You can now get Sip of Sunshine at many local bars and stores. Similar to the PS thread, I wonder how the quality stacks up from the CT brewing location vs. VT.
They have been for a while. The more boutique (love that I’m saying that) bottled beers such as Double Sunshine, Triple Sunshine, Maple Porter, etc. are brewed in Warren. I read somewhere that Lawson’s just got the proper permits to build a larger brewery in Warren, VT. Don’t know what that means from a long term production standpoint.
I’m actually not a huge beer drinker, but we spend a lot of time in VT and I’ve grown very fond of the stuff from Lawson’s, The Alchemist, Fiddlehead, Hill Farmstead, Prohibition Pig, Frost, etc. I tend to only drink that stuff when I’m skiing. That said, I’m very interested in trying stuff from Trillium and Tree House. I’d love to do a side by side tasting to see how they stack up with the VT stuff that I’m so familiar with.
Scott - I would doubt it. Trillium sells virtually all of their products at either Canton or Fort Point locations with a small amount going out to a few select retail accounts in greater Boston. I know they just added some more tanks and are still scaling up at Canton (their production facility) for both wilds and IPAs. My guess is they would continue to capture all available profits before wholesaling out of state. As long as they have the required hop contracts to grow in-state and talented brewers you might have to drive up to MA.
On a side note, I’ve heard they are planning on buying a working farm in Stonington, CT which would give them access to their own fruit, including grapes, to expand their wild program. Also of note they have in the past been adding juice from grapes like Sauvignon Blanc to their dipa Dialed-In. So I would expect to see more of this. Whether or not they have a retail component in Stonington remains to be seen.
Do you ever get a chance to have any of Magnify or Kane’s beers locally? I think they are best of class in NJ, and would like to be able to drink them in NY.
edit - I got mixed up and thought you were talking about Trillium. I know Atlantic in MA is only allocating Lawson’s to their top accounts and the total distribution might only be about 100 cases at most at a time.
Have become pleasantly surprised by the frequency of Lawson’s deliveries over the past month. It seems like most weeks, either SoS or Sessions is popping up somewhere. I am unwilling to wait in line or expend incredible energy, yet have found both in the past 2 weeks
Lawson’s Sip and Session has been available in CT for awhile. The Session is easy to find but the Sip sells out VERY fast.
Sean has been trying to expand the brewery in Warren for awhile.
The best place to have his beer? Mad River Glen ski area. He is part of the naturalist program there, great guy. And he sometimes releases new beers there. It’s always available in tap at their bar.