East Coast Breweries – New York to Florida – Where to Stop This Summer

Here we look at some breweries up and down the East Coast to consider traveling to.
You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.

Montauk Brewery
Long Island, New York

Montauk Brewery is located as far out East as you can get on Long Island. But if you can make it into New York, and you’re looking for a beer this summer, grab yourself a Wave Chaser IPA or a Watermelon Session Ale. This brewery is made for the summer with their beers, serving the most refreshing assortment of beers in New York. They serve everything from Pumpkins to pilsners to their new seltzer lineup. My favorite is their Wave Chaser IPA with spectacular tropical aromas and piney undertones. Grab a Montauk Wave Chaser and a chicken cutlet sandwich and head down to Jones Beach for the day.

Dogfish Head
Cannery Village, Delaware

With a couple locations in Delaware you can’t miss this brewery. Dogfish Head was the brewery that introduced me to craft beer. They are the king of the IPA with the 60 minute, 75 minute, 90 minute and 120 minute IPAs. They have a wide assortment of beers from your standard IPAs to more experimental beers like the Super EIGHT gose and the Perfect Disguise. Even with a huge corporation like Sam Adams acquiring Dogfish Head, you still get the local brewery beach vibe when you hit their brewery. Dogfish Head is a fixture in the craft beer world and is absolutely worth a visit.

Union Craft Brewing
Baltimore, Maryland

If you’re down in the harbor for the weekend, take a ride back past the zoo and make a stop in Union Craft Brewing. Union Craft gives you that salt-of-the-earth type with a standard line up of five great tasting beers backed by a large, and I mean LARGE, assortment of seasonal and small batch brews. Union provides a modern take on old school beers. They give you five classics, a pilsner, an IPA, a pale ale, a lager and an All American Classic golden ale. But if you’re looking to experiment, you can try something like the Citrus Spice Sour Ale providing you with a beer that stuns you with a tangerine sour candy taste before finishing your taste buds off with a peppery finish. Best part is, if you’re staying in Baltimore now, Union delivers. Beer. Delivery. They’ll even deliver you a make-your-own pizza, popcorn or pretzel kit.

DC Brau
Washington D.C.

The capital of the United States. Doing some socially distanced sight-seeing this summer? Maybe you have a business trip to D.C this year. Don’t miss D.C. Brau. Even if you can’t stay there for a beer, you can bring your own growler for them to fill up, although I have a feeling that may change in the future. Anyway, head over there for some of their solid flagship beers like The Joint Resolution Hazy IPA or The Citizen Belgian Style Pale Ale. They recently released the Arcade Series Vol. 1 which has a dope can and is a great tasting IPA with floral aromas and a smooth citrus finish. I recommend making a stop there if they get the opportunity to open their tasting room back up, but if not go support them a grab a six-pack.

Devil’s Backbone Brewing
Lexington, Virginia

Devil’s Backbone was started by a married couple who went to a brew pub for the first time on a ski trip in the Alps and decided to try their hand at the craft. Well, they made their stamp on the craft beer industry and eventually became big enough for Anheuser-Busch to become interested in them. Their five year-round beers aren’t exactly what you’d expect. They serve a Vienna and a Gold Lager, but they also serve a pineapple and a tangerine sparkling ale as well as a Hibiscus hard lemonade. If you’re looking for something new to try, get a hold of a Hibiscus Hard Lemonade for the summer. So, if you’re trying to find some tasks to socially distance yourself with this summer, make a stop at Devil’s Backbone and go for a hike at George Washington and Jefferson National Park.

Wicked Weed
Asheville, North Carolina

Headed down south to the land of the pines? If you haven’t heard of Wicked Weed, or Asheville in general, you’re missing out. This is a must stop for a summer vacation road trip. Asheville is craft beer central and Wicked Weed is right at the center of it. Wicked Weed is one of the fastest growing craft beer companies to enter the game. Only having started in 2012, Wicked Weed sells beer all over the country now. Other berries pale in comparison to the sheer number of beers on tap that Wicked Weed offers at their brewery. Living in North Carolina, anytime I don’t know what to order, I always grab a Pernicious IPA, which provides the perfect mix of tropical fruits and piney finish that I love in a west coast IPA. This summer, they are featuring a Watermelon Dragonfruit Burst Session Sour which is a great beer to start with on a Saturday by the pool or the perfect refreshment after a day at the Outerbanks #poguelife.

Edmond’s Oast
Charleston, South Carolina

Edmund’s Oast Brewing is located on King Street in Charleston, South Carolina. That is right where I had my bachelor party, but for some reason I have no recollection of this brewery. I will have to make it back next time I’m down in South Carolina. When you stop by, grab Something Cold…No, literally grab a Something Cold blonde ale, which is the perfect refreshing beer for a hot day down in South Carolina.

Something Cold blonde ale is your quintessential “cold one.” This is the type of cold one that Andy Dufresne got the boys on the rooftop. Edmund’s Oast Brewing has plenty of different beers with some of my favorite sours, including a sour strawberry mango. Grab a couple Something Cold and get out on your grill this weekend and tell your family.

Terrapin Brewing
Athens, Georgia

You’ve finally made it down to Georgia. Maybe you’re making a pitstop before you head to the Florida Keys. Maybe you got broads in Atlanta, shout out to Desiigner. You can visit Terrapin at their original brewery in Athens or at the Brew Lab. Terrapin has been growing exponentially since they crafted their first beer, the Rye Pale Ale that would go on to win a gold medal at GABF. I would recommend you try the Luau Krunkles this summer which is a POG IPA, which just means it is brewed with passion fruit, orange and guava which will be no secret as the aroma will infiltrate your nostrils as soon as you crack that can. The beer has wild citrus flavor and a bitter finish which complement each other for a well-balanced breakfast… I mean beer.  You may also want to grab their Watermelon Gose, which is kettle soured and a perfect refreshing beer for the summer, not too tart and not too sweet.

Cigar City
Tampa, Florida

The end of our trip together. It was fun. It really was. Thankfully, I didn’t have one from each brewery while I was writing this or who knows where we’d be right now. Cigar City has one of the best IPAs in the country. The Jai Lai. It has a bold tangerine flavor balanced well with a smooth bitter finish. Be careful drinking a few Jai Lais because they will GET you. Their Spruce Street Brewery and Tap Room is now completed with a full kitchen and unfortunately, I haven’t been back since they were serving beers out of the trailer in the parking lot. But I will be sure to stop there when I make my way down to Florida in the end of July for my summer road trip.

I hope I’ve got you excited that you now have a place to stop on a road trip down the East Coast. Or maybe now you’ll plan a brewery centered road trip once we beat this virus and get back into the swing of things. For now, support your small business breweries, because in a few months we are really going to want them to still be there.

Cheers!