Self-Guided Beer Tours
Craft Beer Tour 2019: La Grande, OR
These photos were taken Saturday, October 12, day 13 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Side A Brewing in La Grande, Oregon.
I left Boise this morning and headed towards Yakima, Washington. When I am at new breweries I like to chat with people and frequently end up with recommended breweries that I will be driving past. I had been given a suggestion for a brewery in Baker, but they didn’t open until far too late for my plans. I took solace in the fact that I knew of another brewery 50 miles up the road that had been recommended to me last year in Boise, Side A brewing in La Grande, Oregon. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2019: Nampa and Meridian, ID
These photos were taken Friday, October 11, day 12 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. The photos were taken at Crescent Brewery and 2C Family Brewing in Nampa, and Ram Restaurant and Brewery, in Meridian, Idaho.
As this was going to be my last day in Idaho, my friend Catherine and I decided to head out to the Nampa area. This is my second year in the Boise area, and I have always wanted to check out Mother Earth in Nampa, but they are only open three days a week and they don’t open until 4:00 PM. I figured there had to be something else there, and sure enough I found two; within a five minute walk of each other. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2019: Boise and Garden City, ID
These photos were taken Thursday, October 10, day 11 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. The photos were taken at Edge Brewing and Woodland Empire in Boise, and Bella Brewing in Garden City, Idaho.
As I am spending three days in the Boise area, I wanted to split my time up evenly; and have new places to visit the next time I come here. Edge Brewing had been mentioned by a friend or two; and Woodland Empire was recommended by Charlie; the guy I had met at Square State Brewing; his recommendation of Western Collective was enough for me to trust his recommendation of Woodland Empire. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2019: Garden City and Boise, ID
The first few photos were taken Tuesday, October 8, on my drive from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Meridian, Idaho. As I was almost in a major accident, once I reached my destination in Meridian, I decided I was not going to press my luck and stayed in for the night. The beer photos were taken Wednesday, October 9, day 10 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. Those photos were taken at Western Collective in Garden City, Idaho, and Cloud 9 Brewery in Boise, Idaho.
Tuesday I spent five hours driving a very scenic but tedious drive from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Meridian, Idaho. I followed my GPS which took my on what was probably a weird route, but it was scenic. I only passed one brewery but it was far too early for it to be open. About 100 miles from my end destination an oncoming car tried to pass a truck and didn’t notice me; or he was playing chicken. I don’t know, but by the time I reached my friend’s home in Meridian I was done for the day. Craft Beer Tour 2019 was going to have to resume on Wednesday. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2019: Pinedale and Jackson, WY
These photos were taken Monday, October 7, day eight of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Wind River Brewing in Pinedale Wyoming, followed by Roadhouse Brewing and Snake River Brewing in Jackson Wyoming.
If you have are a regular reader you might recall that I attempted to visit Jackson Hole last year but was denied due to a forest fire. As I backtracked to Rock Springs I came upon Wind River Brewing, but they were too busy and after a significant wait, I left. Someone from there did reach out to me later and explained that due to the fire they were extremely busy, so I decided I would give them another chance. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2019: Rock Springs, WY
These photos were taken Sunday, October 6, day seven of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Square State Brewing in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
Regular readers may recall that I discovered Square State Brewing last year when I got detoured from Jackson Hole due to a massive forest fire. I enjoyed the experience enough that I went ahead and made it a scheduled stop this year. I left Denver this morning, and I do not plan on doing any drives that take more than six or seven hours this year; so the four hour drive to Rock Springs was ideal. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2019: Colorado Springs, CO
These photos were taken Wednesday, October 2, day three of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Bristol Brewing Company in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
A couple weeks before leaving home I reached out to some old friends that I have not seen in over a decade, that happen to live in Colorado Springs. It was decided that I would pop into town on my way to Denver for a visit and a beer; however, they had something come up that prevented the meetup. Since I had already planned on stopping by Colorado Springs anyway I looked at the list of potential breweries and picked Bristol Brewing solely because they have been brewing in Colorado Springs since 1994; once again, my instincts did not fail me; they brew outstanding beer. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2019: Albuquerque, NM
These photos were taken Tuesday, October 1; day two of my Craft Beer Tour 2019. The photos were taken at La Cumbre Brewing and Canteen Brewhouse, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. My GPS said it would take 4.5 hours, but I was losing an hour when I entered New Mexico. All I know is that was the longest four hour drive I have ever been on.
Anyway, when I left Flagstaff I set my GPS for La Cumbre Brewing Company. I wanted to go the last couple of times that I have visited Albuquerque, but things just didn’t work out; nothing was getting in my way this time. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2019: Flagstaff, AZ
These photos were taken Monday, September 30, day one of my Craft Beer Tour 2019. Once again, I am on my way to GABF, courtesy of the Brewers Association. As I have done with my previous visits to Denver, I will use this as a craft beercation. I plan on returning to the Pacific Northwest, but Mother Nature may change that; we shall see what happens. My stops today were at Flagstaff Brewing Company, Historic Brewing’s Barrel and Bottle House, and the relatively new, Mother Road Brewing Company brewery.
The day started off well enough, I left the house around 8:30 and hit minimal traffic. As I approached Kingman I recalled that I found a brewery last year, but I read a 3 as a 5 on a sign and didn’t figure that out until I was past Kingman with no easy way to get back. To add insult to injury, I had to pay $.20 a gallon more for gas at the next stop. Continue reading
The Road to Barstow
These photos were taken June 27 and 28 at in Barstow, and Claremont Craft Ales in Claremont. A couple years ago one of Oggi’s prior PR companies had reached out to me about covering a beer release they were having at their some of Oggi’s 15 locations. Unfortunately, none of those locations were local or convenient for me to visit. Last month, my buddy Steve and I drove to Las Vegas to see Aerosmith; it was then that I decided we should stop in Barstow and check out Oggi’s Sports Brewhouse Pizza since you never want to get to Las Vegas before 3:00 PM.
I guess Oggi’s has been around about 20 years, but I never really paid much attention to is since I only ever saw it in Barstow, and stopping in Barstow for more than gas or an Egg McMuffin never made much sense to me. Since Steve and I based our drive on missing as much traffic as possible while not getting to Vegas prior to check-in time at the condo, a stop in Barstow for a couple beers made perfect sense. Continue reading