Boston, VT beercation

If you are coming in for beer specifically, you should take one of those Boston days & go up to Portland. Portland is also just a really cool city.

Bissell
Allagash
Goodfire
Austin St
Definitive
Battery Steele
Foundation

 

Hitting a lot in VT in one day can be a bit difficult if you do not have a designated driver, but if you have a good plan it can work.

Hill Farmstead would be my number one choice but it is not very close to other options. You can hit HF early and then Alchemist on way back to the Burlington area. Once in Burlington there are lots of options and Uber is available. Will you be staying a night in VT or just doing a day trip from a base in Boston?

If staying a night there are two main areas where you could end up for the night and have a lot of walkable (or Uber) options. Burlington or Waterbury.

If you have a DD a nice route is start at Hill Farmstead at open, head to Lost Nation for lunch and stop at The Alchemist for tastes and then cans to go if you want. You can sub in or add von Trapp for lunch or beer as well.

From there head to Burlington and you can hit Foam, Burlington Beer Co., Four Quarters, Fiddlehead and a bunch of other options.

 

I don't know if going to Treehouse twice is necessary. But I guess after you go once you can decide if you want to go back on Saturday. They very well could have drafts available on Thursday depending on the line situation. More likely than not I would say.

Armsby Abbey in Worcester, MA is worth checking out. Jacks Abbey (lagers), Springdale (sours/barrel aged/wilds), and Exhibit A in Framingham, MA are great. Vitamin Sea seems to have a strong following and may be an up and coming brewery but I know nothing about it.

I second the recommendation to go to Portland. That's a great bang for your buck. There are like 4-5 breweries in walking distance from Allagash.

 

Seeing as I am in boston, dont come for the beer come for the city or dont even bother. I would MUCH rather spend 4-5 days in vermont and portland maine then I would in boston or massachusetts for that matter.

Seems everyone has the same feelings. I would skip trillium altogether. Tree house I would try to hit the on the way here mid day and settle into boston for a night. Vitamin Sea you could hit on the way to boston. I would either go to lamplighter in cambridge or maybe trillium in the seaport if you really want to do so because there is so much else in the seaport (smoke shop for bbq, pastoral for pizza and good beer, city tap house for a large tap list).

I would spend one night in burlington, one night in stowe, one night in portland. You can get to hill farmstead, alchemist, von trapp, and a few others in tight proximity. Make sure you hit up river roost in white river junction on the way up to northern vermont at least for cans. From vermont if you could hit Schilling in littleton NH on the way to portland for a pizza, brews, and cans that would be special.

Cant say it enough, boston is the most overrated elite and expensive city Ive ever been too. Chicago is what boston aspires to be. You will enjoy yourself in vermont and portland and eat and drink better. Its not mud season yet and its not likely to get trapped by a blizzard either.

Just my two cents

 

Haha I wouldn't go that far. Boston is fine (live her, not from here), but for a beer-centric city basically Trillium is all that makes it WORTH IT. There are other places to hit if you are already here though. Jacks Abby/Springdale mainly. But yeah, VT & Portland are the best in NE. You will not be mad you went to Portland.

Chicago is also like 5 times the size of Boston, so not sure there is a comparison to be made there.

I think it really depends on if you are flying in or driving in.

 

Chicago seems like a very strange comp for Boston seeing as it's more than 3 times the size in both population and area. San Fran is a much better comp and while it's arguably a better city, it's also even more expensive.

Nonetheless, I'd agree that if you're coming for a beer-centric trip then spending 3 nights in Boston is overkill. I'd say to do 2 at most and spend the others in VT and Portland. As a new convert to the glories of Portland I might even suggest that that should be your headquarters for the majority of nights, simply because it's the only place where everything of interest is within a cheap uber ride.

 

Thats a crazy amount of driving with little time for actually having fun and drinking beer. Portland is great for a little city but to essentially skip Boston and all it has to offer and add 4 more hours of driving seems nuts to me. Same goes for driving to Tree House twice.
Cambridge Brewing, Mystic, Idle Hands, Night Shift, Trillium, Lamplighter, Backlash, Remnant are my favorites in the Boston metro area.

 

Having done the Boston/Vermont trip a couple times, agree with kinopio that is alot of driving time. Would definitely spend more than 1 day in Vermont, especially if trying to get to Hill Farmstead, Alchemist, Waterbury, and Burlington. Haven't done the Portland scene yet, but am scheduled for visit this summer and appreciate seeing that most of the breweries are pretty close to each other.

 

Skip Trillium? gtfo

 

In Burlington — pizza and beer at American Flatbread is a great option. They usually have a cask ale pouring ...Citra Conehead etc.. and it blows away anything else on tap in town. Consider it.

 

First off prioritize HF above all.

Two other major issues w your plan.
No Waterbury stop. This is where VT beer all comes together. There is nothing like it anywhere. Black Back is the epicenter. Miss that and I pity you. Skip Stowe and go to Waterbury. Second - skipping Trills Fort Point restaurant and brewery is an equally offensive miss. They have a bunch of haters for some bizarre reason - don’t listen to ‘em - this spot is a must. Located in the newest most vibrant part of the city. Amazing bottles and cans available at the Thomson Pl location - along w cool vibe and excellent food.

 

There is definitely no need to hit both Trillium locations. Given your agenda, I would focus on hitting Ft. Point on the back end of your trip and focus your attention on Burlington/Waterbury/Portland. It's also not feasible to do Burlington and Waterbury in the same night.

 

Skip Burlington and spend the entire evening in Waterbury. Between Blackback, Prohibition Pog, and The Reservoir you have access to the best tap list in the state, if not all of NE. If you want to treat yourself to an excellent dinner, make a reservation at Hen of the Woods.

I'd highly recommend a visit to Portland, but not sure if it's worth all the extra travel time. Boston may not be Chicago (whatever the hell that means), but there are some excellent breweries, pubs, and restaraures in the city and metro area - @konopio provided some great suggestions.

 

Skip Trillium, but hit Vitamin Sea. Seriously? Hit Vitamin Sea on the one day they’re open for the one beer they have available vs Trillium in Fort Point where all the action is happening in the spring and summer with more beer than you can drink. Terrible advice.

 

Agree - Burlington is awesome - but a night in Waterbury w/Dinner at HotW and crawling BlackBack/Res/ProPig is probably the ultimate VT/NE Beer experience.

 

Definitely skip Trillium Canton and just go to the Fort Point location. They should have the rooftop bar and patio open again soon. Check out Row 34 down the street for excellent seafood and beer. To maximize your Vermont time try to get to Hill Farmstead at 11:30 that morning.