Southward 2023


Sunday February 19. Left at 8:50 AM. At 12:20 I arrived at Benchtop Brewing in Norfolk VA (they also have a location in Richmond). They'd been in business for over 6 years. They don't do flights so I got half-pours of:


A few minutes away is The Veil Brewing, which has four locations: three in Richmond and the one I went to today in Norfolk. It has 3 levels so it's spacious. There's a pizza place inside called Lil 'Za. The Veil also doesn't do flights so I got half-pours of:


There are several breweries in the area and I couldn't hit them all because I was driving, plus most of them don't have good Untappd ratings. One such brewery is Rip Rap Brewing, but since it was only two minutes away I gave it a chance. It certainly lived up to its so-so rating. My flight consisted of:


Next I went to Reaver Beach Brewing, which has two locations: one in Virginia Beach, which opened sometime between 2010 and 2013; and the Norfolk location I was at today which, according to my server, opened in 2021. I sampled:


Then it was off to Virginia Beach, where I'd reserved an Airbnb a few months earlier but the host canceled the reservation a month before my trip, so I had to find another accommodation. Most of the other local Airbnbs were either more expensive or further from the brewery I planned to visit, and the local motels got bad reviews. I settled on an Econo Lodge, which according to one review was in a seedy part of town, but its overall rating wasn't bad, plus it was cheap.

After checking in I ate some food and Lyfted to Commonwealth Brewing, which is located in an area of town called Chic's Beach. They don't do flights but will serve two 5-ounce pours at a time. All 4 beers I tried were good, though I'd had better beers from them in cans.


Ubered back to the motel. I had the munchies so I walked to a nearby Bojangles' and got some fried chicken and fries. Then I crashed at the motel fairly early.


Monday February 20. Slept on and off for a few hours at a time. Got up at 6:00. Spent almost 3 hours writing and getting ready to leave. I made up a poem about the motel room:

It was run-down and ugly and the tub wouldn't drain,
but for $66 I'm not gonna complain.

Left at 8:45 and drove 3 hours to BrÜtopia Brewing, which as of this writing has Prolyfk Brewing Project beers on tap. Prolyfk started brewing at BrÜtopia in 2021 or 2022. BrÜtopia was established in 2017. In addition to being a taproom it is also a bottle shop and homebrew store. I sampled:


They have messages under the toilet seat and lid. Which one you get depends on whether you sit or stand.


Drove to the home of my friends Shawn and Angie in Wilmington NC, arriving at 2:20. We've been friends for many years, and I coached Shawn's son in wrestling. They moved to Wilmington in 2022. There are several breweries walking distance to their house. Angie was working but Shawn is retired so the two of us walked to New Anthem Beer Project. This location opened in 2016, and their other opened in 2019. They plan to open another taproom sometime in 2023. We sampled:


A block away is Front Street Brewery, which opened in 1997 and was the first craft brewery in Wilmington. The beers are pedestrian but the place has a cool vibe and a huge bourbon selection. It's first and foremost a restaurant/bar; the brewery seems to be an afterthought.


Next we picked up some pizza slices at I Love N.Y. Pizza and went to Cape Fear Spirits & Beer, which is a cool beer bar with a draft system that serves Cascade beers from big bottles and a working pay phone. We ordered:


Next stop: Flytrap Brewing. We sampled several beers, and Angie joined us when she was done working.


Two blocks away is Edward Teach Brewery, which had been open for a little over 5 years. It was happy hour and they provided free sandwiches: muffaletta, and turkey and brie. They don't serve flights after 5:00 but they do serve half-pours. We got:


Tuesday February 21. They have a nice home that was built in the early 1900s. Here are a few photos:


Shawn and I Ubered to Wilmington Brewing, arriving before they opened at 11:00. They call their taproom The Venue. We sampled:


We walked more than a half hour to our next brewery, encountering this "home" along the way:


We arrived at Flying Machine Brewing around 12:30 and tried:


Next we Lyfted to a bottle shop / beer bar called Fermental and sampled:


Around the corner is the Alcove Beer Garden. We got some Beat Street tacos and one beer:


We Ubered to Outer Dunes Brewing, which in addition to their beers on tap has guest beers on tap and in cans. We got:


Then we Ubered to Broomtail Craft Brewery, which opened in 2014 and has two locations a little over two miles from each other. We went to their Pub & Arcade and sampled:


Then we Ubered to our final brewery, Waterline Brewing, where Angie joined us after work. We tried 3 beers, all of which were pretty good.


It was Fat Tuesday and the place was decorated and a band was supposed to play but we didn't wait around for it, so we walked back to the house where Angie made us some nice muffaletta sandwiches. We all crashed a little after 9:00.


Wednesday February 22. A beautiful sunny morning, so I took a walk. It's an old community with houses dating back to the 1800s and many types of trees, including palm trees. Some have Spanish moss growing on them.


Walked down to Cape Fear River and did part of the Wilmington Riverwalk. There are boats and bars and private residences along the boardwalk, and across the river is the Battleship North Carolina (second photo). South of the Riverwalk is the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge (third photo), which is a vertical-lift bridge.


Went back to Shawn and Angie's, hung out on their porch for a while (most of the houses have porches), said good-bye and went southward to visit some friends in Southport, which doesn't have any good breweries, so I drove 12 miles out of my way to Ocean Isle Beach to hit Makai Brewing, which has a half-decent Untappd rating. I got there a few minutes after they opened at noon. It's a fairly nice place that's been in business since January 2018. Unfortunately the beers were quite disappointing.


Then I visited my friends Carmen and William, who I'd visited exactly four years earlier on my eastern U.S. trip when they lived in Raleigh. We've been friends for several decades and we're all retired from the same employer. They live in a huge gated community called St. James Plantation.


They have two very friendly dogs named Macy and Reed.

Macy
Reed


Carmen and I drove to downtown Southport and had lunch at Fishy Fishy Café.


Then we came back and the three of us got caught up on what we'd been up to the past 4 years. I played with Macy, who seemed to have endless energy. Later we got some nice food from Indochine Express, which is a subsidiary of a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant in Wilmington called Indochine. Macy really took to me and wouldn't leave my side.


Thursday February 23. Slept pretty well (funny how I sleep well when I don't drink the night before). Carmen and I went to Oak Island to walk along the beach and Oak Island Pier. It gets crowded in summer but there aren't a lot of people this time of year. There were hundreds of dead jellyfish, which I did not not photograph so as not to gross you out. It was windy and there were lots of waves.


We returned and went to St. James Waterway Park.


Then we picked up William and went to downtown Southport. We visited Silver Coast Winery's taproom, which has some of their wines, plus other wines, plus several beers on tap. We tried many of their offerings.


Next we walked along Southport Pier.


Then we had dinner at Oliver's on the Cape Fear.


Afterward we came back for a relaxing evening. Macy still couldn't leave me alone.


Friday February 24. Another good night's sleep. Got up early because I'd gone to bed early. I had a long ride to Florida ahead of me so I took off before 7:00. At 11:15 my car's odometer hit 100,000 miles a little north of Savannah GA, not that you care, but it'll be an interesting tidbit for me when I read this in my 90s. As if I'll live that long. Anyway, at midday I stopped at Two Tides Brewing in Savannah. It opened in 2018 and has several small rooms to hang out in. The brewery is at street level, the taproom is upstairs, and there is a basement space called Smol Bar that wouldn't open until 5:00 so I went up to the taproom and sampled:


Just before 3:00 I arrived in Fernandina Beach FL, a town on Amelia Island. This island has changed possession many times and been under eight different flags; you can read about that here. I visited my my friend Christine, who I'd met at MASHOUT a few times. Like me, she grew up in Massachusetts and has a thicker Boston accent than I do. Gabe and Kim, who live nearby and I'd also met at MASHOUT, joined us. Christine is a musician and has a nice collection of guitars and drum equipment.


The four of us went to nearby Yulee and stopped at SJ Brewing, which opened in 2018, and ordered:

Gabe, Kim, Christine, and me.


Not far down the road is Disco Witch Brewing, which in addition to its own beers has many guest beers, wines, seltzers, and ciders. We got:


I liked the restroom signs.


There is a stage where people would get up and lip sync songs. Gabe did a few, including this one:


We went back to Fernandina Beach and stopped at The Decantery, which is an upscale place that serves specialty drinks and wines. We got some drinks.


Next door is the Palace Saloon, which is purportedly Florida's oldest bar and the last bar that closed when Prohibition went into effect. A band called SPOT played live music. We got a local drink called Pirate's Punch, which was quite good.


There is another bar in back that you wouldn't know about unless it was pointed out to you.


It was midnight but we weren't done yet. We hit Hammerhead Beach Bar, which is a local dive. Bikers frequent it but apparently not this late at night. We played pool and drank a local beer called Mocama Cosmico IPA, which was pretty good.


There is a beach across the street so we walked down to the water. It looked cool at night but was not conducive to photography. At least not with my iPhone. Then Gabe and Kim dropped Christine and me off at her place around 2:00 AM.


Saturday February 25. The four of us had brunch at Sliders Seaside Grill, which has a nice outside seating area next to a beach. It was beautiful weather, so not one person was eating inside.


We went to Marlin and Barrel Distillery, which opened in March 2015, and sampled many of their bourbons, gins, vodkas, and liqueurs.


Next we visited Mocama Brewing, which makes coffee in addition to beer, and sampled:


Then we went to First Love Brewing, which opened during the pandemic in 2020. We sampled beers and got two orders of their truffle fries.


After that we picked up some food and spent the evening at Gabe and Kim's.


Sunday February 26. Christine and I went to Amelia Island Coffee, ordered some food, and met Gabe and Kim down by the water to hang out. It was a beautiful sunny day. Eventually it was time for me to go, so I took off before 11:00 and got to Reve Brewing shortly before they opened at noon. (There is a distillery a stone's throw away called Grey Matter but since I was driving I skipped it.) Reve opened in September 2018. Inside there is a pizza kitchen called Bones Pizza; both businesses have the same owner. I sampled:


A few minutes away is Southern Swells Brewing.


Also a few minutes away is Ink Factory Brewing. I had:


A short distance away is Green Room Brewing. I sampled one of their beers and had a can of non-alcoholic guest beer, which hit the spot because I was driving.


Next I went to Cultured Collective, which opened in 2020, and sampled:


Then I went to St. Augustine to visit my friend Linda. It was a beautiful day, so she and her boyfriend Rob had been out paddleboarding. The three of us went to Dog Rose Brewing, which had live music. We got:


Then we walked to Ancient City Brewing and tried:


Around the corner is Trade Winds Lounge, which had live music.


Our final stop was A1A Ale Works, which used to be a brewery but is now a beer bar. I was beered out so I just tried sips of:


Monday February 27. A beautiful sunny day. Took off around 8:30 and paid a brief visit to my friend Silver, who I'd met in 2014 when I was dating a friend of his. He'd been following me on Facebook and let me know that he'd bought a house in Palm Coast. After that I went to Civil Society Brewery, which has locations in Jupiter and West Palm Beach. I'd visited their Jupiter location in 2019. Today I visited their West Palm Beach location. They don't do flights, only half-pours. I got 3 hazy DIPAs and all of them were good.


Then I drove to my sister Marge's house in Delray Beach. It's in a nice gated community called Villa Borghese. Marge and her boyfriend Doug have been together since 2007. They live with their dog Ruby and their cockatiel Gracie.


Tuesday February 28. A beautiful sunny day. Took Ruby for a walk and enjoyed blue skies and palm trees.

The view from their front door.


Then I walked to the clubhouse, which has tennis courts, a pool, a gym, and other amenities. People were playing tennis, pickleball, and bocce.


Got a much-needed workout at the gym, then had a nice walk back.

Check out the sign. Apparently they don't know that alligators are reptiles.


A bit later I hung out at the pool.

The yellow tape was there because some kind of work was being done.


For dinner the three of us went to Kingdom Buffet II, which we've been to many times.

Oh, and I almost didn't drink today. I wasn't planning to, but I split a couple of cans of Victory Golden Monkey with Doug.


Wednesday March 1. Another gorgeous day. Took Ruby for a long walk and got some more nice photos.


Other than that and another walk in the afternoon with her, I stayed indoors all day because I was a little sunburned from the previous day. In the evening several of Marge's friends came over. Among other things we did a tasting of 5 of my homebrews:


Thursday March 2. It was mostly sunny as I walked to the gym, and by the time my workout was over it had clouded up some. Marge and I went to sit by the pool where her friend Wendy lives. After a few hours we shopped at The Boys Farmers Market, which is always mobbed. After an early dinner I visited a few breweries. Since I was driving in rush hour traffic it took close to an hour to get to Orchestrated Minds Brewing. This place, which opened in September 2019, had a 4.25 Untappd rating, but didn't live up to it. Only one of the beers on tap at the time had a high rating (4.24), and it was only pretty good:


Not far away is Prison Pals Brewing, which opened in 2020. It's run by Argentinians. The original name was Prision Pals (see pint glass below). "Prision" means "prison" in Spanish, and "prision pals" is a reference to escaping the political corruption in Argentina. Most of the beers I wanted to try were in bottle or can only, so I ordered only a single beer:


A few blocks away is Funky Buddha. It used to have a hookah bar in Boca Raton, which I've been to at least a few times, but now their only location is the brewery in Oakland Park. It's a fairly big place. I got a flight:


My final stop was Odd Breed Brewing, which I'd been to in May 2018. The founder, Matt, was serving. He established the brewery in 2015 but started developing the house strain of wild yeast and bacteria 6 years before that. All his beers are funky and aged on wood. He also has many guest bottles, both funky and clean, including sours from 3 Fonteinen and Tilquin (he lived in Belgium for a while and got hooked on Belgian beers). I sampled:


Friday March 3. Neither Marge nor Doug worked today, so we all had a nice lazy morning. A little after 1:00 we ate lunch at 3G's Gourmet Deli. I got a lean corned beef sandwich and some kosher half-sour pickles. Oy!


After that it was nap time, followed by a nice dinner at home. Such a rough day!

Oh, and I didn't drink today. In fact, it was the one day of this 3-week trip that I didn't drink.


Saturday March 4. Worked out at the gym. Then Marge came over and we hung out at the pool for a few hours. It was the first day in several weeks that people were allowed to go in the water because there had been some ongoing work.


In the late afternoon we went to a friend's house to hang out and watch him make moonshine. I'd never seen a still in action before. The process starts with a fermented mash (top left), which is poured into the kettle (top center). Some flavorings (in this case, peaches, honey, and maple syrup) are added to the thumper (top right). The mash is boiled and the steam is run through the thumper into the condenser (entire apparatus is shown bottom left), and the moonshine comes out. Its gravity is measured with a hydrometer (bottom right), and this is how alcohol percentage is determined.


Sunday March 5. Another beautiful morning. Took Ruby for a walk (as I'd been doing every morning) and snapped a couple of photos.


I spent the rest of the day watching the Big Ten wrestling tournament and napping. After Doug got home from work the three of us had some nice Greek food at Chris' Taverna. Then we came back and had a couple of cans of Victory Golden Monkey.


Monday March 6. After walking Ruby I went to the gym, which would be closed for an hour because they were teaching some of the residents how to use the equipment. So I walked around and took photos of the clubhouse, which has card rooms, a billiards room, a library, an arts and crafts room, a kitchen, and a dining/event hall.


I also took a few outside photos.


After my workout the three of us had brunch at Penelope's Diner. Then Marge and I hung out at the pool for a while. Such a grueling day caused me to need a nap. For dinner we all had pizza and a chicken parmesan sandwich from Nino's Italian Restaurant, as well as one of my homebrewed IPAs.


Tuesday March 7. Had a relaxing morning, then headed out around 12:40. Went down to Dania Beach, encountering the usual collection of a-hole Florida drivers, and visited 3 Sons Brewing. They make pizza, and they also serve bottles of 3 Fonteinen beers. I sampled:


Drove in heavy traffic down to Miami, which was crowded and busy, and went to J. Wakefield Brewing. This place opened in early 2015. I tried:


Drove in more heavy traffic to Tripping Animals Brewing.


Then I went over to Bonita Springs to visit my friend Jean. We met in July 2021 when she was living in Maryland and have been good friends ever since. She retired and moved to Florida in fall 2022. Crashed there around 10:00.


Wednesday March 8. Woke up at 2:00 AM and spent several hours trying to get back to sleep. In the morning I went out back to see a pond and birds that come by every morning because Jean's mom and stepdad feed them.


Jean drove me around the community, which is called Bonita Terra. It's a very active retirement community with a weight room, a sauna, a laundromat, a restaurant, swimming pools, and courts for tennis, shuffleboard, pickleball, and bocce. There are dance lessons, water aerobics, and other activities. A lot of people drive around in golf carts.


I left just after 11:00, went to Calusa Brewing, and tried:


My favorite beer was sold out so I couldn't buy any to take home (the same thing had happened at 3 Sons and Tripping Animals).

Next I went to Corporate Ladder Brewing, which opened in May 2018 (the month I retired), and sampled:


I was a little early for my next brewery, which wouldn't open until 3:00, so I went to Green Bench Brewing, which my server at Odd Breed had told me about the previous week. They make a lot of funky barrel-aged beers. I tried one:


They have a place next door called Webb's City Cellar, but it's closed on Wednesdays.


A few minutes away is Cycle Brewing. I tried:


I talked to a woman named Teri who told me that the next brewery I planned to visit, Arkane Aleworks, was closed for a special event. It was Tampa Beer Week and some breweries were doing events. This is the sort of thing that you can't always prepare for. You can go to breweries' websites to see what days/hours they're open, but if they don't state that they will be closed on a particular day for a special event, you won't know. So I drove in heavy traffic to Tampa and checked in at Gram's Place Hostel. It's a laid-back hippie-type place.


Walked to Woven Water Brewing and sampled:


Walked to Hidden Springs Ale Works, which opened in September 2015. They were doing a special event with many big bottles of their stouts. I didn't participate because I had already consumed a lot, plus it would have cost $55. So I got a sample of:


A short distance away is Magnanimous Brewing. I sampled:


Teri had told me that Angry Chair Brewing was releasing two beers today. I ordered a Lyft to take me there, and my driver dropped me off at Ȯlōgy Brewing. Apparently Angry Chair had been located here until the previous summer/fall, Ȯlōgy moved here in October 2022, and Lyft hadn't updated their database. Oh well, I was here, so I tried:


I tried calling Angry Chair to confirm their location but they didn't answer, so I Ubered back to Gram's and crashed around 10:00.


Thursday March 9. The only drawback to Gram's Place was sharing the bathroom. Left a little after 8:00 on a nice sunny day. When I got to the Airbnb in Athens GA a little after 3:00 it was cloudy and cool. Checked in and walked to Terrapin Beer Company (they also have a location in Atlanta). The brewery was founded in 2002 and taken over by Molson Coors in 2016. They have a deal where you can get 6 half-pours and keep the pint glass for $14. My server was super nice and gave me some freebies so I ended up sampling 9 beers. For the most part they were what I would call crossover beers: clean and well made, but not very robust. I had to give them credit for experimenting and making many different products.


It was raining when I left. By the way, there were quite a few wisteria trees.


I arrived at Normaltown Brewing around 5:15. It opened in early 2020 just as the pandemic was starting. I talked to several of the patrons, all of who were friendly.


On the way to my final brewery I stumbled upon a pour-your-own wine place called Tapped Athens, which opened in early 2022, and sampled several wines.


Shortly after 7:00 I arrived at Creature Comforts Brewing, which has another location in Los Angeles. It was established in 2014. All the beers I tried were pretty good.


Ubered back to the Airbnb and crashed around 8:30.


Friday March 10. Got up very early, unsurprisingly. A gray morning with temps in the mid 50s. Drove northward to Greenville SC and visited Eighth State Brewing, arriving at 11:40. They were doing a bottle release, and as usually happens when this place does releases, beer geeks had gotten there early and done a bottle share outside. In addition to beer, this place serves food and many different whiskeys. I got:


Over in Boiling Springs is New Groove, which is located behind a gas station in a building where you'd expect to see a convenience store. I sampled:


Next was Oskar Blues Brewery, which has three locations. I'd been to their Longmont CO location during my Denver/GABF trip. Today I visited their Brevard NC location, which opened in December 2012 (their original location opened in 2002, and their Dale's Pale Ale was the first craft brew in a can). It's a fairly big place with a covered outdoor bar at ground level and a bar upstairs. I tried one beer:


At 4:00 I arrived at an Airbnb in Asheville and a half hour later hoofed it to DSSOLVR, which I'd discovered the previous summer during my Great Smoky Mountains / North Carolina / Virginia trip. In addition to beer they also make wine. There were a couple of highly rated imperial porters but they were available in bottle only, so instead I got:


On the way to my next brewery I stumbled upon Bold Rock, which has several locations. Obviously I was at their Asheville location. In addition to their ciders they also had beers on tap from Victory, Sixpoint, and Southern Tier, as well as spirits from Southern Tier Distilling. Why? Because all these businesses are owned by Artisanal Brewing Ventures. Anyway, I sampled 4 ciders:


Then I walked to my favorite Asheville brewery, Burial Beer Company. They have 2 locations in town; I was at their South Slope location. I tried many beers, and they were probably better than I perceived because I had palate fatigue.

The slushee.


I still had a little liver power left so I walked a few blocks to Eurisko, which I'd been to the previous summer and wasn't crazy about but it was nearby. On the way I just had to photograph this street sign:


Eurisko opened in March 2018. I sampled one of their beers and a guest beer.


Then I Ubered back to the Airbnb and crashed around 8:30.


Saturday March 11. Slept pretty well. The temperature dropped into the low 30s overnight. Left around 9:30 and went to Fonta Flora Brewery, which has three locations, two of which are located about an hour from Asheville, so I hit them both. First I visited their Whippoorwill Farm location, which sits on 9 acres of pasture surrounded by Lake James State Park. It has a 15-bbl production facility. Since I got there about a half hour before they opened I checked their website to see what they had on tap. Unfortunately 2 of the 3 beers I wanted to try had kicked and they hadn't updated their website, so all I got was the remaining one:


A half hour away is their Morganton Tasting Room. There were 4 beers I wanted to try and while they do flights, none of the beers I wanted were included in flights, but my server let me try sips of all of them and buy a glass of my favorite.


Then it was a 3-hour drive to my friend Jeff's house in Roanoke VA. He is a fellow craft beer enthusiast and has well over 100 bottles and cans of various craft brews as well as several beer fridges. We went to nearby A Few Old Goats Brewing and had:


Next we went to Barrel Chest Wine & Beer, which opened in early 2015. It has pour-your-own wine and beer, as well as many beers and wines to go. They brew some beers too. Jeff's daughter Katie, who is also a craft beer enthusiast, met us. We sampled:


Then the three of us went to a "puppy pirate" party, a doggie birthday celebration with a pirate theme. There were several craft beer enthusiasts there, and a good selection of beers. I tasted:


After that we came back to Jeff's and I crashed around 10:30.


Sunday March 12. Slept well because I was exhausted the night before. Nothing relaxes me like adequate sleep. Music, alcohol, weed, meditation, etc work in their own way, but they can't restore my brain like sleep does. When I get enough of it, I'm very relaxed when I wake up.

It was daylight saving time, so we "sprang ahead". Oh, and it snowed. But not enough to deter us from brewery hopping. Around 11:00 the three of us layed a base at a popular restaurant called Scrambled.


At noon we walked to Three Notch'd Brewery, which has five locations, and sampled:


Then we walked to Olde Salem Brewing, which has 2 locations, and tried:


Next we drove to Big Lick Brewing, which was established in 2014, and sampled:


A stone's throw away is Golden Cactus Brewing. Shortly after arriving we were joined by Bob from Maine, whose son had wrestled in the NCAA Division 3 championship at the nearby Berglund Center over the weekend. Bob stayed an extra day so he could visit breweries, and we saw him at some of the other breweries we'd just visited. We got a flight consisting of:


Katie had a party to go to, so we dropped her off at her car, then Jeff and I went to Starr Hill Brewery, which has six locations. Matt and Kara, who had hosted the previous evening's party, met us. We tried:


Jeff and I returned to his house, had a can of Other Half #5 9th Anniversary Collaborative Smoothie Sour (collaboration with Mortalis and Messorem), ate dinner, and watched an LFL game. I crashed at 10:00ish.


Monday March 13. Woke up around 2:00 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. When I left a little after 7:30 it was very gray and 36 degrees. Three hours later I paid a brief visit to my friends Karin and Roger, who live in The Plains. Then I went to Adroit Theory Brewing at noon and sampled:


Next I went to Ocelot Brewing and tried:


My final brewery of the trip was Aslin Beer Company, which has 4 locations in Virginia, Washington D.C., and Pittsburgh. I was at their Herndon location, which has 2 buildings: a taproom (first 3 photos), and a pizza place / taproom called Izzi (other photos) which opened in September 2022. The beers I tried were all pretty good, but not as good as some of the beers I'd had from them in the past.


What a trip. I hit 65 breweries (breaking my old record of 62), sampled 301 beers, and visited many friends and family.