Tour Guides From Hell: The Best Breweries, Distilleries and Restaurants in the U.S., According to ÆGES’ Guitarist/Vocalist Kemble Walters

ÆGES are currently on tour Local H (dates here or at the bottom of this post!), so we’ve asked guitarist/vocalist Kemble Walters to list out the band’s recommended (and least recommended) breweries, distilleries and restaurants to stop at along their journey for our latest Tour Guides From Hell feature. Enjoy, and get those pint glasses ready. 

1. Cedar City, UT

This is definitely a SMALL town with a very limited amount to do. There’s a bowling alley, a very bro’d out bar (the one we saw for a quick drink) and some restaurants. We hit Centro Woodfire Pizza for some grub and they had AMAZING pizza. They had $4.75 Uinta draft brews (4% alcohol since it’s Utah) that were super tasty. Recommended ordering: the Pizza Classico and Pizza Arugula.

2. Grand Junction, CO

Peach Street Distillers was SO rad! If you like spirits, then this is a must stop on your trip. Josh gave us a great and in-depth tour of the facilities and plenty of tasting too. I had a Colorado Straight Bourbon on the rocks; the pour was HUGE and the bourbon so smooth. Cory had a whiskey ginger and Mike had a whiskey soda, both equally delicious. The winner of the day was the agave tequila… YES PLEASE!

Fortunately (or not…) Palisades Brewing was right next door. We grabbed some street tacos from a food truck and headed over. All the beers were great, but the winner by far was the Soul Shakin’ Imperial Red Ale. After this very rewarding day of flavors, we headed back to the hotel.

Grand Vista Hotel is rad and very affordable place to crash, and guess what they have on Sundays?? Yup, open mic night. It’s definitely safe to say that we joined in and shut that Mutha down!

3. Topeka, KS

We hit the Blind Tiger Brewery for lunch and some tasty brews. Turns out they’ve got a full bar and their Tequila Tuesday consists of $6 Patron margaritas. The Java Porter was pretty good. It was made with PT’s coffee which added a pretty present bitterness and a hefty kick of coffee, which we dug. I had the $4-for-4 beer flight (red ale, pale, imperial 20 anniversary IPA, porter) and wasn’t too stoked. These beers were super sweet and gave me a bit of a headache actually… but lucky for me they had $6.60 Glenlevitt 11 on the rocks (hefty pour), which together with my nachos turned my mood right around.

4. St. Louis, MO

We’re headed to St. Louis as I write this, but I already know these places are gonna be hit hard! Four Hands Brewing has a great Rye IPA and from the look of their menu they’ve got a soyrizo burrito that’s gonna be blowing my mind. Schlafly Bottleworks is another one that’s got some seriously killer suds; man I’m stoked for this.

4. Atlanta, GA

We haven’t hit this one yet, but Mike is sweating bullets for The Vortex Bar & Grill in Atlanta. According to our skin-basher they have the best burgers around. I just hope they’ve got a slammin’ veggie burger, too. Jury is still out on this one, but check back in with us and we’ll give you the full report ASAP.

We’re super stoked to be doing our first East Coast run, and this is just the start with so many more to come. See everyone soon.