Meet Debra and Barry Benton, friends, travelers, and fellow RV Lifers. These two not only live the RV life, but they have committed themselves to creating a community of RV and travel peeps through their business, The Virtual Campground.

On location, boondocking on BLM land just outside of Durango, we got together with these two former Texans, future Colorodoans, current comedians (at least Barry thinks so), and a few cows to keep us company.

Running away from their two kids (they're in college), they sold their long-time family home, acquired a business or two here and there, and moved into their RV for six months. It's been almost two years, and their adventure is far from over.

Told with wit, humor, inspiration, and a bit of dry sarcasm, Barry and Debra aren't your everyday empty-nesters. They are, in fact, more adventurous than many twenty-somethings we've met. If you've ever had the notion of moving into an RV, these two will make it seem like the most natural thing to do.

So grab a beer, pull up a chair, and learn all you need to know about making RV life a reality, and having a community to support you all along the way.

Craft Beer Adventure Journal

https://beerjournal.livingastoutlife.com

Oh, the places we went!

Check out the full show notes for all the RV inspiration resources, places we went and beer we drank at https://livingastoutlife.com/the-virtual-campground:-making-rv-life-a-reality

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
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• Facebook
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Buy Us a Beer:

Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation for a beer. We'll even zoom ya for a happy hour, if you'd like. Click here.

Shout Outs:

• Owen X Pishna and Kumquat Asterson, two talented brothers, for creating the show’s theme music
• A Fearless Venture for assisting Ken with the stunning logo design and for putting up with our crap about SEO. Thanks, Teresa and Brian!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations

I first met Aleyna Porreca, Assistant Brewer at Storm Peak Brewing Company in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, when she was a freshman at New Vista High School in Boulder. Her excitement for living from then until now has not changed. But what has, is her path. Becoming a brewer may not have been in her plans as a 14-year-old, but now in her mid-20's this bad ass teen has become a bad ass brewer.

Her love of the outdoors, education, travel and beer has made for an interesting and exciting life. From living in teepees in the middle of winter to traveling the world with her family for seven months, this bad ass woman is sure to inspire you to live your Stout Life.

Oh, the places we went!

Check out the full show notes for all the places we went and beer we drank at https://livingastoutlife.com/from-a-bad-ass-teen-to-a-bad-ass-brewer/

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Buy Us a Beer:

Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation for a beer. We'll even zoom ya for a happy hour, if you'd like. Click here.

Shout Outs:

• Owen X Pishna and Kumquat Asterson, two talented brothers, for creating the show’s theme music
• A Fearless Venture for assisting Ken with the stunning logo design and for putting up with our crap about SEO. Thanks, Teresa and Brian!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations

Each and every one of us has different abilities along with disabilities, and at Brewability Lab, an inclusive brewery just outside of Denver, these disabilities are celebrated as abilities.

So what exactly is an inclusive brewery? Tiffany, former special education teacher and current owner of Brewability Lab, states that it means to employ adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that can include people who are blind or deaf, have autism, Down syndrome, or cerebral palsy and terminally ill folks, to name a few.

Tiffany walks us through what it means to be an inclusive brewery and how she supports her staff and debunks the myth that they are disabled. Treating them as adults, because they are adults, she will revel you with a fun tale of a birthday gift, inform you how to behave in a brewery (you should already know how to do so), and simply tell you straight up that we all have abilities and disabilities, so celebrate exactly who you are.

Oh, the places we went!

Check out the full show notes for all the places we went and beer we drank at https://livingastoutlife.com/brewability-lab-an-inclusive-brewery-debunking-the-disability-myth

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Buy Us a Beer:

Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation for a beer. We'll even zoom ya for a happy hour, if you'd like. Click here.

Shout Outs:

• Owen X Pishna and Kumquat Asterson, two talented brothers, for creating the show’s theme music
• A Fearless Venture for assisting Ken with the stunning logo design and for putting up with our crap about SEO. Thanks, Teresa and Brian!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations

Feeling disappointed in himself for not participating in the local protests, Marcus Baskerville, Founder and Head Brewer at Weathered Souls Brewing Company in San Antonio, Texas, decided to use his brewery platform to start the Black is Beautiful Beer Initiative.

Challenged by his friend and mentor, Jeff, Co-Founder of Jester King Brewery, to turn his recipe into a collaboration, over the next 24 hours, that’s exactly what he did.

“This platform and collaboration is about understanding and supporting people of color and inclusion. It is a collaborative effort to raise awareness for the injustices people of color face daily and raise funds for police brutality reform and legal defenses for those who have been wronged.” (Black is Beautiful)

Today there are over 1,000 breweries, 50 states, and 19 countries participating in the Black is Beautiful Beer Initiative.

We brought a few of these breweries together in one place to talk more about why they joined this initiative and what they are doing to keep this momentum moving forward. 

From our conversation, we also gained a little insight into the diversity, or lack there-of, in the brewing industry.

While these topics need to be talked about – from tension and strife comes change – as humans, we also need a way to decompress and find joy. So we even got a chance to talk about cooking, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and how simply enjoying a good beer can be joyful.

The brewing industry will continue to build community and provide the much needed space to continue to talk across the aisle, to listen to each other, and to learn from each other. Will you?

Participants

We were honored to be able to speak to representatives from the following breweries:

Weathered Souls Brewing Company - San Antonio, TX

Green Bench Brewing Company - St. Petersburg, FL

Jester King Brewery - Austin, TX

Goldspot Brewing Company - Denver, CO

St. Elmo Brewing Company - Austin, TX

Fogtown Brewing Company - Ellsworth, ME

Sedona Beer Company - Sedona, AZ

There are over 1,000 breweries participating in this initiative. For the complete list, click here, and be sure to pay a visit to a few of your favorites and order a Black is Beautiful.

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Buy Us a Beer:

Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation for a beer. We'll even zoom ya for a happy hour, if you'd like. Click here.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations

Always listen to Grandpa...and the women! They know what they are talking about. And they know how to brew damn good beer. The lessons learned will be valuable, yes, but the humor, that's everything. The family at Copper Brothel Brewery will make you appreciate family, history, and brothels, all with a sense of humor that is quite often missing in today's world.

We've said it again and again. Beer is about more than just the beer, and the family here at Copper Brothel Brewery are the epitome of that statement. This family takes a not so pretty history with brothels and turns it into something beautiful and quite fun!

Meet Sammie, Monika, and TJ, family by blood, family by choice, and family by beer. Visiting Tucson? Make the short trip south to meet these guys. You won't be disappointed. Less than an hour south of Tucson, lies the beautiful Sonoita Valley, home to many Arizona vineyards, but more importantly, home to Copper Brothel Brewery. Family owned and operated, this brewery honors history, family, and beer. In a country with 8,000 breweries, Copper Brothel Brewery offers a unique take on the history of women, the love of family, and the knowledge that humor plays well with beer.

Oh, the places we went!

Check out the full show notes for all the places we went, trails we rode, and beer we drank at https://livingastoutlife.com/podcast/

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Buy Us a Beer:

Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation for a beer. We'll even zoom ya for a happy hour, if you'd like. Click here.

Shout Outs:

• Owen X Pishna and Kumquat Asterson, two talented brothers, for creating the show’s theme music
• A Fearless Venture for assisting Ken with the stunning logo design and for putting up with our crap about SEO. Thanks, Teresa and Brian!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations

If Living a Stout Life had a BFF, it just might be Trails2Ales, fellow podcasters.  This week we've got some tales of gratitude with Kevin and Ken from Trails2Ales, a passion project focusing on...you guessed it beer and biking, or better yet...trails and ales.

With both of them stationary on the east coast in Virginia, we get to learn a bit more about east coast biking trails, east coast breweries, and some of the joy (sarcasm) that the C-word has wreaked upon them. 

Working full time jobs, raising family, these two still create time to follow their passions of mountain biking, seeking great craft beer, and creating community through a variety of trail organizations and breweries, while sharing it with others through their podcast, Trails2Ales.

Learning all about their evolution from videos to podcasting to biking with bears (yes bears) and deer, trail sustainability, and their favorites on the east coast, Kevin and Ken will both educate and entertain. 

Find them at:

Trails2Ales.com

on Instagram, Facebook, and anywhere you listen to Podcasts!

Oh, the places we went!

Check out the full show notes for all the places we went, trails we rode, and beer we drank at https://livingastoutlife.com/podcast/

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Buy Us a Beer:

Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation for a beer. We'll even zoom ya for a happy hour, if you'd like. Click here.

Shout Outs:

• Owen X Pishna and Kumquat Asterson, two talented brothers, for creating the show’s theme music
• A Fearless Venture for assisting Ken with the stunning logo design and for putting up with our crap about SEO. Thanks, Teresa and Brian!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations

Jim and Jean-Marie Bellington met about 40 years ago in a bar while drinking beer. It's kismet then, that one of their bucket list items was to open a brewery. When an old trailer park came up for sale, instead of retirement, they went back to work to build beer and community.

Hiring a well-known brewer, Travis Smith, formerly of Societe Brewing in San Diego, the three of them set out to create a community. One with good beer, good food, and tributes to the importance of family.

This is their story, one of love, loss, and finding each other along the way, in a trailer park no less. One that became home, in more ways than one. 

Welcome to LazyG Brewhouse! And Prescott...and Whiskey Row...and hundreds of miles of mountain biking trails. We talk about it all.

For links to all the places we went in Prescott, check out our full podcast show notes on https://livingastoutlife.com

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Buy Us a Beer:

Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation. Click here.

Shout Outs:

• Owen X Pishna and Kumquat Asterson, two talented brothers, for creating the show’s theme music
• A Fearless Venture for assisting Ken with the stunning logo design and for putting up with our crap about SEO. Thanks, Teresa and Brian!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations

We are on location in southwest Colorado. Join us this week as we bring you with us on the road trip of a lifetime to breweries, restaurants, ski resorts, mountain biking trails, rafting trips, and more. There's so much to do and see in Colorado; it's overwhelming. So, instead of not knowing where to start, start with us. We'll take you there.

Starting around Buffalo Creek and Bailey, Colorado, going through Buena Vista and Salida all the way to the San Juans to The Sand Dunes and everywhere in between, you won't need anything else but our voices to guide you...well, you might need a bike.

Whether you're planning for a vacation, living full time on the road, or just need a weekend getaway, we've got your resources, hilarious stories, and best places to be. 

For all the links and resources, including breweries, adventures, and apps used, click here.

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Buy Us a Beer:

Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation. Click here.

Shout Outs:

• Owen X Pishna and Kumquat Asterson, two talented brothers, for creating the show’s theme music
• A Fearless Venture for assisting Ken with the stunning logo design and for putting up with our crap about SEO. Thanks, Teresa and Brian!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations

It's time. Summertime and time to go. Time to travel. Time to see the country again. Time to get back out there. Time for some beer and boondocking, even if that C-word is still out there.

For us, time to go means finding free places to camp to hit those mountain biking trails, but also finding those craft breweries along the way.

Beer and Breweries

That C-word makes visiting breweries a bit different today than yesterday. But really, it's not that complicated.

• Don't be a dick.
• Say hi to a stranger.
• Wear a mask when not at your table.
• Keep your kids and dogs in line.
• Enjoy a real pint or a flight.

Boondocking

Now, about that traveling and boondocking thing? What is it, and how do I do it? It's not that complicated, either.

• Buy beer to go - stock your fridge.
• Know the terms: moochdocking, boondocking, dispersed camping.
• Know your vehicle and the roads it can handle.
• Have at least an idea of where you want to go.
• Use the apps that work for you.
• Conserve your resources and use other facilities when they are available.
• Follow LNT principles - leave no trace.
• Use a generator or solar power.
• Be flexible.
• Trust your gut.
• Have a campfire (if there are no fire bans) and enjoy the starry night.

Resources

• Campendium - free camping app
• iOverlander - free camping app
• freecampsites.net - free website for free campsites
• Allstays - app with a small fee but worth it for finding dump stations and potable water
• Harvests Hosts - membership site where you can access breweries, vineyards, farms, and more to stay overnight for free (save 15% with this link)
• MTB Project - free mountain biking trail finder app
• Trailforks - free mountain biking app - trails, reports, routes, etc.

Want More?

• Free Camping, Beer, and Biking
• What to Expect When Visiting a Brewery Today
• 10 Tips on Buying Beer To Go
• RAIF is not a Jeep - Black Tank Fiasco

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Shout Outs:

• Owen X Pishna and Kumquat Asterson, two talented brothers, for creating the show’s theme music
• A Fearless Venture for assisting Ken with the stunning logo design and for putting up with our crap about SEO. Thanks, Teresa and Brian!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations

Wander On Linger Often. The perfect life philosophy for Chattanooga, Tennessee and its beer and adventure scene. With the Tennessee River, the Appalachian Mountains, the Cumberland Gap, and so much more, this city is not one to miss on your travels to the South.

For those of you that feel you need to earn your beer, that is not a problem here. From mountain biking and hiking to paddle boarding, kayaking, rafting, hiking, and climbing, there's something for everyone.

Then you've got the famous (or infamous) Rock City, Ruby Falls, the Incline Railway at Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, and the entire town of Chattanooga to keep you busy exploring. Thirsty, yet? 

I am. So we wandered...into several breweries, several restaurants, and even a distillery while here. One of our favorite places was WanderLinger Brewing Company. Because of the beer, of course, but more because of the story behind the beer. Brothers, Chris and Mike Dial opened WanderLinger in 2018 and have become a pillar in their community, hosting art showings, live music, and always a welcoming smile.

Loving the range of outdoor activities as much as we do, it was nice to sit, drink, and chat with Mike Dial, about many of the things we love in live: beer, the outdoors, and travel. Granted this original interview with Mike was about a year ago; however, even amidst a pandemic Mike and Chris plan on lingering in Chattanooga for quite awhile, keeping all of us wandering back.

Want More?

For all the places we went, beer we drank, resources, and more when we visited Chattanooga and WanderLinger Brewing Company, check out the show notes at Living a Stout Life 

Connect With Us:

The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

• Newsletter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Shout Outs:

• Owen X Pishna and Kumquat Asterson, two talented brothers, for creating the show’s theme music
• A Fearless Venture for assisting Ken with the stunning logo design and for putting up with our crap about SEO. Thanks, Teresa and Brian!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations