I took my first trip to VT last week. I live in Western NY. I was heading up to a music festival in Quebec, so I took the really, really long way around and hit northern Vermont in search of Heady Topper, Hill Farmstead, and Lawsons.
Lawsons was a bust, but I did manage to accumulate a case of Heady (one 4-pack at a time). I had to hit several stores to get a full case. I tried to get more, but had no luck. After talking to people in VT, I think I was lucky to get what I did. I hope to do some trading in the next few weeks. I got some beer, had a nice dinner in Montpellier, and drank a few Headys at a local bar. Overall - not a bad way to spend a day
The trip to Hill Farmstead was quite an experience. Don't blindly trust your GPS to get you there! I punched in the exact address for Hill Farmstead. The GPS literally took me into the middle of nowhere. At one point my GPS recommended that I make a left turn into some heavy woods onto a gravel road that led straight up the side of a mountain. It looked like no one had been on that road in about 100 years. I decided taking that road was not a good move. My GPS had failed me, and I had no cell service, so I just stumbled back the way I came. After climbing some small mountains on gravel roads, and passing some interesting looking people (I swear I heard dualing banjos at one point
) I found my way to Greensboro and asked for directions. I highly recommend this approach - especially if you have a Garmin GPS like me. Greensboro was an awesome little town.
When I finally got to Hill Farmstead I was happy to see a small line. There were only 8 people in front of me. It took about 2 hours to get 3 growlers filled. I chatted with people in line and had a few samples, so it went quickly. The samples were excellent. Anna was fantastic! By the time I left there were probably 20-30 people in line.
When I got to the front of the line all I could think of was the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. I got the impression that if I said the wrong thing I would be banished from the brewery forever. It's cash only and they have a lot of rules posted everywhere about growler cleanliness and acceptable/unacceptable growler types. Mine were unacceptable, so I bought 3 of their growlers to be filled. I was chastised a bit for not reading all the rules on the website before I got there. Overall, it was a very cool experience, and I'm looking forward to hosting a tasting with some friends. I got Abner, Edward, Double Citra, and a bottle of Anna.
Since I was traveling through Canada I was concerned about getting hassled at the border. Going into Canada was not a problem, but I had an issue coming back into the states. For a minute or two I was worried my hard-earned beer was going to be dumped down the drain in front of me. Apparently they don't like it if you bring US-bought beer back into the US from Canada. Since I only had a few growlers and a case of cans the border patrol officer let me slide. I'm forever in his debt. HINT: Save all your beer receipts.
Anyone else make either of these treks? I'd love to hear your experiences.
Lawsons was a bust, but I did manage to accumulate a case of Heady (one 4-pack at a time). I had to hit several stores to get a full case. I tried to get more, but had no luck. After talking to people in VT, I think I was lucky to get what I did. I hope to do some trading in the next few weeks. I got some beer, had a nice dinner in Montpellier, and drank a few Headys at a local bar. Overall - not a bad way to spend a day
The trip to Hill Farmstead was quite an experience. Don't blindly trust your GPS to get you there! I punched in the exact address for Hill Farmstead. The GPS literally took me into the middle of nowhere. At one point my GPS recommended that I make a left turn into some heavy woods onto a gravel road that led straight up the side of a mountain. It looked like no one had been on that road in about 100 years. I decided taking that road was not a good move. My GPS had failed me, and I had no cell service, so I just stumbled back the way I came. After climbing some small mountains on gravel roads, and passing some interesting looking people (I swear I heard dualing banjos at one point
) I found my way to Greensboro and asked for directions. I highly recommend this approach - especially if you have a Garmin GPS like me. Greensboro was an awesome little town.When I finally got to Hill Farmstead I was happy to see a small line. There were only 8 people in front of me. It took about 2 hours to get 3 growlers filled. I chatted with people in line and had a few samples, so it went quickly. The samples were excellent. Anna was fantastic! By the time I left there were probably 20-30 people in line.
When I got to the front of the line all I could think of was the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. I got the impression that if I said the wrong thing I would be banished from the brewery forever. It's cash only and they have a lot of rules posted everywhere about growler cleanliness and acceptable/unacceptable growler types. Mine were unacceptable, so I bought 3 of their growlers to be filled. I was chastised a bit for not reading all the rules on the website before I got there.
Overall, it was a very cool experience, and I'm looking forward to hosting a tasting with some friends. I got Abner, Edward, Double Citra, and a bottle of Anna. Since I was traveling through Canada I was concerned about getting hassled at the border. Going into Canada was not a problem, but I had an issue coming back into the states. For a minute or two I was worried my hard-earned beer was going to be dumped down the drain in front of me. Apparently they don't like it if you bring US-bought beer back into the US from Canada. Since I only had a few growlers and a case of cans the border patrol officer let me slide. I'm forever in his debt. HINT: Save all your beer receipts.
Anyone else make either of these treks? I'd love to hear your experiences.
