Sorry if this topic has already been covered, but I have not found much talk of it in my searches. I am planning a trip north sometime in the late summer, early fall and would like to get some opinions on the best time of year to visit. I plan on doing the usual: stay in Waterbury eating/drinking at the local establishments, buying a couple 4 packs of HT, visiting the Warren store for Lawson's (possibly Beverage warehouse), and visiting Hill Farmstead once or twice. I know the days and places to find everything, but my main concern is committing the time and money on this trip and missing double sunshine, or spending too many hours in line, taking away from enjoying Waterbury. So for anyone still reading, my biggest questions are is there a specific time of year Lawson's brews double sunshine? Looking at last year's blog they sent it out all August, but none in September. Is this typical, or really just hit or miss? I don't mind not finding bottles if I can at least try it on draft, but it is a key factor in my trip. And, my second question is if August is the time of year to get DS, will this also be busy with summer vacationers taking time to stand in line at HF? Or will this not matter much if I plan on going Wednesday and/or Thursday when they open. Sorry if it sounds dumb, I just don't want to travel all the way up there from MD, and spend half my time in line for three fills. I am somewhat flexible, and can just check the blog/websites and plan accordingly, but I'd like to get a clearer picture from people who've visited these places a few times. Any feedback is welcome, hope this didn't take too much time to read... also I plan to arrive early Wednesday morning, and leave Friday noonish if that matters
I'd recommend going during a day when Lawson's is scheduled to be at a farmer's market. They're often done early in the morning, and he hands out tickets with approximate times to come back, so you don't have to spend *too* much time waiting in line, and you still have the rest of the day to enjoy the area. I've never had any luck at The Warren Store. We generally try to get to HF when they open, and have never had any problems with huge lines. We have bumped into other beer tourists while in VT that had to been to HF later in the same day, and they said they were waiting for a while. They do serve samplers for $5 in the line, so I don't think it would be horrible even if I had to wait two hours while drinking some Abner.
Thanks, I thought about the farmer's markets, but they seem to be on weekends. I plan to be in VT from Wed-Fri. I def plan to get to HF early, so I imagine there won't be much of a wait. And, as you stated, what's an hour or two while enjoying some samples with fellow beer enthusiasts.
Also, just know that Lawson's only sends 1 offering per week to Hunger Mountain and Beverage Warehouse. (I think they also send same offering to Warren General Store, but I keep hearing there's better selection there but they've only ever had 1 or 0 offerings when I visited there). So that means if DS isn't shipping that week, then you'll get another Lawson brew. Check Lawson's blog for which beer is shipping that week. He's been doing a great job at posting his brew schedule and which beers are going to be delivery which week. He tries to post about a month or 4 weeks in advance. Due to events, he might skip a week, especially if there's a brew fest or special event that needs that week's orders.
It varies, check more recent blog posts to get an idea of how its been. He just started a facebook page too and has been updating often. http://www.lawsonsfinest.blogspot.com/
Yeah, it varies. Good chance that whatever ships in bottles also ships in kegs to pubs, but some pubs (like Blackback) usually have more than one Lawsons on tap at a time.
