Vacations are great, but travel is terrible. Long lines. Heavy bags. Stress.
On the other hand, once you’re through security, you enter “vacation mode” and it is officially time for a beer.
Depending on your ultimate destination, you can’t always choose what airport you use, but if you have a choice, here are the four best airports in America where beer lovers can enjoy a pint (or two).
Nashville International Airport (BNA)
There are a million reasons to visit Nashville. It earns its nickname “Music City” and is home to great chicken, barbecue, bars and fun. If you go there, you’ll probably want to visit more than just the airport, but the beer at Nashville International Airport (code BNA) is so good, it’s not actually necessary to ever leave. BNA boasts outlets of five local breweries: Fat Bottom Brewing, Little Harpeth Brewing, TailGate Brewery, Tennessee Brew Works and Yazoo Brewing Company.
Even though Tennessee Brew Works and Little Harpeth Brewing are located in Concourse B and Yazoo Brewing Company, Fat Bottom Brewing and TailGate Brewery are located in Concourse C, BNA is small enough that you can visit any (or all) of these taprooms without having to traverse terminals by tram, bus or anything other than your own human power.
Not only that, but the entire secure area of the airport has a liquor permit, so you can grab a beer from any of the breweries and walk around with it while enjoying the shops, or you can sip the beer as you wait for your flight at your gate. Outside the airport, State law allows the consumption of alcohol by passengers in a vehicle — but not the driver — so you could even arrive at BNA, buy a can of beer and enjoy it in the taxi or ride share into town.
Portland International Airport (PDX)
Portland has always been a great beer town. There are over 50 breweries within the city proper and over 70 breweries if you include the greater Portland area. Portland has earned its reputation as “Beervana.”
Portland International Airport (code PDX) is home to outlets of two of Oregon’s favorite breweries, Deschutes Brewery, on Concourse D, and Hopworks Urban Brewery, on Concourse E. Despite being on different concourses, they are walkable to each other.
One of the great things about PDX is its “street pricing” policy, which requires PDX locations of businesses to charge the same prices as they do at their non-airport locations. You won’t find $14 pints of beer at PDX!
Denver International Airport (DEN)
Denver is a great city for beer, which should come as no surprise given it hosts the Great American Beer Festival every year. The River North neighborhood of Denver, known by locals as RiNo, is home to a brewery almost every block.
Whether you’re coming, going, or just passing through, Denver International Airport (code DEN) is also a great place to grab a beer. Even when you first arrive at DEN, before you go through security, Tivoli Tap House located in the hotel attached to the airport, serves beers brewed right there. In the airport terminal, but before going through security, there is an outlet of Boulder Beer.
After security, there are four Colorado breweries with taprooms in DEN: Breckenridge Brewery and Denver Chophouse are located with A Gates, New Belgium Brewing is among B Gates and Great Divide Brewing is convenient for C Gates. Georgia’s SweetWater Brewing also has an outlet among B Gates.
DEN is a large airport. It is a United Airlines hub and is the largest base for both Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines. While the size may be intimidating, DEN is a very efficient airport and a tram can take passengers to and from any concourse quicker than you can say, “Do you have any IPAs?”
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is often named busiest airport in the world, serving almost 300,000 passengers a day. It is an enormous airport, but an efficient underground tram system ferries passengers among the seven concourses, making visiting all the restaurants, shops and brewery outlets easy.
ATL is home to only one local Atlanta brewery taproom — the SweetWater Last Cast Bar & Grill (Concourse B) — but there is also an outlet of nearby Athens, Georgia’s Terrapin Beer (mezzanine level of Concourse D). You can also visit outlets of California’s Gordon Biersch Brewery (Concourse A), Boston’s Samuel Adams (Concourse B) and Denver’s Blue Moon Brewing (two locations: Concourse B and Concourse E).