5 Breweries I Want to Visit

As most of you know, M and I are HUGE craft beer fans and we spend a lot of our time trying out new beers and are always looking for local breweries to visit... especially when we go on vacations.  We have visited (& toured) most of our local breweries and definitely spend a lot of time going to various brew pubs around our area.  Some people tour wineries, we tour breweries and it is amazing!  Although we have gone to visit a lot of different places, there are still a bunch that we want to go see.  So here is a list of my Top 5 must visit breweries (M... if you are reading this, these are some places where I think we should start planning our next vacations!)

1. Stone Brewing Company

Stone Brewing Company is a brewery out in California who makes beers such as Arrogant Bastard, Double Bastard, Ruination IPA, and Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA to name a few. Beers from Stone always have the BEST names and let's face it, I am a sucker for a cool looking bottle and their bottles def take the cake for always looking interesting.  It also helps that I don't really think that I have had a beer from Stone that I haven't liked.  Stone also makes a ton of DELICIOUS IPAs and M and I quite often enjoy getting the IPA variety pack to share.  One of the things that I love is that although they charge for their tours, part of the $3 admission price goes towards a local charity... and we all know I am a sucker for companies that give to charity. 

Some of our GIANT bottles of Stone... for size comparison they are sitting next to our TV stand

2. Guinness

Besides the fact that I have ALWAYS wanted to visit Ireland, there is nothing I would love more than to visit the Guinness factory over there.  I have never been much of a stout drinker, but for some reason there are times when all I want is a nice, delicious Guinness.  The only problem with that is that Guinness does NOT taste the same over here in the states as it does over in Europe.  One of the best things about our layovers in London during all of our honeymoon traveling was that M and I were able to enjoy some Guinness in all of its European gloriousness at the airport bars.  Because yes we made sure we had time for a pint of Guinness in between all of our flights.  Another reason why I want to visit the Guinness Brewery is that Guinness has been being brewed FOREVER and I love the history behind all of it (you can see the history on their website... seriously take the time to read, watch, listen, etc. to it... it is worth it!)  M and I have had a lot of friends visit Ireland and ALL of them have gone to Guinness and said that it has been one of the best experiences of their lives... so yup, definitely adding this to our bucket list... perhaps an anniversary trip one  year?

3. Sam Adams

It is no secret that I love history.  In feeding my love of history I love to visit historic places, so Boston is definitely on my list of historic places to visit.  And what is better than visiting a historic place... visiting a historic place that also has an amazing brewery there!  Being that Sam Adams is America's largest microbrewery I think that it is definitely an important brewery for us to visit.  While I definitely enjoy a cold Boston Lager, Sam Adams always has a lot of seasonal beers that I enjoy trying.  Oktoberfest is probably my favorite, but I am also currently digging their Rebel IPA.  M and I recently tried a limited release 12 pack where it featured the single hop versions of all the hops that go into the Latitude 48 IPA.  While I enjoy the Latitude 48, I discovered that I do not like all of the single hopped versions of the beer, although some of them were quite tasty!  I definitely see a Boston trip sometime in our near future... this may end up being the first brewery on this list that we end up visiting!

Yup, we sure do have cans of Boston Lager in our beer fridge... we don't mess around when it comes to bringing beer to tailgate with!

4. Rogue

Rogue is a brewery out of Oregon that like Stone specializes in specialty handcrafted beers.  They have a wide variety of beers including Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale, VooDoo Donut Maple Bacon Ale, Brutal IPA, and XS Dead Guy Ale just to name a few.  Rogue is another one of those breweries where a bunch of guys got together and decided that they were made to brew beer and started their brewery.  The brewery started in the basement of what would be their brew pub and it has grown from there.  Rogue takes great pride in their beers and their motto is:

"The spirit of the Rogue brand, even the name, suggests doing things differently, a desire and a willingness to change the status quo. A Rogue Ale, Porter, Stout, Lager or Spirit is crafted to give it unique character, innovative in its makeup and brewing, a process that has not compromised quality. We believe if a Rogue Ale, Porter, Stout, Lager or Spirit cannot be all of these things, it should not be made at all."

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I personally think that is a great motto and it is probably one of the reasons I enjoy trying so many different Rogue beers.  They all have a unique quality and taste that is unlike any other beer that I have ever tried.

Some of the Rogue beers we have tried over the years

5. Yuengling

Yuengling is on this list because well it is Yuengling and the brewery is a mere 75 miles away from us in Pottsville, PA.  Yuengling was my go-to beer once I moved to PA because you could a) get it for cheap and b) to me it tasted way better than Coors Light, Miller Lite, and But Lite.  Every so often I do still enjoy a nice, ice, cold Yuengling... especially cause many times the choices are between Yuengling and some light beer and if you ask any of my friends they will tell you I am a "beer snob" and that I won't drink a light beer... I would rather just have a glass of water!  I definitely see a Yuengling visit sometime in the near future if M and I ever have a free Saturday!

Do you have any must visit local breweries for us?  We are always looking for an excuse to take a trip somewhere!