Beer Trip from East to Midwest (Route and Place Suggestions Needed)

[mister704]

So I am trying to plan this sort of epic ride from VA across to the midwest and back. Not enough time to drive all the was across the US.

BUT this is a trip for beer. Me and fellow beer lovers are thinking of renting some nice pimped out mini van and taking it west for about a 4 day trip.

What are some top breweries and bar/pubs that should be hit along the way. As well as stores because we will like to grab beer that is not readily available here in VA.

All help is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Will probably be about 4 or 5 of us so we should relatively be able to cover a good bit of ground over those days.

 

[Otis1031]

Need to travel to 3 Floyds brewery in Munster IN home of Zombie Dust. They have an attached restaurant with some good food. Then head to Indianapolis and check out Cutters Brewery, Bier Brewery and Sun King along with about 8 others within an hours drive of each other. Then go to Cincinnati with Rhinegeist and Mad Tree Breweries. Also nee to check out HopCat in INdianapolis with 130 beers on top, mostly microbrews.

 

[mister704]

Need to travel to 3 Floyds brewery in Munster IN home of Zombie Dust. They have an attached restaurant with some good food. Then head to Indianapolis and check out Cutters Brewery, Bier Brewery and Sun King along with about 8 others within an hours drive of each other. Then go to Cincinnati with Rhinegeist and Mad Tree Breweries. Also nee to check out HopCat in INdianapolis with 130 beers on top, mostly microbrews.

I actually had some ZD a couple of months ago while in Chicago. I actually brewed the clone from here that is spot on to the real thing.

 

[DevilNuts]

Time permitting, try to see Brooklyn NY (in particular the Bay Ridge area). Lots of little pubs densely packed that support about a bazillion microbrews, local and otherwise. Lots of fancy beer selections - some parts of this neighborhood you couldn't even find a bud light if you wanted to.

 

[eko]

Go through Cincinnati, lots of breweries that may not have national attention, but many are worthy. You could easily spend two days visiting:

MadTree
Listermann's (home of Listermann's and Triple Digit, as well as a LHBS)
Rhinegeist
Christian Moerlein (Tap Room at the brewery, and/or swing down by the river to visit their Lager House/restaurant)
Bad Tom's
50 West
Mt. Carmel
Rivertown
Eight Ball (across the river in Covington, KY)
Cellar Dweller (maybe too far from the city given your time constraints)

And those are just the breweries that have tap rooms. I may even be forgetting some. I've been to all but 3, they each have their own character. I have my favorites, but it's hard to go wrong and they're all worth visiting once.

This list is close, if not inclusive of all the breweries or craft beer bars, and it's definitely missing newer growler stops:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/place/city/39/

I did a brewery tour through Akron recently- Hoppin' Frog, Thirsty Dog, Aqueduct (new micro-brewery next to Thirsty Dog), I'm forgetting one, and there was another closed that weekend (Trailhead maybe). Stop at the Winking Lizard for a bit and all your bottle needs.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[jimyson]

Come to OHIO!

http://ohiocraftbeer.com/breweries/index.cfm

 

[smakudwn]

If you make it to St. Louis there a couple down town that are nice. Schlafly tap room has some great beer and food. Urban Chestnut and Four Hands are also good.

 

[KeninMN]

The Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis are home to an exploding craft brewing scene.

http://mspmag.com/Best-of-the-Twin-Cities/Twin-Cities-Taproom-Guide/

Some of my favorites are Surly, Summit, Lucid, Steel Toe and Indeed.

 

[9mmruger]

Bell's Eccentric Cafe In Kalamazoo Michigan.

 

[dnslater]

Need to travel to 3 Floyds brewery in Munster IN home of Zombie Dust. They have an attached restaurant with some good food. Then head to Indianapolis and check out Cutters Brewery, Bier Brewery and Sun King along with about 8 others within an hours drive of each other. Then go to Cincinnati with Rhinegeist and Mad Tree Breweries. Also nee to check out HopCat in INdianapolis with 130 beers on top, mostly microbrews.

Actually if you hit Three Floyd's in Munster, it isn't far to swing up into Michigan and hit Bell's, Founders, etc.... I believe the original HopCat is in Grand Rapids. I agree that the Indianapolis brew scene has exploded - with about 20 craft breweries, but the North West Indiana/Southern Michigan area is a great spot for breweries and you can even mix in some great wineries.

I've gotta try the Zombie Dust clone.

 

[bruteforce]

Grand Rapids is by far my favorite beer city. Vivant and Founders were awesome. 3 Floyds is a must, and honestly I'm sort of in love with the goose island taproom brewpub thingy in chicago on Clyborne. If you decide to do Illinois, head south to Ava (but only Friday through Sunday) and hit Little Egypt (GABF gold medal Hefe) and Scratch (eclectic beers such as basil ale and spice bush dubbels)

 

[jimyson]

Half Acre in Chicago is great too. And if in Chicago you need to stop at Twisted Spoke.

 

[max384]

If you're going to be heading north at all, stopping into Pottsville, PA to tour the Yuengling brewery is definitely worth it. It's not microbrew, but they make the tastiest porter I've found anywhere, and they're the oldest brewery in America.

The tour itself is fantastic. They take you through the brewery, through the old caves they used to store the beer in, and through the bottling area. They talk about their brewing process, about how they survived prohibition, and, of course, there is the tasting room at the end of the tour! I try to take this tour once every year or two.

 

[bruteforce]

Spring house (i think thats it) in Conestoga PA is legit too.

 

[bphlzl]

If you come to Cincinnati, definitely go to Rhinegheist and Madtree if nowhere else. They are two of my top three Cincy breweries (Blank Slate is my favorite but their taproom is currently being constructed).


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[kcmobrewer]

I'm from Missouri. I second the St Louis stops. All very good. Boulevard in Kansas City is awesome too. 75th street brewery is awesome as well.


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[sablesurfer]

Need to travel to 3 Floyds brewery in Munster IN home of Zombie Dust. They have an attached restaurant with some good food.

3Floyds was on my road trip back from Cleveland and WELL worth it.

Out of the way, you will assume you are lost until you actually pull in to parking lot. Get there EARLY!!! We were just on road trip time and got there about 30 minutes before open and TWO LINES in the parking lot. One for the beer sales and one for the restaurant.

Lots of hipsters in the crowd and I only saw one table that could have been brewers, but I just did my little samples, bragged about them to the GF and we both enjoyed the food.

Staff is a little...on the terse side, but then I watched the crowd they had to deal with on a daily basis, so don't hold that against them.

If you want to mix beer and food network, Eatally in Chicago is a great destination too! We loved it and they have some onsite brews and a HUGE list of beers on hand. Lots of food/resturant nooks through out and the seafood was the most amazing seafood ever, and I have eaten seafood on the coast many times. So tender and taste and amazing and you could even taste the different in the mussels from east and west coasts. Glad we went even with the down town traffic, and they do validate parking.

 

[mister704]

Thanks a lot everyone. I will start mapping this thing out and see what I come up with. Not sure about PA because that can be done anytime. Im only about 2.5 hrs from there.

You all are the best.