everybody. While we try to highlight products from our local Vermont breweries, we also have an extensive selection of beers from around the country and the world. Our inventory is so varied that we were named as one of Hop Culture’s Ten Best Bottle Shops in the US. Many customers come specifically for our collection of Belgian ales. Lately, there has been a lot of curiosity in Drie Fonteinen which is the last remaining traditional Gueuze blender in Belgium specializing in Gueuze and Lambic styles. We find it just as important to learn about, highlight, and educate customers about our imports of traditional or old-school styles from historic monastic German breweries and beyond. THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS GOING ON RIGHT NOW AND SO MANY NEW VARIATIONS. WHAT ARE YOU SEEING COMING THROUGH THE DOOR THAT IS TRENDING? Sours, sours, sours! The expansion of availability of sour beers has been exciting to watch, and the number of customers who appreciate that selection is really growing. They are always top sellers at our bar, and we do have a clientele that frequent the store due to the wide variety of sour beers that we stock. And more specifically, the sour IPA has been a hit in the last few months. It seems more and more brewers are giving the style their own spin. One of our favorites is Hermit Thrush’s Green SIPA. It is hop forward with a tangy sour finish that you can’t quite put your finger on. One thing is for sure, you’ll need another sip. Earlier this year the brewers at Hermit Thrush teamed up with the IPA experts at Frost Beer Works, creating a sour IPA with Frost’s flagship beer, Lush. Customers were asking for it long after the limited batch was gone. Sour IPAs are only the tip of the iceberg. It has been exciting seeing all of the creativity in the craft scene the past year— stouts aged in everything under the sun or infused with your favorite breakfast cereal, sours that leave you with a spicy finish, and ciders dry-hopped and fruited. ANY OUT OF STATE CUSTOMER STORIES? HA! So many. We had a couple guys from Massachusetts come in this past March who stepped in the door, said, “Oh, my God!” and “Holy *%&$,” then whipped out their phones to video the whole store for their beer-loving friends! We also have a customer from New Hampshire who seems to have as much cooler space in his house as we do in the store and he frequently visits us to restock. And a wonderful couple came in from Germany this winter and told us that they need a beer store like this in Germany, which was high praise! www.BrewViewVT.com
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