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ilovermont

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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!
 
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Visiting Vermont? Abbreviated travel guide suggestions below...


Waterbury area
Alchemist - 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 offering in regard to outdoor activity, etc. EXPLORE.


Winooski
Four Quarters Brewing - growlers/bottles/tasting room. Scheduled to open in early 2014 or possibly late 2013.
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?
The cannery is your best bet, but 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.
 
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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.
 
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...
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!
 
Anything I need to know about southern VT? I'm going skiing at Mt. Snow soon and was looking for stuff around there.
 
Not my call. I tried to make the 3 hour drive north sounds like a no big deal. It didn't go too well.
 
Anything I need to know about southern VT? I'm going skiing at Mt. Snow soon and was looking for stuff around there.
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.
 
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
 
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
 
Cross post from HF thread. Great deal for peeps going up there for Black Friday like myself:

Not Hill Farmstead related per se, so mods please feel free to delete this, but my girlfriend just brought up this deal for The Res on Localvore, $10 for $20 worth of food/drink.

http://www.localvoretoday.com/deals/reservoir-offer/

Again, not spam. I just bought 2.
 
I'd put localvoretoday.com on the list - Currently have a deal on for the Res and have had them for Three Penny and other beer-friendly places in the past.
 
I'd put localvoretoday.com on the list - Currently have a deal on for the Res and have had them for Three Penny and other beer-friendly places in the past.
Cross post from HF thread. Great deal for peeps going up there for Black Friday like myself:

Not Hill Farmstead related per se, so mods please feel free to delete this, but my girlfriend just brought up this deal for The Res on Localvore, $10 for $20 worth of food/drink.

http://www.localvoretoday.com/deals/reservoir-offer/

Again, not spam. I just bought 2.
.
 
So I went to Hermit Thrush... the beers weren't that good. Now don't get me wrong, they have potential, but they are going to have to put in some serious effort to turn things around. They're hoppy table beer was astringent and the pils-cider hybrid was very husky/ grainy. I'm hoping they dial in their recipes and learn their system because I would like to see them succeed.
 
So I went to Hermit Thrush... the beers weren't that good. Now don't get me wrong, they have potential, but they are going to have to put in some serious effort to turn things around. They're hoppy table beer was astringent and the pils-cider hybrid was very husky/ grainy. I'm hoping they dial in their recipes and learn their system because I would like to see them succeed.

I got to try the cider hybrid the other day. It's not sour, but had a nice brett quality going on. Who knows whats in there and how it would develop in the bottle (or how consistent of a product it will be). It wasn't what I was expecting, but I thought it was pretty tasty once I got past the expectation of having a sour (which is what it was advertised as)
 
Headed up to Okemo tomorrow and trying to decide where to stop and get some non HF/HT goodies along the route. Heard the craft store in Ludlow has a nice enough selection that its not worth pulling off the highway prior. Can anyone confirm or deny that ? If Brattle Co-op is that much better, there is a will, so Ill find a way.
 
Ok guys, I ****ed up. Booked VT trip too late. Kinda realized and also didn't completely realize it's Valentine's Day. Hen of the Wood is already booked. A lot of choices (we're staying near Burlington) don't do reservations, but I'm afraid to just chance it and hope for the best.

Any ideas for a good restaurant with a good chance of getting in? Even the Bleu Seafood only has 1 opening at 9:30pm. If it's that good I'll swoop it up tomorrow morning. Any other ideas? Anything is appreciated. We're not looking for super romantic, just good food and a good time. Thanks!
 
I'd recommend checking any of these:
Guild Tavern
L'Amante
Trattoria Delia
Chruch & Main
Leunig's Bistro
Bluebird Tavern

If none of those have openings I would highly recommend checking out the following restaurants in Richmond (about 15min south on I89):
The Kitchen Table
Sonoma Station <- might be the best quality to value ratio of any place in VT.
Toscano Cafe & Bistro
 
Michael's in Waterbury Center is another one to check. But the Richmond recs are a great place to start...
 
I'd recommend checking any of these:
Guild Tavern
L'Amante
Trattoria Delia
Chruch & Main
Leunig's Bistro
Bluebird Tavern

If none of those have openings I would highly recommend checking out the following restaurants in Richmond (about 15min south on I89):
The Kitchen Table
Sonoma Station <- might be the best quality to value ratio of any place in VT.
Toscano Cafe & Bistro
thank you thank you thank you
 
Ok guys, I ****ed up. Booked VT trip too late. Kinda realized and also didn't completely realize it's Valentine's Day. Hen of the Wood is already booked. A lot of choices (we're staying near Burlington) don't do reservations, but I'm afraid to just chance it and hope for the best.

Any ideas for a good restaurant with a good chance of getting in? Even the Bleu Seafood only has 1 opening at 9:30pm. If it's that good I'll swoop it up tomorrow morning. Any other ideas? Anything is appreciated. We're not looking for super romantic, just good food and a good time. Thanks!


Misery Loves Co. over in Winooski would be my first suggestion, as well as L'amante, Trattoria Delia, Juniper, and Bluebird Tavern in Burlington.. Don't bother with Church and Main or Leunigs.
 
What's the availability of HT or HF in Burlington or Mont Pelier? Wife's leaving Monday for a three day business trip and willing to stop in a liquor store if she's not in a wild goose chase. Is it readily available or does it get gobbled up in 10 minutes like everything in Chicago? I know Alchemist site has locations with days for deliveries but curious if there's truck chasers or if it sits on shelves?

Appreciate the info in advance!!
 
What's the availability of HT or HF in Burlington or Mont Pelier? Wife's leaving Monday for a three day business trip and willing to stop in a liquor store if she's not in a wild goose chase. Is it readily available or does it get gobbled up in 10 minutes like everything in Chicago? I know Alchemist site has locations with days for deliveries but curious if there's truck chasers or if it sits on shelves?

Appreciate the info in advance!!
Tuesday - Richmond Market
Wednesday - Waterbury Market
 
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