On the bus with Sean Lawson and Mike Gerhart at SIPtemberfest 2014

It’s taken me a while to process everything that happened at this year’s SIPtemberfest in Vermont’s Mad River Valley. And by “process everything” I mean thoughts, triglycerides and blood alcohol levels. Picture all of the beer that people from all over New England regularly trade their perfectly good weekends and money to procure all in one place and you’d get SIPtemberfest. Perfectly organized by the wonderful Meg Schultz of Meg’s Events and flawlessly executed by her gang of volunteers and sponsors.

For a very privileged few, the weekend started off Friday night with a Meet the Brewers Dinner hosted by Sean Lawson of Lawson’s Finest Liquids and Mike Gerhart of Otter Creek Brewing and food from Michael Witzel of Mad River Glen.

For those of you who don’t know these guys, that’s basically like going to a music festival and having dinner with Mick Jagger and Steve Tyler beforehand. Seriously, these guys are beer rock stars. Additionally, although he wasn’t an official host for the evening, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our honorary host of the entire weekend, Dean Rohan from Tree House Brewing who added what I guess could be called “color” to the entire weekend. It’s worth mentioning that I’m wearing my “I’m With Dean” t-shirt as I write this.

I know what you’re thinking… “Oh man, not another beer dinner write-up.” But this was no ordinary beer dinner. There were some serious white whale beers with some ridiculous food. I will also promise to not use the words bouquet, artisanal or coco nibs while telling you about it. This was a 4 course meal with each being accompanied by 2 beers. For me, the highlight of the lineup was the Deconstructed New England seafood stew which was paired with Lawson’s Finest & Otter Creek Collaboration Double Dose IPA.

The beer that stole the show for me was the unpublished addition to the line-up however. Sean and Mike surprised us with a Mad River Distillers Rye Whiskey Barrel Conditioned Double Dry Hopped Double Dose IPA or, MRDRWBCDDHDDIPA for, short? (Yes, that was one name. Repeat it without looking and I’ll send you a prize!) Upon tasting this beer, you wouldn’t believe it’s a DIPA unless the guys who brewed it told you that’s what it was. The bitterness of the hops had all but gone away and transformed into toffee and vanilla with a hint of Rye whiskey. It was absolutely incredible.

The fun could have stopped there and I wouldn’t have been disappointed. However, that was just a glimpse into what was to come the following day. The main event kicked off at 1:00pm on Saturday under a perfectly blue sky and 75 degree weather. After picking up my press pass, I was blind-sided by the overwhelming line-up waiting for me past the gates. I didn’t know what to do with my hands and how to get the stupid grin off my face.

Let’s take a look the list:

14th Star Brewery

Alchemist

Bent Hill Brewery

Boyden Valley

Burlington Beer Company

Citizen Cider

Crop Bistro & Brewery

Drop-In Brewery

Fiddlehead Brewery

Harpoon Brewery

Infinity Brewing Co.

Lawson’s Finest Liquids

Long Trail Ales

Lost Nation Brewing

Mad River Distillers

Otter Creek Brewing

Prohibition Pig

Rock Art Brewery

Smugglers’ Notch Distillery

Stone Corral Brewing

Switchback Brewing

Tree House Brewing Co

Zero Gravity Brewing Co.

How do you decide where to start?!

Before I jaded my palate too badly with what I knew I wanted, I decided to try some beers less familiar to me. These included the Idletime IPA from Crop Bistro and Brewery, a Black Currant Saison from Rock Art Brewery and Lost Galaxy Saison from Lost Nation Brewing which were all outstanding. I then began my decent into what I knew would be the beginning of the end for my taste buds and my liver. It was time for a full on assault of hops and ABV.

After a quick pit stop at The Alchemist for some Heady Topper I found myself once again hanging out with my new best friend Dean from Tree House drinking their Julius IPA which is just exquisite. From there it was off to stand in the longest line of the day to get some Lawson’s in my mouth. I started off light with some Super Session #4 with Galaxy hops then straight to the hard stuff with some Fayston Maple Imperial Stout.

That led me to where I spent the rest of my day which was hanging out with Sean and Mike pouring samples of Double Dose IPA and while it lasted, the world’s last bit of Cask Double Dose IPA. We took our time eating mutton sandwiches and sausages from The Mad Taco while talking about beer with people who arguably brew some of the best beer in the world.

Once the beer was gone and the nice people at the Mad River wandered off, the party continued at the Hostel Tevere. If you’re ever in the Mad River Valley, do yourself a favor and stop in to meet Giles and Sarah for an awesome beer list, unbelievable food and generous hospitality. Not to mention you can grab a bed for $35 if you overindulge.

This place and these people will always have a special place in my heart, stomach and liver. I can’t wait for next year as I know it will just get better, even though that’s hard to imagine.

Special thanks again to Meg Schultz from Meg’s Events for making it all happen and putting up with me along with all of the breweries listed above and the other groups involved listed here:

Mad River Glen

Vermont Brewers Association

Event Beneficiary:

Mad River Path Association

Bands:

Main Street Syndicate

Lowell Thompson & Crown Pilot

Food:

The Mad Taco

The Skinny Pancake

All around awesomeness:

Hostel Tevere