Happy Thirsty Thursday!

This is Part III to conclude our brewery tour to Duluth and along the North Shore. You can read the other parts here:

Part I – Details about Get Knit Tours and Brewery Stop #1: Blacklist Brewing Company
Part II – Details on Brewery Stops #2, 3 & 4: Canal Park, Lake Superior and Castle Danger {our fave!} Brewing Companies

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Did I tell you how Get Knit Tours really thought of everything on this trip?! I’ve already explained that all food {breakfast, lunch and dinner} and tastings were included in this trip, that our coach bus had its own bathroom and electric outlets for devices and that every brewery was so different from each other that it kept things very interesting!

But I failed to mention a few other important other perks!

• Complimentary Pint Glasses – A Get Knit pint glass is included in this tour. But we also received a special Bent Paddle Festiversary pint glass to commemorate the occasion.
• Water and Snacks – This may sound silly, but during a day of drinking, you might not think about how dehydrated you are getting. Furthermore, everyone can always use a bit more food to soak things up. On at least three separate occasions on the bus tour, our guides came around with water, pretzels, string cheese and Skinny Pop popcorn.
• Growler Storage – If you buy a Growler at any brewery, Get Knit has coolers in the luggage cargo to store them and keep them cool until the end of the tour!
• Drink on the Bus! – Or if you want to drink said Growler *now*, this was possible, too. It was perfectly permissible to do so and Get Knit even had plastic cups available for your sipping pleasure.

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But before we move on to the last two stops of the tour, look what Rob and I found this week!

{Found at The Wine Thief & Ale Jail}

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Now to those final two brewery stops…

5) Carmody Irish Pub

Why stop at an Irish Pub on a brewery tour, you ask? Because that is what Rob and I always do when we travel. How did Get Knit Tours know that?! 😉

Truthfully, the reason why we stopped at this Irish Pub is that they brew their own beer here – in the basement! It’s a smaller operation, so they took about 15 people down there at a time to check it out.

Here’s your brewer:

He makes some seriously good stout.

Seriously.

Just like other breweries, you can get Growlers to go here. And like many other Irish Pubs in the U.S., you’ll see dollars affixed to the ceiling. There’s a bit of a variation here.

After sampling, Rob and I took a load off and sat at the bar to enjoy another local brew. I love how some are masking-taped with names!

When in Duluth, I recommend a stop at Carmody Irish Pub.

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5) Bent Paddle Brewing

We were lucky to end our tour at Bent Paddle for their Two-Year Festiversary. As part of our tour, we got free entry into the fest, our first pint of beer free {in our festiversary pint glass!} and a voucher for a food truck for dinner.

But first we started with a tour of the taproom and brewery.

I know I should have branched out, but I had to get the Cold Press Black Ale that I really loved the first time I ever tried Bent Paddle {which was only a couple of months prior!} Rob went with the Harness the Winter IPA which he said is an excellent winter brew, despite the fact that he was surprised it was still available!

What can I say about Bent Paddle?

For a brewery celebrating only its two-year anniversary….

The facility is HUGE!

We were a little disappointed about the Festiversary, though. Big group events are not really Rob’s thing, but that wasn’t the issue. What bummed us was that they were supposed to have several types of specialty beers on tap, including multiple cask ales. We got there too late, however. There was only a Blonde left that interested neither of us. Our only other option was to get a pint of one of the beers we had already tasted on the tour. 😦

As for the food trucks, I don’t know why, but we didn’t do our research beforehand and check out all of the trucks. Instead, we just ordered from the first one we stopped by – which was a hot-dog stand. Wait. It wasn’t even a truck, come to think of it!

I ordered a Thai-one-on Dog, which was actually quite tasty – a hot dog on a bun topped with thai peanut sauce, a crunchy slaw and some jalapenos. We were supposd to get a side item, as well. But for this vendor, it was just another regular hot dog on the side.

Rob and I didn’t spend much time out there. We went back into the taproom to chill instead. After our one free beer outside, it didn’t matter where we bought our next one. At this point, I had met my threshold for beer. I was done. So Rob bought me a root beer! Delicious!

Want to know where to get those Bent Paddle beers in town (Duluth)? Try here!

At about 8pm, we started to make our way home. Some people opened their growlers and drank on the bus while playing cards. Our guides popped in a movie to entertain the rest of us. Both Rob and I fell asleep.

And when we arrived, I noticed that most people had eventually fallen asleep! Even the people who got really drunk on this tour seemed to be doing okay at this point. Despite all of that, the one thing Get Knit did offer everyone before descending the bus is aiding people in calling cab rides. Not many people were on the tour by themselves, so I think there was someone able to drive in every group.

We got home that night and and fell into bed, tired but content. It was a perfect day trip! Thank you, Get Knit! You can check out their other events and tours here, including their upcoming Rails & Ales – a Minneapolis-St. Paul Light Rail Brewery Crawl!

What was strange was waking up the next day without our dogs…

Have you done a tour of multiple breweries like this?

If so where?

What did you think?

Cheers~
Carrie