NE "Fall Foliage" tour (Beer tour...)

Itinerary looks good. Go to TH first on Saturday, plan to arrive at 9-9:30 am if you want to be in and out as quickly as possible. A warning that can sales on Saturday can be hit or miss but you'll certainly be able to grab a growler of 3 different beers. (if you can make it to TH on Friday that would work best for you in terms of availability) But your can availability can be anywhere from 0-12, it just all depends. The "normal" range seems to be 3-6 cans left if it has been a normal release week.

Then yes Trillium is definitely attainable (shouldn't be too much traffic in October) roughly an hour and a half drive. Definitely go to the Canton location unless you plan to spend a night in Boston (it will save you time and traffic). So lets say you get to TH at 9-9:30 you should be out with cans + growlers by 11:30 ish if they open a bit early. That gives you plenty of time to get to Trillium. The good thing about Trillium is you can buy enough beer where you could spend 3 grand if you so chose, their case limits on cans seem to be stable at 1 case per style with about 4/5 different can types. There should also be another 4/5 for 25oz bombers and then 1/2 more that may be growler fill only.

I'm not as familiar with MBC but you will certainly get beer on tap and most likely 4-6 different bottle options. They have (another one, beer 1-2, lunch, peeper and MO usually).

It won't be close from MBC to The Alchemist (3 and 1/2 hrs) but well worth the trip. As of now they open at 11 and if you arrive around then will most likely have a 45 min - 1hr wait. Although hopefully that will drop as demand drops. For the time being you'll want to arrive early as they sell out of Heady Topper by 3 and Crusher even earlier. (Crusher may no longer be in rotation by then). Then definitely continue to Burlington, VT if you have the time. Hit up some great bottle shops (Beverage Warehouse in Winooski) and Foam brewery and Fiddlehead, these 2 will definitely be worth your time. Goodluck!

 

You'd have no problem going to both Tree House and Trillium in one day provided you aren't getting to Tree House in the late afternoon. I would suggest perhaps flipping your Tree House from first to last. While last Saturday you could get a pretty good score from Tree House, it can pretty slim pickings depending on how the previous week went. If you go on Wednesday when you're coming back down from VT, you can guarantee yourself 10-12 cans per person of two different styles (no growlers on Wednesday though). Kind of difficult to predict out to the fall, but lately they sell out on Wednesday's between 4-5 PM. You'll be solid by getting there between 11:30-2:30.

If you're in an RV, I'd I would go to the Canton, Mass brewery for Trillium.

 

also, if going to MBC, hit / stay in portland and go to bissell / foundation / allagash. eat at duck fat, eventide, etc. etc. novare res is a killer beer bar too (all in portland or portland area)

and definitely sneak in hill farmstead, lots of foliage to see on the way out to HF too... also if in burlington, hit foam brewers.

edit: didnt see the part about the dog and RV... but I still imagine this is plausible, can anyone speak to whether or not portland has uber or something equivelent? that might make it possible

 

Tree House is also really good on Twitter and their on tap page -> http://treehousebrew.com/on-tap/. Also just you can just follow the Tree House thread in this forum (and make sure to check out the first post). You'll see them post one can run on Tuesday and the other usually an hour or so before opening on Wednesday. Typically, Wednesday's are more "staple" beers but if you see them post one of the whales, you'd want to accelerate your schedule. And just to clarify, it's 10-12 cans total per person (5-6 cans of two different brews).

Trillium crushes social media as well, but with their new Canton brewery cranking, there hasn't been any worries about lines or limits.

I'll leave the Maine/VT stuff for people more experienced with it than me.

Prost!

 

RV parking is only allowed in the Alchemist lot after 4pm.

 

Having done MA, VT, and ME beercations at different times, my suggestion on such a short schedule is: pick one and enjoy yourself. Your current itinerary is a lot of driving that could be better spent at breweries (or other activities). If you've promised your wife some foliage seeing, you won't be getting much of that in.

I would pick either Portland Or Vermont Or Boston and you could stop at Tree House on the way for any one. All three have enough bars and breweries to spend your entire trip there and there will still be leftover places you will need to go back for.

 

Strongly agree.

 

Was just at Foam last week - well worth the stop. Good charcuterie plate as well. Just came back from Portland - a lot of driving tween Vermont and Maine. I had no problem going to Bissell three days in a row for lunch as the beer was insane and the experience was better than trying to hit everything. Enjoy yourself - quality over quantity.

 

My .02 but if you are going for foliage and beer in a RV I'd probably hit Vermont. Portland in general is not super RV-friendly (at least in the Old port). Same thing for Boston downtown. I'm sure it's possible but I wouldn't want the frustration.

Around Portland the most accessible places RV-wise would be the outside of town places (MBC, Bissell, Allagash, Foundation, etc). If your only reason for Freeport is Maine Beer Co I would skip that as well. Just not that much reason to go to the brewery in my eyes since bottles can be had mostly anywhere (VT, MA, NH).

Also of note is that the route from Portland over to VT is not super direct and tons of miles/gas. Maybe worth it for the leaf peeping, but quite frankly you'll have plenty of beer options in VT so don't be afraid of missing out on stuff.

I've seen several posts lately from locals that advise picking fewer places and trying to enjoy yourself all the same. I totally agree with this approach. There are so many good beers available, you simply will not have the time/money/liver capacity to try them all.

 

I'll third the vote for skipping Maine. VT is a much nicer drive - even the "main highways" are unbelievable scenic, especially around Columbus Day weekend when foliage is peaking. If I was going to take a stab at your itinerary, while maximizing your "good fiance" points, here's what I'd recommend:

Wednesday - Hit Tree House by 2pm - wait should be minimal. RV and dog friendly. Hit Trillium (Canton) by 4pm and grab dinner somewhere outside Boston (might I suggest Sweet Basil, BYOB, amazing Italian food, and only 15-20 minutes from Trillium).
Thursday - Continue on to Alchemist & HF. These are easily done in a day, however you'll have to figure out what to do with the RV since you can't park it in the Alchemist lot. For the night, find a campground near Waterbury so you can visit Hen of the Wood for dinner (you'll earn some big points from the fiance here. Call for reservations) and maybe a beer or two at Prohibition Pig or Blackback.

At this point you'll be loaded up with max allocations from Tree House, Trillium, Alchemist, and Hill Farmstead. Anything more is gravy.

Friday - Head on up to Burlington. Tons of great restaurants, Foam Brewers, and you might luck out with a Fiddlehead can release of some kind. Burlington is a dog friendly, and very walkable city with cool shops and plenty to do. If you're into hiking, Camel's Hump is between Waterbury & Burlington and is a great half-day fall hike.
Saturday / Sunday - Enjoy the foliage and your drive back! The drive through New York is a nice one too, not much different than VT so you'll be able to take your time heading back home.

Have fun!

 

I would definitely second Ruckit's itinerary. The one thing I might add is that Jack's Abby is only about 10 minutes out of your way on the trip from TreeHouse to Trillium. In addition to being a good lunch stop and a great beer stop, their canned beer is CHEAP compared to everywhere else you're going to go as well. Grabbing a case each of House Lager, Hoponious Union, and Excess for about $120 will make for some amazing "everyday" beers to mix in with the harder to get/more expensive stuff you'll pick up everywhere else. And you can grab a couple growlers or pints of their more limited stuff while you're there as well.

Their canned stuff is pretty easy to find at stores though (with Excess being a bit of an exception), so if you're not interested in checking out the brewery you could just hit a liquor store. Either way, it would probably be a shame not to throw at least a couple 12 packs in the RV one way or the other.

Whatever you do, have a blast!

 

if you're going in late sept, there's a chance of catching a Maine Dinner release which might sway your itinerary if you don't mind standing in line for 3.5 hrs...

 

I think this is a good decision. Maine is beautiful, but trying to fit Maine and Vermont in the same short trip means all you'll do is drive. There aren't direct routes between a lot of these places. Maine beers are easy to find in shops in MA (less so in VT). Lunch is behind the counter at many of them, but really isn't all that for the price. I don't know if you get Singlecut in Maryland, but it's in shops here in MA too.

There are RV campsites everywhere, but they do fill up at that time of year. If you're renting one and don't own one, I'd be inclined to ask why. There are tons of nice B&Bs everywhere on your itinerary, and driving in a car will be a lot more pleasant on those roads. Some of those B&Bs also allow you to walk, in the evening, to local restaurants and bars...which you won't manage from any campsite.