Vermont is a scenic paradise! The beer is not bad either...

Riding around Berlin Pond in Vermont

It was with some tongue and cheek qualities that I write that headline for this blog posting, if somewhat late after the fact.   Anyone who put the words Vermont and beer in the same sentence should already know that it's one of the biggest beer destinations in the country if not the world.

I had in mind a plan for a vacation, or as I like to call them beercation, in early August.  In my travels I always like to involve good food and drink and I made the effort to spend a bunch of time doing that.  The other part was to do a bunch of cycling, hit the trails, work off the beer gut, and drink as much incredibly good beer as I could.

I would like to report that I succeed heavily... aside from maybe the gut thing...

East Montpelier up Snow Road

First lets talk about the cycling and what Vermont offers for it.  In three words scenic pure beauty.  The second part is something I discovered and really respected.  Big inclines... fast down-clines, and thin air because of high altitudes.

In short if you are a flatlander (one of the good ones) like me showing up it's quite a challenge, but the views are all worth it.  I was staying in the Waitsfield VT area which is in the center of the state, and came across a website that offered many central trails and routes as ideas for rides.  It's this one here: Central VT bike routes .  With that I set off excited, but realized I was in for a real challenge.

I did a simple Berlin pond loop earlier and noticed that my crossbike (I have named her Cynthia), could do well, but the gravel and bumpy roads and thin air was doing a number on my lungs.

By the time I headed to East Montpelier it was evident that taking breaks was gonna have to happen. The good thing is there are plenty of reasons to stop and just take in the vistas, if not to pick your spleen off the ground from the tough climbs.

Typical Vermont trail road

Summer in Vermont is just unbelievably scenic.  The hillsides exude green spaces like no other, cascading with backdrops of the mountains,  Crystal deep blue skies accent it in the middle perfectly, rolling vistas and a blue green sandwich combine for incredible views.  There are no distracting billboards, there's even very little litter as well.  It is unspoiled and feels completely untouched.

By the time I made it to Barre for my highest ride though I thought I was going to die.  Strangely on these bike tours I was doing, I saw NO other riders doing them.  Two wheeled riders, cyclist and motorcyclists are everywhere in Vermont.  For a motorcycle rider, you have numerous twisties and little cars.  For the cyclists the same appeal.  Many of the main highways are just easy enough to ride on with no fear of getting hit.  It just seemed when I went off road.. I was alone, and I thought... am I crazy enough to do this shit?

Still there is something to be said to be stuck in the middle of nowhere overlooking the mountains, and nobody to be in your way.  It does feel like you have it all for yourself.  The rides in Barre, Montpelier, and Norwich were hard, but there is plenty of simple riding to do just on the main roads.

Lake Champlain trail outside Burlington VT

One of the popular and most impressive is a trail that was part of an old discontinued railroad bridge that cuts right down the middle of Lake Champlain.  The Island Line Trail, is a trail that actually goes right in the middle of Lake Champlain, it's all flat, and is like riding on the middle of a wide open lake surrounded by the Adirondacks on one side and the Green Mountain range on the other. This is also a real easy trail if somewhat long, you don't have to be a serious rider to do it, as I saw many families and their kids taking the scenic ride.  Simply flat out stunning views and scenery.

Even with all this riding hey... I am not just here to sight see ya know!  While every vacation is beercation like I say, nothing says beercation like being in Vermont.

Lawson's Finest Liquids - Sip of Sunshine IPA

 One of the biggest draws in Vermont is that it contains some of the most highly rated and sought after IPAs in the country, mostly from brewers like The Alchemist, Lawson's Finest Liquids, and Hill Farmstead just to name a few.  Take one of the most popular beer styles and stick it all in one small place and you don't just have beercation... you have beer nirvana for some.

After much research I decided I was going to stay in the Waitsfield area to be near Warren which contains the Lawson's brewery.  It is also not far from many trails, and gives easy access to the towns of Montpelier and Waterbury for more beer choices as well.

Beer hunting is fine, but there's ways to go about it than just spending a bunch of time waiting forever in line, or chasing hyped (depending on your opinion) beers.

It was evident that after a few days there was more than enough great beer to go around.  I do like IPAs, but I am not crazy or obsessed with them as some people are.  However, due the styles popularity and the demand for the ones that come from many Vermont brewers, IPAs dominate the landscape.  Good news.. they are excellent.. bad news.. you want something else your choices are really limited.

Lost Nation's - Rustic Ale

Still there's plenty of ways around this.  One place I have liked often and visited in the past was Hill Farmstead, mostly because of their saisons.  I went and visited to pick up a few bottles, but also realized going to this packed brewery was not always the most convenient way to try some of their beers sometimes.  Still you can't beat the views and quiteness somedays.  Their beers are all over restaurants and bars in the area.  If you really want to try their beers, don't go to the brewery, just go to the plenty of places in nearby towns and cities and check out their taplists.  You'll save yourself some time.  Another place I discovered that made great beer was Lost Nation.  They didn't just make solid beers, and some cans to take home, they made a variety of decent different styles.  They were a big highlight for me and I strongly recommend you check them out.

Nevertheless, the Hill Farmstead brewery has expanded and is in a great scenic area of Greensboro.  Sometimes the crowds can be a bit big, but one tip someone told me was to visit not too long before the close to avoid large crowds.

The Alchemist Focal Banger at Mad Taco

The Waitsfield area turned out to be more convenient than I imagined.  Stores and shops for delivery of Lawson's and Alchemist products were nearby, even after the early morning crowds left and took their cases home back across the border.

Same with restaurants as well.  The Mad Taco offers a fantastic tap list, and simple basic and well made food.  It's also dirt cheap as I feasted on Pork Belly tacos so much I practically overdosed on them.  Dining options in the area are far and few between, but manageable, and I found myself at Mad Taco often so much that I pretty much had just about everything on the menu.

More importantly was the fantastic place I stayed at called the White Horse Inn.

Get your fridge ready for beercation!

An amazing breakfast was presented every morning from a seasoned pastry chef.  Timely and clean rooms and excellent hospitality.

The chef bakes so much he leaves cookies and little nibbles all over the Inn for you to snack on.

Did I mention they also provided me a fridge for my beer cation needs?  I needed this more for the purchases at the stores I visited in the state and travels along the way than for the beers bought in Vermont proper.  Heck the White Horse Inn servers Lawson's and Alchemist beers to begin with!

More so Vermont offers everything you want in a beercation.  Spectacular beer, and spectacular scenery.. it's even better when you can combine it both.

Till next time .... cause you know I am coming back!

Trying to wrap my head around this one. Heady Topper makes a rare appearance

It's happening again, and to some extent I understand, but other times I sort of just shake my head.

I was out on my usual beer run in DC and in one of my go to stores which once in awhile gets some obscure beers.  My eyes scanned the shelf selection, recognizing much of the same beer I had seen on the previous visits not too long ago.  Yeah nothing new...

I did remind myself to either ask the proprietor if something new came in, or if something might be coming, but more importantly I always tell myself to look again in the same spot.  I often miss items on shelves, and have found new ones by scanning them again with razor like precision.  My eye drifted to an empty corner of the book shelf where some Surly use to sit in the past, and some Dark Horse plead the 5th still remained.  There were some cans there that practically blended into the wood work, but there were many of them and in a sparse black design almost seemed to be invisible.  I did realize this was a new product on the shelf, but then looking closely it hit me what exactly I was looking at, and I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

Several cans of Heady Topper from a brewery in Vermont called The Alchemist, were on the shelf, a very highly desired beer.  From their website the beer is described as a "Double IPA that will put hair on your chest".  As far as I know, the beer has a limited distribution range and having it show up here seemed a complete fluke. Big IPAs seem to be the rage with many beer fans, and lots of people want to have this beer and many beer related sites rate it very highly.  In short, the beer is highly coveted, but has limited distribution.

I went and reviewed the beer, and have to admit it is really enjoyable.  This seemed like some sort of karmatic retribution for myself.  A good friend of mine had recently moved away from the area and took a job in Vermont.  Both of us being big beer fans, he sent me emails about his trips to Hill Farmstead and The Alchemist, in a way taunting me.  Suddenly it seemed like the beer gods felt sorry for me and decided to drop a bunch of Heady in my backyard.  The irony wasn't lost on me.

However, it occurred to me that highly coveted, obscure, and great tasting beer might have a price to pay.  A recent Youtube comment from "zodiak3000" brought it to my attention that the beer was going for crazy prices on Ebay.  This was sounding all too familiar.

Having just went through the Founders CBS madness, I plugged in Heady Topper in the Ebay search bar.  The first listing came up, four cans...  60 dollars.  Wow, I sat there stunned.  Other listings showed single cans going for 10-12 dollars, with many days still left in auction for the price to go up.  When I mentioned to a family member back in Canada that I paid 7 dollars for a can of this beer, they asked me if I was crazy.  Suddenly looking at Ebay I don't feel so bad, but more importantly, a basic beer in a bar in DC goes for that amount, usually higher (and you wont get 16oz of it either which is the size of the can).  Telling the prices to others what they were going for on Ebay, a good friend just simply said, "there's one born every minute."

Suddenly this is where I feel torn, but I also feel this is where the great divide really happens among consumers when it comes to beer.  Nobody bats an eye, or gets wildly upset, seeing people buy bottles of wine for forty dollars, but someone purchases a can of beer for over 4 dollars, they need their head examined.  There was also a great article recently in the Washington City Paper that asked why is craft beer so expensive in Washington?, and it hints of the economic reality of what people will pay for certain things, compared to elsewhere, and how this relates to "craft" beer.  It's a great article, you should check it out.  It certainly put things into perspective when I took a three and a half hour drive North to Selin's Grove PA to check out the tavern and Selin's Grove Brewpub/Brewery, and have phenomenal craft beer for 3.50 - 4 dollars a glass.

This is where I feel torn.  One part of me wants this drink to be taken seriously, the other part doesn't want it to be outrageously expensive and wants it to be accessible to all.  But one thing is all too common, it's just economics 101.

Hopefully, it just doesn't get too far out of reach for myself, to enjoy good drink.

Here's my review and thoughts on Heady Topper - The Alchemist,  Enjoy!