What is it about Vermont?

Not sure who you've been talking to, but most people seem to be really into that drink local thing. Hell, there are many terrible brewpubs that seem to do very good business and I think that part of that has to be the drink local sentiment.

Anyway, it may look like I'm trying to shit on Vermont beer in this thread, but I am absolutely not. I've had a number of beers from there that range from meh to amazing. I do think that there are an impressive amount of great beers that come from that little state, but I also don't think there's anything from there that is light years ahead of what is available to me locally now in NorCal, or where I used to in Philadelphia. That being said, I do want to take a beercation there someday.

 

I like SN brews too, but seriously just off the top : Susan, Ephraim, Heady. SOS, any and every Lawson hoppy brew. Not a chance there's a region to match that, any one of the above are world class hops in a glass.

 

I dunno, but I have a buddy who used to be on here who lives there now. He's kinda causing a bit of a stir on untappd to anyone who knows him, yes he was the former Beer_Kangaroo on here.

 

No.

 

What's even crazier is I can think of others off the top of my head that also make the point. I mean Focal, Mastermind, Second Fiddle, Fair Maiden, Pieces of Eight, Prospect, Abner, Double Citra, most of the S&S. I like both Northern and Southern Hemisphere by SN, and their other hoppy beers including Hoptimum, but they're not even close to the quality of the long list of better Vermont beers.

 

Went up to Barre for Heady Topper on Monday- it is IMHO the best beer out there. Act 46 is going to be used to end school choice. I do put my money where my mouth is, my wife ran for the state house, interesting experience.

 

Agree, a lot of the beers on your list I haven't has, but I've had Second Fiddle and Abner, and I'd easily second that list based on what I know. It's not a slap any particular brewer or region, but there isn't anywhere in the country that can assemble a line up of world class IPAs and the like that Vt can churn out. These are simply not just good beers, they are simply the best available from anywhere. Hard to get though unless your regional.

 

I'll Second @cavedave's expansion of the list (plus Abner). But I think what we are discovering, and it doesn't apply to Quads, or even stouts, browns and porters, is that IPAs that are made in large volumes for distribution cannot compete with those made in small batches for local consumption. Freshness is part of that, but not all. That isn't to say that those other IPAs aren't really good beers, because many of them are.

So I'm sure that SN could make such a beer if it wanted, but only if it didn't plan to make much or sell it outside NoCal. I don't doubt their ability, only their desire.

 

If only Vermont winters weren't so long and brutal, I'd move there in a heartbeat. Then again, the long cold winters is why so few people live there in the first place (and a major reason why So Cal is so overpopulated).

 

Great point

Great point on the volume brewing. I see that here now with a very local IPA in NoDa Hop Drop and Roll. They are still small and very regional, but they expanded their production capabilities and the beer fell a part. I've never thought about it much to be honest, but the only Dipa that I've had that is brewed in volume for a somewhat wider distro is Abrasive. It's the only other beer that IMO can compete with the best Vt beers. And that is seasonal only a short time event, and it to is fairly limited. I can't think of a world class IPA that has national distribution, plenty of good ones, some really good, but it seems most of the really great ones are small volume very limited areas.

 

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned already, but solid craft beer brewing is a tradition in Vermont. When I moved to Burlington in 1993, there were at least three decent-sized craft breweries in operation around the state (Otter Creek, Magic Hat and Catamount) and the Vermont Pub & Brewery was in operation.

This is the time that I began to get into craft.

 

culture and terroir

 

I'll second damn near everything from Foley Brothers.

 

Ah...

Ah....... No not even close. If it was just trade fodder guys in Vt would be shipping it all over the place, and they're not. Try and pull some of those great Vt IPAs via trade, it isn't easy at all.

 

Hill Farmstead, Alchemist, and Lawson's are great breweries. If they keep trying, maybe they'll make a catalog of great beers as available, affordable, and consistent as Sierra Nevada, but I doubt it.

(In other words, let's not get bogged down in fruitless comparisons)

 

I love the crowd that says "your opinion doesn't matter" because I think something different than they do.

 

I love this response.

 

Heady and Sip of Sunshine are priced at $3/16 oz can retail. For some of the best beer in the world. I get your point about availability, but especially with the Alchemist, they simply aren't interested in getting that big, so we all have to understand the demand. But the price of Heady, Sip is fantastic for the quality.

 

It's not like there are threads dedicated to what makes the brewing culture of Denmark so special - where Shaun Hill worked and inevitably learned (and was inspired) before starting Hill Farmstead... it's not as if the brewers are in a vacuum. The responses in this thread have been way better than I would have expected. I'm surprised there hasn't been more talk about simple piggybacking. How Hill talked to and learned from Kimmich. Or how some of these breweries would probably be more of a regional secret if they were somewhere else.

The whole thing is also a good story, and we all love a good story. It's something we can buy into, write articles about, create a history with. By "story" I do not mean fantasy - this isn't to say that the goods aren't there. A collection of brewers whose work inspires "pilgrimages" and who refuse to sacrifice in order to satisfy demand is a great story. It does turn into fantasy however, when one thinks that a single brewer is not just pumping out great beer, but pumping out definitive versions of any style attempted... or runs "the world's best brewery"... or makes the "best beer in the world." It's tempting for some to buy into the fantasy.

 

Just because you don't see a lot of it on the boards or actively trading for them yourself doesn't mean deals aren't getting done.

Edit: and I was also referencing the people who do those long drives from places like NJ and PA. They're not all just stockpiling beer for themselves.