Looking to head to Vermont in May. Was looking for advice on some things. What day is best to arrive and what time does heady become available for retail? Does Lawson's have a farmers market every month? Does hill farmstead always have bottle releases? These are just a few questions that I have
Visit the alchemist's website, Lawson's blog, and HF's website/Facebook/Twitter for all of your answers. But, in short, 1. Depends where you are and what day you're there. 2. No. 3. No.
Agreed with Sean802. Google helps. A tip though, show up at Hill Farmstead on W/Th/F 3 PM or later. It's often much quitter then, as opposed to the mess of opening at 12 Noon. You could hit up the Warren Store for Lawsons on Thursday, in lieu of Farmers Market.
I'm heading up to Waterbury end of March before heading into Montreal. Gonna be there on a Tues/Wed but am going to hit up Warren's Thurs. morn (hopefully not too far into the afternoon) for some Lawson's before going to Montreal. Problem is I don't want to keep three or four growlers in my car for four days before heading home so probably won't pick up any Hill Farmstead. If I can't get any Heady in Waterbury, will probably stop into the Beverage Warehouse in Winsooki. Too bad Alchemist isn't canning the Focal Banger yet, but will enjoy some on draft in Waterbury.
Thanks for the advice Bold. After reading a bit, am now going to purchase some flip-top brown growlers here on Long Island and bring them up and hit Hill Farmstead since people are saying the beer keeps well. Will probably drink them in two or three weeks and most are saying the beer will keep. Now I can hopefully bring home some Abner.
I prefer Rodgers inn by shadow lake myself. Nothing fancy but the price cant be beat and the breakfast is always good. Easy drive to hill farmstead or parker pie in the other direction.
This may be useful for when you are on the road / in the car / can only use your phone: http://www.beertrail.vermontbrewers.com
While we're on the general subject: Are folks still lining up outside HF with the new expansion? Headed up soon and I'm trying to figure out how many layers to pack .
last wednesday there was a line when i got there around 11:20 outside. they let everyone in at 11:30 to stand in line and wait until noon. I'm guessing this is common practice for them.
As everyone stated above it really depends on the day. Each place gets there deliveries on different days. Use the alchemist's website to figure out the days and call ahead to check availability.
different stroke for different folks. my trip would be a little different because I would enter VT via I-91. where as you would come into Vt via I-89 into Burlington. warren store on thurs. @ 8-9 am for lawson's offerings. other than the farmer's market this is the safest bet for lawson's. imo. check the alchemist website to see what towns on which day get their heady topper deliveries. call the stores ahead and if you spend 3-5 days in Vt I don't see any reason why you can't come home with 2 cases. plus lawson's. now that the alchemist doesn't serve the public- waterbury is a dinner spot, imo. the pro pig only does lunch on fri, sat and sun. i like the black back. the res. rubs me the wrong way. burlington is the place to hang. three needs, vt pub and brew, fiddle head, american flat bread, the farmhouse, skinny pancake and a ton of other bars I can't remember LOL, plus all the proper sit down restaurants you want. everything is walkable and there's a ton of hotels. hill farm is about 1.5 hrs from burly. i like to hit up hill farmstead on weds or thurs- early. they usually will fill a bunch of growlers if they aren't busy. you can get a few samples and mill around the farm until your growlers are ready. VT is very easy to get around, as long as it isn't snowing. lol.
All good advice. I prefer the Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday routine. Warren Store Thursday for Lawson's. HFS trips each day if you want to max out. Multiple days for topper deliveries as well. Best western in Waterbury has been my spot.
