I'm heading up to Montreal in July, and most of our drive will be on Rt. 87 in NY. We're already planning on crossing into VT to try to get some Heady Topper, but I'm looking for some other suggestions for possible stopping-points along the way. Thanks!
I'm coming from NJ. I'd rather check out breweries/brewpubs. There only seem to be a handful of breweries available in NY that we don't get in NJ, so unless it's a pretty awesome bottle shop, I don't mind forgoing it.
Just after crossing into NY a very short detour go to Cable Beverages and RT 59 Discount Beverage. I'm talking less than 5 miles going the other direction on the Thruway. Both great stores for stuff available in NY but not NJ. Maybe another 15 minutes going "South" on the Thruway(its really east) you have captain lawrence. I've also gotten recommendations from my local beer bar owner to check out newburgh brewing. Other than that definitely check out half time beverages for a store too. As far as crossing into vermont for heady topper, a lot of stores carry it but even they get 1 case at a time and sell out of it in minutes. going all the way to the brewery is the best way to get pretty much as much heady topper as you can carry. There is a limited amount of alcohol that you can bring with you into canada at a time so making these beer trips on the way home may be a better idea or you can do both. The last time I went you were limited to 1.75L of alcohol or 1 case of 24 cans/bottles of beer per person. Not 1 case and 1 bottle each. Just 1 or the other. Shooting over to Vermont isn't as easy as you think. All of the state highways going from the thruway over to vermont are 45-50mph speed limit 1 lane country roads. There isn't exactly a direct route and there will be a lot of extra driving. But since you will be going there anyway you need to make sure to get yourself some Lawson's Finest Liquids. I've copy and pasted from their website the only 3 places on earth where you can legally buy bottles of their beer from a retail establishment. Don't even get the idea of going to Hill Farmstead because it's so ridiculously far out in the boonies. Good luck with everything though. Montreal is a beautiful city. Warren Store, Warren, VT (802)496-3864 Hunger Mountain Co-op, Montpelier, VT (802)223-8000 Beverage Warehouse, Winooski, VT (802)655-2620
Thanks a lot for the info. I figured HT wouldn't be as available as the number of retailers on The Alchemist's might suggest, but as a detour to the brewery itself looks like it will only add a little more than an hour driving, we might just do that; rather than actually crossing into VT from NY, we'd head there right from Montreal. I also don't really know much about Lawson's, but I'll definitely look more into them.
If you are going through westchester county, ny on rt 87, I would check out Captain Lawrence Brewery in PLeasantville, ny, also check out Decicco's, in Aardsley, ny, grocery store with a kick ass beer selection with very reasonable pricing
Crossroad Brewery in Athens NY is only maybe 15-20 minutes off 87 the Catskill exit. Their Outrage IPA is worth the trip.
