As a Bostonian, I’ve grown accustomed to having a stellar craft beer selection and culture readily available.  So I was excited to see what the first leg of my trip, in which I visited New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, North Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware, (spanning a decent portion of the Atlantic) would have in store.  All the breweries I visited are producing an interesting and well-executed selection of beers to their local communities and beyond.  What fascinated me the most was the realization that most breweries on this side of the country share a couple of common threads: