Reviews of bier, wine, scotch and cigars... | Page 5 | Syracusefan.com

Reviews of bier, wine, scotch and cigars...

Fidens is excellent, there DIPA's are very much on the level of Tree House/Trillium and the Top VT breweries and I don't say that lightly. However, they are very difficult to get unless your local to Albany. They have zero distribution and they previously had can limits depending where you were line and would sell out very quickly.

Previously they would do some small releases during the week and Saturday was there big day. People were getting there at like 3 am or literally just spending the night and they would open up at like 6 or 7 am and begin selling. Now they switched things up after the 1st and are doing releases Wed, Thurs and Friday and whatever is left over is being sold on Sat and once it runs out they close (no taproom yet). Made life easier for the locals but killed off those coming from any sort of distance (they were getting a good amount) as Sat's are now a total crapshoot from week to week. I suspect they will have to modify again in the spring/summer. I hope to get there in the next few months once the weather improves a bit but the 4 I tried previously were all excellent.
Good info. Only an hour or so from me. I’ll have to check this out.
 
Good info. Only an hour or so from me. I’ll have to check this out.

Let me know what you think, I only tried 3 but they were excellent. Looking forward to getting my hands on more.
 
The beer at GearHouse Brewing Company in chambersburg pa is good, but the food here is outstanding. Two of the best salads I’ve ever had
 
Hopping with cigar question.

Love the rocky Patel Vintage 1999 with Connecticut wrapper. Don’t like the $14 price at my local shop

Can any of you experts recommend something more “reasonable”.
 
Good question. I'll start with Burlington and surrounding area and work my way out. These are the ones I'd make the trip for.

Burlington:
- Foam - Second favorite brewery in VT right now - lots and lots of Double IPAs - have their own restaurant right next door
- Burlington Beer Co. - wide variety of beers including doubles, etc but their new digs in the south end are the real attraction here
- Zero Gravity - good selection here as well and their tasting room is nice, but you'll likely end up sitting outside under heat lamps as they are being very covid cautious
- Queen City Brewing - not my favorite as they are much English and German styles but I know the owners so have to include them
- Switchback - more generic tasting at this point. Small tasting room - wouldn't bother - you can get this everywhere

Just outside of town:
- Four Quarters Brewing - Winooski - decent selection again but new tasting room is nice. Winooski has some really great restaurants as well, especially Sneakers for brunch
- Weird Window Brewing - Colchester/South Burlington - have only had a few selections, but their DIPA is nice
- Fiddlehead Brewing - Shelburne - some classics here that you've likely had before. Nice tasting room that has expanded with decent pizza next door
- Black Flannel - Essex - I'm not a fan of their beers - taste a bit bland to me like they are trying to not offend anyone, but their tasting room/restaurant is really nice. And their distillery attached is doing some really nice things with whisky.
- 1st Republic - Essex - Honestly haven't really tried their stuff much. Can't help with this one.
- Goodwater - Williston - Decent, but not worth going here over others.
- Frost - Hinesburg - Really underrated brewery that turns out consistently great beer for decent prices. Not much of a tasting room. Not far from Foams off-site pickup place either.

Stowe Area:
- Ten Bends Beer - Hyde Park - Truly some of the best beer going in VT right now. Love all of their stuff. Very small tasting room, but worth rolling by here to just get the good stuff.
- Lost Nation - Rock Art - Morrisville - Decent but not my style again. Would bypass unless you're a big German style fan
- Soulmate Brewing - Morrisville - haven't had anything from here yet.
- The Alchemist - Stowe - The original and still worth the trip. You can get Heady and Focal Banger pretty much anywhere, but the other styples they have there, like Skadoosh, Luscious, etc., are difficult to find elsewhere.
- von Trapp Bierhall - Stowe - German styles for sure, but the bierhall is beautiful for sure. Good food too. Tough to get into on a weekend with all the skiers and cross country folks.

Warren Area:
- Lawson's Finest Liquids - Warren - really nice place, but I'm just over their beers. Remind me so much of what happened to Magic Hat - not keeping up with new styles.
- Collaborative Brewing - small joint, but I've had some decent beers from here.

For what it's worth, I'm not a Hill Farmstead fan. I've never been, but I've been told it's beautiful. They use a yeast that causes a slight reaction in my throat that I don't care for.

Let me know if you have other questions and I'll find out what I can. As always, call ahead to all these places to see what their Covid restrictions might be.

Just a bump here. Thank you for these recs. We're going to Hill Farmstead (Guest of honors number one choice) and Von Trapp. Wondering if you've ever been to Prohibition Pig in Waterbury? Had an eye on that post beer.
 
Just a bump here. Thank you for these recs. We're going to Hill Farmstead (Guest of honors number one choice) and Von Trapp. Wondering if you've ever been to Prohibition Pig in Waterbury? Had an eye on that post beer.
Used to work in waterbury so yes, I’ve been there many times. Good stuff, not great, but it’s a nice space. That’s the spot where heady topper was born and this whole vt beer scene exploded.

Theres a great little pub across the street you should check out as well. Blackback. The Blackback Pub I’d eat there if I were you instead of pro pig.

Have fun!
 
Can’t figure out where to put this, so I’ll leave it here because I really like this thread. My wife bought me some chocolate for Christmas as a stocking stuffer. We have a coworking space up here called Hula, and they did some high end indoor ‘farmers market’ style events with vendors all over the northeast.

The chocolate I’m currently enjoying is from Nostalgia Chocolate out of Syracuse. I’m not sure she realized it was a Cuse brand, nor did I until I just busted it open. Very nice. This one is a dark milk chocolate with coffee, made with reserva Zorzal Cacao. Creamy and delicious with just a hint of coffee flavor. I recommend.
 
Hopping with cigar question.

Love the rocky Patel Vintage 1999 with Connecticut wrapper. Don’t like the $14 price at my local shop

Can any of you experts recommend something more “reasonable”.
Looks like the toros sell for around $6/each on Cigarbid.com. There is an auction ending in about 2.5 hours. Be careful though. The prices are so good that before you know it you've got a tab of $100. Know from personal experience. I've never been unhappy with any of my purchases.
 
Looks like the toros sell for around $6/each on Cigarbid.com. There is an auction ending in about 2.5 hours. Be careful though. The prices are so good that before you know it you've got a tab of $100. Know from personal experience. I've never been unhappy with any of my purchases.
Ya, thanks. Since my post, i’ve shifted almost exclusively to online purchasing of cigars. Like you said dangerous and easy to add stuff to cart. Over course of summer drifted to acid infused.
 
Anyone try the Winestyr service yet? A vendor sent me what I’m assuming was a nice bottle of Postmark Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018, for Christmas. Except they sent it to the California office first, and then I had it shipped up here to Vermont. It was not good. I ended up dumping the bottle last night, maybe a quarter of it. But I’m not sure if it’s just bad wine or being sent hither and yon.
 
Anyone try the Winestyr service yet? A vendor sent me what I’m assuming was a nice bottle of Postmark Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018, for Christmas. Except they sent it to the California office first, and then I had it shipped up here to Vermont. It was not good. I ended up dumping the bottle last night, maybe a quarter of it. But I’m not sure if it’s just bad wine or being sent hither and yon.
I am not a fan of the Postmark in general. May just not be that great of a bottle.
 
I am not a fan of the Postmark in general. May just not be that great of a bottle.
For a listed price of $85, it was a major disappointment. But hearing others not a fan of the brand makes me more hopeful that it wasn’t the fault of the delivery service.
 
For a listed price of $85, it was a major disappointment. But hearing others not a fan of the brand makes me more hopeful that it wasn’t the fault of the delivery service.
Yeah for 85 you can do so much better. Also it really has less to do with transport and more with storage. A lot of wine people drink is not properly stored and can turn fairly easily.
 
For a listed price of $85, it was a major disappointment. But hearing others not a fan of the brand makes me more hopeful that it wasn’t the fault of the delivery service.
Eighty-five American dollars for Postmark? Irreconcilable. Get a Padron 1964 and a Col d'Orcia Brunello. Can even get a wedge of sottocenere with the $12-$15 left over.
 
Planning on going to the Brooklyn Brewery when I’m down there in March. Anyone been there before? Always enjoy their beers, so looking forward to checking it out.
 
Planning on going to the Brooklyn Brewery when I’m down there in March. Anyone been there before? Always enjoy their beers, so looking forward to checking it out.
Can always swing out to F X Matt to try some
 
Anchor Steam in Faegan's on Flip Night was always part of the undergrad EnviroSciGuy lineup.
What was the similar special at the Orange Grove on Westcott? That’s likely my first foray as well.
 
What was the similar special at the Orange Grove on Westcott? That’s likely my first foray as well.
Season 9 Reaction GIF by The Office
 
I stumbled upon a new beer from Omegang today. Guessing it’s a small batch. It’s called “Gnomeagang”. It’s a 9% blonde ale. Probably the tastiest 9% beer I’ve ever had. I’m trying to buy up inventory in the capital area before it’s discontinued.
 
I stumbled upon a new beer from Omegang today. Guessing it’s a small batch. It’s called “Gnomeagang”. It’s a 9% blonde ale. Probably the tastiest 9% beer I’ve ever had. I’m trying to buy up inventory in the capital area before it’s discontinued.
I had that maybe 7-8 years ago, but don’t see it often. Guessing it’s a seasonal? Or maybe they just bring it back every once in awhile.
 

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