6 Beach Vacations That Craft Beer Drinkers Need To Try

Overshadowed by beer city powerhouses like Asheville, Charlotte, and Raleigh, Wilmington is one of North Carolina’s best kept secrets when it comes to beer. Whether you’re looking to take a break from gallery hopping in downtown, beach-bumming in Wrightsville Beach, or movie-set chasing throughout the city, there’s a nearby brewery ready to serve you local suds.

IPA fans will dig just about anything Wilmington Brewing is brewing, sour fans can have their pick from either Flytrap Brewing or Broomtail Craft Brewery’s Sour Barn, and foodies will devour fresh seafood from Wrightsville Beach Brewery.

You might be thinking, “Hold-up. Did you just use the words Michigan and beach vacation in the same sentence?” Why yes, yes we did.

Traverse City is blessed with miles-upon-miles of white-sand beaches along Lake Michigan’s shoreline. Sail the deep blue waters in a historic tall ship or climb the sand dunes at Sleeping Bear Dunes for an experience that is uniquely Michigan. The best part about taking a beach vacation on the Great Lakes? You’ll never have to worry about sharks.

Then there’s the beer. Michigan’s numerous hop farms lend to a beer scene that is bursting with fresh hop flavors. Many breweries in Traverse City also work locally grown tart cherries into their beers. (The city happily calls itself the Cherry Capital of the World.) One of the most well-known is Mackinaw Brewing’s Cherry Heritage Lager. Right Brain Brewery plays upon the city’s obsession with cherry pie and brews their Cherry Pie Whole amber ale with cherry crumb pies from Grand Traverse Pie Company.

When most people plan Florida beach vacations, they default to the chaos of known commodities like Daytona Beach, anywhere in South Florida, or the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area and come home needing a vacation from their vacation.

Jacksonville Beach, located away from the fray in North Florida, offers a less crowded coastal vacation. The city boasts a vibrant craft beer scene and over 22 miles of beaches. Refresh yourself after a day at the beach with a hop-forward brew from Green Room Brewing, relax after an evening of exploring the hip San Marco neighborhood with a foeder aged sour at Aardwolf Brewing, or tailgate with a Belgian influenced ale at Intuition Ale Works before a concert or Jaguars game at TIAA Bank Field.

Virginia Beach checks all the boxes for a well-rounded family beach vacation. The Oceanfront district boasts a traditional boardwalk that spans three-miles and offers the essentials for an American beach vacation – street performers, snow cone stands, and t-shirt shops. Chesapeake Bay, on the other hand, is perfect for those who prefer a more relaxed and natural beach setting with ample opportunities for dolphin watching. Beyond the beach, there’s also salt marshes and cypress swamps in First Landing State Park, local makers’ shops in the ViBe Creative District, and colonial history just a stone’s throw away in Williamsburg.

Cap each day with a delicious brew at a local brewery like Oceanfront’s Smartmouth Brewing Pilot House, which helped kick-start the local craft beer scene, or at Williamsburg’s Alewerks Brewing, which partners with Colonial Williamsburg to lead colonial-era brewing demonstrations.

Astoria may not be your typical white fluffy sand beach vacation, but it does offer all the quintessential elements of a Pacific Northwest coastal town like kayaking along the Columbia River, salmon fishing in the Pacific Ocean, or Goonies movie set spotting (the movie was filmed in Astoria).

Like any Northwest city worth its hops, Astoria also offers plenty of breweries like organic-forward beers from Fort George Brewery + Public House or creative brews with views on the Columbia River at Rogue Ales Astoria Public House (the building used to be a Bumble Bee Tuna cannery).

With 70-miles of beaches and over 140 craft breweries, San Diego is clearly a beer-lovers beach paradise. The craft beer faithful can make pilgrimages to some of the founding fathers of the current craft beer movement with visits to breweries like AleSmith Brewing, Coronado Brewing, Karl Strauss Brewing, Pizza Port Brewing, and Stone Brewing. Don’t just get wrapped up in these OGs of craft beer, though. Be sure to visit lesser known breweries that are also making waves with their suds like Second Chance Brewing for their GABF gold-medal winning Tabula Rasa Toasted Porter, Societe Brewing for a taste of why the brewery has won the West Coaster’s Best Brewery award multiple times (hint – it’s their IPAs), or Pacific Beach Alehouse for their beachfront vibes.