I've had Boulevard at KCI back when I went to school at K-State and had to take the KCI Roadrunner 2.5 hours from Manhattan over the mindnumbing planes of Kansas to KC just to catch a flight to Chicago for the holidays. My arrival at KCI was always followed by me spending whatever time I had left at the Boulevard Brewpub that was in my terminal. I miss those days...
Ahh good tip, usually when I fly from MSP (I live in the area) I tend to find the arcade and pinball it up but now to know there may be a good beer in there I have another option to kill time.
It has banned taking liquids through security, you can buy whatever is for sale on the flight side of security and bring it on.
I like Ike's @ Minneapolis St Paul/ MSP. To me, it's is one of the better airport restaurant/bars in the midwest. Good food and a few good beers on tap (Surly/Summit/Schells). Detroit DTW - okay as long as your in Delta's McNamara Terminal. North terminal sucked last time I was there in 2010, so I avoid flying American to Detroit.
Stopped by the New Belgium pub at the Denver airport last Saturday. Had a delicious chicken sandwich and 10oz of Cascara Quad. Best meal I've ever had in an airport ever.
Might have been the Old Harbor Brewery, which is a great micro + restaurant in Old San Juan. I make sure to stop in there every time I get down to the island. The other locals I know of are Medalla Light, Buye, and Magna, which are good for a beach day, but not much else.
And you can't open your growler, or bottles on the plane. But yeah, the liquid rule only applies to going through the TSA check point. Once your airside, everything is considered "secure".
I may have to book a flight through MSP with an extended layover in the near future. Better yet, who can put together the best route to and from NYC to SF to enjoy the best airport beers? Three layover maximum. Go....
http://www.kuvamiami.com/default.aspx?p=1 excellent food. not sure on beer. but definitely worth a stop for lunch or dinner.
Awesome - thanks a lot for the link. We don't have a Tom Hanks amount of time, but I think we'll have time for lunch. Much obliged!
the silver gulch brewery in the Anchorage airport sells growlers to go as well as bottles from other AK breweries, must notably Anchorage brewing company. was able to bring even more love buzz back with me thanks to that.
Had a layover in the Salt Lake City airport last year, killed time at the Squatters pub in the airport, drank a couple Hop Rising DIPAs, and split a bottle of Outer Darkness with my parents, and people think good beer doesn't exist in Utah!
I came here to say this. Squatters 529 Flanders Red in the Airport several years ago was awesome. Ski powder all day, drink sour beer at the airport for like $15 a 750ml, and get home to California by 9pm. Not bad.
Flying out of pittsburgh for recreation. The best beer there was at the Sam Adams pub, but, much to my surprise, Michael Simon opened a burger place with 10 solid draft selections including bells 2 hearted and Great Lakes Dortmunder gold. Rogue dead guy and east end big hop were also on tap.......NICE
The Great Lakes pub in the Akron/Canton airport is a welcome surprise in a rather tiny, poor looking airport.
There are two Laurelwood pubs (concourses A & E) and a Rouge pub (concourse C). Both sell growlers to-go. And yes, since they're past security, you can take them on the plane. The Made in Oregon stores (concourses C & D) also carry a very good selection of bottles from Oregon breweries, including Upright, Logsdon, Laurelwood, HotD, HUB, Rogue, etc. Those are also past security, so you can stock up on bottles if you've already filled your suitcase past the 50lb. limit. Prices are great! Pints at Laurelwood go for around $4.50 if I recall correctly. Growler fills there (with the glass) are $15. Not sure about Rogue since I've only been there once. I prefer Laurelwood. I almost always take a growler o the plane, and almost always field questions about it. It's one of the better-kept secrets at PDX. The reviews are wrong! (IMO, of course).
Looks like Sweetwater Drafthouse and Grill will be on my agenda for my Atlanta layover then. Thank you kindly.
TSA at PDX is also super efficient (pro tip: use the second line for Gates D-E) which gives you that little bit more time to waste at Rogue+Laurelwood+Made in Oregon. Gustav's and the Mexican place are overpriced, best avoid. I'm also a fan of grabbing a slice at Schmizza before boarding.
San Diego has decent taps at the airport, LAX has a Gordon Biersch, San Jose is rubbish, SFO international terminal sucks, domestic has good taps though. I never drank at Seattle, Vegas, Reno, Newark, JFK, BWI. I had a Samuel Adams seasonal at Dulles and at Logan. SLC has a decent selection on tap as well. DFW had Rahr & sons on tap, Lovefield and Bush International are really not worth mentioning. I remember drinking Goose Island at O'hare last year.
2 surprises last time at DIA, flew out of gate B120 something (bumfuck nowhere). Well well well, there was a fancy new NB bar out there, woohoo! I do not much care for NB, but Ranger on tap before a flight, well now I can manage that. The real surprise was the $8.50 price tag, 6pks cost less, but hey, where else was I going to get fresh IPA on tap out there?
Their Habanero BBQ sauce is liquid gold. The one in Denver always has good beers on tap, if I ever fly south, I'll remember to fly thru Birmingham.
I know a few years back O'Hare use to have a Goose Island Pub. Matilda, 312, Honkers and a few more very pleasant site for 2hr delay
I fly out of Minneapolis, MN. My flight gate had a bar/restaurant at the gate. Wasn't there before Christmas when I flew to Florida. It took the place of the regular waiting seats for the gate area. Had Ipads at each seat. Surprisingly, I had a Summit Brewery Saga IPA (good stuff). Had a Sam Adams and then another Saga IPA. Order from the I Pad limit of 5. Texted my wife to tell her to approve $27(tip included) if Capital One calls about a charge at the airport. Really, Growlers? At the airport? Oh my! How do I explain my empty growler at security? Will it fit in the overhead? What if I go to Denver? I like it!!! Hell, I can smoke pot in Denver! Beer and pot!?!??! Just like high school!!
You probably won't have an empty growler to explain to TSA. But, as long as it was empty, you could take an growler through security. But, I think, they only sell pre-filled growlers, which you're not allowed to drink at the airport or on the plane.
What do we have to do to change that? Just kidding. Think of how we could share our love of good beer!
Had a layover in NYC (can't recall if JFK or LaG) but there were tons of good beers at the airports shops and you just buy a bottle and pop the cap and roll around the terminal with it. Was odd to be hanging out in the terminal sipping on a Storm King.
Not sure if it's been mentioned, but Stone just announced they are beginning to offer their brews in the SAN airport. Stone at San Diego International Airport Selected by San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Board Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens location opposite main security check-in in Terminal 2 Partnering with High Flying Foods Patrons can expect 'Stone standard' in great San Diego craft beer selection Same commitment to locally grown organic produce Anticipated opening in mid-summer 2013
Traveled quite a bit around the US the last few years. You can almost certainly find great local beers in most airports. Just research it. Beer geeks can always find some nice surprises no doubt. That being said, I fly out of Baltimore (home airport) just so I can drink lots of DuClaw beers before hitting the airwaves. ;-)
Any other "leads" for DFW besides Rahr & Sons (which I had at Cousins BBQ, near gate B20)??? I fly American so constantly traveling through Dallas.
had a stop over in Sacramento recently. don't remember what terminal or name of place but they had a decent selection, including Lagunitas IPA
Logsdon and Upright in the airport...fuck. Just curious, how's the pricing? Been all over the world and Portland's airport is by far the most badass airport ever! It's the only time I have considered an airport almost worth missing a flight for/overnight layover. Well, as long as I got to get those bottles before the shop closed.
You had to get approval from your wife to spend 27 bucks at the airport? Shit, last time my wife and I were in the airport, we spent about a 100 bucks on food and beer (by no means are we ballers, just wanted to load up on surprisingly excellent mexican food in the Chicago airport. Had there been another option aside from goose island, I would have probably spent more money on beer.
