I have booked a weekend trip to Vermont for the weekend of June 20th and think I have a good idea of what I want to visit in the relatively short time we will be there. There will be 4 of us coming from western NY arriving ~noon on Friday and I intend on hitting up locations in the following order: Long Trail Brewing Harpoon Brewing Norwich Inn Hunger Mountain Coop (in attempt at landing a case of Heady as they receive shipments on Fridays) Checkin to campsite I am staying at in Waterbury Visit downtown Waterbury (Prohibition Pig, Blackback Pub, The Reservoir) Head back to camp for beers by the campfire Saturday I would like to visit: Grateful Hands Brewery Covered Bridge Hill Farmstead Rock Art Lost Nation Vermont Pub + Brewery Zero Gravity Switchback Magic Hat We leave Sunday but I would like to swing by Otter Creek brewery since it is somewhat on the way back to NY anyway. Just looking for any thoughts on if this is too much to squeeze into a short weekend trip or not, or if I am better off skipping some of these locations in favor of other (better) ones? First visit to Vermont and I am excited to try some of their great offerings.
Too much!!!!!! Skip Long Trail. Nice tap room, but out of the way. Hit Harpoon for lunch. Nice setting. Stop by Three Penny in Montpelier for a pint. May have something different than the rest. As for Saturday, I believe Grateful Hands has recently closed down but someone can confirm that. Start at Hill and plan the day based on how long you are there. Rock Art and Lost Nation are options on the way to Burlington. Farmhouse is an option in Burlington to try a bunch of different stuff from the area. Don't miss Fiddlehead about 15 minutes south for Burlington. Better than the all the Burlington options IMO.
Yeah, unless you're going to spend about 15 minutes at each location, this ain't happening. HF is going to take about two hours at minimum. Not to mention the two hours of travel time you have on Friday (not including however long it will take you to get to Long Trail) and four hours of driving you have lined up on Saturday. Good luck OP. Last time I planned a trip like this, the biggest want on my list (Alchemist) didn't exist a week later due to flooding. Rethink this.
Confirmed: Grateful Hands closed as of Jan 2014. I talked with Ricky, the owner, a few days ago. I'd also drop Covered Bridge. They are currently contract brewing out of Mass and only have 1 offering. They do have a tasting room and they are buying their own equipment and hiring a pro brewer, but right now they just have 1 contract brew. I'd also probably drop Switchback and Magic Hat and add in Farmhouse Tap & Grill and 3 Penny Taproom. Farmhouse and 3 Penny will give you a chance to try a bunch of great local beer. I know Farmhouse serves half-pours, so you can just sample a bunch without buying a full glass. I'd also add in Vermont Beverage Warehouse in Winooski - great place to find some great beer (biggest and best selection in VT). Fiddlehead is one that I would add, especially if they have any cans available that weekend. Otherwise, it's growlers only there. There's also a bunch of new breweries that just opened in Burlington area: 4 Quarters, Infinity, and Burlington Beer. Queen City might be open by then. Bent Hill will have their grand opening on June 7 (I think).
I agree with the others. Way too ambitious. For Friday, I would choose just one place to have lunch before hitting the three pubs in Waterbury. Waterbury has enough to keep you busy. Saturday, start with Hill Farmstead (skipping Covered Bridge) and see what you have time for after that. I agree with dropping Switchback and Magic Hat.
Thanks for the feedback so far. Awesome suggestions and it sounds like I have to reconsider where I visit. I'll likely follow the suggestions so far and go to Hillstead first on Saturday and then off to Burlington. Regardless, I know it will be a great beer-filled weekend!
As most have already said, your Saturday itinerary may be a wee bit ambitious. Hill Farmstead is in the middle of nowhere. Hill Farmstead is LITERALLY in the middle of nowhere. Don't plan on having great cell reception for google maps and the like; bring a map and brush up on your topography and map reading skills. Take it from someone who did the trip yesterday; you would be well advised to plan to get to HF early on Saturday (their most popular day im sure) and then fit what you can in after that. We arrived right around 12:05 on Wednesday (probably their least popular day) and the tap room was already filled to capacity. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to the point where we cashed out and another 15 minutes while they put the order together.
Just a few tips to make you look less lost & confused in VT * Don't say "hillstead" and don't say "upstate Vermont", it's "northern VT". Pet peeves of locals..
If you are somehow driving by / near Long Trail anyways on your way to VT I would stop in there. They have some pretty good grub (Jonas Wings) and you will be able to get some fresh Limbo I assume. I second or third getting your hands on some Fiddlehead.
plan on getting to HF by 11 at latest (I'd say closer to 10-10:30). you're either going to wait to get into HF or you're going to wait inside HF - pick your poison. the earlier you leave from HF, the more time you have to do other things...
I've complained about the tap lists at the Waterbury bars recently, but today at Blackback they had among others Lawson's Sip of Sunshine Hill Farmstead Arthur Alchemist Focal Banger and to my surprise, Zombie Dust
I am about to leave Saratoga Springs, NY headed to Portland, ME. Doing route 4 to 89 through Vermont. Any specific place I should stop as far as good bottle shops or restaurants go? I'm assuming it's too far south to find any Heady or HF stuff. Thanks much!
That's too far south for Heady retail, but be on look out for Backacre Beermaker's Golden Sour Ale. There's a couple places down there that get bottles. They don't make much, but it's suppose to be really, really good. It's available around Manchester area, I think. Long Trail is off of Rt 4, so stop by for some Limbo and their new Berliner Weisse. Hop n' Moose is new brewpub in Rutland, just opened a few weeks ago. They have a few self-brewed beer on tap and some other local choices. Whetstone Station is a brewpub in Brattleboro. They should have a couple self-brewed beer and sometimes has some HF or Heady there (depends on days/deliveries, etc.) for on premise consumption (no to go).
Ok so we are doing route 4 to 91 to 93 so we can drive through the mountains. A little out of the way but I heard its worth it. If there are any must stops let me know we are headed out now.
@Vinithing: Worthy Burger in South Royalton (http://worthyburger.com/) could be an idea, too. You could detour off Rt 4 onto Rt 100N -> 107E -> 14S. They have great local food and VT brews on tap. From there, it's quick to get back onto 89S. Edit: Now that you're taking 91N, another idea would be to stop at the Kingdom Taproom in St. Johnsbury. I haven't been there myself, but I know they have some bottles (for onsite consumption only, I believe) that might be worth the stop.
Be careful driving through Woodstock, the cops there will pull you over for doing 1 mile over. The Worthy Kitchen is in Woodstock. Great food and outstanding taplist ....
