Best Off-the-Beaten-Path Craft Beer Destinations

Beer lovers finally have a thorough and well-written travel guide to craft beer spots around the country. Beer scribe Christian DeBenedetti's new book, The Great American Ale Trail, has write-ups on everything from well-beered dive bars to little-known crabbing spots on the Oregon coast perfectly positioned near superior beer bars. Here are some of his favorite off-the-beaten-path craft beer destinations.

Diamond Knot Brewery, Mukilteo, Washington: There's sawdust on the floor of this former transit building garage, and its sister brewpub and beer bars are equally fun. Diamond Knot specializes in hoppy beers.

Ebenezer's Pub, Lovell, Maine: A small town in Maine produced a big beer cellar—700 labels, to be precise, all served in an old farmhouse on a rural golf course that you need GPS to find. DeBenedetti recommends the house beer: a "resinous, roasty, coal black" Russian imperial stout called Black Albert.

Haines Brewing Company, Haines, Alaska: OK, it's not right in Haines. Apparently you have to take a short seaplane or ferry trip from Juneau, and this bar is in a "quaint Old West general store building" on the "Dalton City" set for the movie White Fang. Uh, OK. That sounds awesome. Try the Black Fang stout.

The Ship Inn, Milford, New Jersey: Billed as New Jersey's first brewpub, the Ship Inn is on a creek in an atmospheric Victorian home with pewter mugs, exposed beams, tin ceilings, and "best of all no televisons." Its brewing setup is traditional brick and copper, with open fermenters. (A rarity in the U.S.) The Ship Inn specializes in low-alcohol English bitters. Nice and old-timey.

Want more at-work beer daydreaming? Check out the rest of DeBenedetti's book.

Image courtesy of Ebenezer's