Hill Farmstead/VT Trip

Took the drive to Magic Hat and the Alchemist this past October but was only in town for a day due to work and making this an add on to a trip to Boston. I followed the maps app on my iPhone and I believe we took 87 north towards Albany into Glens Fall. When we hit there we ended up on some more scenic through town routes which were still an easy drive. Made it from the Jersey City Manhattan area in 6 hours with a stop for food. Stayed in Waterbury at a Best Western for like $115 a night give or take. I wish I had more time to explore but Heady and a stop at Magic Hat were the main points due to time. I think Hill Farmstead is about 2 hours away so maybe someone could suggest places in Waterbury to see. I know Magic Hat isn't the top rated beer but the staff was friendly and walking through the brewery was a fun time. Good way to make beer not so serious and help make it a vacation. Wish we coulda make it to Hill Farmstead but even more reason to go back up. Happy beer hunting!

 

HF a is an hour away from Waterbury

 

My mistake going by my memories of planning through Google Maps.

 

No worries....2 hrs seems so far...haha

 

It does for sure. Now I'm itching to make it up to Hill haha.

 

No real reason to stay NEAR HFS unless you're outdoorsy folks. There's not much to do up there, and they don't have a bar or anything to hang out and drink at. I recommend staying in Waterbury, it's pretty central to everything beer related and a scenic 1 hr drive from HFS.

Other VT beers worth checking out:
Fiddlehead
Lost Nation
Four Quarters

 

No "apparently" to it, Alchemist cannery closed to the public last fall.

I'm planning a similar trip. Super 8 in White River Junction is an hour and a half away from HF and sounds good and reasonable. Hollow Inn in South Barre is even closer (maybe 45 minutes) and reasonable yet decent-sounding. There may be some places in the Stowe area where rooms are under $100 in May after ski season is done.

If your four days are Thursday-Sunday, I'd stop at Warren store on the way up, get off I-89 at Exit 3, take Route 107 west and then 100 north to get a shot at Lawson's before the Warren store closes (6 I think, sometimes 7, but generally the earlier you get there the better). Check their website to be sure they are delivering what you want. You can also try Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier, they may have some on Friday. Best chance though is the monthly Waitsfield farmer's market, which I believe starts outdoors again in May on the second Saturday of the month only. Lawson's has a booth and you have to get tickets early in the morning and come back at the appointed time to get what you want.

If you haven't already, check out the list of stores getting HT on the Alchemist website and try to get there on the day they get their supply. Only a few sell cases though.

If you are at HF on Friday morning or early afternoon, afterwards you can drive across to Morrisville/Stowe/Waterbury and hit any one or more of over a half dozen stores (most of them in or near Stowe) which according to the Alchemist website gets its weekly delivery of HT that day. Then enjoy a meal at one of the Waterbury spots (Prohibition Pig, Blackback Pub and/or The Reservoir) where HT, Double Sunshine and one or more of various HF brews are usually on draft. Or if you reach Morrisville with an appetite, stop at Lost Nation Brewery for a meal and some of their beer. They're on a side street in what once was the Rock Art Brewery. For that matter the new Rock Art brewery is south of town.

After that, it will be hit or miss. HF will be busiest on Saturday (also noon to 5) and every place you go will probably, although not certainly, be out of HT or Lawson's by then. I'd probably head to the Three Penny Taproom in Montpelier on Saturday, which will have some good stuff on tap and is good for a meal, or maybe back to Waterbury to go one of the places I mentioned that I'd missed Friday night, or liked enough to go back to. Then, if I were a recent college grad with friends along, if I had enough time, up to Burlington, a college town where downtown is teeming with students on the weekend, and where there are several good pubs and restaurants.

I hear Fiddlehead is a fine young small Vermont brewery whose stuff may be found up that way too. Draft (or possibly growlers) only I believe. I just learned that Jester King out of Austin Texas distributes to Vermont. So does Logsdon's. Both worth checking out if you see them.

Throughout your trip it would be important to have at least one designated driver in the group who doesn't get too tanked to drive safely. There's a helluva lot of driving involved in your trip, especially up and back. Good luck!

Oh and of course be prepared to spend some serious change on all your beer. Good craft ain't cheap, and on such a trip, between what is consumed and what is brought home, it adds up fast!

PS: BTW if you have the time, maybe on the way back on Sunday, take either route 100 out of Waterbury south, or Route 7 out of Burlington south. Both scenic with interesting towns along the way, and they both run the whole length of the state into Mass. By the time you get to NY state or Mass. for 7 or Mass. for 100 you will have to get a little creative to make decent time the rest of the way (to the Thruway from Albany perhaps or to the Mass turnpike at Lee west to the Thruway or to 84 in Connecticut to 684) But continuing on 7 through Mass. and Connecticut to I-84 or I-95 is also relatively scenic.

 

Little River State Park has been my camping spot in Waterbury the last few times out there. If you don't like to rough it they have cabins as well. It is recent college grad cheap and 10 minutes from downtown. Check online to make reservations.

Cheers!

 

I was planning on going up to VT this Friday but it looks like the area will get around 15-18 inches of snow on Thursday. Would the roads be plowed by the next day or should I try another time?

 

depends how much snow actually falls, when the snow stops and when you leave friday.
I'd expect 89 & 91 to be mostly cared for. Everything else, not so much.

 

We Vermonters are a hardy bunch, we only plow roads to hospitals & schools.

Of course the roads will be plowed, Vermont is not a third world country. Vermont does not have a bare roads policy, so the majority of roads are passable to cars with proper winter tires.

 

You should probably add a disclaimer: there's often a difference to what you consider "proper winter tires" and what us Flatlanders think is OK.

 

www.511VT.com is super-helpful for travelers - real-time info & cameras on driving conditions on your phone with Twitter updates.

 

They still make snow tires? I haven't seen or heard of any since the 80s.

And is there a Third World country that gets snow like Vermont?

 

Studded snow tires are the only way to go, though someone told me studs do not work with AWD. The worst car can get anywhere with snows on.

 

Anyone recommend a good campground (car camping) in the Hill Farmstead region? Thank you.

 

...and that's why our roads are such a mess in winter. Yes, *real* snow tires, i.e. not 'all season', make a tremendous difference if you plan to drive off the interstate in VT. Quebec has a law mandating such tires from December to March, and I'd dearly love to see it here (partial disclaimer: I work for the VT Agency of Transportation, but this is very much my personal opinion).

Studded tires work fine with AWD, as our family demonstrates every day for half the year. We live up high, in the shadow of Camel's Hump, 5.5 miles from the nearest pavement. People who gripe about the drive to HF have no idea what real backroads are like.

 

Right on! The first time I drove over to HF I was surprised at how mellow the road was up from route 16 after reading about it here on the BA. The road I live on here in the MRV is much steeper and cars with all season tires can't make it up if there is any fresh snow. I have 4 Cooper Weather Master snow tires on my Honda and have never had a problem in any snow condition.

I bet that drive up to HF is going to be big fun during this upcoming mud season.

 

If Shaun is so inclined, he could make lots of $$$ charging 50 bucks a tow to get people out of the situations they will create for themselves. Maybe a discount if their predicament gets photo-posted on the HF website...

And we may be in for an epic mud season... lots of snow, lots of rain/thaws, lots of very cold weather the last 3 months. The ground should be nicely saturated and deeply frozen.