Alchemist / Warren VT

I'm not going to suggest there's no arrogance in what he was saying but it's kind of hard to have that kind of discussion without coming off a bit prickly. It's kind of hard to soften your tone when you're talking about your competition, especially when you're not talking about them in a positive light. I do feel like there is a lot of interesting discussion with the bitterness vs astringency talk being chief among them. I thought his point about people not learning to taste what beers should taste like from the beginning of their beer drinking journey was particularly poignant. If craft beer drinkers are pushing inferior breweries as a hallmark of craft beer, newer folks are going to think that's how beer should taste when those beers may have some major flaws.

I will have to go back and listen to the whole thing at some point (there are three parts, so three separate episodes with him) and I just skipped to the parts that seemed relevant to this discussion. There seemed to be a lot of stuff about entrepreneurship which I'll have to check out.

 

I listened to some of this and have to agree. He seems pretty humble and also like any other successful businessperson. Also, their beers are still incredible and still very well priced.

 

Curious which local breweries he mentioned who were large and dumping beer. Can’t help but wonder if it was a shot at Lawsons.

Also, speaking of Lawsons. Curious to see how the new Shady Rays IPA is.

 

If I had to guess, I would say Foam.

 

I thought about that too. But I don’t consider them to be a large brewery as said.

 

Or maybe BBCO. Mentioned it being a large-ish distribution though so I’m not certain.

 

Neither would surprise me.

 

Woah that podcast was very interesting from both a beer and business perspective. Now I want a Heady.

 

Haven’t listened to the podcast but I’ve had a few from foam that should have been dumped before ever making it into a can

 

@Jbrews new Kimmich just dropped

 

Jbrews, I liked this post not because I necessarily agree with your take on Kimmich's opinions, but because posting the link was a great public service. A fascinating discussion.

 

No clue what to think of a flamed impy stout. But defiantly sounds worth trying. Miss the days of just pure imperial stouts.

 

agreed. I'm almost completely off craft stout because there's always some sort of adjunct.

 

Looking forward to listening to that podcast. John made a big impression on me when, during the heavy rains that would later cause significant flooding earlier this summer, he opened the brewery for draft pours during a retail-only day. We had stopped by to pick up some cans and were thankful to literally have a port in the storm. John came out and was serving pours to the few of us who came in along with other super friendly staff. Really a great and kind bunch of people.

 

Heading up Saturday.

Yeah, I wanna see the leaves. I feel like it’s human nature. My question is will heading up through the Notch really kill time with traffic this weekend heading to Hill Farmstead? Are they past peak in Northeast Kingdom? It’s all good either way just more for planning.

Any coffee recommendations in Stowe? It’s been too long for me. Love me some cold brew.

We’re hoping to do dinner at potentially

Bench
Bistro at 10 acres
Idle time

Not opposed to Waterbury as well and would love to check out Hen.

I guess I just don’t know which I may need to grab a reservation for or what kind of leaf peeper nuttiness to expect. Our dinner hour can be flexible and probably earlier like say 4pm on if that helps. I’m used to summer tourist hell here in Portsmouth ha.

Sorry if this post is annoying. My main reason for asking is I assume this is a very busy peak leaf weekend but this is my only shot for a few weeks to go before impending winter doom. Most of my other trips over 40+ years of VT have been Winter focused and here and there summer/early fall.

Thanks all

 

I was in the NE Kingdom on the 5th and I guess it was pretty much peak around Greensboro then, although the colours are a little less than spectacular this year - probably because of all the rain and because it never really got hot. I made the mistake of cutting across to Alchemist from Hill and the traffic was fucking awful around Stowe and, as best I could tell anywhere on Route 100, even on a Thursday. But that was over a week ago, so ymmv.

This past weekend I drove 89 up to my daughter's in Montreal, and then Tuesday down the west side of Champlain, through NY to Lancaster, PA - so we've been all the fuck over the place. IME the foliage everywhere was basically meh and hugely variable, mostly by altitude. For example, it was still summertime in both the Montreal area and Amish country, with the full range of autumn everywhere in between, from just barely turning to bare branches.

All of which is to say I don't really know. Except that it helps if the sun is out.

It's pretty over here in Currier & Ives country, though.

 

Yeah, I'd say foliage season is largely over here in the Kingdom. Some stragglers here and there and pockets of color, but like @papposilenus said, it was less vibrant this year and leaves in northern VT peaked last week. And agreed, if the sun decides to come out, it'll look a lot nicer. I'd say that 90% of the trees on my property are completely bare already.

Despite the foliage peaking, traffic on 100 is miserable as expected this time of year.

 

I would have to agree with dubdrop. I live in St. Johnsbury and there's next to no color left in this area. Your best bet for color right now is the southern third of the state.

 

Appreciate all of your help. We’re probably still going to head out early tomorrow and give it a whirl. Been too long since I’ve had a beer at Hill onsite.

 

Gorgeous ride, and little traffic. Lines at hill farmstead and the whole experience. That’s a hard pass again in fall. Gonna have to stick to midweek. Beer was great though.