TL; DR - 2,500 miles later and this stack of beer*
TL:
Dancing Gnome - Great brewery, snagged some cans, love hitting up this spot
Brew Gentlemen - Great brewery, food trucks, growlers only, have been there a bunch, and had too much other beer to hunt down
Equilibrium - Nothing to speak of other than the beer which was actually the best hops of the entire week. Raining Belma is what Treehouse used to taste like, just perfection.
Shitty town, shitty parking lot, no way to sample their beer, a few giant pear shaped dudes and myself waiting for beer. Phish playing on the blue tooth speaker. An ongoing feud with the bar literally connected to the brewery keeps them from serving there, which is just ridiculous.
Hudson Valley Brewing - Overall the best beer of the trip, definitely making the most unique beer that I have had access to in recent months. Everything just works. Loaded up on a bunch of cans, less than 10 people hanging in the brewery all evening, hand about 8 tasters. For the first time in weeks cans lasted through the week so I was lucky to get a good amount.
Fiddlehead - I was there less than 10 mins to just grab cans. Under contstruction, no one there, I'm actually surprised they're still surviving in the beer nirvana up there.
Foam - Coolest and funnest brewery of the trip, however, the beer in my opinion was a bit of a let down. All of the haze tasted the same and really tasted pretty green/hot. Killer tunes and great vibe right on lake Champlain. Playlist included Can, Talking Heads, Miles, Phish, Hendrix, Beastie Boys, etc. I had very high hopes, but all in all, I think I'm hazed out.
Alchemist - I had to go for old time's sack, but Heady just ain't what it used to be for me. Malty, bitter, etc… Crazy that a few years ago this was the DIPA that everyone died for. Beautiful new brewery, free samples of Crusher, Focal, and Heady. No music, and the average age was 55+. We stuck around for about 20 mins and grabbed some beers to go.
*All beer was kept at 85 degrees in a van
