The sky is dark before 8pm, I’ve practically moved into my hoodie and I’m stress-baking. SIPtemberfest must be right around the corner!

This time of year has always been my favorite; crisp and refreshing hoodie-wearing weather, goodies baking in the oven, football, pumpkin beers, (jk on that last one tho.) Since SIPtemberfest started, it now also means late nights on the laptop, running out of checks, my living room turning into my second office, lots and lots of tortilla soup from the Mad Taco and coffee and beer pretty much everywhere, deliberately and otherwise. But for real: it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

From the moment this SIP-train started rolling I’ve had the honor and pleasure to meet, work with, learn from and have fun with a long, long list of incredible people. The craft beer community is truly a very special group of passionate, entrepreneurial, creative and curious fools – exactly my kind of people. And while, yes, we’ve all encountered the occasional human embodiment of drain a pour, the overwhelming majority of us beer-lovers haven’t lost sight of what is at the heart of this community: enjoying craft beer together. Because of that, SIPtemberfest is 10.

And what a ride it’s been! On behalf of the entire SIP Team, I can’t thank our beer family enough for supporting us through all the rain and shine, muddy dogs, Single Chair rides, guitarists on the railing, marriage proposals, team photos, scavenger hunts and of course beer! We have something really special here and even though we know it’s cliche, we really couldn’t have done this without you!  We are so excited to enjoy craft beer with you all for years to come!

oh crap. I think the cookies are burning. Sorry. BRB.

Please help us celebrate our big one-zero and rock your old SIP Ts, hoodies and hats, and/or come in your most festive beer-drinking attire! If enough people represent, we just might have to award some prizes…!!

We will be in touch all week sharing more about prizes and other cool things about #SIP10 so stay tuned for more SIPNews!

Some quick notes:

• We still have some tickets left for SIPDinner & SIPCoffee! ALL Online ticket sales end THURSDAY! SIPDinner tickets will only be available online. SIPCoffee tickets are a wicked cheap $20 online, $25 at the gate. This year’s SIPDinner will feature Lost Nation Brewing and River Roost Brewery paired with food from Chef Michael Witzel. Our inaugural SIPCoffee will feature 7 Vermont Coffee roasters serving up hot and cold brews crafted with the same passion our brewers have! See if your beer knowledge translates into caffeine and kick that hangover all in one fell swoop! Click here for more info about tickets.
• Please don’t forget to CARPOOL!! If you are coming on Saturday with 2 or less people in your car, please consider hopping on one of our shuttles! We have room on our Waitsfield Bus which will pick up at the Big Picture! Contact us for more info!
• If you are looking to sell/buy SIP Tickets, please post on our Facebook Invite. $4$ sales only please! NO DBs! Thanks!!
• No cookies were burnt during the writing of this content.

 

 

Our Brewers:

• Upper Pass Beer Co.
• Fiddlehead Brewing Company
• Prohibition Pig Brewery
• Good Measure Brewing Co.
• The Alchemist
• Drop In Brewing Company
• Cousins Brewing
• Frost Beer Works
• Hermit Thrush Brewery
• Lawson’s Finest Liquids
• River Roost Brewery
• Smuggler’s Notch Distillery
• Lost Nation Brewing
• Zero Gravity Craft Brewery
• Citizen Cider
• Rock Art Brewery
• Collective Arts Brewing
• …one more to be announced…

Plus Special Out-of-State Guests:

• Bissell Brothers – Portland, ME
• Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Company – Framingham, MA
• and from a whole different time zone: Melvin Brewing – Jackson, WY

We will also host:

• University of Vermont Business of Craft Beer
• and the Vermont Brewers Association

Our SIPDinner Hosts:

• Lost Nation Brewing & River Roost Brewery

Our SIPCoffee Roasters:

• Abracadabra Coffee Co.
• Awake Coffee
• Brio Coffeeworks
• 802 Coffee
• First Branch Coffee Co.
• Brave Coffee & Tea
• Carrier Coffee Company

Our Beneficiary:

• Mad River Path

This year’s Original Art by:

• Natasha Bogar

With huge thanks to our Sponsors & Partners:

• Mehuron’s Supermarket, Mad River Glen, Craft Beer Cellar Waterbury, Hunger Mountain Co-op, Localvore, Chocolate Thunder Security, Sperry Tents Vermont, Hostel Tevere and General Stark’s Pub

Tickets are SOLD OUT for SIPBeer but there are still tickets for SIPDinner and SIPCoffee! Get yours NOW! Click here!

ALSO: We have about a dozen folks who need to claim their Pop Up Tickets by AUG 31!! Please, please, please claim these ASAP – not doing so creates a lot of extra work for our already thin staff when we’d rather be planning things like our beer menu! Thanks in advance!!

We are also looking for MORE VOLUNTEERS! Please contact us for more info!

BEER KARMA POINTS if you:

• –>Arrive in a car with 3 or more passengers!
• –>Wear a vintage SIP T-shirt!
• –>Wear Lederhosen or a dirndl!
• –>High Five Amanda in the HopShop!

Thanks and cheers!

-Team SIP

Caffeinated greetings all!

Early this morning I was walking my dog in a sleepy stupor when I was jolted by wind rustling a cluster of trees that have decided it’s fall already. Their leaves were orange-red and started blowing off their branches right in front of me, as if to say, ‘What are you, crazy? Put those flip flops away and break out the wool socks!’

Sigh. I mean, of course we can’t wait until SIPtemberfest, but it’s still August and we won’t want to think about foliage and fleece jackets just yet, do we?

Then again, now as I sit in my office sipping my third cup of iced coffee and wishing it wasn’t so darn humid, maybe there are certain things about SIPtemberfest we should be thinking about. For example:

• If you haven’t already, here’s your friendly reminder to claim your pop up tickets but August 31! The receipt you got upon purchasing tickets has instructions. You can contact us if you have questions. But PLEASE claim your pop up tickets ASAP so we can focus on other planning details closer to the event! You must have a scannable ticket to enter – no exceptions.
• If you haven’t already, there are still tickets available for the SIPDinner with Lost Nation and River Roost. We are working on the menu right now and I’m getting hungry/thirsty just thinking about it! Plus, as this is the last year, we are adding some fun little treats here and there for attendees. I urge you not to miss out on this!
• If you haven’t already, there are still tickets available for the SIPCoffee tasting on Sunday! It will feature local roasters serving up their finest little pots of black gold in commemorative SIPtemberfest Mugs. Also available will be donuts from the Village Grocery and food from the MRG Pub. Coffee Beers will be available in the pub as well! The artisan coffee scene reminds me so much about the craft beer scene from about 10 years ago. I’m really excited to see the passion and care these roasters put into their work start spilling over to the consumer side of things. If like coffee even a little bit, I HIGHLY recommend you grab some tickets to SIPCoffee! You’ll get to sample some incredible coffee, test out your coffee-pallet and coffee-knowledge, purchase beans and other coffee swag and wash your hangover away all in one fell SIP! $20 now $25 at the door.
• What are you going to wear?? For our 10th Anniversary of SIPBeer, we are really encouraging people to break out their finest beer-drinking attire! Vintage SIP shirts, lederhosen, dirndls and any other celebratory beer-fest accessories are recommended and… there might even be prizes!!
• We’ve been getting emails from both sellers of and buyers for SIPBeer tickets – we are encouraging you to use our Facebook Invite to connect directly. Please note: terrible beer karma to anyone who tries to sell tickets for anything more than their face value. Trust the people you are selling to/buying from. Feel free to report sketchy parties to us. We want you to all come and have fun, but to paraphrase our friends at the Alchemist: NO DBs. Thanks!
• Yes, yes, yes! The list of brewers will be officially announced very soon – stay tuned!!
• Finally – WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR MORE VOLUNTEERS! If you are interested and available to help out on Saturday or Sunday, we will make it worth your while! Tasks range from easy to laborious and shifts are usually around 4 hours. You get a t-shirt and drinking tokens and you get to hang out with some of the coolest people on the planet! Please contact us if you are interested to learn more!

That’s it for now, team. As mentioned, we will be posting again soon about our brewers and more so stay tuned.

Cheers!