Not only is Vermont a beautiful state, but it has a lot of delicious alcohol.
It feels like Shae and I drank most of it.
Most of that was done while we were staying in Waterbury as there were a lot of craft breweries, distilleries and wineries around. Check out 12 Great Places to Eat & Drink In Central Vermont for more about those.
Father’s Day was our final full day in Vermont on our 50 state road trip, so as my gift Shae offered to be my designated driver and took me drinking along the Middlebury Tasting Trail.
There are eight stops on the Middlebury Tasting Trail – two breweries, two wineries, three distilleries and one cider house. We were hoping to visit all eight, but two of them weren’t available. WhistlePig Whiskey has moved from Middlebury, while Windfall Orchard is only open from September to December.
We (and by we, I mean me) were probably fortunate that there weren’t those two additional stops as this was me towards the end of the afternoon.
I had a great time on the Middlebury Tasting Trail – here’s why you should check it out too if you’re ever in Vermont.
1) Drop-In Brewing
Our first stop on the trail was Drop-In Brewing. Jessie was working behind the bar that day and was awesome.
Drop-In Brewing had eight beers on tap…
…so I decided to get a flight with all of them.
My favorite was the Fetchez La Vache, so after finishing my flight I ordered a 16oz pour of that. In retrospect, that probably wasn’t my wisest choice given the rest of the drinking still to be done.
Thankfully Drop-In Brewing is attached to Grapevine Grille which offers some tasty and fun-named sandwiches.
I almost ordered the Bon Jovi because, y’know, it’s named after Bon Jovi and I’d named my whiskey blend after one of their songs. However, the Dixie Chicken sandwich with grilled chicken, bacon, onion and chipotle BBQ sauce on ciabatta was calling my name.
Shae’s favorite sandwiches tend to include beef, so it was great that they offered a beef sandwich called Blue Suede Moos which is what she got.
Most of the breweries and distilleries on the Middlebury Tasting Trail are pet-friendly, so we brought Truffles along with us. With chicken, bacon and beef being consumed above her, she gave us the eyes in the hope that we’d share it with her.
After we’d polished off our sandwiches and I’d ensured there was no drop of beer left behind, it was time to make a move to our next stop.
Cost
My flight of eight beers and a 16oz pour of Fetchez La Vache came to $17.76 including tax. Our two sandwiches and a pack of chips from Grapevine Grille cost $20.34 including tax.
Address
Drop-In Brewing, 610 US-7, Middlebury, VT 05753
2) Otter Creek Brewing
Next up was Otter Creek Brewing. This brewery isn’t pet-friendly inside, but there was lots of outdoor seating and so we sat out there as it was a nice day.
They had a selection of different types of beer, along with a few wines and snacks.
I prefer dark beers, so ordered a glass of the Kaiser Des Schwarzen. I still hadn’t learned to pace myself at this early stage given that it was 11%.
Cost
My Kaiser Des Schwarzen cost $8 before tax.
Address
Otter Creek Brewing, 793 Exchange St, Middlebury, VT 05753
3) Appalachian Gap Distillery
With a few beers already consumed, it was time to mix my drinks as our third stop was Appalachian Gap Distillery. Lily was working in the tasting room when we visited and she was fantastic. Her dad owns the distillery with his friend Chuck who we’d happened to meet earlier that afternoon at Drop-In Brewing.
In fact, it was time to mix several drinks as Appalachian Gap Distillery makes their own whiskey, vodka, gin and tequila. From what I can remember, they can’t actually call it tequila though as it has to be made in Mexico.
As you can see from the photo above, standard tastings are free, while premium tastings are $5 or $15 depending on if you get a 1/4oz or 1oz pour.
In keeping with how the afternoon was going, I couldn’t decide on standard or premium and so chose both! I thankfully had some tiny element of self-control and chose the 1/4oz pours for the premium tasting, although that was more due to my concerns about our budget than my tipsiness. Those concerns didn’t last much longer that afternoon.
Their Ridgeline Whiskey was my favorite as I’ve gotten into whiskey over the last couple of years. However, their Fractal Vodka was also the nicest vodka I’ve ever tried.
Saving money on the tastings meant I was happy to stay for another drink, so I got more of their Ridgeline Whiskey, while Shae treated herself to a cocktail called The Kicking Mule. This contained Fractal Vodka, Benedictine, ginger liqueur and lime juice. It apparently had a much stronger ginger taste than Shae was expecting, although she liked the Fractal Vodka in it too.
The tasting room is pet-friendly, so Truffles was able to join us inside.
Cost
The standard tasting was free. My premium tasting, whiskey and Shae’s cocktail came to $22.35.
Address
Appalachian Gap Distillery, 88 Mainelli Rd Ste. 1, Middlebury, VT 05753
4) Stonecutter Spirits
From one distillery to another. Our fourth stop on the Middlebury Tasting Trail was Stonecutter Spirits which was also dog-friendly. We were served by Jordan who was great.
They offered free tastings of their Heritage Cask Whiskey and Single Barrel Gin, plus they have a cocktail menu if you want something more substantial.
My spending inhibitions had apparently been loosened by all the booze as I ended up buying a bottle of their Heritage Cask Whiskey to take with me. I wouldn’t normally spend $58.99 on a 750ml bottle of whiskey, so that was definitely the beer talking spending.
Cost
Tastings at Stonecutter Spirits are free.
Address
Stonecutter Spirits, 1197 Exchange St Unit A, Middlebury, VT 05753
5) Woodchuck Cider House
I was already a little tipsy by this point and it was only going to get worse/better from here. Our next stop was Woodchuck Cider House, another pet-friendly location.
They offer a free self-guided tour of their facility if you want to explore a little before/during/after a drink.
Woodchuck Cider House offers a wide selection of different ciders, so I decided to try a few in a cider flight. I was never a fan of cider, but I think that’s because I’d only ever had mass-produced, store-bought cider. All the ciders I’ve tried in the last six months from small cideries have been much more tasty.
So tasty in fact that I ended up getting a 6-pack of Wyder’s raspberry cider, while Shae got 6-packs of Wyder’s pear cider and Woodchuck rosé cider.
My memory gets a little hazy at this point, but I remember chatting to the server about soccer as he was a Liverpool fan like me.
Cost
Two cider flights cost $5.99 including tax. The 12 bottles and 6 cans that we bought came to a total of $32.16 including tax.
Address
Woodchuck Cider House, 1321 Exchange St, Middlebury, VT 05753
6) Lincoln Peak Vineyard
Our sixth and final stop on the Middlebury Tasting Trail was Lincoln Peak Vineyard. I don’t think they’re a pet-friendly winery as such, although they were happy for Truffles to join us for a wine tasting if she was in her special dog backpack – one of the benefits of having a small dog!
Lincoln Peak Vineyard has a decent selection of wines and you can choose any five to try for $8. Although I like white wines at wineries more than their store-bought counterparts, I decided to stick to five reds.
Shae tried a few as well and really liked their Firelight dessert wine. This was surprising as she doesn’t normally care for dessert wines – that’s how good it was.
Lincoln Peak Vineyard also prices their bottles pretty competitively which was helpful, especially considering how much we’d already spent on alcohol that day.
Cost
Two wine tastings and a bottle of the Firelight wine came to $41.49 including tax.
Address
Lincoln Peak Vineyard, 142 River Rd, New Haven, VT 05472
Final Thoughts
I had a great time drinking my way along the Middlebury Tasting Trail in Vermont. There was a good variety of tasty drinks, lots of friendly servers and it was an all-round relaxing afternoon.
Just be sure to have a designated driver as this was me on the way back:
[…] and said no, they didn’t have mimosas, they had beer or Jameson. Sigh… But they had Woodchuck Cider, so I started my day off as I meant to go on. Celebrating my […]