The Alchemist

Excited to finally make it here. A large, modern facility that was quiet during midweek in the winter. This was pre-beer cafe so the offerings were limited and small pours, but the space was inviting with plenty of swag and beer to-go, which I happily left with plenty. A must-visit in VT!

 

Modern looking facility. Specialized parking configuration for curbside pickup. Outdoor beer garden open weekends for onsite consumption of cans. Lawn chairs and picnic tables. 2 can limit. Pretty views, banging beer.

 

stopped by on a rainy October day to drink a few beers and pick up a cans of beer to take back home to PA. Theres a moderate drinking area inside the building, no bar but some tables to sit, and some chairs and tables outside as well. Cans of beer sold to drink onsite. Then there is the area to buy merchandise and to-go beer.

 

 

 

It's the Alchemist; what more do you need to know? The beer is, of course, awesome and perfectly fresh. Selection is fairly limited, as expected. Staff is consistently friendly, engaging, and knowledgeable.

The outdoor Biergarden provides a wonderfully scenic (if small) area to enjoy on-site cans (not pours). If you're headed there only to pick up a case (or two) of beer, I recommend chilling and enjoying the ambiance for a bit. It's a lovely area.

Did a brewery tour, which was really cool. Recommend for the info, insight, and free pour and small taster glass. The space looks awesome outside, but the Biergarten wasn’t open when I visited. Bought some cans dated four days old and some merch.

 

The last time I was here in 2016, they had just finished building this production facility, but you couldn't go inside. I was still excited at the prospect of coming back, whenever that might turn out to be. That time just so happened to be now, and they were closed for a private event just after having completed--or still in the middle of--some sort of renovation, so we still couldn't go inside. Talk about luck!

That there was also some kind of crazy bicycle festival or some such happening was the cherry on top. It drew a decent crowd of people who largely didn't seem to care or really know much about their beer, which made it all the more crazy than I'm sure it usually is, particularly for a Saturday afternoon.

Now, I know they have no real incentive to make this a taproom where you can come in, warm up and sit down to have a deliberative pint--considering the massive volume they sell of packaged product, even locally--but still, it's kind of off-putting that you have to drink everything from the can, outside, in the rain, or else shove off. What's worse is that three out of the four beers available at the on-site stand clock in at around 8% ABV. In full ass pint cans, no less. I didn't really feel like getting tanked off two beers while the sun was still trying to shine, and not having any food available only amplified that possibility, so unfortunately we had to dump some of our beer before we headed out for lunch.

I will say, the service at the can station--both at the on-site stand and also at the separate to-go area--is not just prompt, but fast af, dawg. The to-go lady may have been a little terse, but between dealing with an endless line of curbside pickups on top of random walkups, both at rapid speed, I'm sure it feels more like a thanklessly robotic job than a personable one. Plus, you can't really beat their prices in the craft beer world.

It's just weird they call this a Welcome Center, when you are anything but.

 

Only a handful of beers available, with indoors closed for renovation. Outside beer garden was pretty laid back on a cool, drizzly day. The IPAs were great, and the one other style (a Pilsner) was decent. Single server was helpful and in good spirits explaining the choices the customers had. Overall, espcially during renovations, this placed played out as more of a production brewery than a major destination to try a few things on tap (maybe at some point we'll get inside and find if it was just the circumstances).

Went with a friend yesterday for the first time. Inside was closed for renovations, so grading on my experience. Outdoor space is big, but not a lot going on. The jazz musicians were an odd choice.

First time here on a day trip from NY. Not what I expected at all. Very modern and right off the main road. I was imagining a more rustic spot in the hills. The vibe was rest area parking lot. We ordered online the day before and did pick up. The web site has very specific instructions for curbside, these rules are not followed. We pulled up, got out, opened the hatch and loaded our beer. The employee did make sure we got what we ordered, I liked that. The building was closed so we drove off. The beer is amazing, crusher was on the site the next day so we missed that. Zomer is great as are all the others. The Heady was only 4 days old and les than $13 a pack. If I lived nearby this would be my weekly beer spot. Hope to get back once the building opens back up.

 

 

 

 

End destination of 2020 summer road trip. Curb-side delivery. Amazing place and location.

 

 

 

 

Updating review now that the cafe is up and running. Purchasing to-go still remains seamless and incredibly well prices across the board. The cafe was bustling and full but there's enough sit down and stand up table service to go around even in the winter. Can and bottle selection at the cafe is also pretty impressive, though it would be nice to have the option of taking some of these to go. Food options are a little limited (nuts, meat/cheese rolls), but then again, you're not there to eat.

What I bought: Three four-packs of Heady Topper and one t-shirt.
What I liked: Pungent smell of hops smacks you in the face as you walk in the door, quirky signs explain the history of the beer and brewery, well-organized retail store has lots of Alchemist schwag.
What I disliked: The woman at the cash till was thoroughly uninterested in talking beer, even though we said we’re from Toronto and I bought quite a bit of stuff. Oh well.
Would I go back? For their world class DIPA, yes. And it’d be fun to do a brewery tour providing the lady who served us wasn’t running it. :)
Overall Rating: 68

 

Dog friendly for my wife and I. 3 Free Samples (Heady, Focal and Crusher), Clean inside and out. Patio was very nice and had a few chairs. Def worth visiting in the summer to have a full pour outside. Can sales very reasonable priced and line moved fast.

Visited this world class brewery in fall of 2019 with my wife and 2 dogs. Was not disappointed. Had three beers to sample at no cost. Only wish they had samples of the beers that they had for sale, however you can't go wrong with what whatever you choose. Totally dog friendly inside and out.

I've been here a couple times and thoroughly enjoy their beer. Small area to try some samples but no pours are offered. It would've been nice to have more samples available of beer currently offered in cans to make a more educated guess on purchases.

 

This is a cool brewery! The only problem is that it doesn't have a taproom! I had three beers to sample, that's it. I was told there's a law about serving food and beer. They have to serve food, to serve beer.

 

 

 

Visited here in the summer of 2017. Such a well designed and modern looking facility. Easy to find once you make it to Stowe. They had free samples of 3 of their beers including Heady Topper and all were very tasty, and generous. The line up to purchase beer took no time to get through. The only real negatives is no tours (although you can easily see the brewery from the tasting area) and no beer samples outside, which is too bad since the surrounding property was really nice, and would be a great place to relax and have a beer.

 

What's left to say? State of the art building. Beautiful location. Outdoor activities and plenty of room to spread your wings. Sample the beer, gawk at the beautiful brew house and tanks. The merch is excellent. Fun stuff.