Beer

[AAC Guru]

Anything Hanging Hills

 

[Caronimo]

Anything Hanging Hills

They do a good job on all styles.

 

[uconndoit]

Is this French for drinkable?

Oui.

 

[storrsroars]

Is this French for drinkable?

Pretty sure "" is a Gose-style queef quaff.

 

[HooperScooper]

Vermont named the craft beer capital of the nation. Connecticut in the middle.

Vermont was named the craft beer capital of America in a report released last month by C+R Research called “The State of Craft Beer.” According to the report, America’s interest in craft beer has grown significantly in the last decade or so, with craft breweries increasing from 1,511 nationwide in 2007 to 6,655 as of July of last year.

C+R Research reported that there are 11.5 craft breweries per capita in Vermont, the most of any U.S. state, and that Vermont produces the most beer: 151.2 pints for every adult age 21 or older. Additionally, Vermont ranked second in the nation for its craft beer financial impact, with adults aged 21 or over spending $667 per capita (topped only by Colorado at No. 1, where adults spend $764 per capita).

This New England state was just named the craft beer capital of the U.S. | Boston.com

 

[Dogdeacon]

Vermont named the craft beer capital of the nation. Connecticut in the middle.

Vermont was named the craft beer capital of America in a report released last month by C+R Research called “The State of Craft Beer.” According to the report, America’s interest in craft beer has grown significantly in the last decade or so, with craft breweries increasing from 1,511 nationwide in 2007 to 6,655 as of July of last year.

C+R Research reported that there are 11.5 craft breweries per capita in Vermont, the most of any U.S. state, and that Vermont produces the most beer: 151.2 pints for every adult age 21 or older. Additionally, Vermont ranked second in the nation for its craft beer financial impact, with adults aged 21 or over spending $667 per capita (topped only by Colorado at No. 1, where adults spend $764 per capita).

This New England state was just named the craft beer capital of the U.S. | Boston.com

I wonder if it is starting to have a negative impact on skiing?
I'm not kidding, a craft beer hangover is infinitely worse than a budweiser hangover and equally 2 craft beers at lunch makes returning to the hill more hazardous than probably 3 coors lights.

 

[wethyhusky]

They do a good job on all styles.

Love their beer. I have a mug there, and Hartbeat is my go to beverage

 

[HuskyHawk]

I got a 4-pack of Vermont brewskis. It was a "reassembled" 4 pack:

1 Double Sip of Sunshine IIPA
1 Alchemist Focal Banger IPA
1 Foley Brothers Big Bang IPA
1 Foley Brothers Fair Maiden IIPA

Never had any of them before and so far have had the Double Sip. Not as good as the orginal SoS.

Double Sip? Do you mean Double Sunshine? That’s the original, before there was a Sip, and it’s much better than Sip in my opinion.

Oh and Focal Banger has also been around longer than Sip of Sunshine.

 

[Caronimo]

Love their beer. I have a mug there, and Hartbeat is my go to beverage

Love Hartbeat but also beats me up... I usually go with the rotating ipa’s!

 

[Dogdeacon]

Double Sip? Do you mean Double Sunshine? That’s the original, before there was a Sip, and it’s much better than Sip in my opinion.

Oh and Focal Banger has also been around longer than Sip of Sunshine.

Interesting, I've only tried one Double Sip and it was at a party so couldn't really get a full tasting impression. First impression was loyalty to Sip, but now that I hear its not the original will definitely conduct further taste tests!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Interesting, I've only tried one Double Sip and it was at a party so couldn't really get a full tasting impression. First impression was loyalty to Sip, but now that I hear its not the original will definitely conduct further taste tests!

There is no "Double Sip". There is Sip of Sunshine, which was inspired by the original Double Sunshine. Sip of Sunshine IPA - Lawson's Finest Liquids

Double Sunshine is brewed in VT, Sip in CT at Two Roads. I think Sip has cheaper and easier to find hops, which is why it became the mass produced beer. I think Double Sunshine is quite a bit better. No idea how fresh the one you tried was.

 

[storrsroars]

There is no "Double Sip". There is Sip of Sunshine, which was inspired by the original Double Sunshine. Sip of Sunshine IPA - Lawson's Finest Liquids

Double Sunshine is brewed in VT, Sip in CT at Two Roads. I think Sip has cheaper and easier to find hops, which is why it became the mass produced beer. I think Double Sunshine is quite a bit better. No idea how fresh the one you tried was.

Speaking of Two Roads, starting to see cans at Pittsburgh bottle shops. Anything noteworthy?

 

[8893]

Speaking of Two Roads, starting to see cans at Pittsburgh bottle shops. Anything noteworthy?

You must try their goses!

 

[Yardigan]

There is no "Double Sip". There is Sip of Sunshine, which was inspired by the original Double Sunshine. Sip of Sunshine IPA - Lawson's Finest Liquids

Double Sunshine is brewed in VT, Sip in CT at Two Roads. I think Sip has cheaper and easier to find hops, which is why it became the mass produced beer. I think Double Sunshine is quite a bit better. No idea how fresh the one you tried was.

Not a big SOS fan...I actually like their Super Session #2 better.

 

[UConnDad]

I'm heading to Trillium in Boston this weekend. Any good recommendations on beers to try?

 

[SixRings]

I'm heading to Trillium in Boston this weekend. Any good recommendations on beers to try?

Congress Street, Mettle, Melcher Street

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm heading to Trillium in Boston this weekend. Any good recommendations on beers to try?

What is available changes every day. Fort Point Restaurant — Trillium Brewing Company

DDH Melcher Street, Dialed In, Pom Pom, whatever else looks good to you.

 

[HooperScooper]

I'm heading to Trillium in Boston this weekend. Any good recommendations on beers to try?

What type do you like the best? NEIPA, stouts, sours, etc.? They have a lot of different stuff available right now. A lot of it is experimental (Permutation Series) and I haven't tried most of those. Some of them look kind of strange.

 

[UConnDad]

What type do you like the best? NEIPA, stouts, sours, etc.? They have a lot of different stuff available right now. A lot of it is experimental (Permutation Series) and I haven't tried a lot of those. Some of them look kind of strange.

I'm mostly a stout or porter guy these days. Not into hoppy IPA's or sours. I do like Dogfish Burton Baton or 120 IPA but that's it. I saw their Pom Pom which someone else recommended on their site.

 

[UConnMike04]

How have I missed this thread?!?

In CT, in no particular order: Tow Roads (Road 2 Ruin, 2 juicy...they’re coming out with a sister beer to that soon, Lil Heaven, Honeyspot...I love Two Roads). Badsons (lupified is my fav, but most are really good - in Derby), Nod Hill has a few good releases the last few weeks (Arvin and Relectsha), Thomas Hooker’s “Ode to Blumpy”, Half Full is okay. Not a fan of Stony Creek and the Cranky line. Live in Monroe now so have to give a shoutout to Veracious brewery and also Fairfield Craft Ales. Counterweight “headway IPA” is also very good.

In NY love Singlecut (softly spoken magic spell is the best), Mikkeller brewery in Queens also. Industrial Arts with Wrench.

VT blows everyone out of the water. Small brewery in White River Junction has only take out and growlers (name escapes me), and of course the usual Magic Hat, Long Trail, etc but to me Alchemist Heady Topper takes the cake.

Wow, that’s a lot of beer. I might have a problem.

 

[HooperScooper]

I'm mostly a stout or porter guy these days. Not into hoppy IPA's or sours. I do like Dogfish Burton Baton or 120 IPA but that's it. I saw their Pom Pom which someone else recommended on their site.

I'm going off the regular menu available for take out. They change the menu at the restaurant every day so check it out tomorrow. It's winter so there are lots of stouts available. Most of their IPAs are the fruity NEIPA style.

Stouts:
Pom Pom - Nice milk stout. Lots of sweet flavor and smooth. I really like this one.
Permutation Series Number Seventy-Six - Wheat stout. Never had it but looks good.
Night & Day with Coffee - I like all the Night & Day in the series (except the one with chili). If you like stouts that have a lot of coffee flavor then you'll like this.
Night & Day with Toasted Almond and Vanilla - I really like this one. The almond and vanilla are just subtle enough to add some complex flavor.
Night & Day with Vanilla, Cacao and Chili - I didn't like this one. I just don't like the chili taste in a beer.

If you like the fruity New England IPAs you can try all the DDH stuff and DIPAs. Most of their IPAs fit this style. They're not the bitter hoppy IPAs.

Scaled IPA, A Street IPA, DDH Melcher Street, DDH Sleeper Street, Vicinity DIPA, and Dialed-Up are available now and all are very good.

Trillium is my favorite brewery. They make so much good stuff and I like that's there's always something new.

 

[Waquoit]

Speaking of Two Roads, starting to see cans at Pittsburgh bottle shops. Anything noteworthy?

Two Juicy is the only one I get.

 

[Dogdeacon]

There is no "Double Sip". There is Sip of Sunshine, which was inspired by the original Double Sunshine. Sip of Sunshine IPA - Lawson's Finest Liquids

Double Sunshine is brewed in VT, Sip in CT at Two Roads. I think Sip has cheaper and easier to find hops, which is why it became the mass produced beer. I think Double Sunshine is quite a bit better. No idea how fresh the one you tried was.

Bought within a week of when I drank it, my buddy is up at Mad River most weekends and brought it back after rain Saturday before New Year's ruined the snow and 'forced' him over to the brewery. Again it was more circumstantial in terms of tasting, drank right out of can at a party while snacking on everything within reach, only thing I can say for sure is I wasn't wowed.

I'd heard moving production of Sip to CT (within last 2yrs?) was simply so the brewer could continue to focus on unique brews whilst satisfying what had become insatiable demand - but the hops portion of the story also makes sense for 'mass production' of a craft beer. I can't say that I taste a difference between Sip from 3yrs ago when I first drank some and today, so credit to Lawson's for quality outsourcing and I'd call it large scale production to avoid connotation that its Sam Adams or an IM Bev 'craft' beer. I'm not hostile to producing a lot of a very good beer if quality is maintained especially since lots of craft brewers seem to force scarcity to jack up price.

Do they still brew any Sip of Sunshine in VT? I had a couple on draft at Sugarbush last winter & it tasted pretty fresh.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Bought within a week of when I drank it, my buddy is up at Mad River most weekends and brought it back after rain Saturday before New Year's ruined the snow and 'forced' him over to the brewery. Again it was more circumstantial in terms of tasting, drank right out of can at a party while snacking on everything within reach, only thing I can say for sure is I wasn't wowed.

I'd heard moving production of Sip to CT (within last 2yrs?) was simply so the brewer could continue to focus on unique brews whilst satisfying what had become insatiable demand - but the hops portion of the story also makes sense for 'mass production' of a craft beer. I can't say that I taste a difference between Sip from 3yrs ago when I first drank some and today, so credit to Lawson's for quality outsourcing and I'd call it large scale production to avoid connotation that its Sam Adams or an IM Bev 'craft' beer. I'm not hostile to producing a lot of a very good beer if quality is maintained especially since lots of craft brewers seem to force scarcity to jack up price.

Do they still brew any Sip of Sunshine in VT? I had a couple on draft at Sugarbush last winter & it tasted pretty fresh.

It's a long story of sorts. Sean Lawson started brewing at his house in Warren VT. He delivered those bottles to the Warren Store in Warren, and then to two other stores. It became very popular and he kept delivering every week to each of those three stores.

At some point they decided to test out canning and making more of something. Sean went to Two Roads and brewed Sip of Sunshine and canned it. That was sold in CT and VT and later other places like MA. They added Super Session to what they brew at Two Roads. They chose the base "IPA" not a double like Double Sunshine and the Session. All the while Double Sunshine was among the three most sought after beers (Triple Sunshine, Double Sunshine and Maple Fayston). People continued to flock to the original 3 stores to get those. Sip was never the most popular beer they made, I think it just had wider appeal and was easier to brew. Note, even now they said "brewed by Lawson's at Two Roads". It isn't contract brewed.

Eventually, they made enough money to build the new brewery and taproom in Waitsfield, which is spectacular. Now we have regular access to all those nearly impossible to get beers. People like what they will, but most people (including me) think Double Sunshine beats Sip. Maple Fayston is phenomenal as is the Triple Sunshine.

 

[Dogdeacon]

It's a long story of sorts. Sean Lawson started brewing at his house in Warren VT. He delivered those bottles to the Warren Store in Warren, and then to two other stores. It became very popular and he kept delivering every week to each of those three stores.

At some point they decided to test out canning and making more of something. Sean went to Two Roads and brewed Sip of Sunshine and canned it. That was sold in CT and VT and later other places like MA. They added Super Session to what they brew at Two Roads. They chose the base "IPA" not a double like Double Sunshine and the Session. All the while Double Sunshine was among the three most sought after beers (Triple Sunshine, Double Sunshine and Maple Fayston). People continued to flock to the original 3 stores to get those. Sip was never the most popular beer they made, I think it just had wider appeal and was easier to brew. Note, even now they said "brewed by Lawson's at Two Roads". It isn't contract brewed.

Eventually, they made enough money to build the new brewery and taproom in Waitsfield, which is spectacular. Now we have regular access to all those nearly impossible to get beers. People like what they will, but most people (including me) think Double Sunshine beats Sip. Maple Fayston is phenomenal as is the Triple Sunshine.

Awesome, thanks for all the detail. I'm excited to visit on my annual trip up there soon!
We had a guy's trip for the Mad River craft beer fest in 17, I think we'll do it again this fall and hope to hoist a pint with ya.