Best New England Beer State

Ok so only most of the year then.

I honestly haven't even bothered trying to get Heady for a while now but every thread on here has people lining up in front of Hunger Mountain at thoroughly indecent hours of the morning. It's not the worst in terms of availability but it's pretty bad.

Ok, fair point.

 

A few years ago either Maine or Vermont, but today Mass is the easy choice.

Personal preferences aside, an objective look at Mass makes a good case for it being the top state for beer in New England.

Home of the highest rated beer (and imperial stout), IPA, the number two pale ale, and a stellar session IPA/pale ale in Whirlpool. It's also home of the top pale lagers and Baltic porters, with no other state having a brewery as unique as the all-lager Jack's Abby. Throw in the all-session brewery (and their new brewery in Salem this year) in Notch, and to get your sour fix you can swing by one of the top brewpubs in New England with Cambridge Brewing Co.

Then there's the NERAX festivals for your cask fix, and of course the Beeradvocate festivals themselves. Stellar bars in Lord Hobo, Deep Ellum, Row 34, and you can even regularly get Hill Farmstead on draft at Armsby Abby.

 

Based on the Top Beers in New England list on this website VT has 43 of the top 100 and MA has 37. They seem to be the clear leaders. I chose VT as the leader, but between Tree House and Trillium, MA is hot on VT's tail.

It is great that each state has some standouts though. And it is great that you could pretty much hit all of the states in one trip.

 

Heady is just not that hard to get anymore. Yes you have to show up at the right place at the right time but dist is so spread out now that lines are not an issue. Waterbury -- for example -- gets a drop on Thurs at 5 or 6 retailers. Show up anytime during the day most weeks and you can score a case plus w/no effort and zero lines. Same applies to Stowe and Burlington and Montpelier. Folks do tend to gravitate to HM and BWH to get their case but those are the only places w lines -- and they can be easily avoided w a little planning.

 

So you're saying it takes planning, timing and travel to get it without a hassle, or get it at all for that matter. Which is my point entirely.

 

No bro -- i'm saying you don't have to wait in line at hunger mountain at indecent hours of the morning to get HT. You don't plan and travel when you go to TH? Perhaps only Trill can be had w/virtually no planning...but then there is travel involved unless you work at Fort Point or live in Canton. Don't get me wrong -- I love living in Mass - we have it the absolute best IMO. My VT trips have dropped in half over the past 2 years as Trill and TH have exploded. I did do a HF run during the week after Xmas -- and was very happily impressed w/their new set up -- so much more consumer friendly -- just a total joy and a new version of the same cool experience.

 

Not to mention you can get it at just about any restaurant in the Waterbury/Stowe & Burlington areas along with Focal Banger. It's really pretty easy to find and will get even easier when the second facility opens up later this year.

 

What a ridiculous statement that shows you clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

 

Well being from NH I have to go with the following.
1. MA
2. VT some beer are just to hard to get.
3. ME well there are lots of great beers but the dinner show is just to much to take.
4. NH well there are a few here that are getting the idea.
5. RI well someone had to be last on my list.

 

Heady and SoS both hung around for 3 days after dropoff last week. Hitting 3 places on the way home from work for the 3 days resulted in multiple cases of each to take down to DC this coming week. Not as easy for a visitor to grab mass quantities but you are virtually guaranteed several 4 packs. This may become less true if the skiing improves. And grab some 14th star Tribute if you see it - it's becoming competitive with the big boys.

 

I love how you don't even consider CT to be part of the discussion or NE for that matter...I feel the same way about that State without a country. I was born there so I can say that. All jokes aside I think MA has the best high quality variety. It's not just the hoppy options being done well here. Jack's Abby; Mystic; Enlightenment; Clown Shoes; Cisco Brewers are all at the top of their game for the styles they put out.

 

1. VT
2. MA
3. ME

These states attract the most attention, and are a tier above the rest, IMO.
If I have to relocate to New England for grad school.. then I'll have a better chance of exploring the other states.

CT is essentially split between NY and New England, some parts are just extensions of NYC 'burbs. Just look at the split of sports fans. Red Sox, and Yankees fans in equal measure. Bruins, Rangers fans split..
One of the most disgusting trends are those select few blasphemers who are Red Sox/Giants or Yankees/Pats fans.

HOW DO THEY SLEEP AT NIGHT?!

 

Even RI is like this for fandom, it's ridiculous. I grew up in NH, am even closer to Boston now yet huge portions of the populace here are a combination of Sox/Giants or Yankees/Pats fans.

 

I rate VT and MA as a tie, if forced to choose I'd say Mass because the next tier of breweries after the top (like Mayflower, Clown Shoes etc., is better). Maine is next, but is a very distant third. CT, NH and RI round it out in that order.

 

I agree--Mass is the clear winner in my book. Breweries in Vermont and (to a lesser extent) Maine are producing some phenomenal beers, but factoring in quality, availability and accessibility, they don't come close to Mass (at least for someone living in Boston, like I am). Being able to pop into a world-class brewery like Trillium and pick up a growler with almost no wait--either by car in Canton or by the T in Fort Point--is huge. The fact that Trillium, Tree House, Jack's Abby and others have recently scaled up greatly is also a big factor. Being able to get to excellent breweries like Trillium, CBC and Nightshift in under an hour on the T, not to mention an insane number of bars with amazing beer from those and other breweries (from Mass and elsewhere) without ever needing to get in a car seals the deal for me.

Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire all have more breweries per capita than Massachusetts, and things are looking up in New Hampshire and Connecticut, but I'm very happy to be a beer drinker in the Commonwealth these days.

 

Look, for various reasons, I don't get nearly excited about The Alchemist's output as many other people do. That's just one man's opinion, informed by priorities and tastes that you may not share, but it is a reasonably well informed one. And a bunch of Professor Internets show up to inform me of things that I already know quite well is unlikely to change it or yield any sort of productive discussion.

Let's move on.

 

I think those other beers are a myth, kinda like the Lake Champlain monster (Champ?). I think those slick Vermont people (Vermonters?) made them just to mess with us. I mean, I've seen pics online but has anyone ever actually seen these beers in the wild? I mean, there's more compelling evidence that the Sasquatch is real than those beers.

 

I think this is the first time we've reached any sort of general consensus. Congrats guys, we did it! Let's shut 'er down.

 

This and the superiority of the brewery experience at Night Shift, Jack's Abby, and CBC that some others have mentioned. VT probably has a narrow edge at the very top of the quality spectrum but MA absolutely crushes it when it comes to offering places that are serving excellent stuff while also being really fun, social places to go to.