The Alchemist (October 2017)

I'm making my annual visit to Stowe a week from Saturday (10/14). Last year when we visited we came on a Wednesday and there was no wait at the Alchemist facility. What kind of lines should I expect on a Saturday afternoon? Do I need to get there right at open to avoid the line and risk missing out on something?

 

Normally I'd say you would be fine, and recommend the afternoon over first thing because you end up waiting longer for the same beer allocations (everyone shows up at open and then it calms down until late lunch and post-work rush). But that's the end of peeper season, right after Colombus Day weekend, which is supremely busy and will likely drain the brewery of its cans entirely. Make sure you check the site for available cans and yeah, you might want to go early.

 

How's the foliage looking in Stowe and Waterbury?

 

I was there over the past weekend and was not much of anything yet...supposedly due to the recent warm weather...

I was able to secure a case of Heady, Focal, Foam Pavement, some Second Fiddle, and various others...

 

haha dang - I'm heading up Friday. If there isn't some nice foliage, I'll be disappointed. It was an utter disaster trying to book lodging anywhere in the Stowe, Waterbury, and Burlington areas for Friday/Saturday nights. lol

How late in the day did you get to the Alchemist? My top priority is coming home with Heady since I missed out on my last trip.

 

It is going to be really busy on Friday. This is a prime leaf peeping weekend with the Holiday. Alchemist will be equally busy with Alena and Skadoosh XII (Citra) being released. I would recommend getting there by 1ish if you want to guarantee Heady. It usually kicks between 2-3 on a busy weekend.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Similar timing for Saturday or more intense since it isn't a workday? I was aiming to get there at open on Saturday, maybe park a bit before.

 

It will definitely be busier but the timing shouldn't be drastically different. The line moves pretty quickly, so you'll be fine.

 

I got there in the late morning on Saturday and walked out with full allotments of Heady & Focal for my wife and I...skipped out on Crusher.

I did see today that they released another Skadoosh as well as another beer.

We did an AirBnB in Burlington & Stowe that were both excellent...booked about a month out though.

 

^^^ You passed on the Alena?

 

The new Skadoosh and Alena didn't drop until yesterday. Pretty stoked to try both of them. The previous Citra Skadoosh (V??) was lights out.

 

Yeah the Alena had not dropped yet nor was there any Skadoosh...bummed a bit to miss out on trying those but happy with the rest of my Vermont haul...

Will need to pick those up on my next trip up there!

 

Any thoughts on how long the two new ones will last? We will be up there next week on our mountain biking fall trip. I was planning on heading over late week but might push it up to Tuesday if they were still there. I love citra hops.

 

Alena is fantastic. It's awesome to see John & the rest of the crew, digging up more of the old brewpub recipes and releasing them in cans.
While Heady & Focal are both great, having additional options is nice.

 

I'll be up there Friday/Saturday. Any recommendations on whether I'm better off going Friday afternoon or Saturday for cans? I'm trying to read through the threads but seems better to ask.

 

I would say Friday

 

Thank you. Looks like this might be my first stop then.

 

What are the chances Skadoosh and Alena make it until Friday?

 

Tough to say, but when they released them last week they expected them to last 2 full weeks. It was slammed there all weekend. Keep an eye on limits to see if they drop at all to stretch them out.