Dropped by the Alchemist Cannery and had a nice talk with the brewer. As has been noted in other posts here, they had a brewpub/restaurant in downtown Waterbury, Vermont that was wiped out by hurricane Irene. All of their brewing equipment was in the basement, and their insurance didn’t cover anything there, so basically all was lost. My wife and I were up in Montpelier last September, about ten days after the hurricane and heard that the Alchemist cannery was opening that day. We made the short driver up these and bought some Heady Topper (the only beer currently brewed there). We returned last Friday. They have double their capacity (from 15,000 barrels per year to 30,000) and have just started expanding more. By Christmas, they hope to be able to produce a different beer in small quantities every month. Those won’t be distributed beyond the cannery itself.
They’re currently producing some collaborations with Lawson’s. Those can be found at the Prohibition Pig in Waterbury (the site of the Alchemist Brewpub) or at the Threepenny Tap in Montpelier.
I moved from Burlington Vermont back to Michigan last summer, shortly before hurricane came through. The alchemist was by far my favorite brewpub, and I was sorry to see what happened. It is good to hear the new cannery is having success. From what I have heard, the demand for heady topper has been a real struggle for them to keep up with.
I used to live in Burlington and moved to Massachusetts last year. I definitely agree that both Lawson’s and The Alchemist make some of the best beer I have ever had and I definitely miss the brewpub in Waterbury. Heady Topper is AMAZING and I am looking forward to some different brews coming out of the cannery. The Celia is pretty interesting too for a gluten free beer. It definitely deserves a stop by anyone passing through that area.
Heady Topper is a very good IPA. Just make sure to take the advice written on the can and drink it from the can only! The stuff looks like pond water. If you saw a glass of it and someone asked you to take a sip, not knowing what it was, you wouldn’t.
