The Alchemist (October 2017)

I'm not 100% sure this is still the case, but Beverage Baron in Barre would hold a portion of their Monday delivery and release at 7am on Saturdays. (Heady and SoS). It is usually 2 four packs per. Would hang around a good portion of the day. Their post the info on their facebook reasonably reliably.

 

From Three Penny Taproom's Facebook Page:

"This Saturday we will be supporting the cause ViequesLove with the help of The Alchemist! The Alchemist has provided us a one-off keg of "Vieques Blend" which we will tap at noon on Saturday; all proceeds from this keg will be donated to ViequesLove.

To make a donation to ViequesLove go to, gofundme.com/viequesloveand help make a difference in the recovery from Hurricane Maria."

Anyone have any info on this beer?

 

Can you recommend a spot that would have it Friday afternoon besides the brewery? I’m not from the area and would like to get a few more packs than the 2 allotted at the brewery. I was thinking about checking hunger mountain after Stowe.

 

Friday would be tough in the Burlington area by me. Hunger Mountain is definitely worth a call so you don't waste a trip. Just ask for the beer/wine department and they will tell you how the stock is looking.

 

Insufferable, perhaps. But there's some truth to it. There was a time when Heady was the only local 2xIPA in the 16oz 4pack format. Locals would flood the brewery in Waterbury. Now we've got Fiddlehead, BBC, Foley Bros., Upper Pass, Foam, Frost, etc. I'll still happily pick up Heady when I see it at the convenience store, but I've only made it to the 'new' brewery once, and among my group of friends I'm not alone. There's so much comparable stuff with distro, it's an embarrassment of riches...

 

That's different than saying "Vermonters have moved onto better beer" which sounds incredibly douchey

 

In an Alchemist thread.... it's inflammatory for sure

 

LOL, the only people who still stand in line for heady are the insufferable massholes in their treehouse t-shirts. The beer was world class 7-8 years ago, today its average compared to many of the VT options that you can pick-up at your local beer store.

 

It's shocking how incredibly dumb this post is.

 

Says the dude in his treehouse tshirt. Do a blind tasting and you'll see my point.

 

Says the dude with a 2 day account and 3 total posts all bashing heady in The Alchemist Forum

 

Everyone’s entitled to an opinion but I gotta disagree. Waiting in line to get a delicious HT is more than nostalgic for me. The flavor profile and feel is the same as what I tasted at the cannery years ago. I gladly make the trek from NY multiple times a year to enjoy some HT as well as other brewery’s from that region.

 

With a few exceptions (Foam, HF, surely some others), we get most of those delicious VT beers in Massachusetts these days. During our last trip to Stowe, Alchemist was a must-go. Maybe it's worse when there are more people in town, but we waited maybe 15 minutes in line total from the time we got in line until the time we left with our beer. Enjoyed a sample of Focal on draft and took a picture of the dog at the brewery. What's not to love?

Heady remains one of my all-time favorite beers. If it were available around Boston it would always be in our fridge.

 

How far away to do you live from the Brewery? I am 35 mins away and happily make the trip. Every Skadoosh has been fantastic, and I enjoyed XII (Citra) more than any beer from the breweries you named. I like Foley Prospect, for example, but it is $16.99 a 4-pack. I will gladly drink Heady, Focal, and Skadoosh for $12.50/ 4-pack... all day, every day. Love the beer, love the price-point.

 

I'm in the same boat. 35-45 min away. Part of it is laziness. And admittedly I haven't tried the Citra Skadoosh yet. The price difference per 4 pack would come down to a wash though when I can walk to market vs. the gas money r/t to Stowe.

 

You're right they probably have the most reasonable price point out of all the 4-pack brewers, especially since Foam is selling their 4-packs for $18/pack.

There seems to be two different types of IPA fans, the NEIPA Juice Heads (Foam, Frost, UP Cloud Drop, Treehouse etc.) and the West Coast Style people which I would argue Heady now falls into along with Lawsons, Foley Brothers etc.

 

So when I head up to Stowe I'll be sure to wear my TH shirt while I wait in line at Alchemist so I can fullfill your stereotype as an insufferable Masshole.
I figure heading there is better than stopping in multiple stores to see if they have any 4 packs. I actually wouldn't even consider not stopping by the brewery while in the area.
Are us Massholes not supposed to go to Alchemist?

Can we only hit up Foam, Fiddlehead, etc....is it ok to wear a TH shirt in those places? Jackass.

 

The tone of that post was pretty douchey, and I disagree anyways. I usually see tons of families there and A LOT of people that have never even tried the beer before. Stowe is a massive tourist destination, as you all know, and The Alchemist has become one of the "things" you check off the list. It is refreshing to see new people getting turned on to good beer, but it can be frustrating if you just want to go grab beer quickly. Since our economy is largely dependent on "Mass holes" coming to VT and supporting our tourism industry, you can go wherever you want man. (Maybe just leave the Treehouse T-shirt at home).

 

MA guy here, snark aside, hit up Von Trapp when in Stowe, great brews and food. Close to the Alchemist too.

 

Sure average for Vermont, still OK for stuff in MA, where everyone knows, the beers are better with less Vermont hicks.