I had a blast and CAN'T wait for my next visit. I wanted to know more about Stowe and learned about Doc Pond and Prohibiton Pig, as well as Smuggler's Notch through conversation with them!Īlchemist handled the line exceptionally well today (significantly, significantly faster than any line I've ever been through, *ahem* Dinner, and Jen was saying they crushed 750 transactions in under 3 hours). I wore a Bissell shirt today and that was a immediate conversation starter for people ahead of me and behind me. You could even make a phone call to catch up with your mother!Īs mentioned before, I am not a local. Hell, conversate with people and maybe you might gain knowledge some where. You can't plan ahead for down time like that? That's why I brought a book. You can't tell me this is your first time seeing a line for a beer you (really) want. Waiting in a line can be 0 fun, but come on now. Focal is my number one beer, and I was able to walk away with plenty of it. Jen was extremely friendly and I was able to shake John's hand and thank him and everyone for everything they've done. I was through the line in under 40 mins today and it honestly didn't even feel like it took that amount of time just to grab my cans.Įveryone is right when then say that the staff is amazing. I actually didn't end up reading the book because I made a few friends in line that made the time pass by in a big way. I brought a book to read, as well as a cooler full of water to pass the time. I always expect to wait in lines for great beer, so I plan ahead. Not a local but here's my opinion: I had a god damn blast today. especially the fact that they just opened the new brewery. (Below, from Rate Beer.Click to expand.Kind of an unnecessary post given the hype around Alchemist alone. For now, good wishes from the green mountain state. Coming up soon: compare-and-contrasts among the civic culture, and environment for manufacturing and innovation, among Sioux Falls, Holland, and greater Burlington. I will swathe it carefully before putting it in the cargo hold for our trip home - maybe with a cooling pack. Then, inside the glass case with the tubing, they are filled with their precious cargo.Ī little further down the line, where the can-tops are put on:Īnd my one-case limit, safely cushioned on a big stuffed chair back in the hotel. The cans come down the line from the left, get rinsed and flipped over, then get purged with CO2. Part of a $100,000+ automated canning line - which, as we’ll see later on, has benefits both for the company and for the beer-drinker. Here is the establishment in toto - garnished with an airline contrail in the upper left-hand corner on a blue-sky day. I will wait till later to tell the story of the company - why “Alchemist”? Why “Heady Topper”? Why Waterbury, Vermont? Why play so hard-to-get? And, on the meaning-of-America front, how does Vermont’s vaunted craft-brew culture stack up against those of Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, and (these days!) a lot of other places you could name? Jen Kimmich, who with her husband founded and now runs the company, answered those questions while guiding me around - and this, with the bravery and selflessness so typical of the brewing community, one day after breaking her collarbone in a mountain-biking fall.įor now, just a few glimpses of what awaits you when you get there yourself. Today, as part of our relentless search for excellence in America, I selflessly drove out to the cannery to see for myself. You can see where this is going - and begin to imagine why the view below, of case upon case of Heady Topper, is for many beer enthusiasts the equivalent of seeing Walter White with his big barrels full of money in the recent episodes of Breaking Bad. Even for those who buy direct at the cannery, there is a one-case-per-customer limit. The Alchemist company posts a carefully specified list of where Heady Topper is authorized for sale, mostly in the northern half of the state. Most of its sales are from its own cannery, in Waterbury half an hour from Burlington. The other thing beer people know about Heady Topper is that it is almost impossible to buy outside the state of Vermont. Among BA’s readers, it is the #1 overall beer at RB, it has a perfect 100 score. Both Beer Advocate and Rate Beer have recently crowned it as the best of all possible beers. One is that it has an unbelievably positive reputation. If you have followed the world of beer, you know two things about a brew with the odd name of Heady Topper, from a company called The Alchemist in Vermont. Economic & Business Development BEER PORN: THE ALCHEMIST CANNERY
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