Hello all, I'm from NJ and looking to plan maybe a 3-4 day trip in Vermont. Never been there before so I'm excited to see the beautiful state for myself. I'll probably end up camping, pretty much the main reason I'm planning this trip is drink and bring home some awesome beer! Looking to score some Heady, Lawson's, Second Fiddle & most deffinitly visit Hill Farmstead. Does anyone have any tips for me? Such as a good place to stay or nice campground? Also what days would be best to go?.. as I know distributing wise for some of these beers are very limited. A good place to stay that I will have good luck scoring all these beers with out much traveling? Any good craft bars that are a must hit? Hope to get some helpful advice! Thanks in advance! Cheers!
When are you heading up? Its getting a little chilly at night unless you are a legit camper. The day of week will dictate what beers you score. There are a ton of threads on Lawson's and Heady availability. Staying in Waterbury/Stowe is always a good bet, and foliage will be popping soon. The alchemist should be announcing a pop up sale soon, and if you can wait last minute you should structure your trip around that weekend.
...and it's way better than Second Fiddle. Not that 2nd was bad at all, but IMHO Mastermind is the cats pajamas.
I assume you're going for a weekend. If you want Heady Topper, just check out The Alchemist's website to see who gets it on which day. They even indicate which stores sell by the case. In the past, I've found the stores that sell it in Stowe don't quite sell out as fast as Waterbury. Hill Farmstead brewery is open 12-5 Wednesday-Saturday. If you go on Saturday, you will wanna get there early, like at 11am. Maybe earlier. Read their growler policy if you do go there. I recommend stopping in at Folino's if you decide to go to Fiddlehead brewery. I live near New Haven, and I'd rate their pizza better than Modern Apizza, which is considered one of the best in the country.
Pop up sale... Is that the truck sale they do? Where do they announce it? Is the mastermind easy to come by?
Yes, Alchemist "pop up sale" and "truck sale" are same thing. They usually announce about a week prior and they've been doing one every 4-6 weeks. Fiddlehead cans every 2 weeks (or so) and usually on Thursdays. They are canning Mastermind this Thursday, so probably in 2 weeks from then they'll do another canning. You can follow their twitter account to track cannings (they post day-of to FB, but most of time a week prior on Twitter) or check event calendar on VTbeer.org, which usually has the dates posted as soon as someone posts it. For craft beer bars, Three Penny Taproom (Montpelier) and Farmhouse Tap & Grill (Burlington) are two musts. The pub trinity of Prohibition Pig, Reservoir, and Blackback Pub in Waterbury is also very solid. I haven't been to the Worthy Burger in Royalton, but I've heard good things about that too.
Is there any info on distribution of Fiddlehead cans around the state? I'll be up in Rochester for Columbus Day weekend, and want to try to get some.
The first 2 (or so) cannings had limited distribution (around Burlington area), but the latest batches have only been sold at the brewery (AFAIK). You can probably find Fiddlehead IPA on tap in Brattleboro area (most likely Whetstone).
Brattleboro? Rochester, VT is much closer to Burlington than Brattleboro. Maybe you thought I meant NY. Maybe I'll get to Burlington on this trip and look for cans. They did have one Fiddlehead beer on tap at Doc's tavern in Rochester last time. Zero Gravity Conehead too.
I don't really have plans on exactly when I'm going or exactly where I'm staying, that's I posted this thread to try and gather as much info from people as I could!
Camping season is coming to a close for the average camper. There are some nice places to stay in Waterbury and great places to eat and drink. I would recommend doing some forum searches on Waterbury and posting back when you are getting near to your date of departure. An excellent place to visit and should be on all beer lovers bucket list.
