US - New England The Vermont Travel Guide

Visiting Vermont? Abbreviated travel guide suggestions below...


Waterbury area
Alchemist - check distribution list on website for best location for securing Heady.
Blackback - solid draft offerings. Great atmosphere. Mad Taco operates the kitchen space.
Prohibition Pig - nice draft list. Tasty food. Located where the Alchemist Pub & Brewery was located prior to Irene.
Hen of the Wood - arguably one of the finest restaurants in VT. Heady on draft. Nice bottle list. Advance reservations required.

*plenty of other great spots for beer and food in the Waterbury area.


En route from the Alchemist to HF
Lost Nation - pints/growlers/food. Good beer. Good food.
Rock Art - growlers/bottles/tasting room. Affordably-priced offerings.


Northeast Kingdom
Hill Farmstead - only location to purchase growler fills (and most bottles).
Parker Pie - short drive from HF. Good food and draft offerings.

*the Kingdom is a beautiful area with much to offer in regard to outdoor activity, etc. EXPLORE.


Winooski
Four Quarters Brewing - growlers/bottles/tasting room.
Mule Bar - owned/operated by the Three Penny folks. Nice draft list.
Misery Loves Company - super tasty food.
Tiny Thai - yummy and affordable Thai. BYOB.

*Winooski is becoming 'restaurant row'--lots of dining options in the area.


Burlington
Zero Gravity/American Flatbread - good food and beer.
Farmhouse - nice draft/bottle list. Tasty food.
Hen of the Wood Burlington - just now opening, but count on great food and drink offerings.

*plenty of food/drink/shopping options in the Church Street area.


Central VT
Lawson's - brewery is not open to the public. Bottle offerings are delivered weekly to the Warren Store (Warren), Hunger Mountain Co-op (Montpelier), and Winoosky Bevy (Winooski). Strict bottle limits at each location. Typically, specifics as to what bottles are being delivered each week are not available--essentially a buy-what's-available deal. At the time of this posting, all of these places sell out of their weekly deliveries within an hour or so (often less).
Bobcat Cafe - excellent food and solid, affordable beer brewed in-house.
Three Penny Taproom - great draft/bottle list. Great food.


Where to buy Heady?
A full list of locations may be found here. At the time of this posting, earlier in the week equals better chance of finding Heady.


Take a Hike
Mt. Mansfield
Camel's Hump
Mt. Hunger
Mt. Abraham


*Breweries are hyperlinked. Bars/restaurants/etc. in bold. This is by no means a full list, but rather a starting point for exploration.



Cheers!

 

i think u need to add the reservior house, check spelling, but i had 2nd favorite nite in waterbury there, awesome tap list great deck and a good band was playing at the time,

but prohibition pig was by far the best experience,
i guess i rank blackback lil lower cus not a fan of mexican food and stopped for lunch

but all are must stops

 

Thank you!! This thread is absurdly needed, especially as we get into next summer.

The first post should be updated whenever there are significant changes so that we can have a single point of information and not just have to read a dozen pages to piece together the puzzle.

 

Agreed that the Reservoir definitely needs to be on that list. Often has the best taplist of the main 3 in my experience and much better draft prices (at least on HF beer) than Pro Pig.

 

Blue stone is decent too. But I would also highly recommend The Reservoir.

I've stopped going to Blackback after getting too many beers from dirty lines and being served a straight yeast slurry from the bottom of a lawsons keg. I want to like the place but it seems I always have a negative experience there no matter what.

Might also be good to add some campsites and BnB's. I stayed at the state park in Groton last month and had a great time there. It's not that far south from HF.

 

Where would you suggest eating in Waterbury for a Saturday lunch then? Would you just do Prohibition Pig?

 

Pro pig is also a good option. Solid BBQ, but I'm not wowed by it quite as much as some are. Really nice focus on local, quality products though.

FWIW, I've always had a pretty good experience at Blackback. Never experienced dirty draft lines, but I've only been maybe 5 times. Food by The Mad Taco is insanely good. Their smoked pork carnitas cannot be expressed with words...

 

Cool thanks. I'm really not sure where we'll end up next Saturday. Probably just decide on the fly.

 

My breaking point with BB was when they replaced SN Harvest with Ephraim and didn't clean the lines. Tasted awful. Then when we asked the owner who just came in and he claimed that Ephraim wasn't made as hoppy as last batches but tastes fine. This was a week after I had been drinking Ephraim all night at HF. One of the bartenders finished their shift and he gives us a small sample to compare (after they poured a bunch of glasses for other customers). They were totally different in taste and color but still tasted off. He agreed but nothing was made right.

But yeah, Mad Taco is great. I liked getting an HT and trying all the sauces at their Montpelier location.

 

What is good area to stay in VT if I am traveling out for few days? Looking mainly to visit HF and Alchemist. I'll be traveling in May so hopefully the Alchemist retail shop will be open.

Thanks!

 

Waterbury - The Old Stagecoach Inn will do you good

 

Anything I need to know about southern VT? I'm going skiing at Mt. Snow soon and was looking for stuff around there.

 

That you should skip it and head north?

Snow is better, beer is better.

 

Not my call. I tried to make the 3 hour drive north sounds like a no big deal. It didn't go too well.

 

Brattleboro Co-op is a good place to stop off 91. They've had Lawsons a couple of times in the past, but nothing consistent at all. And you won't find HF or HT, but the selection is good for the area. Plus it's a great store to support.

 

awesome...any good bars?

 

Anyone know anything about a brewery opening up in Brattleboro VT? I came across Saxton River Distillery, and the guy working the front desk said he had just moved up 5 days previous from Philly to help his buddy open up this brewery, but I can't for the life for me remember the name he gave me. Any information would be great. He did say they were doing belgian styles (saisons/ sours) but the flag ship was this pils/cider hybrid

 

http://www.hermitthrushbrewery.com/

Looks like they are planning a Grand Opening on November 22

 

Amazing! Thank you!