New England road trip

[Pintabone]

My wife and I are looking to plan a short road trip up through New England from PA. Only planning on stopping in Newport, RI, Boston, MA and Portland, ME.

Would like to stop at Trillium and Maine Beer Co at a minimum. Anyone have advice on must visit breweries? We will likely only be able to visit a couple per city. Likely one night in Newport, two nights in Boston and two in Portland.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

For RI Proclamation Brewery is a must. I noticed that their website doesn't list their sours. The sours are really good if they still produce them. I heard that Tilted Barn is the latest greatest. Haven't had a chance to try them tho. Grey Sail isn't too bad either.

Way too many choices in Portland. Use the HBT search for "portland". Portsmouth NH and the surrounding area has many choices on the way up to Portland. I love Maine Beer company but it isn't that exciting of a brewery unless you want to pick up their beer. Get Lunch IPA or Dinner if you're lucky. Good people but it's just a plain old brewery. The bonus is it's probably right off the highway for you albeit about 20 minutes north of Portland. So convince the wife that it doesn't count as a brewery visit ;-)

Actually just remembered MBC has a bbq stand there.... so maybe stop there.....

 

[Tricerahops220]

@Pintabone If you drive through NYC, then CT, you could hit NEBCO which has some great beers.

Obviously if you go up 84 and skip RI, you could hit the new treehouse but if you continue to RI instead, see below.

Also my suggestion would be to go to try Proclamation Brewery as TheDudeLebowski had mentioned. Great sours and even better IPA's BUT RI will only let you carry out 72 or 74 ounces of beer per person, so that stinks.

If you follow along 95, you will drive right by Grey Sail brewing which, I've been told, is really good too.

Trillium is good. I think they were better before they got huge but not bad. Haven't been to the tasting room in a while so I'm not sure if it still functions in the same way it used to. They used to allow you to try 4 samples off of a list available and that was it for tasters. If you go in the summer though, downtown Boston has the Trillium beer garden which is really cool with great prices for full size beers. I will warn you, it is small and anywhere between 3-7 pm your fighting for space with the people who work downtown.

Castle Island is right down the road from Trillium and as of lately they have been churning out some great D/IPA's.

North side of Boston (route 1 north or 93 north) in Everett is Night Shift. Great beers, cools space, tons of beer to go. I don't think they do samples though, only full size pours.

Continuing north, when you get to Portsmouth you can hit the Portsmouth Brewery which can be hit or miss. There is also, Stoneface (kind of pricey but pretty good) and Great Rhythm which can be, eh.

Across the bridge in Kittery though, there is a place called Tributary which has some great beer (the old Portsmouth Brewery head Brewer) and is known for its occasional stout "Mott the Lesser" yes this is the old "Kate the Great" from the Portsmouth Brewery. There is an unbelievable seafood place called Roberts Maine Grill in Kittery right off of Route 1 that has great craft beer all the time.

Portland, oh god where do I start? If I could move to any city in the states, it might be this one.
Rising Tide - Cool spot, decent beer, fun time, corn hole, west coast feel to it, lots to go
Lone Pine - not bad place to stop, if you hit a special release, you'll do great, if not, you can find better choices
Bissell Brothers - try and hit the release, they don't make anything bad. Unbelievable beer. Great funky tap room. Definately stop here! its right off of 295 too! no excuses
Allagash - Free samples for everyone! Little bit off the highway
Austin Street - right across the road from Allagash. They are going to be the next big thing in this city. Great beer, super clean taste, finish great. Their DDH versions are so good, and their milk stout
Foundation - in the same building as Austin Street and that's the only reason I'm listing it. If you like English malt beer, maybe it's for you but its not my jam
There are so many more I could list but that should be good for now

Freeport - MBC. Usually a pizza truck or BBQ outside. Small but cool place. Get Lunch IPA to go if they have it. Really good stuff. Try a flight though.

 

[troglodytes]

Tricerahops hit the high points, but if you want second opinions I'll be glad to reiterate my favorites.

In Boston (Everett actually), Night Shift is what does it for me. They generally have at least 8 (usually 12) different offerings at once and we are talking about some unique styles most of the time. Don't expect a collection of pale ales (although I do recommend Whirpool, and some of their "One Hop This Time..."); their sours, farmhouses and barrel aged offerings are out of this world. It is worth it to pick up some of their bottled only stuff to take with you.

Sticking in Everett, definitely don't forget about Mystic and Idle Hands, both provide some great Belgians, Farmhouse ales and IPAs

If you do want IPAs over the other styles, I second Castle Island and obviously Trillium.

Heading North, I generally don't stop until Portland where it's a one stop shop between Allagash, Austin Street and Foundation. Allagash's White is a staple, but their smaller batch stuff is getting so good these days. The Coolship series and St Klippenstien are ridiculous. And Hive 56 is one of my favorite beers, hands down. Foundation is average when you are sampling their variety, until you get to Epiphany, their signature IPA which, IMHO is just magical. Don't kill me, but I'd rather drink Epiphany than Heady as it has all of the soft, fruity hops flavor as Heady with the perfect blend of Columbus dankness and bite that Heady is missing. Then there is one more you need to head into downtown for...Liquid Riot. That place is great, in a great location, with just awesome beer.