What's the word on these guys? The beers sound good but they're so far off the beaten path that I've yet to try any. I think I've seen them distro'd a few times, but there doesn't seem to be any regularity to that. Just saw that they started having Keever do their labels. Love that he's getting a ton of work but I am surprised that so many breweries are OK with having the same art style on their labels
I've been a couple of times - for me, it's more-or-less on the way home from points south-east, like Tree House. The IPA's have certainly been worthy. I think they lost their brew space? and are back to brewing in the little garage-sized brewery, so capacity is restricted and the limits for the past month have been, like, two 4-packs - it hasn't seemed worthwhile making the detour.
I went a few times when Tree House was in Monson (Ludlow was less of a detour home from there). Now that Tree House is in Charlton and I can buy more than I need, I haven't gone back to VV. It isn't a knock on them; their beer is great, but I would have to like it more than the House to go back, which I don't.
Probably never going out there, but if I see their beers in the store again, I would grab them. Pomona IPA was excellent.
I haven’t had a ton, but from what I have tried, I can say that VV makes really good beer!! I love their Cease & Desist, Pomona, and have enjoyed what I’ve tasted from their XP series. I was unaware they lost brewing space. I did notice they shrunk their retail hours but thought it might be summer hours. They’re not too far off the Mass Pike and if folks are in the area, it’s definitely worth stopping on Wednesday’s and Saturday’s (for now).
Thanks for that link...so they pulled back due to consistency issues on the ramp up. Very interesting...well, their beers are delicious so I’d say it’s worth being patient while they figure things out.
Finally hoping to make a trip out there this Saturday. Anywhere great for lunch in that area? Doesn't need to be a craft beer centered either, just great food.
I really enjoyed the Pomona ipa from them but the cans of the milkshake ipa I got from them were flat a few days later. Dunno if it was a canning issue or what but I could literally shake the can and open it without any incidents. Beers were tasty and the owners seemed nice.
Vanished Valley is actually located in the parking lot behind Europa Bar & Grill. You have to drive through the restaurant parking lot to get to the brewery. I haven't eaten there myself but it's gotten pretty decent reviews, the menu looks good and they've got a small tap list that appears to be focused mostly on local breweries - in fact, their last update has four Vanished Valley beers on tap. Otherwise, it's not that far to Northampton from there.
