Are you a beer guzzler who just loves a pint of craft beer? Then this article is definitely for you as it shows you how you can go on a road trip visiting all those famous craft breweries in the USA. There are approximately 3464 craft breweries across the country so wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could go on a road trip to the best of them sampling all that fantastic beer? This will show you the easiest path as chalked out by the site “Flowing Data” whose link can be found at the end of this article so that you can visit the best breweries in the country.
As per the Brewers Association, there are about 3464 craft breweries in addition to 1800 microbreweries in the country. That means you have access to some great beer. While it is impractical to visit every brewery in the country, it isn’t hard to visit the best and most famous one which should be every beer guzzlers ultimate goal. So here’s how to make the top brewery road trip.
The best breweries on this map are spread across 28 states. The Community beer and brewery review site “RateBeer” publishes a list of the top 100 breweries in the world every year. It so happens that among the 100 breweries, 790 are in the United States. That means you have some great beer being made in the USA. To embark on this trip you would have to travel and make a stop in 28 states which also means you will be passing 40 of the 52 states in the USA spread over12000 miles of driving.
You may just about find yourself visiting several craft breweries along California, Colorado, the Midwest and the East Coast. It could well be a memorable trip of a lifetime especially if you are one who loves your pitcher.
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The top brewery road trip just isn’t about beer only; it’s a scenic drive across the lovely coast to coast where you will be making stops in Asheville North Carolina which is home to the famous Wicked Weed Beer. This brewery specializes in west coast style hoppy ales, open fermented Belgian beers and barrel-aged sours. You can also stop at Bells Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan and then drive over to the great prairie Artisan Ales in Oklahoma which is famous for its crisp and funky farmhouse ales. Prairie Artisan Ales was founded in 2012 and has become a famous brand since then because of its unique perspective to brewing.
If your mouth is watering already and want to know where to start, you have to figure out the route you need to take. You don’t want to be driving aimlessly but on a fixed route that helps you get to all the breweries in the shortest and best time possible.
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The time taken for this brewery road trip is roughly 20 days and that isn’t bad given the fact that you’ll be getting to sample the best beer of your life at the brewery where it is made. 8 of those days will be driving time but there’s no telling what it may do to your liver after 20 days of beer guzzling, perhaps it may need a long break after that.
On the list, you will no doubt learn of some famous brands that you may already be aware of. Brands like the Sierra Nevada, Dogfish head and Smutty Nose. The Dogfish head Craft brewery is located in Milton DE. It produces 262,000 barrels of beer a year and even has its own inn called the DogFish Inn. If you want to extend your trip, you could easily stay a night at the inn which is located on Lewes harbor and is an amazing stopover for nature lovers because of the beautiful scenery. You could also visit the Rehoboth Beach Brewpub and the Milton production brewery.
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The famous Sierra Nevada Brewery is a family brewery and was started from a small homebrew shop by Ken Grossman in 1980. It is famous for its inaugural brew the Sierra Nevada Stout. The Pale Ale from the Sierra Nevada brewery was perhaps the beer that launched the American Craft beer movement. The Sierra Nevada is also famous for its brand Celebration Ale that was conceived as a beer for the holiday season.
You can visit one of America’s most famous Breweries and sample the brands that was first conceived in the early eighties that went on to make the Sierra Nevada famous to what it is today.
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What’s great about visiting the breweries like the Dogfish Inn is that you also get to sample the food from their restaurants along with a pitcher of your favorite beer so that’s an added treat along the brewery road trip.
The brewery road trip was created by Flowing Data applying Randal Olson’s algorithm based map to visit one historic Landmark in every state. The idea was to find a route that allowed you to visit all the famous breweries by covering the least miles possible. The entire route covering 70 breweries takes about 197 hours of driving across 12,299 miles. You’ll be stopping in 28 states and pass through about forty states. If you want to sample only the top breweries in the state, you could shorten the trip to 20 days taking into account a stopover of a few hours at each brewery because you need to metabolize all that beer in your stomach as you don’t want to end up with drunk driving. It is advisable to stay near one of the 70 breweries so you could guzzle to your heart’s content and sleep it off and be sober to start again the next morning.
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In the map that has been shown, the thicker lines represent areas with more breweries along the route. You have a choice of all the best beer along the northwest, northern California and Denver, Colorado. This is much more fun that ordering your beer in the mail or at a local pub simply because you actually get to see the beer being made, have a bite at the brewery specialty restaurants and drink a fresh pitcher of craft beer at the very brewery its being made in.
For any beer lover, the top brewery road trip is a trip of a lifetime and could well be part of any bucket list. All you need is a month’s vacation and you not only get to drive across the country but sample 70 of the best breweries in the USA. However, it pays to be responsible and the best way to sample every beer form each brewery is to do it in moderation. Why get sick over loads of one beer when you can sample many. Happy Guzzling!!
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