The Alchemist (March/April 2018)

Count me among them, a friend of mine had been talking that beer up for months so I was psyched to see it when I stopped by in January. Got a pack for him and one for me, but after the first can I opted to trade the rest. Lucky me they had Luscious the same day, definitely one of my favorites.

 

Visiting for the first time in June, on a Saturday am I being over paranoid about things being sold out at around 1pm? Was thinking of of stopping at Von Trapp for lunch and beer before Alchemist/Hill Farmstead.

 

You probably are being paranoid but it wouldn't put too much of a kink in your itinerary to hit Alchemist at open, then do Von Trapp and HF.

Also, HF will probably have a food truck that day, and it's certainly a nice spot to hang out in the summer. Not to discourage you from going to Von Trapp, but if your schedule is tight, you (probably) have the option.

 

If i may recommend....I would hit Alchemist first thing, then drive to Hill Farmstead and hang out there for a while and head back to Von Trapp for sunset.

 

If I decide to do the breweries on Friday that might work. But right now our last night will be Saturday and I was going to get a reservation at Hen of The Wood.

 

I've had great luck being in and out of The Alchemist in a flash, never had to wait more than 4-5 mins in a line so I feel like you could bang that out then hit Von Trapp before HF

 

People are clueless. It’s super hoppy, clean, and super grassy bitter. The juice only ipa fad is the worst and that is what dominates untappd IMO. So many people think the only good beer is a fruity juciy non bitter ipa, the current monoculture of beer.

 

Skadoosh XVIII (Galaxy Hops)

 

Are cans pretty solid later in the afternoon on Friday at the Alchemist? I'm heading up next week and plan of going to HF and then staying over in Waterbury on Friday night.

 

You should be fine in Friday afternoon.

 

I won't debate anything the other guys have said but I've stayed at Von Trapp both in the summer and winter now for a couple weeks at a pop and it's a wonderful place. They've got several eating options including a formal dining hall and a smaller place to the side of it in the main lodge, and a new pub in the brewery just down the hill. I found the food at the Brew Pub to be more "brew pubby" and the environment more palatable to my tastes (big brew pub) - but if you're looking for a nice formal evening - the food in the formal dining room is spectacular. The key thing is that if it's a nice day, or night, if you eat in one of the lodge restaurants, you can eat on the outside patio and enjoy the view - and this beats the brew pub any day of the week...so you might want to check out this option, but it might only be a dinner option. The food in all three places is different, but the beer is the same and is Von Trapp Lagers.

If you've got time, you might want to take a walk around the lodge and check out the décor and Sound of Music and Von Trapp pictures and memorabilia. It's really pretty cool if you've seen the movie. And if you've got time, they've got miles of easy hiking - it's only for guests but they might have a pay option for non guests. Anyway, I guess by now you're going to change your reservations and stay there...(btw, I'm not a Von Trapp, just love the place!!!)

 

I'll second this. Stayed there with my family last May (me, wife, kids were 2 & 4) at the time, and it's a great place to stay.

As an out-of-towner who's done Stowe/Burlington/Waterbury/Greensboro a few times, I think you could go either way. The 2 times I've been in the area with friends for a beer trip, we did Hill Farmstead first then Alchemist. Our rationale was that HF sometimes has rare bottles for on-site that you can only get at open. And they seem to open before noon more often than not. So we were typically at HF til about 1PM. Alchemist seems to not sell out of anything until mid-afternoon. However, sometimes there is no benefit to being at HF early and sometimes Alchemist sells out of something earlier. Most of the time, the order probably doesn't matter, we just liked to get out to HF earlier then be heading back toward where we were staying (Burlington both trips) to swing by Alchemist.

As far as the Von Trapp part, it depends what you care more about. If you're going to be worried about things selling out, etc., I'd go to Alchemist & Hill Farm before anything else. If you just want to see and enjoy all 3 places and whatever is there is there, Von Trapp for lunch, then Alchemist, then an afternoon at HF seems like the better option. I've been in both situations - depending on if I was there with family or on a beer-cation with friends.

You could also do Alchemist right at 11, which would ensure getting as much as you want of whatever they have for the day, then go up the mountain to Von Trapp, then go out to HF.

 

Lol I’m doing the same exact itinerary. Pretty pumped

 

In mid April I am going to stowe via Montreal on the way back home. Would it be fair to assume Heady will still be available mid afternoon?

 

Yep!

 

Looks like Petit Mutant is back on sale today. 1pp

 

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I primarly want to do Von Trapp because of the "Best German style breweries in America" thread, and get some food. But I reckon we could eat at HF too if there is something there that day. Will just have to keep an eye out.

 

And von Trapp is technically Austrian ... :-)

In the past (with Waterbury as home base), I've found Alchemist at open, Hill Farmstead after that and von Trapp last is a good route in terms of crowds. I've done this on Thursdays when Hill is not as busy as a Friday. I've also mixed in Lost Nation on the way back from Hill to von Trapp. All very do-able as long as you are being sensible about your intake.

 

When the heck did broken spoke jump from 6% to 8%?

 

Where do you see that? BA lists as 6.0 and Alchemist website says 6.0 in their beer archive.