Hi BA's! I apologize in advance if this runs long. The fam and I will be in New Hampshire 6/28-7/9 visiting family. This is a yearly trip and we add some new beer "side trips" while we're there. Last year was Fiddlehead, Magic Hat, Alchemist (old location) and Hill Farmstead. I have a great friend who's retired dad lives in Burlington and "pre-buys" beer for anyone visiting. He'll have 4 4-paks of the following waiting for us, Sip of Sunshine, Second Fiddle, Focal Banger, Crusher and Heady. We'll be in Boson 7/5-6 and will visit Trillium and hope to get a good mix there (no time this year to make it to Tree House). Finally.....What other (craft) beer/brands are distributed to the NH/VT/MA area that I'm missing? We mainly like IPA's, Lagers, Pilsners, Hefe, not so much porters/stouts. Cans travel better than bottles but we'll have time to drink local while we're there. Inside tip, flying Southwest, 2 checked bags per person for free, 3 suitcases flying up, 3 suitcases and 3 Uline insulated boxes flying back....no charge if under 50 lbs each. Customs/security will open the beer boxes to verify contents then reseal it with DHS tape, beer is cold enough to drink when we get home. Again, sorry if I stole minutes from your life.....But I know you folks will have some great ideas!
Check out Great Rhythm's taproom. They have made some pretty good brewery only cans recently. River Roost would be a nice side trip. It is in White River Junction. In the same parking lot is Big Fatty's. BBQ place with great tap list (HF, SoS, and lots of other great stuff). Attached to it is a beer store and crowler station. Usually a good selection in cans/bottles/crowlers to go. Frost, Foley Bros., Upper Pass (Cloud Drop if they have) are good options. Where in NH will you be? In Littleton you can go to Schilling for lunch and some brews. The new Stoneface pub (tasting room) looks great. I have not been myself since the pub opened. Deciduous, Kelsen, From the Barrel, Rockingham are all pretty good options in NH. The one big one that doesn't seem to be on your list above is Foam. Excellent spot in Burlington. Fairly new and always gaining in popularity.
Foam is great in Burlington. Check out Nighshift in Boston. Great tap room, lots of cans available for purchase. Keep an eye out for Rising Tide brewing cans. They will show up on occasion in Massachusetts. Wormtown makes a solid, readily available IPA (Be Hoppy) as well. I'm a huge fan of Hermit Thrush if you're a fan of sours.
Thanks for the Info! Wife's parents live on Newfound Lake by Wellington state park, others are in Bristol near Profile Falls. We've heard that Growler Garage in Burlinton is great to, plan on stopping there to.
Do yourself a favor and drive the ~25 minutes to Plymouth for lunch at Biederman's Deli on Main St. Incredible sandwiches (I strongly recommend the Balboa) and a solid tap list, including many NH options. Chase St. Market above the deli has a good bottle/can selection, albeit a little overpriced. +1 to both of these if you're going to be in the Seacoast area. Cans also available at Stoneface, in addition to 8-12 beers on tap.
+1 for visiting Foam, no cans but have a few on site pours and decide if you want to get growlers and try and figure out the packing/shipping situation after. I'd also personally keep an eye out for Burlington Beer Co. in VT - I've really enjoyed their beers, as they're pretty creative and different. Available in cans, so that works with what you're looking for. I'd reconsider the "no time for Treehouse", but that's me. It's just a brewery you make time for when you're in the area, IMO. For me, there's no one putting out beer on their level. But this is coming from someone who makes the frequent 1+ hour drive there.
Thanks guys for the info, I'm definitely taking notes. We usually go to Plymouth to hit the Walmart for supplies, up 3A to 25. A trip to Biederman's Deli will be a nice break from the in-laws.....Thanks!
I have nothing to add to this comprehensive list. Except to repeat that it would be good to know where in New Hampshire you'll be. We look small on a map until you try to drive either east-west or west-east. Our road system is optimized for efficiently hoovering dollars northward out of Massachusetts without regard to actually connecting the inhabitants of the Seacoast region to those of the Connecticut River valley other than by a two-day trip on horseback. For example, if you were on the coast, I'd send you to Maine or, if you were near the 91 corridor, I'd say go to Vermont and down into Mass., to Turners Falls and Northampton. If you're going to be in the Lakes, I'd advise you to stock up in Boston before you drive up and just hang out by the water because, truthfully, NH distro pretty-much thoroughly sucks and our brewing culture lags twenty years behind our neighboring states. Please note that this advice runs directly counter to the official New Hampshire state policy of never allowing a dollar which has found its way into the state to leave again or, apparently, to be spent for any purpose other than attracting more dollars. I've been traveling around Northern New England a lot lately and apparently I've built up a great swollen red boil of festering resentment and I apologize for lancing it at you. Enjoy your visit. Bienvenue!
Wow, thanks for taking the time to write that, I honestly found it interesting! We'll be in Bristol, lakes region. My wife will be thrilled with some Blue Light. I was curious if Alaskan brewing or others were distributed there.
Thanks Rysk22, last year we handed off beer at the Vermont pub and brewery, looks like Foam is this year's spot. We stayed at the Courtyard at Cherry and Battery street so we're kinda familiar with the area. Thanks again!
Really???? Anyway, in Bristol... a one hour drive out Route 4 to River Roost in WRJ, Big Fatty's BBQ for lunch, and the attached bottle shop is your absolutely necessary, one-stop destination. That, with Trillium, is several days worth of really, really good beer.
If you're in Boston for Trillium, then a hop, skip & jump away is Night Shift, and a couple hundred yards down the street is a new one, Bone Up Brewing. I haven't been there yet myself, but a friend of mine says the beers are solid. I also recommend Mystic and Idle Hands, Mystic especially for non-IPA beers. they have a lot of local yeast strains they use to ferment with (I can't explain it easily; check out their website) and they're within a mile or 2 of Night Shift. There's a ton of other breweries around, (now over 100 breweries in Massachusetts) depending on timing and how long you have to spend, along with how far out you are willing to drive.
Bone up and Night Shift will be close, we're staying at our usual spot, Sheraton 4 PT's on Squire road. My notebook is filling up, thanks guys!
If you are hitting those two, Mystic as mentioned above is close. It is always my favorite stop while in Boston area.
+1 on Burlington Beer Co if you are looking for cans. I've enjoyed a bunch of what I have had from them. Also enjoyed visiting. Foley Brothers has cans this year and did not last year so that's a new can to add to the list. Exhibit A is also another one for cans. Jack's Abby is widely available (compared to most of the others that have been mentioned) and mostly in cans these days. They make fantastic hop forward lagers.
