The Alchemist Brewery — Restaurant in Stowe

This is the best brewery in the country. Hands down, no contest. Not only do they produce the best beer in the United States they have stayed true to their mission and goals from their humble beginnings. Every beer that they brew is either best in its class or near the very top. Heady Topper and Focal Banger have been my two favorite beers since I was introduced to them many years ago. Despite being native to New England the brewery is about a 3 hour drive for me, so apart from a random summer day during the pandemic when my wife and a I drove up to do a curbside pick up to stock the refrigerator for a month or two, I had never had a chance for a proper visit.

For my birthday this year my wife surprised me with a private tour of the brewery. Well it wasn’t booked as private it just worked out that we were the only ones that booked that day and time slot.

The brewery itself just has a tiny brew pub and outdoor patio to come in and buy beer or sit down and have a few. They often(or always?) have some sort of food truck parked up for food service.

The brewery is known for its low-waste processes and the tour really brought to light how seriously they take it. There is little to nothing that gets wasted and the little waste that is produced is recycled in boutique ways vs traditional “recycling” where it still ends up in our environment.

Our tour guide Fred was outstanding. Long time employee that was kind of a jack of all trades, master of none type of employee. He has working knowledge (and has worked in) of all processes and areas of the brewery. I can be a bit of a yapper sometimes and he was more than accommodating to answer all questions and comments I had with precision knowledge of even the most technical questions.

If you’re a beer enjoyer, this is as close to Mecca for beer as it comes. Especially if IPAs are your beer of choice(although all types they produce or of the highest quality). Russian River out of California is the only brewery even in the ball park of quality and in my opinion stands alone with the alchemist as America, and even the world’s top beer brewers. I am fortunate to believe my opinion holds some water as I travel the country and the world for work and have sought out the top beers domestically and internationally through out my career of traveling. Guinness may be more stories but they have a single flagship product they are known for. The alchemist is has better flagship products(Heady Topper/Focal Banger) but they also are constantly innovating and have never missed the mark. The pure aura of the world’s best brewery tucked away in a quaint little town in the mountains of central Vermont is unmatched. The small scale and commitment to remaining a local land mark that won’t sell out to a large distributor is a massive reason for their decades long consistency of putting out world class quality. For a bonus, 20 minutes down the road is the HQ and primary location of the famed Ben and Jerry’s. Two world class producers just miles apart off the same exit in one of the US’ most scenic states.

They have a new beer they just re-released for a limited time for the first time in 2.5 years called Mortal Sin. By the time you’re reading this it may already be gone but my lord. It may be better than heady topper. It’s a “dark” ipa that pours like a stout and has a bit of that stout profile with super strong hoppy IPA goodness. It’s limited and the tour guide was so nice, he had front of house sell me a 4 pack despite already being low on stock and no longer for purchase to take away(may still be available to purchase/drink on site.

I can’t say enough good things about this place. It is a beer drinkers brewery. Not the sludge and piss water that comes out of Budweiser or coors breweries.

It is an absolute must stop if you find yourself anywhere in Vermont/north-central...

Really enjoyed my visit to the Alchemist! We travelled from Scotland for a New England craft beer pilgrimage and have heard a lot about the famous Heady Topper and tried it for the first time on tap at the brewery. We also had fun chatting to other guests and really enjoyed the tour to see behind the scenes of the brewery. We bought the 4 packs at the best prices we have seen in the area.

When trying Heady Topper for the first time I was suprised at how bitter and dank it was compared to the modern interpration of NEIPA, it reminded me more of Pliney which I have been lucky to try in the past. Focal Banger was lighter and more citrus. Then Rapture is more like modern NEIPA, most aroma of the 3, fruity taste and creamy mouthfeel with lots of carapils foam exploding out the glass. On first sitting Rapture was my favourite however upon tasting a can of Heady a few days later something strange happened. I was quite thirsty and the first sip quenched my thirst, but I was suddenly thirsty again and needed another sip, before I new it the can was all gone! I've never experienced this before in a beer that is both thirst quenching and also makes you want to drink more. The beer is so well balanced with bitterness, hop flavour, malt sweetness, yet so drinkable. So now I've switched from Rapture back to Heady as my favourite. Could be the perfect beer! Unfortunately I am back in Scotland now and can't get anything like it here so am already planning my next trip back to Stowe! Thanks for the...

If you love beer, you have to make the pilgrimage to Northern Vermont to the many beer meccas- and make sure The Alchemist brewery tour is on your list. When we went in mid-october, the tasting room was closed so we booked the tour, which is a can't miss event. Upon arrival our souvenir glasses were immediately filled with fresh Focal Banger that was canned that morning. After a brief introduction, our guide walked us through the brewing operation, making a point to describe in-depth all of the improvements the brewery was making to get to zero carbon emissions and eliminate the environmental impact of brewing beer. All the while, making sure our glasses were never empty. Inside the brewery we all wore masks, except, of course, when we had to sip their amazing beers. Once the tour was over we sat on their patio and enjoyed additional offerings including Heady Topper, an English Imperial Stout, Luscious, and a pilsner called Light. There was no shortage of beer and the patio hangout gave us time to ask questions, talk with other guests, and pick up the beer we ordered in advance. My wife is not a beer drinker but she enjoyed the tour and the beer. The brewery itself was immaculate- the grounds and the interior were well-maintained. Nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains painted by Autumn foliage, it provided a perfect spot for leaf peeping. Add the Alchemist to your bucket list and plan your visit for the fall if you are a...