Brian and Maria with Rhett our Haunted Pub Crawl Tour Guide

As many of you know Maria and I visit breweries, brew pubs, and other craft beer havens as our visitors center when we arrive in a new city. We find that they are often filled with the types of locals who enjoy striking up a conversation and telling you about their town over a well crafted beer. This past week we ran across a city that had a new way for us to explore in a unique and different way. Enter Savannah, GA.

Taking advantage of the "to go" beers.

Being an early settlement town Savannah has a long and colorful history that just happens to include quite a bit of murders and war. As a results Savannah has come to be known as a ghost and paranormal hotspot. So how do you explore this unique aspect of the area AND enjoy beer? Why a haunted pub crawl of course! We were able to find a candlelit walking tour that featured some prominent local watering holes and the town’s only brewery, Moon River. The best part? The Historic Downtown district has no open container laws so we were able to take our tasty craft beer to-go!

The Savannah Haunted Pub Crawl is a two hour walking tour that takes you in and around several of the more famous ghost inhabited places in downtown while providing history and some haunting ghost stories that will be sure to give you the chills. Drinks are not included with the tour, but at almost every stop you have the opportunity to buy one.

Moon River Brewing

We started at Moon River Brewery which our tour guide, Rhett, informed us resides in one of the most notorious buildings in downtown, the old City Hotel. The saloon in the basement was a popular hang out for some of Savannah’s seedier characters and features a laundry list of violent acts that eventually made the top two stories of the building nearly inhabitable. In fact while trying to renovate these floors three different construction crews were hired and subsequently quit due to paranormal activity: tools would go missing, workers will hear their name uttered only to turn around and see that they are the only one in the room and probably the creepiest story: an electric sander that refused to turn off even after it was unplugged. The construction worker walked up the foreman with the sander in one and and the plug in the other, handed it to him and said, “I will not be returning tomorrow”. After a few failed attempts at renovation, they surrendered to the spirits and decided to leave the top floors alone. The brewery has been featured on several ghost hunting shows including Ghost Adventures. BEWARE! Intelligence transfer may or may not occur! Knocks and shadows and dust, oh my! Es creepy indeed!

The creepy 2nd floor at Moon River Brewing.

We were taken to the second floor during the tour and you instantly felt uneasy and most everyone on the tour admitted to having goose bumps. Upon leaving the brewery Rhett informed us that mediums who have been on that floor say that it’s wall to wall spirits in there. Luckily, the ghosts seem to respect the beer enough not to mess with the brewers as I had two delicious IPA’s (one American and one English) with no signs of paranormal hopping.

As the night progressed we learned about desecrated Indian burial sites, a building that burned down next to a fire station, and how the Girl Scouts national office (which amusingly hosts thousands of girl scouts ever year) is built right on top of a grave yard! Some stories seemed a little hokey or vague while others definitely stuck with you well even after the tour was over.

It was a good way to get out and see the city, enjoy some beer, and learn a thing or two. From a beer perspective every establishment we stopped at seemed to have at least a couple some craft beers to choose from. During the tour we had enjoyed a couple Moon River IPA’s, a couple Terrapin Rye Ales, a $15 shot of scotch, and a “pickle back” that consisted of a shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice.

Here are some more pictures from our spirited tour:

Rhett stops to tell us about Savannah's twisted sense of humor.

Maria got her hands on our Rhett's historic pistol. (giggle)

The best crab soup ever for Maria and a beer brat for Brian.

And a few more of Savannah’s beauty!

Savannah College of Art and Design Courtyard

Crossing the Talmadge Memorial Bridge is a bridge in the United States that spans the Savannah River between downtown Savannah, Georgia, and Hutchinson Island.

Take a drive out to Tybee Island and soak up the sun on the beach!

We are very happy to introduce to you this week’s Featured Beer Traveler, Win Bassett. Win has been one of the most socially active members of the craft beer community, especially in North Carolina, and has been seeking out craft beer since his epiphany in 2007. We are honored that Win took the time to talk to us and share his stories since he is one busy man! He’s the Executive Director of North Carolina Brewers Guild, leads the Social Media & Beer Education at All About Beer Mag, is the Co-founder of ncbrewing.org, a regular contributor for Southern Brew News, SavorNC Magazine, and WRAL, and after all that still finds time to be a runner! TRP friends, meet Win Bassett:

Q. What are your three favorite things?

A. Running. Beer. Writing.

Q. If beer drinking was your “job” what title would you give yourself? If beer drinking is your job, tell us more!

A. I have a few beer-related jobs. I’m Executive Director of the North Carolina Brewers Guild, a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) organization focused on protecting and promoting North Carolina beer. In other words, I lobby (formerly a practicing attorney), advocate, and promote beer crafted in North Carolina to ensure that our state’s beer community continues to thrive. In my other day job, I lead Social Media and Beer Education for All About Beer Magazine (which, for over thirty years, has been the most respected source for the growing beer culture) and its three World Beer Festivals.

I’m also a regular contributor to Southern Brew News, SavorNC Magazine, and WRAL, and I’ve been published by the Brewers Association and the News & Observer. I’ve appeared on the ALEHEADS’ podcast several times and have been a guest on Beer Session Radio™ on the Heritage Radio Network. I serve as Interim Secretary of the North American Guild of Beer Writers and was a finalist judge for the 2012 SweetWater Brew Your Cask Off competition. I’m also a Certified Cicerone™ Beer Server.

Dining with Natty Greene

Q. Tell us about your connection to the craft beer industry:

A. Other than the fact that I’m now in the industry (still have to pinch myself when I wake up in the morning), I got my start by co-founding and writing at http://ncbrewing.org about the North Carolina beer community. I found myself devoting more and more of my time and energy to writing about beer and advocating for small, independent craft breweries while I continued my day job as an Assistant District Attorney in Raleigh, NC. I came to the realization that my life’s work was going to be in the beer community, and I made the leap. I started practicing my passion full-time approximately three months ago, and I couldn’t be happier or more excited.

Q. Why do you primarily travel?

A. I primarily travel to cover beer-related events for All About Beer Magazine, to visit the North Carolina breweries that I represent as Executive Director of the North Carolina Brewers Guild, and to attend industry-related conferences and festivals to interact with the incredible beer community.

Flights at Front Street Brewery in Wilmington, NC, with my brothers in July 2011

Q. How long have you been seeking out craft beer when you travel? What made you want to seek out craft beer when you travel? What was your first craft beer travel memory?

A. I’ve been seeking out craft beer when I travel ever since I had my craft beer epiphany as a first-year law student at the University of Chapel Hill in 2007. That moment, when a friend ordered a Rogue Dead Guy for me at Tyler’s Taproom in Carrboro, NC, made me want to seek out other artisan-made beers that each had amazing people and a wonderful story behind him.

My first craft beer travel memory occurred when I visited Sorrento, ME, a tiny island about forty-five minutes north of Bar Harbor, one summer. I made my hosts stop at a bottle shop on the way from the airport and picked up several bottles of Atlantic’s Mount Desert Ginger and Shipyard’s IPA. The entire week was a scene from an L.L. Bean catalog. We stayed in a cabin on the water, ran in the mornings, kayaked in the afternoons, and cooked amazing meals in the evenings outside while having excellent beer.

Chatting with Garrett Oliver at the Denver Rare Beer Tasting III during GABF in 2011

Q. Where all have you been? What breweries have you visited?
A. Too many beer-related places to name each one, but out of the breweries/brewpubs:

• North Carolina—almost all 60
• South Carolina—COAST, Palmetto
• Georgia—SweetWater, Twain’s
• Maine—Atlantic, Bar Harbor
• California—Ballast Point, Green Flash, Karl Strauss
• Colorado—Equinox, Denver Beer Co., Great Divide, Wynkoop, Oskar Blues, Funkwerks/Crooked Stave, Left Hand
• New York—Brooklyn, La Birreria
• Virginia—Starr Hill, Blue Mountain, Devil’s Backbone, Wild Wolf

Q. What do you look for in a beer destination when you travel?

A. Quality of beer, the people, and overall atmosphere. Food is typically an afterthought because I’m vegan, and beer destinations with vegan food options are few and far between. I’ll give a quick shout out to Lee Chase of Tiger! Tiger! and Blind Lady Ale House in San Diego for having great vegan options on the menu.

Win Bassett and Chad Yakobson at Crooked Stave

Q. What are some of your favorite breweries that you have visited?

A. Picking a favorite brewery is like picking my favorite beer. It can’t be done. One brewery experience that particularly sticks out, however, is Chad Yakobson’s Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project. He’s in the process of moving to Denver, but at GABF in 2011, he brewed out of Funkwerks in Fort Collins. Chad was gracious enough to show me around his barrels and put up with me geeking out over his setup. The beers in his Wild Wild Brett Series are breathtaking.

Q. How do you find craft beer when you travel?

A. I primarily rely on personal recommendations, but I also take a look at BeerAdvocate and RateBeer for tips.

Favorite Beer City to travel to:

A. It has always been Asheville, NC—amazing beer, incredible food, and awesome people.

Best Beer State in your opinion:

A. Is that a real question? North Carolina, of course.

Brewery you want to visit:

A. Brasserie-Brouwerij Cantillon. I’m a wild ale fiend, and Jean Van Roy is an artisan genius.

@winbassett & @ricech (both of @allaboutbeer) share beers w/ @GarrettOliver today (via @BrewChief)

Q. What do you look for when deciding what pint to pour next?

A. I consider several factors, including time of day, weather, ABV, whether I’ve previously had the particular beer, and the company I share.

Q. What is the most unique beer you’ve enjoyed?

A. That depends on how you define “unique.” One that immediately comes to mind is Dogfish’s Black & Red, an imperial stout “dry-minted” with 100 pounds of organic mint.

Q. If you could have dinner and beers with anyone in the craft beer industry, who would it be and where would you go?

A. The late, great Michael Jackson. I never tire of his eloquent writings and his significant contributions to beer literature and education. I’d drag him to Brasserie Dupont to recreate one of his visits there.

When he opened a bottle for me to taste, the cork flew through the air. No sooner had one bottle appeared than another would be fetched. “Taste this” M. Rosier would suggest, every time I sought to probe the secrets of his beer.

“In your view, just how should a Saison taste?” I would demand. “It must be a good, honest beer. It should have character. It is essential that it has soul,” he would reply, with Gallic imprecision. “Here … try this one.” In their house character, Dupont’s beers are full of life. with a rocky, creamy, head; a sharp, refreshing, attack; a restrained fruitiness; and a long, very dry finish.

- Michael Jackson, The Seasonal Search for the Phantom of Brewing

Q. Where can we find more about you online? Twitter/Facebook/Website etc.

A. Website: http:///winbassett.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/@winbassett

Facebook: http://facebook.com/winbassett

Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/winbassett

North Carolina Brewers Guild: http://ncbeer.org

All About Beer Magazine: http://allaboutbeer.com

ncbrewing.org: http://ncbrewing.org

Today marks the first day of a long week packed full of craft beer events, quite possibly the best week of the year for craft beer, next to Craft Brewers Conference and Great American Beer Festival weeks, American Craft Beer week. There are events going on all over the US with Craftbeer.com doing an excellent job keeping everyone informed.
 

Check out their map for the long list of events.

Or read their list of recommendations on how to celebrate craft beer week. They have some great suggestions including downloading the Declaration of Beer Independence which you can print off and share with friends and your favorite bars around town.

I do have a suggestion for our friends in the midwest… Join me (Maria) at the Omaha Beer Fest this weekend! They have events Thursday, Friday and Saturday, all guaranteed to expand your mind in craft beer all while trying some of the best beer brewed in this fine nation. Trust me, we’ve made our rounds and I am as big of an advocate for beers brewed in the Midwest as I am the ones brewed in San Diego and Tampa. (There is still a chance to win some tickets here!)

Last year we were fortunate enough to attend the first annual Omaha Beer Fest and were blown away by the Thursday night Connoisseur event, which was sponsored by Goose Island, this year it’s sponsored by one of our local favorites, Boulevard Brewing Company. If you join me Thursday night you will be able to experience 4 different Boulevard Craft Beers poured in your very own set of Spiegelau connoisseur glasses specially made for each style of beer. Even better, after the event you will be able to take home the Spiegelau Connoisseur Set. Big deal you might say? Well, let me be the first to tell you that the glass really does make a difference. Now, I’m not just talking about the shape of the glass paired with the correct beer, even though that is important! If someone were to tell me that the taste of my beer is different without actually doing a taste comparison of a Spiegelau glass versus the regular ol’ standard pint glass, I’d a say “get outta here, you’re full of shit”. But, I must say, after a first hand tasting, there really is a difference!! I heard so many people remark that they never liked an IPA before this tasting. Spiegelau uses a superior fine grain silicone to achieve the best possible drinking experience you could imagine. We were so impressed we actually took a set with us on the road in the RV, which if you can imagine, nice glass in a RV is not necessarily an ideal thing, but these glasses are legit!

Friday the events just keep rollin’. Not only does Friday night feature the first ever Homebrewers Competition at the festival but it is packed with awesome seminars that will most likely grab my attention. You will probably find me at the 5:00PM ~ Beer and Chocolate pairing presented by Craig Pijanowski, Lead Brewer at Boulevard Brewing Company and Suzi Bonnett, owner of Chocolaterie Stam. They most likely won’t have the Chocolate Ale everyone clamored for this year (only to receive a few batches of recalled beer and a very nice apology from Boulevard along with a refund) but beer and chocolate… come on… what could be better! After that there are some great seminars for people that are new to craft beer or homebrewing.

6:00PM ~ CRAFT BEER 101/INTRODUCTION TO BEER STYLES
Presented by Jeff Crabtree, owner of Crabtree Brewing Company in Greeley, Colorado

7:00PM ~ HOMEBREWING 101 / INTRODUCTION TO MEAD
Presented by Brian Schlueter, Railroaders Brew Club and owner of Moonstruck Meadery

Saturday might be my favorite of all though with two of my most favorite breweries ever, Nebraska Brewing Company and Free State Brewing Company hosting two seminars. Couple that with some cupcakes and Wisconsin Cheese and you can pretty much see where I will be spending most of my Saturday… under the tent!

3:00PM ~ BEER AND CUPCAKES PAIRING
Presented by Eric Kaizer, Ska Brewing Company in Durango, Colorado, and Bill Jones, Jones Bros Cupcakes

4:00PM ~ NEBRASKA CRAFT BEER REVOLUTION: A BREWERS PERSPECTIVE
Presented by Paul Kavulak, owner, Nebraska Brewing Company, from Papillion, Nebraska

5:00PM ~ EXTREME BEER AND CHEESE
Presented by Jeffrey Pohl, Schell’s Brewing Company in New Ulm, Minnesota and Judy Gilliard, Wisconsin Cheese

6:00PM ~ BEER TRIVIA
Hosted by Geoff Deman, Head Brewer at Free State Brewing Company in Lawrence, Kansas

After all these great events what I am most looking forward to? The afterparties with some of the best people I’ve met while on my beer travels, and who would have thunk it, all in my hometown, where I was born! A thriving craft beer scene and incredible people And even a small chance I convince my dad to come along to discover what I already know Craft Beer Rocks!!

Q. Tell us about yourself in 140 characters or less. OR in a rhyme

A. Raised in Michigan, drinking Stroh’s out of a can
Moved to Cali in ’86, to get my sun fix
Love to surf and bike, drink good beer and hike
Traveling is high on my list, and hanging with friends can’t be missed!

Q. What are your three favorite things?

A. Beer, Biking, Enjoying the outdoors

Q. If beer drinking was your “job” what title would you give yourself? If beer drinking is your job, tell us more!

A. While I wear many hats for PubQuest, I’d say that Chief Brewery Researcher would be an appropriate title… as Co-Founder sounds so boring.

Q. Tell us about your website:

A. PubQuest.com’s primary focus is providing consumers an easy way to locate craft breweries in order to expose more people to all of the great, local beer that is in big and small towns across the U.S. and Canada. We have over 2,800 locations in our database, and it’s constantly being updated. In addition, you can learn about brewery events, order custom maps for your adventures and of course purchase schwag.

Q. How long have you been seeking out craft beer when you travel? What was your first craft beer travel memory?

A. Wow, that’s a tough one. I had my first exposure to craft beer in the early 90s and definitely sought it out on any travel I did (it was far from everywhere back then!). Besides going out of my way on every trip I take to visit breweries (sometimes co-workers, friends and family appreciate the excursion and sometimes not!), my first trip solely for the purpose of beer travel was Tall Sails and Ales on Maple Leaf Adventures (in British Columbia). Since then, I have done 2 multi-day beercycles (NYC2DC and Belgium) and been to Denver for GABF twice. In addition, there have been numerous weekend excursions to visit friends and breweries (usually with a dose of hiking or biking thrown in).

Q. Where all have you been? What breweries have you visited?

A. Way too many to name…if only there was a map for me to keep track of this…(coming soon to PubQuest). I have visited breweries in probably 30+ states in the United States, as well as British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta in Canada. I’ve also been to breweries in Australia, New Zealand and Europe (England, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands). And didn’t get to breweries but drank the local beer in S. Africa, Mexico, Caribbean, Croatia, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain and Malta. I do have a collection of over 300 coasters from the breweries that I have visited.

Q. What do you look for in a beer destination when you travel?

A. Always nice to have multiple local breweries to experience but sometimes even 1 can make the trip worthwhile. I’ve visited breweries that range from nano (i.e. someone’s garage but commercial) to huge (Duvel) and everything in between and had some of the most amazing experiences based on a combination of tour, awesome folks that work there and of course delicious beer.

Q. What are some of your favorite breweries that you have visited?

A. Another tough one as there are so many! Van Steeneberg really stands out. Dogfish Head was special, really enjoyed Midnight Sun and Cascade Barrel House, place in my heart for Stone (I helped build the walls of the entryway!) and great experiences at Cigar City. There are probably another 50, mostly small ones that were awesome.

Q. How do you find craft beer when you travel?

A. PubQuest.com of course! Because we only have breweries, if I’m looking for a beer bar or bottle shop, I will look at local publications, talk to locals and check out a couple other websites.

Favorite Beer City to travel to:

A. Living in San Diego, I don’t have to travel (and it’s really the region/county that’s amazing, not just the city). With that said, I know it’s cliché, but probably Portland.

Best Beer State in your opinion:

A. Tie between California and Oregon

Brewery you want to visit:

A. Can I have more than 1? Victory, Bell’s and Southern Tier (in the U.S.).

Tell us about your most memorable beer trip(s):

A. My 1^st trip that I mentioned above, beer sailing in British Columbia, was so unique and I got to experience breweries and beers that you can only find very locally and did this all via sailboat (i.e. how many readers have drank Gulf Islands beer?!). In addition, every meal had some beer integrated into it, even breakfast (Scottish ale in our Scottish Oatmeal!). Beercycling on the east coast for 10 days was memorable for many reasons – first bike tour over 3 days, traveling with a person who I met for the first time when we started, visiting some amazing breweries and beer locations and meeting a ton of wonderful beer folks. Trip highlights are at http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/breweries/road-trips/show?title=beer-cycling-pubquest-new-york-city-to-washington-dc. Beercycling in Belgium last year is right up there too for most memorable.

Q. What do you look for when deciding what pint to pour next?

A. Depends on a few things… Where am I? If I’m not in San Diego, I will look for what’s local (that I can’t get in San Diego). What am I feeling? Hoppy or red or brown or Belgian, 5% or 8% ABV… What are the bartenders or locals recommending?

Q. What is the most unique beer you’ve enjoyed?

A. Southern Tier Crème Brulee Stout definitely stands out. I’m not a big stout fan (tastes too much like coffee) but this one re-defined stouts for me. There have also been a few sours, like Russian River Consecration that are unique and very enjoyable.

Q. If you could have dinner and beers with anyone in the craft beer industry, who would it be and where would you go?

A. I’ve been very fortunate to have met and spent time with some of the most famous (and many not-as-famous but wonderful) craft brewery folks in the country (as well as with Jef from Van Steenberge). Instead of dinner, my ultimate “event” would be to go on a bike adventure (preferably multi-day) with a group of people from the craft beer industry that are caring, fun, and passionate. And of course visit a wide variety of craft breweries to experience the breadth and depth of local beers. Can you please arrange that?

Q. Where can we find more about you online? Twitter/Facebook/Website etc.

A. Twitter: @pubquest, Facebook: www.facebook.com/pubquest, Website: www.pubquest.com

It's what we do!!

After spending a whole month in park Maria and I were excited to hit the road again and discover more great beer destinations and meet more great people. Tampa has been an emerging beer scene for awhile now and we knew that we could find some good brews (which we did) but were even more impressed with the beer community. Everyone involved with the craft beer scene seems to know everyone else personally and will recommend that you visit them. No rivalries here.

3rd best tour guide on the 3rd best brewery tour in the nation. Pimpin' ain't easy.

When we we visited Cigar City Brewing with Gerard Walen of roadtripsforbeer.com and beerinflorida.com for the Saturday tour we were immediately impressed with tour guide Bob Lorber’s engaging and amusing version of CCB history. His knowledge of beer and the Tampa brewing scene made the “3rd best brewery tour in the US” even better. After only three years of existence CCB has become the most well known craft brewery in Florida and a well known brewery across the nation. After the tour Bob joined Gerard, Maria, and I for some beers and spent a good amount of the conversation talking about Tampa beer as a whole and giving us the names of other breweries we should visit: Tampa Bay Brewing Co, Dunedin Brewing, Seventh Sun, Saint Somewehere, Peg’s Cantina and Brew Pub, Yuengling, they even strongly encouraged we to go to Little Giant, a brewery that isn’t even open yet but apparently taking visitors!

Gerard, Maria, Bob and Brian at Cigar City

Excellent beer at Dunedin Brewery

The more Tampa area breweries we visited the more we realized there are a lot of interwoven connections between the businesses. Peg’s Cantina and Brewpub’s head brewer, Doug, was Cigar City’s 3rd employee and now Peg’s manager Christina helps out at CCB as well. The guy who welded Cigar City’s new expansion system also created Peg’s custom brewing tree. The head brewer at the recently opened Seventh Sun Brewing in Dunedin used to work at Cigar City while some of the people at Dunedin Brewery helped Seventh Sun with get their space up and running. It seems like every time we talked to someone at a new brewery they would mention a connection to one of the others.

Cigar City Cans

The craft beer industry is known for it’s open and supportive nature, but Tampa’s regional pride helps give it a unique atmosphere. When David, head brewer at Tampa Bay Brewing Co, started he simply wanted Tampa to have good beer. Cigar City told of a similar story and continued to say that they wanted to share “the fascinating culture and heritage of the Cigar City of Tampa” with the rest of the nation. Most of their beer names are tied to local history and culture as well. Overall, the breweries in Tampa don’t view the others as competitors but as comrades who are all trying to make great beer in Florida and put out a product Tampa residents can be proud of. Many of them recall the history of GOOD beer in the state, and for most, it doesn’t go back too far.

We had a great time talking to Tampa Bay Brewing's head brewer David Doble about the Tampa craft beer scene. And the meatloaf WAS amazing!

Tampa Bay Brewing

I was even so impressed with the beer scene here that I voted for Tampa for Beer City USA in this year’s competition. There is still time to vote here: http://www.facebook.com/BeerCityTPA. While it would be hard to say it is the best (in all actuality there are just too many great towns hosting excellent breweries to pick just one!!) they certainly are working to change the perception of craft beer in Florida and are doing a mighty fine job at that!!

When your ready to plan your next beer trip, don’t forget about Tampa, it’s got some big things to offer and the beach is not too shabby either!

Here are some more photos from our time in Tampa!

Sticker wall at Cigar City now complete with TRP goodness!

A plan I can live by!

How beer cans are made from Yuengling Brewery in Tampa

Seen at Tampa Bay Brewing

Meet the Feat. Beer Traveler: The Beer Wench (Photo Credit Mike Condie)

A. Craft beer evangelist & social media puppeteer on a mission to revolutionize the beer industry through education, innovation & advocacy.

Q. What are your three favorite things?

A. Assuming that this does not include people: craft beer, boutique wine and artisan spirits. Food is a close 4th.

Q. If beer drinking was your “job” what title would you give yourself? If beer drinking is your job, tell us more!

A. I am very lucky to have a career in craft beer. My official title is “Director of Awesomeness and Beer Mixologist” at Bison Brewing in Berkeley, CA. Essentially, I am a Jack of All Trades at the brewery. My multiple hats include marketing, public relations, event planning, social media, website management, brewing, washing kegs, administrative work — you name it, I do it.

Q. What drew you into the craft beer community?

A. The people, hands down. Although I love all the beverages and the communities that surround them, my heart belongs to craft beer.

Q. How long have you been seeking out craft beer when you travel? What was your first craft beer travel memory?

A. For about 4 years now. Hands down, the most memorable — no, not good enough — the pinnacle moment in my life as a craft beer drinker occurred during a trip to Chicago in 2008. At the time, my blog was barely a few months old, and my “beer palate” was, admittedly, amateur at best. I was traveling to attend the NRA show (food kids, not guns) in Chicago for work. At the time I was employed by a creative marketing agency and we were pursuing, rather intensely, a restaurant client. The restaurant group invited me to come to the show with them because of both my restaurant background and marketing skills, so I found myself eating and drinking my way through Chicago for five days.

One fortuitous evening, the group and I were hanging around the bar and one of them started to chat up some men who worked for Merchant Du Vin, one of the country’s best importers. Naturally, I was called over to join in the conversation. But instead of high-fives and a pat on the back, I was welcomed with disdain.

You see, at that point, I was, admittedly, ignorant about beer. I was a thrill seeker and a treasure hunter. I was obsessed with Imperial anything and all beers with and exorbitant amount of hops. I knew the names of the trendy beers, and I had no qualms with dropping them. I was that guy.

Luckily for me, one of the men took pity on my young 24-year old ignorant palate, and took it upon himself to rectify my state of beer ignorance. His name is Brian Van Zandbergen and I will always be in debt to him for steering me to this very path that I am following.

And so, young, naive and barely a beer blogger, I found myself on quite possibly the most crazy beer journey of my life.

The first stop we made was at Goose Island’s Clybourn brewpub, where I met Stephen Beaumont, a man whom I worship and will forever call my mentor. It is here that I tasted my first Saison — a style that has now become one of my favorites. But the story does not stop here. After swerving in and out of city traffic, and possibly through a few red lights, our motley crew found ourselves at The Map Room.

One would have thought The Map Room belonged to Brian, with the way he went about the place grabbing bottles and glasses. Before any of us could sit down, we had a spread of beers laid out on the table. That I night I had my first gueuze and the greatest beer epiphany of my life. And I was never the same again.

The Beer Wench with her fiancee, Angelo, from BrewPublic.com

A. Damn, this question is pretty damn hard, reflecting upon how much I’ve traveled and all the cities that I’ve visited in the past few years. The first brewery I ever officially toured, was Victory Brewing Company. I went to Dogfish Head the day after that. Since then, I’ve visited and even brewed at several breweries all over the country.

Q. What are some of your favorite breweries that you have visited?

A. I’m a brewery rat, so I’ve gotten around. As for favorites, that is really hard to determine.

I have to give love to New Holland Brewing Company in Holland, MI. They were the first brewery to allow me to help design and brew a recipe, which meant more to me than words could possibly express. Fred from New Holland (@Beervangelist on Twitter) is one of my greatest friends on this planet, and he and his team took great care of me when I was there.

To this day, New Glarus stands out as one of my favorite brewery visits. Not just because they make amazing beer, but because of how spectacular and immaculate the brewery was. I swear it was like being in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory — but instead of chocolate, there was beer. And amazing beer at that. It was the first mostly automated brewery that I had visited, which in itself completely blew me away.

Other memorable brewery visits = Russian River, Dogfish Head, Goose Island, Great Divide, Stone, Commons Brewery, Ninkasi, Lagunitas, Captain Lawrence and many more.

Q. How do you find craft beer when you travel?

A. Twitter! For the most part, when I travel, I tweet and Facebook my adventures in advance, asking for tips and recommendations from fellow beer geeks in those cities. These days, most of my travel is beer and work related, so I typically have hit lists and events lined up before I visit!!

Favorite Beer City to travel to:

A. Damn! What’s with the hard questions? My best beer memories and experiences have been in Denver, Chicago, San Diego, and Portland (Oregon).

Best Beer State in your opinion:

A. California, duh. And I know all my Oregon friends are going to fight me on this one, but I am firmly planted in the California brewery camp. But don’t take my word for it, count the medals

Brewery you want to visit:

A. Oooh good question! On the top of my list: Short’s Brewing, Boulevard Brewing and Jester King.

Tell us about your most memorable brewery visit:

A. The memory most dear to my heart was probably visiting Russian River’s brewpub. Although I’ve been there a million times since, a girl never forgets her first time. My best friend Shana helped me move across country, from Florida to CA. We embarked upon a 2 week adventure, visiting some amazing watering holes and meeting lots of awesome people along the way. Our end destination was RRBC, where we met up with several of our wine blogger/ social media friends. Words cannot express how happy I was in that moment, happy to start a new life in CA, happy to be with my friends, and oh so happy to drink some of my favorite beers on this planet. That was a really special night. Le sigh.

Q. What do you look for when deciding what pint to pour next?

A. My mood, the weather, and food usually impact my beer decisions the most. I usually go for style first, brewery second. However, if I’m at a bar and I see something new that I’ve never tried before, I’m more likely to order it than something readily available.

A. Breakside Brewing’s Gin-Barrel Double-Wit comes to mind first. “Strong Belgian-style wheat, aged in Old Tom gin barrels from Oregon’s Ransom Spirits.” Gin is one of my favorite spirits. Barrel-aged gin is pretty rare, but Breakside was able to secure some barrels from a local distillery for aging its Double-Wit (a unique style in itself). It was corked and caged, super dry, very floral and all around awesome. And if you don’t mind me making a bold statement, I am going to say that beer geeks should keep their eyes on Ben Edmunds, as he is one of the most talented brewers in this generation.

Q. If you could have dinner and beers with anyone in the craft beer industry, who would it be and where would you go?

A. I would take another shot at dinner and beers with Ray Daniels. The first time I met him, I was a meek little student of beer, intimidated and impressed all at once by his knowledge and palate. Now, I feel a bit more confident in my experience and would love to discuss and debate food & beer pairings with him in person.

Q. Where can we find more about you online? Twitter/Facebook/Website etc.

A. Well, I typically stay away from the social media limelight… jk, we all know that isn’t true.

Blogs:

http://drinkwiththewench.com

http://beermixology.com

Twitter:

@TheBeerWench

@BeerMixology

Facebook:

Http://facebook.com/thebeerwench

Drink With The Wench

Beer Mixology

Google+: routson@gmail.com

Instagram: @thebeerwench

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/thebeerwench/

What do you do when you visit a brewery that doesn’t have a beer you like? After visiting nearly 200 all over the country, we’ve run into breweries of all shapes and sizes from a 1.6 barrel system at Hess Brewery in San Diego to New Belgium, who produces over 600,000 barrels a year (that’s 148.8 MILLION pints of beer in case you were counting). Some breweries have been around for over 20 years, some just started 2 months ago. Some focus on certain styles while others go with the tried and true Pale Ale, IPA, one light one dark routine. But with all these visits surely you are bound to find some that just are not good at all.

The thing is with brewery visits, as much as it should be just about the beer, it’s not. With the way we travel and try to visit breweries all across the nation, we visit at all times of the day, sometimes early, sometimes mid-afternoon. Everything from your mood coming into the visit to the vibe around you at the brewery will impact the way you remember that particular place at that particular time. Maybe the bartender wasn’t friendly at explaining the beer list or it took too long to have anyone serve you, these things come into play before you even take your first sip of beer. Which then of course, leads us to the tasting.

What do you do if you don’t like the beer? Usually we ask to sample a beer or two before we get a pint. Most breweries and sometimes taprooms are more than happy to let you have a little 2 oz sample, unless there is a law in the state against it. If I don’t like a beer of the one or two we sample, I ask for another. In many cases we will split a sampler tray. Generally with the amount of options available your bound to find one that is somewhat palatable. But then I wonder, what’s the point. If you don’t like any of the beers you’ve sampled do you still go ahead and order a full pint of the least offensive one?

I’m not an expert beer taster by any means, nor do I claim to be. I know of the off flavors in beer, mainly that they exist, but I couldn’t tell you this is for sure diacetyl. I just know, I either like it or I don’t. I am getting better at sorting out flavors of a style or beer, but am not familiar with the ingredients that are behind those flavors. Lately it just seems that I DON’T like a lot more beers than I DO like. I don’t know if it’s just an off day for my palate, or if the beer really isn’t that good.

I once asked this question to our followers and one of the more thoughtful comments suggested a person should say something to the brewer/bartender about it, describe what you taste, what you think isn’t right. She went as far to say that sometimes the brewer knows it’s not the best beer, but they serve it anyway. Sometimes breweries are so overtaxed with production, they have to. I’m not confident enough in my knowledge of tasting beer to give a thoughtful critique, but I know there are many out there that would.

So I am curious if anyone has ever run into this type of situation. What did you do? Did you say something or did you just quietly slip a few bills on the bar and duck out of there as fast as you could? OR are you so privileged to be living in California, Colorado or Oregon that you can’t even fathom, amongst all the incredible brewery options you have, that this would even be possible?

Copyright: Bonish Photography

When we decided to start this website nearly 1 year ago we thought, we are given so many great travel suggestions it would be a shame to keep these to ourselves. We were finding some of the best breweries around the nation all thanks to the people we’ve met and suggestions we have received along the way…and this past month was no different. It’s funny how sometimes your path’s cross with people, then you leave them, only to be reunited later down the road. This past month was possibly one of the most serendipitous occasions of our trip and it all started from one little email our good friend Jen O. sat down and took time to write to us and for that I will be forever grateful.

You see all it takes is one little email, one suggestion, one note in my long list of notes on my iPhone of suggestions from others. I first read this email lying in bed, while trying to wake up, as I do most mornings. The email had an extensive list of all the coolest Florida destinations Jen had visited. At the time we were in Texas, hell, maybe we were even in New Mexico at the time, I don’t specifically recall, but I do remember thinking, “oh our good friends Bill and Debby and Dennis and Jeanette (Check out CheddarYeti’s RV Adventures!) are also going the same way”. So I forwarded it without even finishing my review of all the great spots Jen mentioned.

Well, Debby, who is just about the most active person I know on Yelp, reading and leaving reviews, took that forwarded email and ran with the suggestions too, which just so happened to land them in a tiny little island town in nowhere Florida, Cedar Key. Our friend Jen is very artsy, a painter and a writer, so I usually love the suggestions she gives me. When she said there was this “wonderful, tucked away hippie fishing town” I thought, I’m in! And luckily Debby had repeated the same sentiment when she arrived here a couple weeks before we did. Debby said she loved it, Jen said she loved it, surely I would too, so off we went! Jen had mentioned in her email that we should stay at least 3 days, but it turned out there was a tiny RV campground about 1.5 miles from “downtown” that only cost $420/month to stay. We’ve never paid to stay anywhere for a week, let alone a whole month, so it was definitely a change a pace for us, which ended up being very welcomed. After we arrived we were able to convince the Yeti that they should also do something they’ve never done before either, and stay here with us as long as they could, and that they did.

Pat and Cindy Bonish from Every Mile's a Memory Blog

What we  didn’t know before we got here is what we would be getting ourselves into, which is to say, a good thing. The second night we were in town we wandered down to this little Tiki Bar that Debby had rejoiced nights before, sipping cocktails and watching the sunset over the gulf. Well, it just so happened that the couple running the Tiki Bar, Pat and Cindy Bonish, were fellow nomads themselves, previously RVing around the country for 3 years up until they found themselves down here in Cedar Key two years ago (Read more about Pat and Cindy’s story and adventures at EveryMilesAMemory.com). See, the thing about nomads is you’re always a wandering spirit, even when you aren’t technically roaming around. Even though Pat and Cindy have been soaking up their time on the island for the past two and a half years, their photography and sense of adventure continues strong, with some of the most breathtaking views anyone should hope to see in their lifetime.

Copyright: Bonish Photography

When we set out on our RVing adventure we never thought, “oh we should visit all these breweries”. Nope, in fact the idea never even crossed our minds. The real reason we set out on our trip was to meet more like-minded individuals, which at the time to us meant, young entrepreneurial-minded, self-staring individuals looking to create their own income and success (and still does really). When we started doing brewery tours, we met so many hard-working, dedicated owners and brewers, that the story of the small, local start-up creating wildly successful products that people loved was more than inspiring and exactly the type of people we set out to meet. After being on the road for a few months we started to realize that the distance from our friends back home was not only growing in miles but also growing light years ahead of the “typical lifestyle” mindset they were all in. Climbing the corporate ladder, buying your first home, having kids, these are all things we really have no interest in doing, not to say these stepping stones are a bad thing, or our friends that are in the middle of this kind of life aren’t living right, I’m not saying that at all. What I am saying is we have discovered along our journey is that this freedom we have given ourselves is exactly what we should be doing and at this point, I can’t really imagine life any other way. The hard part is being able to connect with old friends and being able to share stories without coming off as boastful or receiving any type of jealousy or resentment in return. Not that it is on purpose, but it just gets more difficult to relate our lifestyle with “the norm”.

Which brings us back to Cedar Key. And brings us back to fateful rendezvous with Bill and Debby, Dennis and Jeanette, Chris and Cherie (from Technomadia – Giving you everything you need to know about RVing) and now, Pat and Cindy Bonish. The stories we tell, the experiences we can share, everything from the horrors of dumping the shitter to mechanical breakdowns on the side of the road, are all things we can relate to and feel more than comforted to be able to share with our Nu friends that know exactly how it feels. I knew that we wanted to meet like-minded individuals, and it would be a hard sell to convince any of our 20-something friends that they should join us on the road. I feel blessed and privileged to be in the company of our new nomadic friends we have met and am really looking forward to the time that we all converge on the same road again.

This past month has been filled with stories that will be told for a lifetime.

An unusual amount of Karaoke

Two Hash runs (69.2 and 69.3)

Naming of our Hash Group, TiTiH3 - Trailer Trash Hash House Harriers

An incredible run in the March Madness tournament that had us watching all the way to the final seconds of the National Championship!!

Lots of Crabbin'

So many pot luck meals

Some of the best sunsets to be had in March and April 2012

And here is some beer porn from the Tiki Bar. A perfectly poured Guinness from a can. When Pat poured this and I had my first sip I thought this is the best Guinness I’ve ever had, next to the one we enjoyed on the top of the Gravity Bar at the actual Guinness Brewery in Dublin and next to my favorite hometown English Pub, The Red Lyon, that serves in on draft and always draws me the most perfect little shamrock on the top in the foam.

I think we can all agree that traveling is a great way to get away from the normal day to day routine and explore new places. Experiencing new things and meeting new people is what helps expand your horizons. Maria and I use our pursuit of great beer destinations as one method for exploring new cities and meeting like minded people, but there is another way to explore a new place, drink, and meet great people…Hashing.

The On-On foot is a traditional symbol of hashing.

What is a hashing you say? Well, let me tell you:
The Hash House Harriers “is an international group of non-competitive running, social and drinking clubs. An event organized by a club is known as a Hash or Hash Run, with participants calling themselves Hashers.” (-Wiki) Simply put, with the ones we’ve encountered anyway, it’s a drinking group with a running problem.

A hash begins with a couple of hares that set out ahead of the pack and lay a trail using a series of symbols, usually with flour or chalk (ROCK CHALK) to mark the way. However, the hares will try to trick you by setting false trails and include obstacles both man made and natural. Trails can be laid anywhere including wooded areas and urban environments. Everyone goes at their own pace and a well laid trail will have all participants reaching the finish at about the same time.

The Hash House Harriers banner at Love Joy's Brewery

It is important to note that drinking is a integral part of these events and is enjoyed prior to, during, and after each run. Drinks can range from cheap beer, to craft beer, to liquor, to Jello shots. While craft beer isn’t necessarily at the fore front of everyone’s mind we have found that the runs we have been on usually included some local beers, sometimes even kegs! When we hashed in Austin, they had a keg donated to them from Saint Arnold’s Brewery!! In Austin, the official hash bar is LoveJoy’s Brewery and Lagunitas sponsors the Gypsy hashers in Northern Cali!

Maria and I were first introduced to hashing by our nomadic friends, Bill and Debby, more appropriately known as Lyktonite and eXceSs, while in Phoenix. The trail led us through downtown and at one point we were drinking beer on top of a parking garage with a great view of the city. After the first run we were hooked. It allowed to explore parts of the city we never would have seen, exercised when we otherwise wouldn’t have, and drink beer with some great people. That hash is what you call our mother hash (our first one) and it was a PBR hash

Hashers are like beer geeks in the sense that they have a shared a set of core values which mostly included drinking and the refusal to take anything serious. They are well known for their boastful immaturity and proudly singing songs that would make anyone blush. In fact they have a raunchy song for just about every occasion, so if you are offended easily you might not want to participate.

The great part about hashing for us travelers is that there are hashing groups all over the world and most will do a run a least once a week. Most big cities will have a Hashing group and some even have multiple. We have gotten to the point that we will look up hash groups as well as breweries when entering a new city.

So far we have done Hashes in Austin, Pensacola, Phoenix and Tempe and just this last week did one in Cedar Key, FL, quite possibly the first ever done in Cedar Key, FL! Hared by none other than our good friends, Lyktonite and eXceSs, Here are a couple of pics from our new friend Pat Bonish, from Every Mile is a Memory blog, also fellow RVers currently managing the Low Key Hideaway and my favorite part of Cedar Key, the Tiki Bar!

Our Hares: Lyktonite

... and eXceSs

Our first hash in Cedar Key, FL was a red and blue hash in honor of our beloved Jayhawks making it to the National Championship!!

Getting the virgin's warmed up. Just Dennis loves two finger day.

Chalk Talk (ROCK CHALK!) explaining the marks on trail. Just Ernie (our dog) is an attentive listener. On On!!

And we're off. Just Brian and Just Ernie on trail.

Just Amy kickin' everyone's ass on trail.

The newbie hashers at their first beer near.

Just Dennis and Just Jeanette exercising their right to walk the trail.

Just Ernie vomits at our second beer near. Too much partying for this crazy animal!

Our first hash is complete, everyone found the on in and got in circle

Just Dennis being called out in circle results in multiple "down downs"

Fashion on trail! Skirts, Belts and Hawks galore! Strike a pose.

Just Brian... not Just Brian anymore!! He's been named...

When we initially hit the road we had visions of beautiful scenery, beer, and beaches in our heads. While we have had plenty of beautiful scenery and beer over the last several months we were missing the beaches. With Florida in our sites we were excited for a little sand time and sure enough our first stop was in Pensacola.

Pensacola is a coastal city in the panhandle of Florida. We were able to find a national park with RV camping on Santa Rosa Island which was just a short bridge ride off of the main land where we spent a couple days working, playing and enjoying the beautiful white sandy beaches.

After a few days in the park we were anxious to explore the local beer scene… hoping there was one. I was a little surprised to learn Pensacola has two breweries and an excellent beer bar, Hopjacks Pizza Kitchen and Taproom. Fortunately a visit to one brewery netted us a serendipitous experience at the other one.

 We started at Pensacola Bay Brewery located in Historic Pensacola Village in what we thought would be our last day in the area. PBBrew is a small brewery with a tasting room that has sample tastings when you purchase a PBB Pint Glass. Kegs and Half-Kegs, 1 Gallon Growlers, and 32 oz Bombers are also available to-go.

Similar to the strategy Texas breweries employ to serve beer in their tasting rooms you are not actually buying beer at the tasting room, rather a glass which is filled with a “free” sample. However you technically need to buy a new glass with each beer you drink which can create a rather heavy load if you enjoy several pints. Luckily they will let you donate your glass back to the brewery for a discount on your tab. Schwing! Glass in Stanley is no fun, and we’ve tried to give them away in the past but not many people seemed to want them!

The tasting room at Pensacola Bay Brewery

We decided to go the sampler route with our glass purchase. Maria was still in throws of a wicked cold and couldn’t taste any of the beers so for the good of the team I drank all of them (life is rough, right?). While I was working on a nice buzz we chatted it up with Lauren, the bartender, and learned of an event that would keep us in town for one more day.

The Pensacola St. Patrick’s Day 5k prediction run is put on by McGuire’s Irish Pub and Brewery for the last 34 years. Oddly enough we had visited the brewery several days earlier and did not hear one mention of the event which is pretty amazing consider it attracts nearly 15,000 participants and closes down a good section of the city for several hours. The run is so big that by the time the last people are crossing the starting line the first runners are making their final turn to the finish!

The run is not so much a competition as it is a big party. Costumes are encouraged and the winners are determined not by shortest time to completion but by who comes closest to the time predicted on their registration form. We could hear music and cheering a from a mile away several hours before the race started. Luckily we thought ahead and parked a few blocks from the brewery the night before, because parking was crazy Saturday morning. Little did we know, we ended up parking on the race route!

During and after the race we met up with the Survivor Hash House Harrier group. Hashers are a drinking group with a running problem, which means we fit right in!

The actual restaurant part of McGuire’s is filled with over 1,000,000 dollar bills and is a very big building, full of things to look at all over the walls. They have very old looking bars and big grand rooms that look like they are full of history, if not a many, many stories of debauchery. When you go, make sure you take time to walk through it all and stop to read some of the articles on the wall. None of the beers blew us away but the food was quite tasty and the run was just the fun we needed to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day away from all our friends!

On On!

Meet the Beer Traveler: Dan from Beer Trip

A. I was born in a crossfire hurricane. I like cold beverages. Other song lyrics. I’m just a 37 year old father of 2 from the Kansas City area.

Q. What are your three favorite things?

A. I don’t want to be a hack and say my family, so I’ll say the Milwaukee Brewers, Japanese Bruce Springsteen, and my family (because I am a hack, even if I don’t want to be one).

Q. If beer drinking was your “job” what title would you give yourself?

A. Kansas Correspondent for the Southwest Brewing News (a job I once had and wish I still did)

Q. Tell us how you got started with Beer Trips?

A. Back in 2005, my wife took a trip to visit her friend in Mexico City for a week. I had more vacation days than she did, so I decided to take my own trip. I loved the movie “American Beer” by the guy who now runs Barcade in Brooklyn, and I wanted to go visit my old friends from my hometown of East Troy, Wisconsin and a buddy in Minnesota. So I thought I’d take my time getting there, stop at breweries and brewpubs along the way like they did in “American Beer”, and make the most of it. A wrote a blog (about nothing) back then, made a comment about doing this trip and saying that if anyone wanted to join me, they could. This guy I barely knew, Tim Kramps, said that he liked Minnesota and wanted to go, so he came with me. It was a really good time, and ever since we’ve done at least one a year.

Q. What is your first craft beer travel memory?

A. Whenever my wife and I would go on a trip somewhere (usually for a wedding), I’d tell her that I wanted to go to a brewery when we were there if possible. She is really cool about stuff like that (especially because most brewpubs have awesome food on top of beer), so we’d usually do that. The first one we went to was J.T. Whitney’s in Madison, Wisconsin. We ordered a sampler and she made a rule that we had to drink all of each beer in the sampler after we tried a popcorn beer that we thought was awful (which knowing how my palate has changed, we might like now in all fairness). And we’ve stuck with that.

Q. Tell us about your RV:

A. It’s my parents’ RV, which we call the EM-50 (as in the Urban Assault Vehicle from the movie “Stripes”). It is great for a smaller group of guys (four to six usually), and is even better for me since it has a toilet and I have a small bladder. That said, I am sad to announce that they are selling it if anyone is interested in buying it.

Q. Where all have you been? What breweries have you visited?

A. We’ve been to 138 different breweries in 19 different states over the seven full Beer Trips and the six “Point Fives” that we’ve taken, so I won’t list them all here.

Q. What do you look for in a beer destination when you travel?

A. If we drive, we just look for places that we can get to every few hours as we head to a direction. The only trip we didn’t drive out from the KC area was when we decided to go to Portland, Oregon, which is just a destination brewery town, among others that we hope to make it to someday.

Q. What are some of your favorite breweries that you have visited?

A. With apologies to any that I might omit here, the best stops for us have been

Choc in Krebs, OK, Diamond Bear in Little Rock, Goose Island Brewery (not the brewpub) in Chicago, Hank is Wiser in Cheney, KS, Hops Haven in Sheboygan, WI, Nebraska Brewing Company in Papillion, New Belgium and Odell in Fort Collins, Schlafly in St. Louis, Snake River in Jackson Hole, WY, and Surly Brewing Company in Brooklyn Center, MN (I really hope I didn’t miss any of the places that were really, really cool to us).

Q. How do you find craft beer when you travel?

A. Beermapping.com. I am not friends with the guy who invented it and runs it, but he is a great human being. He’s very close to Japanese Bruce Springsteen.

Favorite Beer City to travel to:

A. I’m going to cheat and say the Twin Cities, but mainly because of Surly. So if you don’t accept that then I’ll say Brooklyn Center. The guys at Surly are among the coolest people I’ve met (beer-wise or other), and I think any of the Beer Trip guys would agree. Todd, Omar, Keith “Surly Boy Wonder”, and the others are just great. Andy and Rob have made it to every one of their Darkness Days since our first trip there, and I went last year. And I plan on going every chance I can in the future.

Best Beer State in your opinion:

A. It has to be Colorado, followed closely by Wisconsin and Oregon. Kansas is very underrated as well.

Brewery you want to visit:

A. Andy’s been there, but I’d love to hang out at the Dogfish Head Brewpub in Rehoboth Beach.

Tell us about your most memorable brewery visit or give us your favorite beer trip story:

A. The greatest Beer Trip story can be found here http://www.beer-trip.com/2009/07/for-those-of-you-who-know-me-you-know.html. I am biased, obviously, but it is a great read that I don’t want to condense.

Q. What do you look for when deciding what pint to pour next?

A. Depends on the mood, obviously, but usually and something hoppy. If I am home, and I have time to just relax and don’t have to go anywhere, a great barleywine is ideal.

Q. What is the most unique beer you’ve enjoyed?

A. Choc’s Gose was very different and very delicious. Michael Lalli is making some of the most unique and tasty beers out there. His Signature Series beers that he’s making are phenomenal and seem to be under the radar among beer people.

Q. If you could have dinner and beers with anyone in the craft beer industry, who would it be and where would you go?

A. Everyone probably says Sam Calgione from Dogfish Head, and since I’m a hack, I’d agree. I’ve talked a lot of my brewery friends, and every one of them has commented about how such a genuine and great guy he is. I’d just want to hang out with him at the DFH brewpub in Rehoboth Beach. But that’s also because I’ve already had beers and dinner with Jeremy Danner of Boulevard and John Bryan of Firestone Walker.

Q. Where can we find more about you online? Twitter/Facebook/Website etc.

A. Our webpage is http://www.beer-trip.com/ We are also on Facebook as “Beer Trip” and @BeerTrip on Twitter.

Introducing the Japanese Bruce Springsteen

Meet Chris and Cherie of Technomadia

Q. Tell us about yourself in 140 characters or less. OR in a haiku

A. We are technomads – technology enabled nomads. We’ve been on the road full time since 2006, embracing nomadic serendipity.

Q. What are your three favorite things?

A. Serendipity, Gadgets and Cats (Kiki made us say that).

Q. If beer drinking was your “job” what title would you give yourself?

A. Hop Inspector

Q. Tell us… what compelled you to get on the road? How long have you been nomads and what do you travel in?

Chris started off solo in April 2006 in a tiny 16’ T@b teardrop trailer after leaving behind his Silicon Valley mobile tech career. He had always held a technomadic lifestyle as a goal, having long ago been inspired by Steve Roberts (the original technomad).

We met soon after, on a Prius forum no less. Cherie had been living in Florida running her software development business from her home. As her business was mobile friendly, she decided to sell everything and move aboard the T@b. (We still run that business today.)

45’ square feet of living space proved to be a touch too small, so we commissioned a 17’ fiberglass egg to be custom built for us. We traveled in our sweet solar powered Oliver for 3 more years, before ditching the mainland for a winter living in a treehouse cottage in the US Virgin Islands (after confirming craft beer was available on island).

When we returned, we got an unsolicited offer we couldn’t refuse on our Oliver – and decided to try out something new to us. After delivering the trailer and becoming homeless, we hopped on Amtrak and rode the rails hunting for a vintage bus. We ended up buying a 1961 GM 4106 bus that had already been converted to be an RV – and we’ve been working on updating her ever since. When we get done, it’ll be a high-tech, off-grid, solar powered pimped out home on wheels.

Q. How long have you been seeking out craft beer when you travel? What was your first craft beer travel memory?

At our housewarming party when we moved in to our Oliver Travel Trailer in 2008, a friend gifted a couple bottles of his homebrew. Being total beer-noobs, we had no clue what we were getting ourselves into. We drove on and arrived to our next location – which happened to be a rendezvous with another fellow RVing technomad. When we learned he was a major craft beer enthusiast, we brought out our homebrew gift to share.

We opened it with pride to share with a friend, and try to impress him that we had such a craft on board.

After traveling in the trailer for hundreds of miles – the bottle foamed upon opening. And it kept foaming and foaming and foaming. We each took turns locking our lips over the beer bottle neck, sucking up the foam that kept erupting. Soon we were all dripping foam from our chins and laughing so hard at the imagined scene that might have looked like a bad porno to an outsider.

The beer was good, but more importantly – it opened the door to a long weekend of being introduced to craft beers from our friend. It sparked our fascination with learning and seeking out awesome beer experiences.

Chris and Cherie with nomadic friends Ben and Karen

Q. Where all have you been? What breweries have you visited?

Our travels have taken us all over the USA – over 75,000 miles criss-crossing the country. And to the US Virgin Islands. We take every opportunity we get to stop in a brewhouse and sample the local hops and have now visited more than we can count.

Some of our most memorable breweries in the journey have been:

Stone Brewery – Escondido, CA

SKA Brewery – Durango, CA (we discovered we were having work done our bus right next door!)

St. John Brewers – St. John, USVI

Schlafly’s – St. Louis, MO

21st Amendment – San Francisco, CA

Ninkasi Brewery – Eugene, OR

Q. What do you look for in a beer destination when you travel?

A. Beer (duh) & Bus Parking (Overnight parking so we can drink without worrying about driving is a super double bonus!)

Q. How do you find craft beer when you travel?

A. There’s an app for that! We use the ‘Find Craft Beer’ app on the iPhone (nifty title, eh?). But more often than not, we follow serendipity (or or noses).

Favorite Beer City to travel to:

A. San Diego, St. Louis, Portland… what is up with this ‘favorite’ thing anyway? Nomadism is about being able to embrace the power of ‘AND’.

Best Beer State in your opinion:

Not Utah .. or Kansas.

We actually wrote an iPhone app of our own after discovering the widely varying state laws regarding alcohol called ‘State Lines’. We expanded it to cover other laws that affect travelers – like cell phones & driving, seat belts, overnighting in rest areas, etc. But really, it was all inspired by beer. We have a free version of the app that only lists alcohol laws.

Brewery you want to visit:

Oh gosh… can we just answer ‘yes’ ?? There are actually several that are on our list, including Rogue in Portland and Dogfish Head.

But as Cherie has recently developed a gluten sensitivity, we’re anxious to start checking out breweries that are making gluten free beer. Green’s, New Planet and Toleration amongst the top of the list. She’s already determined that Redbridge (available in most grocery stores) only qualifies as ‘beer-ish’. But what do you expect? It’s made by Anheuser Busch.

Tell us about your most memorable brewery visit:

We host a theme camp at Burning Man for fellow nomads, called Camp Nomadia (sadly, it will likely not come together this year due to the ticket fiasco).

In 2009 we were placed right across the street from ‘Home Brew Camp’. Non-stop always changing brew on tap, poured by God himself, for 8 days straight in the desert. Scantly clad patrons all day long. Glowing giant rubber ducks passing by.

Now you tell us, does life get any better than that?

Q. What do you look for when deciding what pint to pour next?

We’re both fans of hops. Chris leans towards the IPAs, and Cherie towards the Ambers and Pale Ales. We look for a unique flavor, and perhaps even a story from the brewmaster.

Q. What is the most unique beer you’ve enjoyed?

We love unique beers, so it’s going to be tough to come up with a single unique beer (besides, after a few.. who can remember the name??)

So how about one more unique beer experience story? Good… glad you’re agreeable

In early 2009 we were hired by a company to help launch their brand new iPhone app. They wanted a unique marketing push to get attention at MacWorld (when it was still cool). But they had little budget to do something official, like rent a booth.

So what did we do? We convinced a local tour bus company to sponsor us by giving us a double decker bus for a week. We then convinced local San Francisco DJs to come on board and spin up some epic tunes on the top deck. Then reached out to all of the after parties and became the unofficial shuttle bus between the conference and outside events.

We had a roving DJd dance party on a bus.. for a week. (And, and we demo’d the app the whole time on a giant big screen). We got written up in all sorts of media and made a huge splash. The app got tons of downloads.

Aside from avoiding getting arrested or banned from MacWorld’s driveway (we actually got invited in) – we also managed nightly kegs of local craft brew on board.

Our favorite tweet of the night?

‘Some old dude just served me an organic Pale Ale on a bus.. this rocks!’.

Q. If you could have dinner and beers with anyone, who would it be and where would you go?

You.

Seriously, nothing beats beer and good friends. And we love making new friends over beer! Are we coming nearby… let’s get together!

Q. Where can we find more about you online? Twitter/Facebook/Website etc.

We blog about life on the road at:

http://www.technomadia.com

And you can find us elsewhere on:

Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | YouTube