Everywhere but Waterbury

The VT Brew festival is this weekend, and I had been shut out from getting tickets when they originally went on sale.  So instead, I took Thursday off for a road trip, planning a visit to some of the other great beer spots in the state besides Waterbury.  So I picked Hill Farmstead (or HF, one of the most respected breweries in the world) (http://www.hillfarmstead.com/) as my destination and planned many stops along the way, fed Carlos (hang in there boy, it might be a long day) and got on the road around 6AM for my adventure.

I had chosen Thursday to get a shot of getting some bottles of Lawson’s Finest Liquids (LFL) (http://www.lawsonsfinest.com/) at the Warren General store.  Garmin took me on a new route (at least for me) over Route 73, a beautiful ride that offered great vistas of the mountains, rivers and lakes that was just spectacular.  I made it to Warren by 9AM, and was rewarded with bottles of Super Session IPA and Vermont Spruce Tip IPA.  The sales limit was a total of 3 bottles for each customer, so it really pays to bring a wingman along with you on these trips.  I stopped by Mad Taco in Waitsfield, but apparently it only opens early on the weekends.  So I headed up to my next destination, Montpelier.

It was still early, so I went beer shopping.  I found a 4-pack of Heady Topper (their limit per customer) at the Montpelier Discount Beverage store, and bottles of Grassroots Arctic Saison and Arctic Soiree at the Hunger Mountain Coop.  I also got some delicious homemade corned beef hash at the Coffee Corner (again, Mad Taco wasn’t open yet).  But I was waiting for Three Penny Taproom (http://www.threepennytaproom.com/), a Draft magazine top beer bar for the past 4 years, and I was rewarded for the wait.  First I was able to try HF’s Walden, an American Blonde ale that was a great start to my actual beer drinking for the day.  Next was LFL’s Sip of Sunshine, a collaboration with Two Roads from CT, with a 98 rating on Beer Advocate and their beer-du-jour for the VT Brewer’s Festival.  A great stop, but I had to run to make it to my primary destination on time.

HF is one of the world’s great breweries, with 15 of the top 250 beers on Beer Advocate’s listing.  But they are located almost an hour north of Montpelier, and if you aren’t staining overnight in the area it really makes for a long trip.  I got there when they opened and was about 25^th in line.  That equated to almost a two hour wait (disappointing), but the people were nice (I even saw several from the Warren store earlier in the morning), and they allowed you to buy samples for those waiting. Why did it take so long? Growler fills, 3 per person in line.  Oh well, their lineup was amazing.  My growlers all rated 100s on Beer Advocate; Abner, Society and Solitude #4, and Susan.  I was also able to sample HF Nordic Saison, Edward, and Everett and Grassroots Legitimacy IPA. As a bonus I picked up the Nordic Saison and Peleg in bottles.  A great stop, but I was getting hungry and it was getting late, so I headed over to a new brewpub in Morrisville that everyone told me I had to stop at.

The Lost Nation (http://lostnationbrewing.com/) in Morristown was right on my route home (well, sort of) and offered a great pitstop.  It has an indoor taproom and an outdoor Biergarten.  Sid hi to a group that I had met at Warrens first thing in the morning, and went to get some food.  They offered mussels steamed in their Gose beer to go along their sampler.  Their Gose is by far my favorite beer of theirs, but their Three Penny (presumably a connection to Three Penny Taproom) Lost Galaxy White IPA was good too.  I ate and ran, but on my way out of town I went past the Rock Art (http://www.rockartbrewery.com/) tasting room.  Since I’m not one who typically squanders an opportunity, I made a power u-turn on Rt. 100 and stopped in.  I bumped into a few folks from HF there too (us beer geeks get around) and chatted while I enjoyed my sampler.  My favorite was their Apricot Saison, although their A River Runs Gruit was a novel beer too (no hops, just other herbs).  But it was now later, and I had one more stop to make before I got back to NY.

Fiddleheads (http://www.fiddleheadbrewing.com/) in Shelburne is a relatively new brewery located adjacent to a pizza parlor (it smelled awesome).  I had hoped to score either of their most sought after brews in cans (aka the Heady Topper method); their Imperial IPA Second Fiddle or their Coconut Porter Hodad.  Alas, the release of their latest batch was being delayed until Saturday to sate the VT Brewer’s Festival crowds.  No worries, I got to try their Arts Riot Kolsch and bring home a medicine bottle growler of Brett on the Dance Floor.  The place was right next to the VT Teddy Bear Factory, so perhaps I can figure out way to turn a family outing into a return trip.  I made it home safe and sound with a thankful Carlos (Daddy, what took you so long.  Well Carlos it was that damn line at HF.), and a lot of souvenirs.

With a trip that took almost 13 hours and covered roughly 400 miles, this may seem a bit excessive to some folks.  But since I got to add 31 new beers to my tally (including 19 bottles to enjoy at home), a beautiful day away from work and the opportunity to make some new beer friends, it was well worth it to me.  I missed an opportunity to hook up with my friend Josh, and a few folks from work let me know to count them in on my next trip, so I can’t wait until my next journey.  Burlington anyone? - 16118

 
“Let us drink for the replenishment of our strength, not for our sorrow.” – Cicero