The Alchemist

The cannery may be closed to the public now, but holy hops does
ever provide a fantastic beer-​geek shopping experience! !
I decided to get a jump start on my Festivus shopping this year, and was completely blown away by how reasonably priced the Heady Topper/​Alchemist swag is ($ 35 for a work shirt. $ 15 for a stainless growler. Yes, $ 15… who *does* that?! Awesome! !) (And no, that’s not necessarily what I ordered, just in case anyone on the gift list happens to be reading this :))
Ordered at 3:00 a.m. and had a email confirming shipping and a tracking number by 6:00 a.m.
The package arrived today — less than a week later — and everything is superb quality, even better than I expected, and there were some bonus stickers & coasters in the box as well… Such a pleasant overall surprise when I’ve come to expect mediocrity as a rule.
Kudos, Alchemist!

Quite simply, amazing beer. This brewery crafts one of the most amazing IPAs I’ve ever tasted and I think the world agrees! My only problem? It’s so hard to get! I wish it was downstate, regional, etc etc! I bet the business would be amazing if the production was ramped up to meet demand ha ha. Of course, that sounds far easier said than done.
I can’t wait until the brewery is able to open to the public again, I’m definitely going to be one of the the visitors!

Great beer. Brewery is closed to public. Head to any local store/​bar in the local area and you can probably find it.

My girlfriend and I stumbled upon this place on our way back from the Ben & Jerry’s factory, and how happy we were. Unfortunately, I think their small tap room is now closed, but you can still find their Heady Topper at many of the local pubs and grocery stores. It is worth the drive.
Their Heady Topper is easily one of the best IPA’s I’ve ever had. My gf, who is not much of a beer drinker, agreed that it is one her favorites as well. Well-​balanced deliciousness. We had a sampling while passing through, and then decided to come back the following Monday morning to grab a case to bring back to CT. When we arrived on Monday, there was a line out the door and around the building to get this glorious beer! A few people in the line had come from NYC, just so they can pick up a few cases for the week.
If you haven’t had Heady Topper yet, go get it — and bring me back more. :-) Seriously — ONE OF THE BEST BEERS I’VE EVER HAD!

Heady Topper. Two words that might not make any sense to you unless you are a beer snob. I was a beer snob a long time ago. I still love beer. Don’t get me wrong. I’m just not up on my beer as much as I used to be. A co-​worker of mine in Oregon told me about this beer. I mentioned it to Sue having no idea how far it was from where we would be and we made a day trip up to Waterbury to get some.
Heady Topper is the only beer they make here. Pretty crazy. I don’t know what makes this beer the holy grail of beers at this particular moment in time, but it certainly is good. That is if you like IPA’s. People either love them or hate them. There really is no in between for an IPA. The Heady Topper is actually a Double IPA for those of you playing at home. The Alchemist is focused on brewing the perfect beer. They are doing a very good job.
There is a self guided tour which basically just takes you into the canning facility. There you can watch them can the beer and read up on how beer is made. After that, head over to the bar and get a nice sized taster. That is really what you came here for.
You can buy this beer fresh from the teat (so to speak). I’m pretty sure they limit you to a case at a time. $ 72 will get you a case. $ 3 will get you one beer. I walked out of there with a 4 pack ($ 12 for you doing the math) because I was going to take it home with me and I didn’t have an empty suitcase to carry a full 24 cans. Maybe next time.

It really breaks my heart to know that the cannery is closing its doors to the public in the interest of expanding production. However, one of the true world wonders for beer, The Alchemist is open until Nov. 15^th for people to still stop in, view the marvelous contraption that is the canning line, pick up a case of HT or two, and taste one last sip of fresh Heady on tap.
Hopefully we’ll see HT in NH or even Boston at some point in the future, but until then, we’ll just have to hunt for the one local (local to Waterbury, that is) packie that’s still got a few cases of the stuff left from the week’s delivery.
Thanks for the memories guys!

Efficient and no-​nonsense
Nice people, ready to help
Oh, and they stock one of the better beers you’re ever likely to come across
Note: this is in NO WAY a review of Heady Topper itself, which is essentially above review, and would likely break the Unilocal 5-​star scale. Please see Untappd for that.
As for the brewery, I guess I was hoping for something between «normal» brewery status quo and a quirky, engaging Magic Hat experience, given the wild and fun Heady Topper character that greets me with each of their beers I swig. What I found was a little more clinical.
Steps to complete your Alchemist experience:
1) Find parking — challenging but can be finagled
2) Walk to the front porch door entry
Optional — have photo taken behind the Heady Topper beer can sign, if you have a friend snap it for you
3) Walk in the front door, which is the same activity as immediately joining the line to get your case ($ 72, one case max per patron) or 4-​pack. Supply is controlled, and if you’re here, you likely don’t want to miss out on the to-​go aspect.
4) If desired, have a look at some of the t-​shirts, glasses, hats, sweatshirts, etc. also offered. Go for these only after you assure they’re not running perilously low on (or completely out of) HT stock.
5) Upon getting to the counter, graciously and thankfully accept your 2oz sample pour in a fun little snifter.
6) Stow your purchases in a corner (or out in your car), and walk around the maybe 100 square foot brewery viewing area, reading some background on hops (the almighty element you smell here and when you crack open one of their cans), and enjoy your sample.
7) Return your glass, thank your hosts, retrieve your purchases, and Heady for the exit.
Congratulations — that’s the experience. While in most any other environment, that would qualify as a 2– or 3-​star establishment, I notch this up to four because if you’re a beer fan… man, you FOUND and VISITED the Heady Topper SOURCE! That’s at least an extra star’s worth of coolness.
So temper visit expectations, have your money ready for the beer and goodies you know you want to get your grubby mitts on, (double-​check any announcements on their website about holiday closures or in-​stock problems they might inform the public about), and head there. It’s not quite beer mecca, but it’s a solid and enjoyable way to connect with one of Vermont’s greatest products.

Alchemist is a brewery with a cult following. You go for one beer, and one beer only: Heady Topper. It is excellent and considered one of the top DIPAs for a reason. We’ve joked it should be able to be used as currency because of its value in the beer community.
A trip to the Alchemist — preferably on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday when Heady is canned — is exactly as advertised:
–You WILL wait on line, and you won’t mind doing so because it’s Heady Topper.
–The staff is incredibly nice and the sample of fresh Heady is absolutely amazing.
–Prices for the gift shop merch is reasonable and on par with that of other brewery goods: $ 15 – 20 for shirts, etc.
–Free stickers and coasters!
–Parking lot gets insane, which is to be expected.
–Brewery opens at 10 and it is recommended that you don’t screw around and get there ASAP. We arrived at 9:50, the place was swarmed, and we got one of the last parking spots.
As of this post, they are not opening on holiday Mondays anymore: We were there Labor Day and it was indeed crazy. We got lucky since we were there early, but the lines only got longer as we waited. Also, word on the street is that there is now a one-​case limit.
If you criticize and seek a place with ambiance, tables, flights, and the like, go elsewhere and save the Heady for the rest of us who truly enjoy it.

Apparently Heady Topper is very well renowned because the minute I checked in here, I got tons of comments about it on facebook. Needless to say, the brewery itself is fine. Very small, but you get a free sample of heady topper right when you walk in.
There’s not too much to say about this place. There’s a pacman game that’s kind of fun to play, but overall there’s not much to do. Additional samples of Heady Topper cost a buck a piece (which is kind of a good deal when you feel tipsy after one sample, which I did) and they appear to run out of cans of Heady Topper all the time since we were there at noon on a Saturday and there were already none available.
So… 4 stars for Heady Topper and 3 stars for the experience. 3.5 stars.

I had a month-​long hiatus in between work which involved me moving from GA to PA/​NJ. After realizing that my soon-​to-​be new home was within close proximity to many of the amazing craft breweries that I’ve only been able to hear rumors of while in GA (e.g. Dogfish Head, Alchemist, Ommegang, etc.) I decided I would make the best of this opportunity and make it a personal mission to visit as many breweries out East while I’m here.
And thus begins the story of how I drove 400 miles each way from Philadelphia to Waterbury to buy 24 16oz cans of this wondrous Double India Pale Ale that so many people seemed to be going bat crap crazy for over the internet (I’m looking at you
).
The drive up to Waterbury wasn’t too bad, save for traffic jams northbound near George Washington bridge in NYC and southbound in Stamford, CT; the general scenery driving up to VT is really nice compared to what I’ve become used driving on I95N from GA. It actually gets really nice once you cross over to MA and you get into the «keep right unless to pass.» I honestly don’t know who else does that in this country, but I guess it leaves residents more time to look at the beautiful scenery that is the sparsely populated state of Vermont.
7 hours from departure I finally arrived in what seemed like a very anticlimactic end of my road trip; the cannery itself isn’t much to look at, save for the giant artistic rendition of the Heady Topper can outside of thee cannery, and the few artistic touches here and there inside the cannery. The «cannery tour» consists of you peeking into the actual canning area where they pump over 1500 cans of Heady Topper/​hr on select days of the week – be sure to check with the cannery before you drive up else you will most likely leave very disappointed.
The free sample is by far the second best part of the brewery itself, closely followed by the ability to buy up to 1 case of Heady Topper/​customer (current price: 3 USD/​can or 72 USD/​case + tax). If you’re driving a long way back, make sure you bring a cooler as the contents of the Heady Topper supposedly «change» if you leave it exposed to heat for prolonged periods of time. In my case, I had to go buy foam coolers from the supermarket nearby and stick these babies under ice for my 400 mile drive back.
I’ll let all the reviews on
do all the talking for the beer itself, but the amazing beer and the driving experience wasn’t quire five-​star enough for me to want to move closer to VT so I can drink this beer locally everyday; hopefully The Alchemist will plan on expanding and making the Heady more widely accessible to the public, else I’ll just have to stick to getting my Pliny in Philly.

This review in no way is to diminish the Heady Topper beer. This is strictly about the Alchemist Brewery experience. Heady Topper is by far a great beer. I don’t traditionally like IPAs but Heady Topper is definitely one of the best beers I have ever drank. The Brewery on the other hand was far from anything special. It was extremely small, the self-​guided tour was the equivalent of a live look in, and the store had very few items for sale. The items that were for sale were pricey.
Overall it was not a terrible experience as I was already in town and only went to buy the beer. If I had come specifically for the Brewery, I would be disappointed. It is definitely not worth a special trip particularly from any great distance. If you are going to just buy the beer, than you will be fine don’t expect anything else.

Stopped by here while on vacation with my girlfriend and my family. My home state is Massachusetts and we decided to divide our time between Mass and Vermont. I am a giant beer nerd and knew I had to get a case of Heady Topper. I had already heard that they ran out of cases by 2 p.m. on Labor Day. Luckily, we arrived here two days later and there was plenty of Heady available. The shop is quaint and has a handful of merchandise to choose from. It is also directly next to the canning line so you get to see everything in action. They also give out tasters, the first one free and everything after is one dollar.
Now getting to what we’ve all been waiting for: the beer. It certainly lives up to the hype. Very hoppy, but hardly bitter. You can taste how strong it is, but it goes down smoothly. An almost grapefruit-​like taste. The Conan yeast certainly does wonders for this beer. I set aside a few to bring back home with me and the rest are already gone. No, no — I didn’t drink them all. My dad, girlfriend, cousins and uncle helped me with that.
I can’t wait to come back here.

I stopped by this morning (Labor Day) to pick up Heady Topper, as it was rolling off the canning line. Line was massive and well out the door (not around the building yet, but it was as I left). Was it worth the wait in line? I can say, with absolute certainty: no.
The Alchemist is awesome. Their pub they used to have was incredible, but it was destroyed several years ago in the flood. The staff is super-​friendly and very knowledgeable. The one beer they produce – Heady Topper – is great, but terribly overrated. I suspect its #1 ranking on BeerAdvocate is a result of its rarity, not the quality.
Am I spoiled because I used to live in the Midwest and easily had access to Three Floyds’ entire lineup of beer? Yes. Heady Topper is delicious and I was thrilled to get a couple of 4-​packs, but there’s just no way I’d wait in a line like this again. Was Dark Lord worth the wait? Yes. Zombie Dust? Definitely. But Heady Topper? Nah, I’ll stick to it on tap.
4 stars for the beer, 5 for the staff. But since it’s just on the beer, I’m sticking with 4.

The Alchemist only makes one beer, Heady Topper. They can on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and normally sell out on Thursday or Fridays.
Since we weren’t getting to Waterbury until Friday afternoon, we knew our chances of buying some weren’t going to be very high and sure enough on Thursday they posted on their Facebook page that they were sold out. If you are heading here with the sole purpose of purchasing Heady Topper, it’s worth it to like their Facebook page. They will keep you up to date on inventory. They do distribute to some stores in the area, but good luck finding any in stock.
Even if they do sell out, samples are available. There is a small area where you can look into the brewery, which wasn’t running when we were there. They also sell clothing and glassware.

Come here and leave happy, even without a case.
Heady Topper is the fruitiest and most delicious IPA, even for those who are not fans of hops.
The tour is not really a tour but the ceiling light-​covers are made from pictures of hops. Worth it.
Your best bet, assuming that you want to take some heady topper home with you, is to come early on a weekday.

Friends and co workers have often regaled me with tales of a beer called ‘Heady Topper’ and how life changing it was. During a recent trip to Vermont, i made sure to work in a stop at the Alchemist to try this concoction out for myself.
First off, a disclaimer — i do not usually gravitate towards IPAs — my tastes tend more towards the darker brews. That said, Heady Topper was a revelation — they have managed to cram much more of that hop taste into this beer (and coincidentally enough, alcohol as well).
At the cannery, you can obviously purchase cans of this premium brew (expect to pay premium prices — $ 12 for a 4 pack at the time of this writing), take a look at the brewing process, purchase alchemist-​related swag or taste a sample. It’s a concise little operation, and based on the quality of the beer, i might just be making a few more trips to Vermont in the future.

Let’s talk some facts —
They brew one beer only here.
The tour is literally a tiny piece of a hallway.
The tour is self-​guided.
The video had the sound turned all the way down.
It is still the happiest brewery ever. It’s even tastier if you like IPAs.
Heady Topper is tasty. The sample is tasty. The cans they sell you (cans only… no growlers) are full of tasty beer. If you’re in Burlington, its totally worth the trip.

All the other reviews pretty much cover it. Get here and get some heady topper. But get there on Monday-​weds, because they tend to sell out by the weekend.

I love stopping at the Alchemist when I am on my way to Burlington! Hubby is a BIG IPA fan, and their Heady Topper is a favorite. They brew in small batches and it’s only sold cold — so make sure you bring a cooler with you! The brewery is small and all the employees are great. Stop and support this local brewery and enjoy their very delicious beer!
Traveler’s tip: We have a «plug-​in» cooler to keep all of our Vermont purchases, such as been and cheese, cold while visiting — that way we don’t have to worry about ice!

My absolute favorite Vermont brewery is the alchemist. I swear I cried when I heard that the brewery and pub flooded during Hurricane Irene. But despite the Alchemist being closed for remodeling until Christmas or so, you do not have to go without your Alchemist beer until then. Just stop by the newly opened cannery and stock up on cans of deliciousness. There’s also beer on tap and tasters are available for $ 1. There’s also a small self-​guided tour of the new brewhouse.
One more thing: love and support for the Alchemist have been pouring in from all over the state and most of this is in the form of large volume purchases from the cannery. So if you’re gonna trek all the way out here, you might want to call ahead and make sure they have beer left. No joke, I had a close call last time.
Anyway, support the Alchemist by visiting the cannery and help them return to their former glory: D