The Holy Grail of New England Beer

Just got back from a two day trip to Vermont. I made it a point to try and score some Heady Topper while up there. We went to a concert in Burlington on Monday night. I walk up to the bar and look at the beers offered – got two Long Trail IPA drafts for the wife and I. I get back to the stage area and the gal in front of me is holding a can of Topper. I immediately ask her if she snuck it in. She said they’re selling it at the bar but you have to ask for it. I gave my wife the Long Trail and went back for a can - $7.50 per but I enjoyed the hell out of it. BTW: We drove 6 hours to see the Australian band named Boy & Bear – great sound – catch them if you can.

The next day we put together a list of shops that get Topper delivered on Tuesdays, then set out on our quest for the Holy “Heady Topper” Grail, the quest to bring a case back to Rhode Island. Now it’s absolutely amazing how many people were doing the same thing as I was on Tuesday. Starting at 9am I hit 5 different shops and met many others doing the same thing – all of us struck out as it hadn’t been delivered yet. In some shops the clerk saw me coming and before I could even ask said, “Not yet.” On the way home we stopped in a small country town called Waitsfield. I went to the local Waitsfield Wine store which was not yet open, my wife went next door into a tiny shop called Waitsfield Village Grocery and came out with her thumbs up. I walked in and three people in line were carrying a case (or two) of Heady Topper. The clerk told me he’s generally sold out in about an hour or two - this happens there every Tuesday. So I consider myself very fortunate but $81.00 poorer – I’ll just have to drink another to console my wallet. Happy Fourth.
DZ

Nice! It really is the holy grail, the stuff is that good. I thought it was hype but then I tried it. A coworker of mine went up for a weekend and we convinced him to get a case for the office!

Waistfield is such a great town. You'll pop into an unassuming gas station and find an amazing little country store with Heady and Lawsons in the fridge. Glad you scored what you were after! Enjoy it and share. Always good to make a deposit in the beer karma bank.

Nice score DZ, stop at the co-op in Montpelier usually is a sure thing for Heddy. Make sure that next time you pass through Warren and go to the Prohibition Pig for some Hill Farmstead on tap and a porkbelly sandwich. There are also a couple places in Burlington that carry it on tap,look it up on their site...it is the TRUE Holy Grail!

fwiw ,I think a can of Be Hoppy rivals Heddy any day of the week.

The coop gets there delivery on Friday so plan ahead.

If you can, go to the blackback pub in Waterbury....they have Lawson's, Hill's Farmstead and Heady......one stop shopping......and it's fishing themed :-)

I've been milking a case for about 2 months now......just one a weekend.....once in awhile 2
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You guys are great - who needs stripers. Did I just say that? Must be the Topper talking. Thanks for the advice.

DZ

fwiw ,I think a can of Be Hoppy rivals Heddy any day of the week.

Great beer. Haven't had it in a can but great on draught.
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Where do you find Be Hoppy?

If any of you are at the Mews, try a proclamation IPA. It's a little RI Nano brewery that's making some of the best beer I have had since my Colorado days.
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I had a stone "enjoy by 7.4.14" that I believed rivaled heady as well...

Last Hedi I had wasn't as good. It was good but not great.

Agree though, Hill Farm and Lawsons on tab up north are so good…if the restaurant at my BnB has some at the bar I may never leave…

-spence

My new fav is Mass Rising by Jack's Abbey... I like it even more than Heady Topper now. It is available around the Boston area

I had a Bear Republic Apex that I thought rivaled heady pretty well.......it was extremely good.
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Damn. Must. Try.

(Though I have stumbled across a few Westvleteren Trappists lately muuaahhhaahhaaaa)

Sounds like we need to organize a Vermont leg.

Its the best beer Ive had. Also the worst hangover.

fwiw ,I think a can of Be Hoppy rivals Heddy any day of the week.

Try their Hopulence... its the DIPA in Bombers... its crazy. Don't get the Buddha's Juice (their other one) as it just isn't worth it.

I got my hands on some bombers of Double Sunshine over the weekend... Going to try that **hopefully** this week

Yankee Spirits in Sturbridge has a good stock of Wormtown stuff most days. Be Hoppy and others... they don't make many bad beers.

That Double Sunshine is fantastic.....
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I love beer. :love:
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I love beer. :love:
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As the rest of us ;).
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Sooooooooooo yeah... Double sunshine is a little bit on the good side
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Sooooooooooo yeah... Double sunshine is a little bit on the good side
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Good beer and good people. My wifes maiden name is Lawson and her mom loves IPA's. I emailed him before my wedding with a total hail mary request for a 5 gallon keg for the reception, knowing there was 0% chance. He got back to me with congrats and told me the keg was out but if I could get up to VT on memorial day weekend he would set aside a case of bombers of double sunshine and the chinooked IPA's. I couldnt make it up, but I love people that do business the right way. They'll always be my favorite VT brew just for that reason.

PS got my hands on one of those Hopulence the other night. Damn, grab it if you see it. Maybe wear a helmet.

Lunch is another great NE IPA
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Lunch is another great NE IPA
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Anyone try their Dinner? Been keeping an eye out for that one.
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You guys are great - who needs stripers. Did I just say that? Must be the Topper talking. Thanks for the advice.

DZ

That's funny. I was reading this thread thinking, "oh well, if the bass really go to hell, at least we'll have a great beer forum".

My parents own a small restaurant and have a great beer source. I can get wholesale pricing on some pretty good beer, especially on kegs.

Anyone try their Dinner? Been keeping an eye out for that one.
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Want to. Think you can only buy it direct in freeport. Long lines on few days they sell it.
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Nice article in yesterday's ProJo Food section headlined "An Epic Beer Run" about one man's quest in Vermont to purchase Heady Topper.

Google Proclamation Brewery, located in Kingston, RI, for tasting hours. Bring an empty growler along.

Jacks abby kiwi rising is amazing. Probably best beer I've had from jacks abby, and that is saying a lot. Certainly best ipl I've had. Keep an eye out for it.
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Jacks abby kiwi rising is amazing. Probably best beer I've had from jacks abby, and that is saying a lot. Certainly best ipl I've had. Keep an eye out for it.
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Good stuff, uses some New Zealand hops if I remember correctly. Took me a while to come around to Jacks Abbey. Not sure why I didnt think they were going to be any good for a while. I was wrong. They make quite a few good ones.

If any of you IPA lovers are in the Boston area. Trillium on Congress St. has bottles of their Mettle DIPA. Probably won't last through the weekend. This one can hold its own against any of the New England big hitters.

Jacks abby kiwi rising is amazing. Probably best beer I've had from jacks abby, and that is saying a lot. Certainly best ipl I've had. Keep an eye out for it.
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Found a place up in my neck of the woods that has it on tap right now....will be trying it tonight.

That Jack Abby "Cooper Legend" is one fine Oktoberfest......
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Lawson' s Sip of Sunshine is now in pint cans and is amazing. Sean Lawson is brewing it twice a month at Two Roads Brewery in CT in a much larger scale than he can brew in his VT brewery. I met Sean at a Mad River Glen snowshoe event last Friday... He is the Naturalist at Mad River and is a down to earth Vermonter. He gets 90% of his hops from the Pacific Northwest. Citra is the hop that gives Sip of Sunshine its distinctive citrus like flavor.

Lawson' s Sip of Sunshine is now in pint cans and is amazing. Sean Lawson is brewing it twice a month at Two Roads Brewery in CT in a much larger scale than he can brew in his VT brewery. I met Sean at a Mad River Glen snowshoe event last Friday... He is the Naturalist at Mad River and is a down to earth Vermonter. He gets 90% of his hops from the Pacific Northwest. Citra is the hop that gives Sip of Sunshine its distinctive citrus like flavor.

Chris do you have access to it where you live? Would luv to trade you some Captains Daughter for some. Can we ship cans of beer?

Can we ship cans of beer?

Believe it's illegal.
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How many of you brew beer at home? Anyone get close to making something like Heady?

I've always wanted to give it a try. My brother in law got me a brewing kit a while back and some pretty detailed books but I've never had time. With the prices of decent beer these days, it's starting to seem worth doing.

How many of you brew beer at home? Anyone get close to making something like Heady?

I've always wanted to give it a try. My brother in law got me a brewing kit a while back and some pretty detailed books but I've never had time. With the prices of decent beer these days, it's starting to seem worth doing.

I have made more wine at this point than beer but have done some beer. Pretty much if you can follow a recipe and clean & sanitize equipment...you can brew beer. sure there is trial, error and some science behind it but nowadays you can buy ingredient "kits" to brew just about any style. yes they even sell knock off kits for Heady. Havent tried this one myself as I lean toward darker ales, porters, etc so that is what I would rather brew when I get the chance.


Back to N.E. beers (OK VT Beers)..... IPAs are ok....just not my "thing" Is Heady good? yeah, just not my favorite style of beer. I was however recently blessed to be given some Fiddlehead Second fiddle and I actually liked it better than the Heady. Hill Farmstead Earl Pale Ale is pretty amazing..........

People ship cans all over the place. There are dedicated beer trading boards. I haven't participated, but my friend trades via fed ex all the time. I got a dozen Sip of Sunshine burning a hole in my fridge if anyone is going to be around the new haven area. I could share a couple since the next delivery should be soon. As far as clones, the Pliny clone from morebeer.com is as spot on as you can get. The recipe came from the guy at Russian River who came up with Pliny. I keep going back to it, occasionally altering the hop schedule for kicks.

Believe it's illegal.
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i heard your supposed to shake boxes
to hear what's in - em

I've mailed beer to England with no problems
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Zimmy, can't you just drive over to Stratford for sunshine? Or is it a be there on time kind of thing there as well?

It isn't sold at the brewery. Deliveries have been about once a month since they started around Christmas. The first (and I believe 2nd) delivery was one case per store. It is pretty much behind the counter everywhere and many stores seem to hold it for "regular" customers. Some stores have limited it to 1 can per person. Rumor is that there are groups of cars pulling in to stores behind the delivery truck. I have two places where I have been able to get it on the day of delivery since they are off the beaten path. I have heard they might be getting distribution up to a couple cases per store, but that isn't confirmed. I think there were even bottles this weekend, but I didn't go look since I have more than I can or should drink.

That is disappointing. They should do growlers!

Would luv to trade you some Captains Daughter for some.

Tried this at a beer tasting even a couple weeks back, way overrated imho. I was disappointed after all the DZ and Nebe hype....:buds:

Of course, it was miles above the IPA, summer ale and 'banana bread' beer and ciders they had, but give me the Old Rasputin they had over Capt' Daughter or the Breckenridge Vanilla Porter I had at Malted Barley after...

Hound, one day your beer tastes will evolve to a refined level like DZ and myself. Until then, keep drinking your brown ales and yuingling . :hihi:
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Rasputin is top shelf! World Class for both BA ratings.

I just got back from skiing in northern vermont and I had a field day! Drank a lot of Lawson's sip of sunshine, I would argue this is probably a very small step ahead of heady, it's an awesome, complex tasting beer
Lawson's was much easier to find on tap at bars, but almost impossible to find in stores, where it was the opposite with heady, after calling about 5 places, we ended up with a couple of 4 packs per person of Heady, every store limited us to one 4 pack per guy. We didn't have it in us to leave at 5am on Thursday from the boston area to get in line at the Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier by 8:30 for a case of Heady, sorry had to draw the line!

Rasputin is top shelf! World Class for both BA ratings.

just tried Oskar Blues Ten Fidy this weekend...another top shelf Imperial Stout...