![]() Without a tap system, "We couldn't call it a taproom," he said. The word "café" was a fallback, explained Alchemist marketer Shane Rumrill. A planned expansion will double capacity by fall. Those who don't book ahead for the roughly 40 seats might luck into a standing table. Guests are encouraged to bring food from local restaurants and delis - and to make reservations. Limited "nibbly bits" include beer-cheese dip with bagged pretzels ($5) and capicola-and-Parmesan-stuffed pretzel rolls from Jeffersonville's Two Sons Bakehouse ($8). Aged sours nurtured personally by Alchemist cofounder and head brewer John Kimmich include Wild Child Golden (from $30 for 375 milliliters) and Petit Mutant, made exclusively with wild yeast and Vermont sour cherries (from $25). Sixteen-ounce cans range from the well-known Focal Banger American IPA ($6) to the rare port barrel-aged Knuckle Dragger imperial milk stout ($15). ![]() Everything else comes in cans or bottles. to 6 p.m., the café offers its headliner cask-pulled Heady Topper ($5 for 12 ounces). In late October, the café quietly launched with an extensive selection of Alchemist brews available nowhere else.įrom Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. The pandemic shutdown allowed for a renovation. Like pilgrims, they flock to the source of Heady Topper, the iconic, hazy double IPA that consistently ranks among the top beers in the world.įrom the 2016 opening of the Alchemist's second production brewery until March 2020, visitors could sample three beers on tap, including Heady. The vestibule of the Stowe brewery is not quite the Sistine Chapel, but to beer lovers from around the globe, it is a holy place. Thirty feet above us, an artist hand-painted a ceiling mural. Shane Rumrill pulling a Heady Topper from the caskeratorĭuring a recent visit to the Alchemist's new beer café, my table of three was savoring the brewery's bracingly tart Wild Child Kriek cherry sour and a mind-blowing, foam-crowned, cask-pulled version of Heady Topper when we noticed that the guests beside us were seated in a recycled church pew.Notes: There was no date on the can to indicate freshness. This beer is all about the hops, but the malt definitely is used correctly to showcase the hops.Īvailability: Limited to the Upper Northeast of the US. Most of all, there is a nice level of neutral but present maltiness to help balance the beer. ![]() It’s flavorful and hoppy without being a one-dimensional IPA. It’s bitter without being overly aggressive. Heady Topper is a really great example of a Double IPA. I’m not a person who actively seeks out every IPA. The mouthfeel has a bit of “grittiness” due to the sediment (it’s not off-putting, just one more sensation the beer possesses). Overall Impression: The beer’s medium body finishes with a long, resiny finish. Taste: Citrus, pine resin finish, hop sweetness. This beer is unfiltered.Īroma: Dank hops, resiny pine, citrus undertones, spicy. This is the hop resin and other beer byproducts. There are obvious “floaties” in the beer. Some people don’t care for sediment, even though it’s a perfectly natural thing in many beers and can add to the flavor.Īppearance: Hazy Copper/Orange with an off white head. On a more practical note, you won’t be able to see the liquid and the floaties. Drinking from the can will isolate the bitter flavor, but will lower some of the more delicate hop aromas. The reason the brewery recommends you drink from the can is to preserve the bitterness. The can strongly advises you to drink the beer from the can, I drank it from a glass. I try to write about beers I like and describe them in a way that will hopefully relay the nature of the beer to someone else who may want to then go drink that beer. These two beers are often, in beer geeks’ minds, locked in a battle of who is the best Double IPA. Heady Topper is a double IPA and often compared with the other highly sought after double IPA, Russian River Pliny the Elder ( My Review). ![]() I’m guessing the limited amount of cans of this white whale were being held for friends of the business. I walked in on a totally unrelated errand and my friend working the bottleshop counter pulled a can out from behind the counter, said “I have been authorized to sell you one of these,” then put it back under the counter so no one else would see it. I, however, got my can legally through a super limited deal one of my favorite bars/bottleshops worked to “import” some Vermont beers legally (all the proper channels were followed from source to destination). There is an active black/grey market out there for this beer. The infamous “Heady Topper” from Vermont’s The Alchemist brewery is one of the most sought after beers in the beer geek pantheon. ![]()
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