MILWAUKEE — Two historic buildings, once part of Pabst Brewery, will become a 90-room extended stay hotel and a pub-style restaurant. Ground was broken for the project in mid-October. The brewery’s original copper brew kettles will be a focal point in the mezzanine of the Brewhouse Inn and Suites, and other historic pieces, such as a stained-glass window of beer icon King Gambrinus, will be used in the design. The inn will have studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom guest room and six beer theme suites.
In addition to conference rooms, the hotel will have a patio with grills and seating and, in a nearby historic building, a restaurant with a beer garden.
800-554-1448
www.visitmilwaukee.org
BUFFALO, N.Y.— With three of its five floors dedicated to special events, there is no question that the Pearl Street Grill and Brewery is attuned to meeting and convention business.
The brewpub that claims to be America’s second largest is expanding again, adding more event space near its existing facility. Pearl Street is also opening a microbrewery in the old Lafayette Tap Room, as part of the $40 million Hotel Lafayette restoration. Pearl Street’s building dates to Buffalo’s Erie Canal days. During renovations, trilevel New Orleans-style wraparound patios and a private patio for groups of up to 500 have been added.
717-856-2337
www.pearlstreetgrill.com
ATHENS, Ga. — Tours, tastings and music are offered nearly every night at Terrapin Beer Co., named No. 7 among top breweries at the U.S. Open Beer Championship.
The 40,000-square-foot brewery is filled with possibilities for meeting groups as the Georgia Governor’s Tourism Conference discovered when it held a recent off-site event there.
706-549-3377
www.terrapinbeer.com
HAMPTON, Va. — Hampton’s only microbrewery, St. George Brewing Co., has scheduled tours and can host meetings, events and team-building programs. Opened in 1999, the five-man operation produces 16 specialty beers throughout the year.
757-865-BEER
www.stgeorgebrewingco.com
ALBANY, N.Y. — The C.H. Evans Brewing Co. at the Albany Pump Station was the final stop on a city scavenger tour designed by the Albany County CVB for a professional group that met in the area.
Housed in adjoining buildings constructed in the late 1800s to pump water from the Hudson, the brewery accommodates 200 for receptions on its mezzanine level and meals for up to 64. A brewmaster can entertain with tours or lead a beer tasting.
518-447-9000
www.evansale.com
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The first craft brewery in the Washington metro area opened here in February. By October, 6,000 people had visited Port City Brewery, and the brewery had also been busy with private tours and tastings. Its guided Grain to Glass tour covers the brewing process and includes a tasting of all of the brewery’s beers on tap with a souvenir tasting glass.
703-732-9836
www.portcitybrewing.com
AFTON, Va. — For beer and pizza with pizzazz, groups in Central Virginia are making their way to Blue Mountain Brewery, a farm brewery in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
In addition to growing its own hops, the brewery serves appetizers, pizzas, burgers and sandwiches in its restaurant. An event hall that seats up to 65 people has a bar, a stone fireplace and mountain views. There’s also a patio and a deck.
540-456-8020
www.bluemountainbrewery.com
MONTEREY, Calif. — One of the few U.S. hotels to operate its own craft brewery has reinvented its beer.
Portola Hotel and Spa, home to the city’s only craft brewery, Peter B’s Brewpub, is marketing its beer more assertively. It has started a Mug Club, with more than 1,000 members and hosts a monthly Brewers Dinner.
Meeting groups can buy out the hotel’s restaurant for private parties or line up the brewery’s team for a brewing class or tasting.
831-649-2684
www.portolahotel.com
NEWPORT, Ky. — This Cincinnati suburb, with its German heritage, is a logical place for the first U.S. location of Munich’s famous Hofbrauhaus.
Patrons can enjoy beer and views of the Ohio River and Cincinnati skyline from Hofbrauhaus Newport’s 400-person Bier Garden, which adjoins a private 110-seat dining room. Authentic German music is offered nightly in a bier hall that seats up to 250. Free musical entertainment also can be arranged for private groups.
859-491-7200
www.hofbrauhausnewport.com
FREDERICKSBURG, Texas — Texas’ first brew pub is a logical party place in this town of 10,530.
The Fredericksburg Brewing Company has a number of options for meetings large and small, from a 4,000-square-foot Biergarten to a 13 guest room Bed and Brews. Located in the midst of shops, boutiques and art galleries in one of Fredericksburg’s busiest blocks, the brew put is too busy on weekends for group bookings, but is happy to help meeting planners plan events, including a private Oktoberfest, throughout the week.
other time.
830-997-1646
www.yourbrewery.com
LAFAYETTE-WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — There’s homemade root beer as well as regular brews at Lafayette Brewing Co., where diners can watch brewers work behind glass windows in the first-floor restaurant or go upstairs to have a private catered party or dinner. In addition to a stage, the second floor is outfitted with televisions, pool tables, foosball and darts.
765-742-2591
www.lafayettebrewingco.com
QUAD CITIES — Five-course beer dinners are among the special events at Blue Cat Brew Pub in downtown Rock Island, Ill., where six microbrews are on tap and the brewers have recipes for at least 35 others. An upstairs banquet room accommodates 100. In nearby Davenport, Iowa, Front Street Brewery is the first of a new generation of microbreweries. The English-style brew pub, in a historic building, has an outdoor beer garden and a banquet room for 40.
309-788-8247
www.bluecatbrewpub.com
563-322-1569
www.frontstreetbrew.com
