'Brew Hiking' - AT mentioned in Beer Magazine

[grahamcracker]

A lot of random magazines come through my office, one of which is titled 'All About Beers.' I was flipping through it and happend upon this article titled "'Brew Hiking' A guide to the Beers of the Appalachian Trail" (SEPT 2006, pg 25) and thought that I would post it here for everyone to read since im sure no one has seen or heard of this magazine. It mentions several pubs and what not along the trail, and maybe some of you AT veterans can post some of your favorite hole in the wall joints that us future thru hikers can seek out.

Quoting:

The Appalachian Trail (AT) runs 2,176 miles between ......bla bla bla.......but his greatest fear was "taking roughly 5 million steps and not finding a good beer." But between breweries, bars, and the occasional "trail angel," here's where he slaked his thirst:


Mile 0 (from a southbounder's perspective) - The Blue Ox Saloon, Millinocket, ME, 30 miles from the northern terminus of the AT, From the fine selection on tap, I choose a Newcastle Brown, which I imagine to be my last beer for a while.

Mile 117.8 - Monson General and Hardware Store, Monson, ME. After the 100 Mile Wilderness and 10 days of mosquitoes, black flies and mountain trails without switchbacks - owners Tim and Julie Anderson provide this thirsty hiker a variety of foreign, domestic and local microbrews. Guinness at a hardware store is a good find.

Mile 151.2 - Kennebec River Brewery, Caratunk, ME. In Caratunk, the Northern Outdoors offers white water rafting in the summer, snowmobiling in the winter and the biggest hot tub I've ever seen. At the brewery, tro Magic Hole IPA, or Big Mama Blueberry Ale.

Mile 187.8 - The White Wolf Inn, Stratton, ME, 10 miles from Sugarloaf Ski Resort, pours your standard selections, with one difference: they offer your choice of brew served in "the Horn," a 10-ounce Black Powder horn.

Mile 372.7 - Franconia Notch Brewery, Bethlehem, NH. In 2002, this was the beer of choice for a dedicated group of hikers and beer drinkers. Once a year, the "Croo" that maintains the hiking huts in the White Mountains holds a get together at the Madison Spring hut. That year, four kegs of Franconia's best were packed 2.3 miles (almost straight up) to the hut. This is 170 pounds of beer we're talking about.

Mile 488 - McGrath's Irish Pub, Shelburne, VT. The Guinness flows like water, but for the hungry hiker the Guinness beff stew fulfills the desires for food and beer. The Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater, VT is near by. Stock up on some of the fine ales that have been brewed here since 1989.

Mile 930.9 Mugshots, Palmerton, PA. The Deleware Water Gap, where I saw five bears in one day (Come on...New Jersey bears?) leads into Pennsylvania and one of the beer friendliest sections of the AT. At Mugshots, Dave, the owner, set a new standard for hiker hospitality at this half biker/half college bar.

Mile 970.4 - Schuylkill River, PA. For fans of Yuengling: I bathed in the river that is the source of the brewery's water. Downstream, not upstream.

Mile 1041 - Doyle Hotel, Duncannon, PA. Built as one of the Anheuser-Busch hotels a centruy ago, the Doyle offers not-so-great rooms (new management are making improvements), but a great bar downstairs.

Mile 1066.7 - Local Italian restaurant, Boiling Springs, PA. Former hikers asked me to come to Monday Fun Day. "We drink beer, watch Monday Night Football, and play foosball." Of course I went.

Mile 1147.3 - Old South Mountain Inn, Boonsboro, MD. It's the only place 10 feet off the trail that serves horseradish-encrusted fresh Atlantic Salmon. This fine dining establishment served us dispite our aroma.

Miles 1182 - 1713.7 - The Virginia Blues: 530 painful miles from West Virginia to the Tennessee border where good beer becomes harder to find. You're never met desperation until you've left town with two 24 ounce cans of Steel Reserve. But stop in Damascus, VA, where the AT runs straight down Main Street. The annual Thru-Hiker Parade organizes in front of Dot's Inn: the tap selection is standard bar fare, but the atmosphere and the country cooking are excellent.

Mile 1900 - Paddler's Pub, Hot Springs, NC. Up the road from one of the few hot springs on the East coast, the beer was cold and the steaks were huge. Ashville, NC, is a short hitch away. I won't mention any of the places here because if you can't find a good beer in Ashville, you have no business being alone in the woods.

Mile 2176 - My friends and I summitted Mt. Springer on December 15. It was my 200th day on the trail. We celebrated an amazing accomplishment. The best beer, be it Boddingtons or Bud Light, tastes all the better when you've hiked miles upon miles to get it.

Dave Walker works at Duke University and can be found at almost any pub adjacent to the AT.

[StarLyte]

GrahamCracker-

Excellent article, I'm not a beer drinker, but I like having this resource at hand---for all my beer drinking and little Debbie drinking friends

Thanks for posting!

[Time To Fly 97]

Inn at Longtrail, Killington, VT. - a half mile off the AT since the relo. Best Guinness I have ever had - perfect temp, perfect CO2, shamrock AND my name...
even better...the Irish music is excellent - fiddle player when I was there.
Everyone in the bar talks with each other. not just bunkered in at their respective tables.
Fantastic Guinness stew.
The rooms are great too!

This was one of my no miss stops during my planning and in reality, better than I imagined.

A premier Irish Bar, one of the best on or off the AT.

Robust, Mellow and Satisfying since 1759!

TTF

[Time To Fly 97]

I may be thinking of McGraths???

TTF

[Peaks]

I'm sure that the article is appreviated somewhat.

What about the brewpub in Bennington?

And, the Long Trail Brewery in Bridgewater VT isn't that far off the trail.

[mrc237]

TTF that is McGrath's. Best stop on the AT. I can't imagine an artical of the AT bars without mentioning the Dogpatch in Md the pub in Port Clinton the pub in Vernon in Kent and in - on and on and on and on. Nice piece.

[Jack Tarlin]

OK article, coulda used some minor fact-checking:

*The Trail isn't 2176 miles long
*The "5 Million Steps" figure is debatable
*Millinocket isn't 30 miles from Katahdin
*The Kennebec River Brewery is in The Forks, ME, not Caratunk
*The Franconia Notch Brewery is in Littleton NH, not Bethlehem
*McGrath's Irish Pub is in Killington VT, not Shelburne
*The Long Trail Brewing Company is in Bridewater Corners VT, not Bridgewater
*The Doyle is more than a century old
*The main street of Damascus isn't "Main Street", it's Laurel Avenue
*The Southern terminus of the A.T. isn't "Mt. Springer."

And lastly, one of the Trail's three best bars, Five Olde Nugget Alley in Hanover wasn't even mentioned.

And that being said, it's time for a beer.

[Doctari]

Smokey Mountain Brewery in Gatlinburg. If you must go to G-Burg anyway, stop there for some of the best beer I have had, anywhere. Ask at the Happy Hiker for directions.



Doctari.

[c.coyle]

Mile 970.4 - Schuylkill River, PA. For fans of Yuengling: I bathed in the river that is the source of the brewery's water. Downstream, not upstream.

The Port Clinton Hotel is maybe 200 yards from the AT. Hiker & biker friendly. All Yuengling brews, including the hard-to-get Lord Chesterfield Ale, fresh and available. Order the small fries.

[Daddy Longlegs]

Smokey Mountain Brewery in Gatlinburg. If you must go to G-Burg anyway, stop there for some of the best beer I have had, anywhere. Ask at the Happy Hiker for directions.



Doctari.

Smokey Mountain Brewery has pretty good food but they have an excellent dark heavy brew that is a must when in the area.

[Lone Wolf]

Dot's has good, cold American beer. *** that yuppie magazine and those hay bale tasting micro brews.

[Footslogger]

And that being said, it's time for a beer.

===============================

I'll drink to that !!

'Slogger

[TinAbbey]

don't forget Gyp's Tavern in NJ. 2 blocks from the trail. Culver's Gap i think. Had a beer there mid-morning a couple months ago.

[Footslogger]

Well ...all things said, I think my favorite and most memorable brewskie was a Juenling on draft at the Port Clinton Motel in 2003. Had a number of great beers during my thru but for some reason that one sticks out above the rest. Maybe it was that enormous burger and overflowing plate of french fries I used the multiple Juenlings to wash down.

'Slogger

[mrc237]

Hey Wolf I think I had a few Caronas in Dots.

[Lone Wolf]

Hey Wolf I think I had a few Caronas in Dots.

Yeah she keeps a few on hand for fruits like you from Brooklyn.

[mrc237]

Only Limes please.

[Time To Fly 97]

Well ...all things said, I think my favorite and most memorable brewskie was a Juenling on draft at the Port Clinton Motel in 2003. Had a number of great beers during my thru but for some reason that one sticks out above the rest. Maybe it was that enormous burger and overflowing plate of french fries I used the multiple Juenlings to wash down.

'Slogger

I remember that too. Nice cold beer on a blazing hot day. That REALLY hit the spot there.

Right on!

TTF

[rhjanes]

This looks to be the most valuable post on Whiteblaze!!!

[soad]

Smokey Mountain Brewery in Gatlinburg. If you must go to G-Burg anyway, stop there for some of the best beer I have had, anywhere. Ask at the Happy Hiker for directions.



Doctari.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!