Favorite New England Beer Experience

Yuengling Light with my FIL in RI for any reason. Any beer anywhere in NH for any reason.

 

Mentioning a beer experience with your 2 kids reminds me how much I enjoy the Ipswich Brewery Harvest fest each year. Super kid friendly, the whole array of Ipswich beers on tap plus some special tappings... I love getting a good spot on the sidelines of the vintage baseball game they have every year while sipping an oatmeal stout. My 2 year old has as much fun there as I do.

 

Portland.

All of it.

 

Drinking any beer (particularly something fresh from Maine) on the dock of my in-law’s camp on Unity Pond in central Maine.

 

A random Saturday yesterday turned into a great day at...Newport polo? $15 GA tickets, friend I knew had a few of the tailgate spaces. Big spread with different salads, cookout staples, etc. We packed some Long Live, Sons of Liberty lemonade, and random beers.

Pre-game you can bring your family out on the pitch for soccer, tossing a football, cornhole and so forth. Then halftime and post-game they invite you to head out and replace the horses' grass divots. Finally at the end the jockeys ride around the outside to dish out high fives to the kids. Great time!

 

My cousin got married on remote section of Maine Coast near Acadia. Just hung out all day playing cornhole, had a lobster bake, lit off fireworks on beach all with a couple kegs of Bissel Brothers on a lovely fall day pretty great.

 

Had a pretty rad few days in VT this past weekend.

Great hike in Stowe Friday AM, Alchemist for some tasters and a few cans, straight to HF for a few pours and cans/bottles. Hauled to East Burke for a quick pedal on an impressive trail system followed by an Edward on draft at the Tiki bar in town.

The mountain biking is world class where I live but it’s hard to beat the bike culture in the East Burke area and the scenery is breathtaking. Such a cool spot and HF is only a short drive away.

My next beercation back to VT might entail flying with my bike. Wonder how many bottles I could pack into the bike box on the way back....

 

Drinking a foudre beer on the patio at Foam in Burlington that's the same color as the sunset over the Adirondacks I'm watching in all its glory.

 

Had a night in Waterbury last Dec with my wife - started with a protracted 2.5 hr dinner at HotW (HT on tap is still awesome)— local cheese and mushroom toast to start — food and service really nice. Crawled the trifecta and ended up at the bar at the Old Stage Coach to finish the night. Had a cask cone head at BlackBack which was BIS for me. Wife partial to River Roost stuff. Killer breakfast in the am at the OSCI and a can of Heady which we split. A great 18 hours in the epicenter of VT beer.

 

getting shitfaced off high lifes and passing out on the lawn

 

Drinking a few cans from HF and The Alchemist on top of Camel's hump in Waterbury. (First hike in my life)

 

While certainly a good time, you can do that anywhere in the country.

 

But I do it here, and it's my favorite.

 

First trip to Moat Mountain House after 8 hour hike up and back to the summit of Mt. Washington. Too long ago to remember which beer it was. A well deserved beer....
Watching the sunset on Lake Champlain from the Beer Garden at Foam is a close second.....

 

Lord. So many options.

• Sipping on Lost Nation Gose while tubing down the Winooski.
• Enjoying a glass of Fair Maiden on the lawn at Foley Bros.
• Taking the boat out into the Burlington Harbor for Grand Point North (Grace Potter's annual fest) with some freshly purchased Foam.

 

Mine are more nostalgic, touring Catamount in White River Junction location mid '90's, My wife and I meandering up the coast of Maine on our way to Acadia stopping at breweries, shit, that had to be in '96 before we were married. Those kind of things....

 

I always have an awesome time at Siptemberfest at Mad River Glen.

Awesome beer, great location, chill environment. In previous years you could take the single chair to the summit and hike. The weather has been perfect the last few years.

But my favorite New England Beer experience was a trip to Hill Farmstead on a random Wednesday a few years ago. I left work early for no particular reason. Lucked into onsite Ann bottle availability and then shared a few great brews with strangers. No more than 10 people in the place. It was fall I think, but still sunny and warm enough to enjoy the outside.

 

This probably isn't my favorite memory, but it stands out. Years ago (around 2010?) before the tap room "experience" took off everywhere went to Magic Hat and they kept pouring free tasters until you couldn't take anymore. Whatever you wanted, as many as you wanted. I haven't been back in a while, and there are so many other places to visit, but back then that was a fun, cool place to check off the list.

 

Oh, I almost forgot.

Standing in line at Tree House.