Help when visiting VT and Boston

I will up there next week. Let you know if I learn anything new.

 

It may be the better beer bar in MA, but it doesn't replicate a trip to HF/Waterbury. It's better up there. Going to a bar with a couple hoppy HF beers is cool. Coming back with a case or two of their saisons is bliss.

I live in Boston. Trillium is the best. Enlightenment and Mystic are my next favorite. Night Shift is close by too. You could hit all of the Everett ones in one night no problem.

The best beer bars are Lord Hobo, Row 34, and Publick House. Deep Ellum, on its own merits, is good, but I would 9/10 rather go to Lone Star taco bar next door. Throw down $100 and dive into an ocean of tequila and fish tacos.

My favorite restaurants
$$$$ Bondir (crazy reserve beer list), Asta (tasting menu)
$$$ Toro (spanish), Ribelle (italian-ish, across from Publick House),
$$ PICO (pizza of dreams), Dorrado (tacos), Mike and Patty's (breakfast sandwich gods), Mei Mei (weird new chinese), Myers and Chang (classy Chinese)
$ Gourmet Dumpling House (Chinese), Brown Sugar (thai), Casa Razdora (Italian lunch), Symphony Sushi (random sushi place I like a lot), Zo (greek Gyros and SOUP!), Flour bakery (near Trillium, better pastries than Mike's in the north end)

I really enjoy the pizza at Ernesto's but Galleria Umberto is more fun (lunch only).

Formaggio Kitchen in the South End is heaven.

Near Trillium is Barrington Coffee and I'm in love with their espresso.

Are you into ramen...?...I could talk a while about that. Yume Wo Katare!

 

If it is it might make it even easier at Fiddlehead.

 

Two things, (a) stop at Lost Nation either on the way to or from Hill Farmstead. Good beer and amazing food. And (b) make a reservation at Hen of the Wood Waterbury. Probably the best meal in VT with service to match. My two cents.

 

^
Yes. The best part about going up to Vermont is being in Vermont and enjoying the ridiculous, understated quality of everything. Lost Nation is the brewery that exhibits that best. Chasing 4-packs and cases sucks. Enjoy yourself.

 

Fiddlehead's Second Fiddle release is this coming Saturday, if their Facebook page is to be believed, and it should be. So next Saturday might be a week too late for that.

Also, next weekend will be friggin' Memorial Day weekend, as well as HF's anniversary weekend. The Waterbury area should be teeming, to say the least. HF will have a crudload of their beers on tap at the usual suspect venues, including all three of the main Waterbury watering holes, Burlington's Farmhouse and Parker Pies in little West Glover. I can't say how that will affect their growler fill line at the farm. http://hillfarmstead.com/anniversary/

Lawson's anything is an unlikely find anywhere by Saturday morning, although locals and Big Stein above can speak to that better than I. From what I hear, Winooski Beverage might possibly have some SOS or whatever Sean has made that week, if you get there early enough. http://www.lawsonsfinest.com/find-our-beer/

As you probably know, Heady also gets scarfed up fast by locals and those who can luxuriate in a late weekday trip. But if you hit enough stores that get it Friday, and Winooski Beverage, you might possibly luck out. http://alchemistbeer.com/buy/?shipday=5

I agree that going up just for a beer treasure hunt would be doing a great disservice to yourself and the area, which is relatively peaceful and friendly most of the time, and very beautiful.

 

I think your best bets for finding Trillium on tap (outside of Row 34) are Publick House in Brookline, Deep Ellum, and Lord Hobo. Brewer's Fork had some when they opened a few months ago, but I haven't seen it listed recently. It has become really tough to find anywhere outside of the brewery basically since December, but the brewery has been pretty well stocked and generally not crazy wait times for the past few months. Keep an eye out for when they release Artaic, a Double IPA made with honey - it wouldn't surprise me if that ends up at one or more of the bars above, based on what they have done with prior special release Double IPAs.

I wish I could recommend a great BYOB spot to take your Trillium purchases, but Boston doesn't do BYOB very well, so maybe bring back some takeout to wherever you are staying. That said, you will find some nice food truck options if you walk the Greenway from the North End to Congress St. to get to Trillium. Dewey Square, across from South Station, usually has 5-6 good options for weekday lunch and also has a farmers market on Tuesdays and Thursdays - look for Union Square donuts there for something decadent and delicious. Food trucks I like: Bon Me, Roxy's Grilled Cheese, Posto pizza, Mei Mei, Chicken & Rice Guys (all of which also have brick and mortar locations). There is also a very interesting (and massive) public art installation hanging above the Greenway right now.

 

You can find Publick House draft list here

http://www.thepublickhousebeerbar.com/#!draft/cxa0

Note that while Trillium is spotty they are also very solid on Jack's Abby. Right now they have PB&J Framinghammer and Hoponius Union and 3 other nice ones 'coming soon'. note that (in Boston terms) this is not super close, but grab an uber at non peak times and it should only be $16 or $17 I think.

alternatively get your walking shoes on - Boston is one of the great US walking cities and you can do your own little bar crawl while seeing a great deal of the city. for instance...

Walk from your hotel to Stoddards, which will be a nice walk. Then walk through Back Bay, maybe get some great pizza and a nice beer at the Salty Pig. From there you could head to the Fenway area, go to Eastern Standard or Island Creek Oysters, or just a beer at Lower Depths. from there you can have a nice (about a mile) walk down Beacon Street to Publick House (would only do this part if they have stuff on tap you want or want from moules frites/other good food).

that whole walk is 5 miles, but if it's a nice day you will see a huge part of the city and you get to hit some great spots. or bail out and do Uber which is way cheaper and more convenient than cabs here.

 

Actually, you may well be in luck for both Heady and Sip if you check the places that get late week delivery. This is the time of year when things sit around a little longer..

 

This is a great plan for a day, although I recommend jumping to the Green Line C Branch at Kenmore Square after Eastern Standard/Island Creek/Lower Depths for the journey out to Washington Square for the Publick House or Fairsted Kitchen, which has 4 Jack's Abby taps, a well-regarded cocktail program, and a more adventurous dining menu than Publick House. The Green Line is slow and can be very crowded at rush hour or around Sox games, but it gets you off your feet and is above ground for almost all of that ride. If you get that far, Uber back to your hotel.

 

Unfortunately I won't be staying in Vermont as the girl wanted to go to Montreal. She's allowing me the kindness of getting to pick up beers from Hf. And I'll probably bribe her with cheese to get her to stick around for a few more hours. But then it's off to Montreal.


If I show up to line up at 9am is that overkill. I figure it's a crazy weekend and the line might otherwise be horrible.

 

yeah I've been to Fairsted Kitchen and I liked it, it's just a quirky place and after a full day city hiking I'd be much more comfortable at the Publick House, especially if I was just looking for a couple beers

 

What would those places be? Feel free to PM too!

 

Any coffee spots around the north end or TD Garden you guys particularly enjoy?

 

Thinking Cup (North End on Hanover St., plus two other locations in town) and Cuppacoffee (New Chardon St., near TD Garden) are both strong. Thinking Cup has Stumptown products, Cuppacoffee is an Australian place that also does meat pies.

 

Also, forgot to mention in the original post. Where is my best bet for ciders in VT or Boston? Would love to pick up some quality stuff, including ice ciders.

 

Everyone defines bliss differently. Mine doesn't involve driving 4 hours to wait 3+ hours in line with beer geeks/traders in the middle of nowhere to get beer.

 

CBC Belmont and Waterbury might be your best bets for those.

 

Express bottle line for saison bro!!