National Parks finally makes the connection between hop cones and pine cones (though only one features forest setting) in AAB (Vol. 32, Iss. 5, 2011). To soak up both some of the best of Mother Nature and those who nurture our beers, head to Biscayne Bay National Park near Miami (FL), Mammoth Caves National Park near Louisville (KY), and Crater Lake National Park above Medford (OR).
Why River Rafting? In AAB (Vol. 32, Iss. 4, 2011) I postulate that lovers of craft beer and outdoor enthusiasts have been one and the same since the get-go. Most of the pioneers of post-Prohibition brewing are in fact or in heart grizzled nature buffs who carved out career paths that enabled them to make a natural and thrilling product far away from the mainstream. Not unlike wild rivers themselves.
And like the beer we love, some of these rivers are easy to navigate, some are too challenging for most, they’re each about 95 percent water (remember, it’s air that makes rapids white), and, thankfully, these liquidy adventures can be sourced from all over the country. Namely: the Gallatin River near Bozeman (MT), the Rio Grande River near Santa Fe (NM), and on the Chattooga River near Athens (GA) and Greenville (SC).
Got Burger? was the title All About Beer (Vol. 32, Iss. 3, 2011) went with for this expose of America’s prime burger’n’beer towns. These include not just overall awesome cities like Los Angeles and Kansas City but other microclimates, too, including Ypsilanti (MI), Adamstown (PA), Portland (OR, aka Burgervana) and, um, New York City.
The Beer Road Less Traveled (Vol. 32, Iss. 2, 2011) wanders down the less trodden paths toward towns that–who knew?–have their own nice beergardens growing, such as Highway 1 along California’s Redwood Coast and Hwy 264 running through North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Nothing against a hot toddy nor mulled wine, or even hot cider for that matter, but it can’t be a coincidence that skier and beer rhyme. Check out these ski resorts amidst Beer Traveler-worthy destinations (Vol. 32, Iss. 1, 2011): Park City, Lake Tahoe, and Stowe (VT).
Flying North for the Winter, the Beer Traveler column (Vol. 31, Iss. 6, 2010) in which I migrate northward to such beer locales as Anchorage, Montreal, and the Twin Cities. Bundle up.
Beer Into Thin Air is my Beer Traveler column (Vol. 31, Iss. 5, 2010) exploring some of the best beer towns at high elevations, so naturally they’re along the Continental Divide, in order from north to south: Jackson (WY), Durango (CO), and Flagstaff (AZ).
This story on Beer Pilgrimages for All About Beer’s travel issue (Vol. 31, Iss. 5, 2010) tackles not just some venerable and historic breweries at the top of a solid Beer Bucket List, but the places to go once you’ve naturally checked those off. Places such as McSorley’s in NYC, the National Brewery Museum (in Potosi, WI, donchya know), and the fields (barley and hops) in which our beer grows across the Northwest.
This beach-themed Beer Traveler was my first submission taking over this long-running column and as such represented a dual honor. It’s fair to say beer + travel were already front-of-mind for me. Now if only I could rack up enough miles to fly front-of-plane. Served up for this theme: Orange County (CA), Virginia Beach (VA), Honolulu (HI), and Tampa/St. Petersburg (FL).
Brian Yaeger: Beer Writer 