A Brewery Tour Tour de Force
Recapping a visit to Vermont and unleashing the big beers for winter
On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, I had one of the most ridiculous days of brewery visits I’ve ever had. It’s not because of the number of breweries visited, nor how I got to those breweries… it was simply the quality of the four breweries visited. I started my day at Lawson’s Finest Liquids in Waitsfield, Vermont, a brewery I had wanted to visit for a long time, long before they had opened a welcoming, beautiful taproom and started brewing large-scale batches in Vermont (credit to them — they are transparent about which beers on their tap list are brewed at Two Roads in Connecticut, where Sip of Sunshine has been brewed for several years). I enjoyed lunch and a lovely glass of Scrag Mountain Pils and took a four-pack of Mad River Maple Ale away.
Next, it was on to The Alchemist in Stowe. I had visited their original brewpub in Waterbury many times back in my days skiing at Sugarbush, but I hadn’t been to their newest iteration, where you can finally drink on premise. I was driving, so I opted to pop in for some cans. Given that Heady Topper and Focal Banger are easier finds in New York City these days, I went with the Rapture, a beautifully hopped Citra and Galaxy IPA. I also grabbed a block of Cheddy Topper, a locally-made cheddar cheese made with Heady Topper.
Then I drove up the hill to Von Trapp Brewing, another long-awaited visit for me. I arrived in the midst of a snow squall, and the warming ski lodge-type vibe in the bierhall and restaurant that adjoins their impressively-sized brewery. I enjoyed their Zwickelbier, part of their one-off Stowe Style Series. This iteration was brewed in collaboration with Austria’s Brauerei Hofstetten, and it was true to style and paired nicely with my beer cheese soup — a fitting dish for a blustery day.
Finally, I headed back toward Burlington with a stop off at Frost Beer Works in Hinesburg, a much-beloved hazy IPA maker that I’ve had several beers from at bars in New York over the past couple years. I asked for their newest IPA and poured a can of their single-hop IPA in their Research Series with Krush hops. It was undeniably fresh and had tons of tropical and stone fruit flavors. I sipped it on a quiet afternoon as some locals played pool and cards in the understated taproom that adjoins the brewery.
I’m sorry that it took me so damn long to get to these breweries, and even though it was a bit of a whirlwind day, it was worth the trip to finally make it to these iconic spots. Plus, I’m still reaping the benefits of the afternoon with the beers in my fridge… though the Cheddy Topper is long gone, polished off the day after I returned.
Tis the Season for Big Beers
Fans of big, dark beers: take note. It’s your time.
We’ve mentioned it before, but Other Half is celebrating the arrival of Stout Season with third annual event by the same name this Saturday from noon to 4pm.
The event, at their Centre Street brewery in Brooklyn, will bring together stouts from some of their favorite breweries around the country in an all-you-care-to-drink ticketed event. The indoor/outdoor event will also have food available for purchase, which is much needed with all the boozy stouts you’d expect to see at an event like this. Tickets are still available, with a VIP option that includes early admission at noon for $100 and a GA option that starts at 1pm for $65.
Meanwhile, if you’re busy this weekend but need plans for January (or, hell, why not do both?), Gun Hill’s annual Barrel-Aged Beer Festival is returning for 2025 in a new venue. They’ll throw the shindig on Saturday, January 18th from noon to 5pm. Even though they’d decamped to Brooklyn, the show must go on, so they’re hosting it in Industry City at Gun Hill Publick House this year. The walk-around tasting of barrel-aged brews will include offerings from Alternate Ending, Strangebird, Round Table, KCBC, Kills Boro, Wild East, and more. Tickets start at $60 for general admission, with an early entry option for just five more bucks.
Beer Events of Note This Week
Brooklyn: Gun Hill Publick House 2nd Anniversary, Friday 12/6 from 5pm, free entry
Brooklyn: Holiday Beer Takeover at Covenhoven, Friday 12/6 from 6pm, free entry
Brooklyn: Stout Season at Other Half Brewing Gowanus, Saturday 12/7 from noon-4pm, tickets start at $65
Brooklyn: Hops Hill Atlantic 2nd Anniversary, Saturday 12/7 from noon, free entry
Brooklyn: Books and Brews at Gun Hill Publick House, Saturday 12/7 from 1-3pm, free entry
Brooklyn: Little Big Market at Grimm Artisanal Ales, Sunday 12/8 from noon-6pm, free entry
Queens: Wayward Lane tap takeover at Sweet Avenue, Thursday, 12/12 from 5pm, free entry, toy donation suggested
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 3,571
Total breweries visited in 2024: 287
Total breweries visited in Massachusetts: 69
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #33, Cambridge Brewing Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Visited 28-Nov-2009)
I made plans for last Saturday afternoon several weeks ago, because news dropped earlier this fall that Cambridge Brewing Company was closing up shop after 35 years in business. Before they wind things down later this month, I wanted to shout out a brewery that was very important in my formative years of beer drinking. From their barleywines to their IPAs to their pumpkin ales (which spawned an entire pumpkin beer festival), their beers hardly ever missed. They even briefly sent their canned beers down to New York City, but even then, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity while in Boston to sneak over to Cambridge and have a couple beers. Their brewpub is a year-round suntrap, with a lovely skylight over the bar that made it ideal for weekend afternoon beers. They stayed relevant when other breweries of the era faded into oblivion, with a skilled lineage of brewers throughout the years, many of whom moved onto bigger projects, but still kept Cambridge close to their hearts. Case in point: when I walked in for the final time on Saturday, former Cambridge brewer Megan Parisi, now with Samuel Adams, was sitting at the bar, steps from the brewhouse where she made batches that earned the brewpub five Great American Beer Festival medals in the 2000s. It was truly a special place where several other customers at the bar were paying their last respects before it closes up shop for good.
Cambridge, you will be dearly missed.
The Doom and Gloom Tracker
At least 7 breweries I’ve visited closed or announced their closure in the past two weeks:
Brewery #596, Aspetuck Brew Lab, Bridgeport, Connecticut (Visited 22-Jul-2016)
Brewery #692, Woodland Empire Brewery, Boise, Idaho (Visited 10-Dec-2016)
Brewery #1237, Taft’s Brewpourium, Cincinnati, Ohio (Visited 25-Aug-2018)
Brewery #2630, Tradewinds Brewing Company, Riverhead, New York (Visited 1-Apr-2022)
Brewery #2702, Ravinia Brewing Company - Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois (Visited 12-Jun-2022)
Brewery #3342, Redemption Rock Brewing Company, Worcester, Massachusetts (Visited 1-Mar-2024)
Brewery #3405, 16 Lots Southern Outpost, Newport, Kentucky (Visited 7-Apr-2024)
The Weekly Reader
The intersection of the Bills and Pils [Anna Hezel, Craftbeer.com]
The long, winding story of DC’s weirdest brewery [Greg Benson, Vinepair]
Stone is out of the export business [Melissa Cole, The Drinks Business]
The alcohol industry is on edge over Trump’s tariffs [Kate Bernot, Vinepair]
One Last Thing
From the “I’m Not Even Mad, I’m Impressed” File: this week, I got a promotional email from a brewery I’ve visited. This happens fairly often, because my email address is tied to my credit card through Square. I’m kind of annoyed when breweries add me to their distribution lists after one visit, especially when they’re far, far away from home and I don’t have intentions to visit again.
The one I got this week that stands out was from a brewery I’ve visited once… almost seven years ago, back in early 2018. In all that time, they had never once sent me an email, but decided that this week would be a good time to tap into that email marketing list. Maybe this is a sign they’re getting desperate, or perhaps they just hired a new, more ambitious marketing manager. I’m not sure, but I’m truly impressed they’ve held onto that email address database all that time. Good on ya, I guess.
Cheers,
Chris