My how time flies. A fluff piece I started back in sunnier times as a way to have a little fun with some two-week-old, hopped-up beers finally comes to roost in the dreary, wet weeks of fall. The dust’s been blow off, the final keyboard keys have been pecked, and this experiment in blind public opinion is done.
So, just what will the general public think of some of Vermont’s finest when they don’t know they’re drinking it? Read on to find out.
As we all know, Vermont is a series of mountain ranges, rivers, and fields all held together by maple syrup and its primary export is nothing, because locals first and locals only seems to be the name of their game. The same can be said for the beer. This means you’ll either need to smash its borders and steal it away like a wallet emptying thief ($75 a case!) or find a brave soul willing to ship it out, knowing they will be shunned from the community should their traitorous ways be discovered.
While it might not be quite that Orwellian, there is a sense of local pride and farm-to-table that pervades their restaurants, breweries and primary past time, lawn maintenance. But when your state produces some of the most coveted (or overrated if you’re of that mindset) beers desired the world over, it’s a trip worth making.
That’s why I decided to take the drive up from PA, stick around for 3 days, and taste/buy as much as my liver and bank account would allow. I’m no Vermont expert and 3 full days in Vermont isn’t anywhere near enough to really experience everything the maple drenched state has to offer, but I did get a good idea of how to pull off a pretty great beer run.
For those that want the full breakdown of my three days in beer-adise, including the best beer route into/out of Vermont, where we stayed along with what to hit before and after your inevitable Hill Farmstead pilgrimage, and a plan of action for coming back with cases of Heady, Sip and Second Fiddle, click the links below. For those just looking for the highlights, read on.
The smoke has cleared, existing deals have been figured out and I now have a final count. It’s time to set my stockpile of yellow, silver and green cans to work as a commodity and trade them wantonly.
3 bundles are available consisting of 1 Heady Topper, 1 Sip of Sunshine, and 1 Second Fiddle with a potential for a 4th bundle from my personal supply should this prove popular and I get the right offer. If you are interested in a single can trade, I might be able to do that as well, so feel free to inquire.
So what do you need to do? Essentially, I’m interested in four things:
1:1 trade ratio (I give you 3 different beers, you give me 3 different beers)
I’ve never had any of the three beers before (check my Untapp’d – drewsbrewsreviews)
You think the beers you’re trading are good.
If it’s an IPA, it’s fresh (the Vermont beers are a week old)
That’s pretty much it. You can either get in contact with me via Facebook or contact me directly via email: drewsbrewsreviews@gmail.com. Include the 3 beers you are offering and a picture of a puppy (just for heart warms). If I get more than a couple offers, I’ll choose randomly to make it as fair as possible. I’ll probably cut this off around June 23rd and get in contact with the traders to set up the details. Yeah, beer!
We got back in PA late last night after a hell of a beer trip. Exhausting, but it really could not have gone better. I’ll do a more detailed write-up of the places and people that made this trip great, but for now, big thanks to Vermont and its near universal embracing of the locally-sourced, “local is better” philosophy. Everyone should be so lucky as to give her a visit.
For those that are interested in getting their hands on some of the beer we brought back, once I determine what is going out to existing trades, I’ll post on my blog and Facebook what I have available. It will probably be a limited few 3 packs (1 Heady, 1 Sip, and 1 Second Fiddle). As to spread it around, and that is the point of this, I won’t be trading for 4pks of any single beer.
As I previously mentioned, I’m just looking for 1:1 trades of 3 different beers that I haven’t had before (check my Untappd – drewsbrewsreviews – for the full list). I’ll provide the details ASAP to get these to you as fresh as possible. More to come soon!
Episode 10 of Drew’s Brews Reviews is here! The beer review show you never knew you wanted and no one needs. It’s an IPA time of year I guess as I down yet another bitter-tastic beer, but this is the top hop juice in the world, Heady Topper! At least it was at the time I recorded the review. This is a banked episode that I held onto for a few weeks, which forced me to adjust some information therein, so apologies for that.
I will say that I’m glad to see this review released as beer blog law states that Heady Topper must be reviewed lest I be cast into the malted wastelands and pitted against Lord Humungus in vicious bourbon barrel-aged combat for my crimes against beer blogdom and the blog-o-sphere. Yeah, everyone reviews this.
My how time flies. A fluff piece I started back in sunnier times as a way to have a little fun with some two-week-old, hopped-up beers finally comes to roost in the dreary, wet weeks of fall. The dust’s been blow off, the final keyboard keys have been pecked, and this experiment in blind public opinion is done.
Drews Brews Reviews 