Happy New Years Trip to the south

Happy New Years!!!!!!

Took a trip over the new year down south with my brother and his family. On this trip we stopped off at Sweetwater Brewery, Chattanooga Brewing Co., Moccasin Bend Brewing Co., Big Muddy Brewing Co., and Kaskaskia Brewing Co. as well as a few brewpubs.

Well, we got off to a late start on the road. The plan was to be in Nashville by lunchtime but that didn't happen. We wound up getting there in the late afternoon/early evening. Stopped in at Blackstone Restaurant & Brewery and quite frankly we weren't too thrilled with our visit. The place was dimly lit and the beers that we had on the sampler were just average or slightly above average. Nothing really stood out that really knocked our socks off. So, we hit the road and made it as far as Macon, GA and had a few beers from our cooler before calling it a night.

Next stop was Gainesville Alehouse in Gainesville, FL. We had lunch here and we tried a blueberry beer from Sea Dog that was pretty good. I've had a few other blueberry beers before in the past and most leave a strong blueberry taste in your mouth afterwards. But this Sea Dog Blue Paw was actually light and refreshing. Burger and pulled pork sandwiches were good there. Hit the road again towards Orlando and wound up having to make a detour cause southbound I75 was a parking lot with traffic not moving at all. Arrive in Orlando and the hotel we stayed at, Hawthorn Suites had complimentary drinks but suffice it to say their craft beer on tap was out so we had to drink Bud Light yuck! Hit up City Walk at Universal Studios and walked and walked looking for craft beer and finally came across a kiosk that sold Sierra Nevada and Abita. Good thing we packed a cooler full of beer for the trip.

Next day we took my nephews to Gatorland and no I did not feed them to the gators lol.  Then we went over to the most famous beach, Daytona Beach and after walking along the beach we were all set for some BBQ from Hog Heaven BBQ but the service was so bad we walked out on them before ordering our meals. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise cause we found BJ's Restaurant and Brewery where the service was outstanding. Good food and good beer here. We both had their 2012 Grand Cru and it was a delicious Belgian ale. Finally, good craft beer in Florida, hooray. The south is way behind the times in craft beer.

Day 4 was spent at Islands of Adventures with my nephews and waiting in line a long time to go on the rides there. The Hulk roller coaster was awesome. Then we hit the road again to start heading back north and stopped in Macon, GA again for the night.

"Hey are there any breweries or brewpubs near Stone Mountain?" asks my brother. Well, I didn't really find much in the area but we did stop at one place that had a small but good selection of beers on tap so went there for lunch before taking on the mountain. After lunch was hiking around Stone Mountain to test out our new hiking boots that we got for Christmas. Still had lot of time to wait until Sweetwater Brewing Company opened up for tours so we went to Coca Cola World first. Sampled like 65 different sodas from around the world, well okay we didn't sample all of them but darn near it. "We gotta go now!!!!!!!! If we want to get to Sweetwater." I said. Damn Atlanta traffic made us miss the last tour for the night but they at least let us sample some of their fine beers. My fave being the LowRYEder IPA. Cheers :)

After that it was back to the road and made it only to Chattanooga and spent the night there. The next morning we went and visited Ruby Falls and I would have to say the falls and the tour guide was the highlight of the cave tour. "Get er done and feel the burn, the burn is our friend." says Doug the tour guide. Then more sightseeing and headed to Rock City on Lookout Mountain. Rock City was way cooler to see than the Ruby Falls. All that sightseeing we worked up an appetite. So, we went to Big River Grille & Brew Works. I guess they are part of the Gordon Biersch chain of brewpubs. The beer sampler they give you 8 samples and I'm like wow where to begin, from light to dark of course. I really liked their Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale and the House Brand IPA as well. Oh and the food, I had chicken parmesan and I'm not even halfway through it and they bring me out more. Couldn't eat it all cause my belly was full by then.

After our big lunch we went to Chattanooga Brewing Co. and had a couple samples of their beer. I really liked their pale and IPA. Didn't care too much for the winter warmer. While there we named Alex the head brewmaster cause I'm like who is the brewmaster and one of the other brewers was like, 'I want you to take on that title'. Really good hospitality there. Then we stopped off at Moccasin Bend Brewing Company and it was like going to someone's house  but we found it and while my nephews played foosball, we toured their brewery. Had another 8 samples of beer here, good thing that my sister in law was doing the driving. The Sweet Potato Ale was my favorite from all the samples. It was the best one and the rest were just above average. I'd say second favorite was their IPA.

Stopped just outside of Nashville for the night and then the next day we put the pedal to the metal so that we could get to Big Muddy Brewing Co. in Murphysboro, IL and take a tour. We arrived late for the last tour but Chuck was kind enough to do another tour anyways. We had such a wonderful time there at Big Muddy.All their beers they make are outstanding especially the Pumpkin Smasher, Vanilla Stout, and 17th St. Amber. Go head south and check them out you won't be disappointed. And while you are in southern IL be sure and head over towards the St. Louis area and stop in at Red Bud, IL and visit Kaskaskia Brewing Co. Their IPA is really good from what we have heard, they did not have it on tap when we were there though they did have a good kolsch and pumpkin beer to drink.

The road trip finished off on a good note by hitting up some of these fine breweries on our way back. Hopefully, next time I'm in the south I will be able to tour the Sweetwater Brewery since we missed the tour this time around. Go out and drink your local craft beer cause life is good with a belly full of hops. Cheers :)