Maxed out on 16 cans both stops. Family/Kid friendly, wish I lived beside it.

Trillium – Walked in to the Canton location, no line, maxed out on cans with my partner and we were there for approximately 17 minutes. Looked like an awesome place to hang for multiple hours and get rocked, but alas I had to drive 9 hours home. There were probably 15 beers on tap and five cans for sale.

Bissell Brothers – Warehouse-y type brewery with minimal out door space. Hip hop in the back ground, A+ beers, kid friendly, and a ridiculous fried chicken joint that is connected to it for your dining pleasure. Bought a bunch of cans, no lines.

Allagash – Gorgeous facility, great out door space, didn’t drink there, just bought a few bottles of Resurgram and Emile. The host who I recognized immediately was a former bartender at Bluejacket. I chatted with him about how much I loved Maine and I wish I could move there. He agreed and said it was mind blowing how much his costs went down moving north (Space approved).

Foundation – Had a few tasters, nothing to write home about, their hops don’t touch anything else in the area. Bought a four pack of a pretty tasty sour. Warehouse-y, concrete outdoor space, food truck.

Oxbow – Sleeper brewery of the trip and just a block from our Air B+B in Portland. Kid friendly, down tempo house/funk playing, not crowded, Duck Fat restaurant serving food outside one day, not the other day. Momoko was my favorite beer of the trip and I loaded up on multiple bottles. Family friendly, chill spot.

Lone Pine Brewing – Tiny warehouse brewery as well, had a taster of a handful of beers and was in/out in 10 minutes. Bought some cans, nothing to write home about, had a food truck outside.

[StoneTheCrow]

Well done.

Is Tree House only available on site? Visiting Boston this weekend and will stop by Trillium but have never had Tree House.

[Yada]

Well done.

Is Tree House only available on site? Visiting Boston this weekend and will stop by Trillium but have never had Tree House.

Tree House is only available at their brewery and pours happen completely random based on how busy the brewery is. Definitely follow their website/twitter account as they update it basically hourly on busy days. Also, since their new location opened, they've never released new cans on Saturday, so I'd recommend any day but Saturday as they only release leftovers (which lasts maybe an hour or two).

As I said, I could've been completely lucky but COB seems to be the best time to arrive for zero crowds and guaranteed beer.

[Space Freely]

Regarding Yada's trip:

Wow, that's a pretty impressive trip and brewery list! You drove all the way to at least Portland (I'm guessing you went further north but probably didn't hit and breweries north of Portland?) with two young children? That there is a Space-approved vacation! Sadly, My wife would never let me plan a vacation with that much driving.

I did the Boston to Acadia drive and back a few years ago, with my mom. Documented well somewhere in this thread. Included in the list were the middle five on your list. Bissell was in the same complex as Foundation at the time, Trillium only had their South Boston location, and Oxbox only had their location up in Newcastle.

Maine is currently running as our second choice for Summer Vacation 2018 (only picking one though,) behind the Canadian Rockies. If beer were the highest priority, pretty clear it would be in the lead....

 

[Space Freely]

LOL.

Dem smuttynose whalez.

The latest word from my brother:

"I emailed Tree Top to see if they would have cans at 2pm on a Saturday, when i'd be driving by. They said 'unlikely', so I won't be stopping."

Still hitting Smuttynose for drafts though...

[Yada]

Regarding Yada's trip:

Wow, that's a pretty impressive trip and brewery list! You drove all the way to at least Portland (I'm guessing you went further north but probably didn't hit and breweries north of Portland?) with two young children? That there is a Space-approved vacation! Sadly, My wife would never let me plan a vacation with that much driving.

I did the Boston to Acadia drive and back a few years ago, with my mom. Documented well somewhere in this thread. Included in the list were the middle five on your list. Bissell was in the same complex as Foundation at the time, Trillium only had their South Boston location, and Oxbox only had their location up in Newcastle.

Maine is currently running as our second choice for Summer Vacation 2018 (only picking one though,) behind the Canadian Rockies. If beer were the highest priority, pretty clear it would be in the lead....

Many, many, many, many discussions were had about the logistics of this trip. We took our first trip with two children to Florida in March and it was an airport/rental of items disaster and I really didn't want to go down that path again.

Additionally, we didn't want to fall into the doing the same trip every year (rehoboth/obx), so we decided to switch it up. We definitely considered flying (but see Florida issues), so we drove. I also found a pretty cool website that factored in time/effort/gas/airport time/rentals/expenses; definitely space approved) and in the end, we probably lost a few hours driving, but that was about it. The drive up really couldn't have been worse we we even looked at one way flights home for my wife/children, but ended up leaving at 3pm on our way home (kids slept from 8pm to 2:30am), so it wasn't too bad.

Yes, we went north of Portland (Rockland, Linconville, Camden, etc) but it was pretty much a beer desert and I stuck to drinking the TH cans I purchased and Budweiser bottles.