Did a VT tour Fri and after passing this stuff up on prior visits to the Waterbury CBC I decided to bite. They had ~30 cases and the stuff was canned 10/10. Very tasty brew - 5.9% and DDH w Mosaic/Citr/Azacca and Centennial - not overly juicy but also not real bitter - just super balanced. Real nice aroma akin to any Trill goodness. A buddy told me it’s contract brewed at Von Trapp. Highly recommend this stuff; real impressed - wish I’d gotten more than a 4pack. Anybody try their DIPA?
Hip 2 the Hops has also been around recently. Another good brew. I prefer the regular First Drop to the DDH versions. In regards to your question, Cloud Drop, their DIPA is pretty tasty IMO and seems well reviewed by others here. Moove on Up is a nice milk stout too. Easy going ABV and a lot of flavor.
I just took a quick look at the website. Not much info there but the About Us page says they brew on a one barrel (!) system (with a note that they plan to expand to a twin ten barrel system). I'd wager to guess that all of the canned beer is contract brewed and small batches are brewed on site. http://www.upperpassbeer.com/about-us.html
Yeah, I always assumed that they had already moved up to the 10 barrel and just never updated the page.
Do we make a distinction between contract brewing where you’re more-or-less sending over a recipe and what I always heard called “gypsy brewing” where you actually take over the brew house during most or all of production? My can of First Drop says “Brewed by Upper Pass Beer Company”, not “Brewed at ... for ...” or whatever Sip says on the label.
Von Trapp has been used for contract brewing for a couple breweries. Upper Pass for scaling up purposes, and the first batch of Prospect in cans from Foley Bros was brewed at Trapp. I believe there was another brewery that did the same but I can't currently think of it... Cloud drop is fantastic btw, as is Moove On Up.
It appears Upperpass had plans to open a tap room in South Royalton right near Worthy Burger. An article from late 2016 said it would open sometime in 2017. I was in South Royalton Friday and there are no signs of Upperpass yet. No mention on their social media if the taproom is still in the plans.
I really enjoyed First Drop and was shocked to see it on shelves in NYC (same with Hermit Thrush and Backacre)
Bumping this because I'm wondering if anyone has any intel on Upper Pass' plans for South Royalton. Information is sparse, but I thought I read they're planning a summer 2018 opening.
From FAQ: Can we visit the brewery? Unfortunately we do not allow visitors due to limited parking and space. In the future we may create a larger brewery/tasting room but for now we are in the midst of renovating a space where we will open a tasting room in downtown South Royalton in June 2018. I believe this will be at 228 Chelsea St.
I believe they are now open (limited hours on Tues/Thurs/Sat/Sun). Anyone been to the taproom yet? Their website is pretty sparse and I'm just looking for some intel on what's on draft, to-go, any food, etc as I might include a visit in my plans this weekend. Thanks!
They post the info about offerings and food options on their Facebook page. The food looks really tasty.
