Foliage and Brews
Brew Your Own Publisher Brad Ring recently had the chance to show a group of readers some of his favorite spots to play and drink in BYO’s home state of Vermont during the height of fall foliage colors. With stops at 14 breweries, the group was lucky to experience the incredible craft beer scene in the Green Mountain State firsthand during BYO’s Vermont Brewery, Bike & Hike Adventure tour in mid-October. We visited an amazingly broad spectrum of breweries from one of Vermont’s largest, Von Trapp Brewing (yes, that same family from The Sound of Music) to the one of the smallest, nano brewery Red Clover Ale Co. All along the way we had the chance to experience the fall colors Vermont is famous for while sipping on local beers often only available in the state.
Plus, each day we took to scenic hiking trails or country roads and paths for great bike rides to earn that next flight of Vermont IPA.
Vermont brewers rolled out the red carpet for some truly special experiences. We spent two hours walking the brewery floor with John and Jen Kimmich at The Alchemist sampling not only their famous Heady Topper (widely considered the first hazy IPA), but also rare beer offerings from their cellar and a super-fresh hoppy Focal Banger IPA right from the brite tank. Steve Parkes of the American Brewers Guild went through his teaching brewery’s beers in detail in his classroom usually filled with aspiring pro brewers. We visited fan favorites like Lawson’s Finest Liquids for a Triple IPA pulled from the brite tank just before bottling and detoured off the Lake Champlain bike path to meet up with Dan Ukolowicz who opened his doors just for the group for some mid-morning sampling and a tour of his Burlington neighborhood nano brewery Simple Roots.
And it was a week made all the more special by sharing it with fellow homebrewers passionate about brewing and exploring the beauty and craft beer in BYO’s backyard of Vermont.
We have two BYO trips planned for 2022 including a brewery and multi-sport adventure in Bend, Oregon July 17-21 and a Biking and Brewery Tour in the Wallonia region of Belgium September 9-15. Details on these two upcoming 2022 trips can be found at byo.com/trip. We hope you can join us on a future beer adventure. Cheers!
