Later this summer I'll be at a family reunion in Landgrove VT, a bit south of Okemo, and was hoping to enjoy some of this vaunted Vermont beer scene, but Hill Farmstead, Alchemist, Burlington, Frost, etc. are all well over 2+ hours from where I'll be, and since I don't have a car of my own (I live in NYC), it's unlikely I'll be able to get to any of those. I've heard great things about River Roost and could probably convince my sister or a cousin to do the hour-ish drive, but was hoping that there might be something else worth my time in the area, even just a bar/restaurant with good Vermont beer or a place I can pick up cans of stuff like Alchemist or Foley Brothers.
If you can get someone to drive you to River Roost, go. In the same parking lot as River Roost there is a place called the Crowler Pit connected to Big Fatty BBQ. Great selection of VT and other cans and Big Fattys has HF on draft sometimes. Alchemist can be harder to find, they do not distribute to many places in even Central VT south of Mad River area. If you can't get to River Roost area, there is a place in Chester VT called Meditrina which has a good selection, and Brewfest Beverage in Ludlow is good as well.
Brewery, BBQ, and bottle shop all in one place? Sounds like my kind of place. Thanks for the recommendations!
They get deliveries of Heady Topper at the Crowler Pit too now. As well as Lawson's Finest cans. The Coop in White River Junction (2 minutes from Big Fatty's) also gets Heady Topper and other good VT brews. Technically, they started distribution of Heady to almost all of Vermont a few weeks ago. They get deliveries at the Brattleboro Coop. I am not sure how often the deliveries are made or how long they last. Meuleman's Craft Draught is a place you should check out.
River Roost cant speak more fondly of it. Big Fattys as well. I would consider driving there from boston just for cans and grub. DO IT
Oh if they have cans to-go I'm going to have to make that a priority. I never hear about their stuff when it comes to trades so I kind of assumed it was growler-only for to-go options.
Whetstone in Brattleboro almost always has at least 2 Hill Farmstead beers on tap. Hermit Thrush is a 5+ minute walk from there and Brattleboro Food Co-Op is 2 min walk from Whetstone and has all the good VT beers available to go, and a few taps for growler fills too. Can't beat a visit to River Roost though!
Go to Meuleman's in Rawsonville nearby, and get almost anything we get up north. And yep, they have Backacre. Then treat yourself to lunch at Honeypie across the street!
I was at the WRJ Co-Op and The Crowler Pit today. Heady and Focal come in on Wednesday and I think they get pretty small amounts (like, less than 10 cases of each). Co-Op was sold out but Crowler Pit still had a few 4-packs of each. I would guess Alchemist is starting out slow but will likely send more as time goes on.
