Some friends and I have taken a day off work and have planned a very long beer run, 900 miles to be exact. An overnight, wait in line grab and go trip! Destination winooski vt for the elusive heady topper. We would like to hit up Warren vt to see if we can get our hands on some sip of sunshine as well.I know there are some amazing brews hailing that area. Any suggestions? Any tips from locals or visitors? LeavING Wednesday night to get there as early as possible Thursday morning. And my wife officially thinks I've lost it!
Sounds like fun. Bring your wife a pair of shoes back to help keep things kosher. I don't have any advice to give, and this will probably get moved, but good luck, godspeed, and post pictures when you get back. I've heard it's beautiful over there. As an attempt to help, I have heard focal banger is good too.
Scrap this plan, go to Hill Farmstead, and got a ton of good beer in growlers and bottles without the worry of it running out or not being there. Your "wait in line" will basically be waiting for growler fills and you can drink a beer while you wait instead of standing outside a grocery or liquor store. If you must get Heady Topper, just hit Hunger Mountain Coop really early on a Thursday, grab your cases, and then head to HF.
Hunger mountain co op in Montpelier be there at 7:30 am and your leaving with a case of Heady per person. Cheers...enjoy. at winooski you may not end up with a case.
You can find Sip in plenty of places, there's no need to go to Warren specifically for that. I'd second a trip to HF, though; especially with the new taproom, it's a pretty solid place to spend a few hours drinking spectacular beer.
Yea you can potentially get SOS just as easily in CT as you can in VT. I also recommend 14th star - tribute IIPA and maple breakfast stout Lost Nation - lost Galaxy or their Gose Fiddlehead - second fiddle or any of their IPAs Foley Bros - just had parley which is a red ale, and truly amazing. Never had any of their other stuff but have heard great things. Obviously anything you can get by HF is a must. If you're looking for a place to eat and get some good stuff on draft I recommend whetstone station in Brattelboro. They had some HF when I was there 2 weeks ago, as well as some other great local brands, plus four lines of their own. Great food too.
I think I'll take the advice on the shoes, she'll be to preoccupied to check whether or not I've over spent because honestly I'm going to! All sold me on the HF trip, its going to happen, looks like we're extending the trip a few hours. Also planning on hitting up a pub for some focal, wish I could get it in a growler! Appreciate the recommendations for sure and will keep an eye out! As for hunger mountain, when I contacted before they didn't say anything about cases for sale even though on alchemist homesite they were listed as a case sale store. 7:30am on thursday morning is a good possibility for a case pp? Really looking to ensure the best possibility for cases as I've headed this trip and would hate to dissapointed the others that havery agreed to go with me.
I'm sorry flashy, it's 500. The downside of doing everything on a smart phone with sutocorrect and fat fingers. We're heading down from syracuse,well a small town outside of syracuse named hastings. The city life isn't my thing!
Swing by Prohibition Pig in Waterbury if you get a chance. Great food and they are making amazing brews. Their IPA was one of the best things I had up there this weekend and you can get crowlers of whatever you like. Craft Beer Cellar across the street is a great bottle shop as well.
yup. i second pretty much what everything everybody's already suggested. go to the hunger mountain co-op for 7:30 in montpeiler. grab a bite to eat for breakfast(the skinny pancake right down the street) and then head to hill farmstead to pick up some beers. grab some food at prohibition pig on your way back where they have great beers on tap.
Awesome, changed my mind to go to hunger mountain instead of winooski. It sounds like the wait will be much shorter and a much better probability of cases. Prohibition pig was on the list!
Not sure what Hunger Mtn line is like this time of year, but I visited in mid-August, got there at 7 am and was 30th in line. Line got pretty long between 7:00 and 7:45 that morning. Was in/out with a case of Heady by 8:15 am. Lawson's comes to this location early afternoon, but I'd definitely drive up to Hill Farmstead instead of waiting around. If you get back down to Waterbury, hit Prohibition Pig, Blackback, and Reservoir (excellent food and tap lists, all 3 right there together). And Craft Beer Cellar across street from Pro Pig. Have a great trip!
I made a similar trip up to Vermont last week, and will share my trip report in case it is useful. Drove up on a Tuesday and stayed in Brattleboro. Had dinner and a few beers (HF Edward, HF Everett, and Zero Gravity Equinox IPA) at the bar at Whetstone Station. Food was decent and I was pretty thrilled and surprised to see HF that far south. On Wednesday morning I swung by the co-op grocery store in Brattleboro and picked up a couple bottles of Rock Art, Berkshire, and AleSmith (can't easily get AleSmith in DC, so even though I felt bad not buying local, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to get a bottle of Speedway Stout). I then drove up to Waterbury. Picked up two fourpacks of Heady Topper at both the Village Market and Crossroads Beverage Center between 10:30am and noon. At Crossroads I also picked up two four packs of Sip of Sunshine. Heady Topper and Sip of Sunshine were behind the counter at Crossroads. Also swung by Craft Beer Cellar. There were a handful of people in the store waiting for the Heady delivery, which hadn't happened yet, but I was able to pick up a 12 pack of Lawsons Super Session #2. While it would have been nice to wait for Heady or go across the street to Prohibition Pig, I was anxious to get to Hill Farmstead, so I didn't stick around. Hill Farmstead was obviously fantastic, but here are a couple things to point out. The day I was there (a Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, around 1pm), there was no line for bottles and a very lengthy line for growlers. They use a number system like a deli. They were on 60-something when I arrive and I was number 125. It took about 2:45 for them to get to me, and there were at least 10 people/numbers they skipped because of no-shows. I wish I had either eaten at Prohibition Pig or at least brought a lunch with me. The only food they had was a cheese plate, and I ended up having a lunch of it and some fruit I happened to have in my car. After HF I drove to Montpelier and went to the Three Penny Taproom. The fact that I didn't have a real lunch probably had something to do with it, but they served the best grilled cheese and beer cheese soup I have ever had. And their tap list, while relatively small, was extremley well curated. I was staying at a hotel a few blocks away/didn't have to drive, which enabled me to drink HF Harlan, HF Abner (favorite beer of the trip), Sip of Sunshine, Focal Bangor (call me crazy, but I was really disappointed in it), Heady Topper, and Foley Bros Pieces of Eight. If I am ever within 50 miles of Montpelier, I will make sure to get back to this place - food, beer, and service were all fantastic. On Thanksgiving day I went skiing at Killington. At the base of K-1 the bar had Fiddlehead IPA on tap. They seemed to be out of anything too great up at the Peak Lodge, but having a Shed IPA in a bottle while enjoying a 360 degree view of the mountains is tough to beat. Enjoy your trip.
