Say you’re coming up to Vermont for SIPtemberfest and you were looking for some other fun craft beer friendly places to check out whilst in the beautiful Green Mountains? Well we have conveniently provided a suggested schedule for you to use complete with a regionally sorted list of our Sponsors so you customize your travels to support the business that support craft beer! Win/win!

Friday

• 12pm – Skip out of work early. Everyone else is doing it. The forecast is frickin’ awesome. Throw your bag pre packed with sunglasses, your camera and your coolest beer fest outfit and hit the road.
• 1pm – You’re thirsty and hungry. Head to our nearest regional Sponsor to calm your grumbling stomach.
• 3pm – If not already in the ‘hood, head toward the Mad River Valley. Stop and take a walk along the beautiful trails maintained by the Mad River Path Association.
• 5pm – Check in at the Hostel Tevere or wherever you might be staying for the weekend. Brush your teeth and get gussied up Vermont style (clean jeans, your ‘nice’ t-shirt or flannel,) to go out on the town!
• 6pm –  If you have tickets to our Friday Meet the Brewers Dinner, doors open at 6:30pm and dinner starts promptly at 7pm. If you don’t have tickets to our dinner, check our regionally sorted sponsor list below to find the perfect place to get some grub and suds (and maybe win the last tickets too!)
• 10pm – Get your beauty rest. Tomorrow is going to be a big day so be sure to get some quality Zzzs while you can.

Saturday

• 8:30am – Hit the snooze on your alarm -Or- go for a morning run on the Mad River Path to help even out your calorie in take for the day.
• 10am – Hit up the Waitsfield Farmers Market
• 11am – Head to Hostel Tevere to await the the FREE Shuttle that will be running from 11:30am -5:30pm the Host to MRG
• 11:30 – Gates aren’t open yet, so take a Foliage Chair Lift Ride and get some crisp fall air in your lungs
• 1pm – Gates open! Woo Hoo!! Make sure you have your ID! Click here to read IMPORTANT INFO regarding tickets!
• 1:15 – Pick you your prepaid t-shirt (if you were smart enough to get one,) or simply stop in to the hopShop where you’ll find killer SIP merch as well as work from alena botanica, Montalto Functional Ceramics and New Duds. We are anticipating the hopShop getting busy so stop in sooner than later. They do take credit cards.
• 1:30 – Lowell Thompson and Buds takes the stage porch and start rockin’!
• 1:45 – If you Instagram, don’t forget to #SIPtemberfest!
• 2pm – Last Chair for Foliage Rides
• 2:15 – If you haven’t already, get yourself a raffle ticket or 10 for the MRPA drawing. Click here to read more about the awesome prizes you could win!
• 2:30 – Raffle Time! And if you were looking for some extra tokens, they go on sale from 2:30- 4pm
• 2:45 – Time for Food! We will have awesome food from The Sausage Guy (aka The Mad Taco and Three Penny Taproom,) The Skinny Pancake and ice cream from Scouts Honor! And the General Stark’s Pub will also be open serving up a great pub menu if you want to come in and take a break.
• 3:30 – If you haven’t picked up your hat or hoodie or t-shirt or beer mug or scarf, you best get your booty over to the hopShop before they sell out.
• 4:30 – Don’t dilly dally if you took the free shuttle here. Get on it! It only runs ’til 5:30 and while it’s always nice to walk off your beer consumption, Route 17 isn’t a very safe or easy road to walk on.
• 4:45 – LAST CALL!!
• 5pm – You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. We HIGHLY recommend you head to Hostel Tevere for the Prost Party where they have a k-i-l-l-e-r line up of beers as well as live music and awesome food planned! Be there!
• 5:30 – Last Shuttle!

Sunday

• 9am – Hit the snooze button 1-3 times
• 10am- Hangover Brunch at Hostel Tevere!
• 12pm – Fill up your tank at the Irasville Country Store.
• 12:30pm – Stock up on craft beer at Mehuron’s Market.
• 1pm – Take one last stroll along the Mad River Path
• 2pm – Choose a place from our regional Sponsors list to have your last meal of the trip before heading back to “reality.”
• 4pm – Drive Safely!
• 8pm – Check out the photos posted on Meg’s Events and sign up to get Fresh SIPs on siptemberfest.com so you get our posts emailed directly to you and know exactly when tickets go on sale next year!

Our Sponsors by the Region:

Mad River Valley

• Mehuron’s Supermarket – In addition to their great selection of groceries, Mehuron’s offers a wonderful selection of craft beers, wine and even hard stuff, including spirits from the distillers that will be at SIPtemberfest! You don’t want to miss stopping here on Sunday on your way home.
• Mad River Distillers – Speaking of spirits, the Valley’s latest beverage purveyor is making Rum – sweet delicious rum! You’ll get a chance to try their goods at SIPtemberfest but they will also be open for tours on Sunday so you might just have to visit them twice in one weekend!
• Mad Taco – Also known as Team SIPtemberfest’s office away from our office, this is a great place to stop for some serious eats and awesome beer. They also make mean margaritas… just sayin’.
• Hostel Tevere – Host to the Prost Party, the Hostel is an excellent choice for lodging, eating, drinking, generally awesome hanging out, etc. We hope to see you here after Last Call at SIPtemberfest.
• Mad River Glen – Where would we be without MRG!?! The crew at MRG is loaded with good ol’ hard workers who also have an appreciation for craft beer. Be sure to stop by their booth and learn more about the mountain and the community that makes it so gosh darn special!
• Irasville Country Store – If you need to get gas on your way in or out of the Valley, you should stop in here. You can also stock your cooler and grad something for the road while you’re at it!

Waterbury

• Prohibition Pig – Say you don’t have tickets to SIPtemberfest yet! Well get here on Friday night for a chance to win the last tickets available! While you’re at it, peruse their southern-influenced and delicious food menu, and be wowed by not only their tap list, but their crazy long beverage listing. Maybe you want a break from beer and instead would like a cocktail as an accessory while mingling at the bar. This is the place for a cocktail, and how. Their staff can help you pick out just the right blend of this, that and the other thing to match your meal or your mood or both!
• The Blue Stone – The newest restaurant in Waterbury is right up to par, offering a-ma-zing pizzas, wraps and much more, as well as a great selection of craft beers, including $5 Heady Toppers!

Montpelier

• Three Penny Taproom – The burgers and fries are an easy and reliable choice, but everything on the menu is awesome and pairs quite well with their extensive beer list.
• Positive Pie – Their pizza is, well, their bread and butter.  But pick out a delicious beer and you’ll find great menu full of delicious food to pair with it. Start with some garlic knots and you’ll be stylin’ all night.
• Hunger Mountain Coop – If cooking in is more your thing, stop here for a humungous selection of delicious groceries, a big big big bulk section and of course, a variety of craft beers for you to choose from.

Burlington Area

• Mule Bar – Located on the rotary in Winooski, the Mule Bar is the latest offering from the Three Penny Guy, so it’s no surprise that here you will find amazing food and amazing beers. Once you sit in their super comfy barstools, you might not leave.
• Logan’s of Vermont – This is the place to stop if you are looking for something to stay or to go. Great for sandwiches and much much more, they also have craft beers to pair with your meal, not the least of which would be Heady Topper. The perfect place to go if you want eat and drink at home, but you want someone else to cook for you!

About Yonder in Vermont

• Otter Creek Brewery – Middlebury – Not only does OCB offer quality year round brews such as their Copper Ale and Black IPA, they have a great selection of season beers and they are fully embracing their new collaboration with Lawson’s Finest Liquids: Double Dose, which will be at SIPtemberfest! Stop by their brewery for tours, lunch and more!
• Long Trail – Bridgewater Corners – Long Trail offers a great selection of beers from their every day year round varietals to their limited edition Brewmaster Series of offiering. Their Visitor Center Pub, is open daily for tours and retail as well as lunch!

Great businesses to check out, even if they don’t sell beer:

• Sperry Tents –Wait til you see the awesome tents we have at SIPtemberfest this year. After several soggy years, we finally decided to get a central tent, and of course that meant that we wouldn’t need it. But by getting a tent from Sperry, we knew that it would at least be gorgeous, rain or shine. If you are in need of tents in your future (for, say, a wedding, perhaps,) give these’s guys a call. And be sure to tell them you heard about them from us!
• New Duds – Have we mentioned that you should stop at the hopShop to pick up some cool SIPtemberfest and hops-inspired merchandise? Not only did these guys play a huge role in the creation of the SIP gear we have for you this year, they will also be selling some of their super cool hops t-shirts. If you miss out on their swag at the SIP, you can find their stuff online any time.

Vermont’s official state beverage is Milk. And while nothing goes better with a cup of cowboy coffee than some Vermont Farm Fresh, we think that there’s a strong case for changing our official state bevy to Craft Beer. The Green Mountains have more cows per capita than the rest of the country, but we also boast more breweries per capita than the entire Red, White and Blue. And in addition to having such a high concentration of craft brewers, we are home to some of the highest quality and most reputable beers and breweries in the world.  Vermont has serious quality in our quantity.

Vermont’s show of craft beer strength is due in large part to the support it has received and SIPtemberfest is a perfect example of that. There are tons of beer-lovers who are willing to travel from impressively far distances to taste the best beers they can find. Vermont has a crazy amount of passionate and talented brewers who love to share their brews with said beer-lovers. SIPtemberfest has always aimed to bring everyone to the party but this year with the generous support of the businesses who teamed up with us, we are pretty sure this will be the best SIPtemberfest ever!

Please be sure to thank these and all our sponsors for supporting SIPtemberfest and craft beer:

• Three Penny Taproom – If you are looking for a beergeekasm, this is your place. The beer list is off the hook. The staff know their scheisse. Our Montpelier ticket outlet is easily one of the best bars in the area. They again have teamed up with the crew at the  Mad Taco  (our Waitsfield ticket outlet) to bring the sausages on Saturday. The Taco served as host to many an afternoon taco and beer meeting, as did Mule Bar  (our Winooski ticket outlet, located conveniently near Costco.) The team behind this awesome trifecta has blended cool, classy and casual with quality craft beer and food to create these little slices of beergeek heaven.
• Hostel Tevere – Host to the SIP Post Prost Party, our Warren ticket outlet is the coolest bar you didn’t know about. Located near the bottom of the Sugarbush Access Road, Hostel Tevere makes for sweet apres spot whether there are fire flies or the snow flies. At the Prost Party you can expect some choice beers to be on tap so be sure to hit it up after SIPtemberfest!
• Prohibition Pig – If you are still empty handed, the last Unicorn SIPtemberfest tickets will be given away on at Prohibition Pig on FRIDAY!  And if you are just looking for a good beer to put in that hand, this is still the place to go. They have beer and food menus that will have you filling in every nook and cranny you and your svelte figure can manage. Our Waterbury ticket outlet and Beer Aficionado Sponsor is a top destination for quality food, beer, and atmosphere.  They mean it when they say “Meat Here,,” offering up a never boring, always delicious menu that will pair with their equally impressive drink list. With an awesome and knowledgeable staff you can get an education with every course!
• Mehuron’s Supermarket – This SIPtemberfest Beer Aficionado Sponsor offers a huge and quality selection of groceries with lots of local, all natural and organic options, they also house a huge beer (yes, you can find Heady Topper here – but don’t tell anyone!) and wine selection as well as the hard stuff. It’s the one and only stop you need to stock your beer fridge and your liquor cabinet full of beverages found at SIPtemberfest, as well as the rest of the groceries on your list!
• Mad River Distillers – The Mad River Valley’s newest beverage is Rum! Also one of our Beer Aficionado Sponsors, MRD is just at the beginning stages of their distilled offerings but they have plans for an amazing line up of spirits and intend to woo beer lovers to the dark side, or maybe just the aged or silver side. Be sure to swing by their booth, sample their goods and then come back for more!

Beer is tasty, isn’t it? Especially the craft beers that we will have at SIPtemberfest!

Unfortunately, beer is not as easy on the wasteline as it is on the taste buds. A nice refreshing craft beer can earn you somewhere between 200-500 calories per pint. While’s it by no means a steadfast rule of thumb, it’s pretty safe to say that the higher the ABV% of your beer, the more calories you have to work off (and no, pint curls aren’t going to cut it.)

So when SIPtemberfest teamed up with the Mad River Path Association  way back when, we had  ulterior motives for doing so. Sure they have a great mission: to build, maintain, and conserve a system of continuous public pathways from Warren to Moretown, and foster a healthy community by connecting the people, businesses and special places of the Mad River Valley. But really we just thought this would be a good way to balance out our calories in/calories out ratio. Drink beer: support a healthy life style!

Each of our brewers generously donate to the path and you can follow their lead! The MRPA will have a booth at SIPtemberfest and you can donate or become a member, or you can support the cause by simply get some raffle tickets!

The MRPA will be selling tickets on Saturday for only $1 each or $10 for an arm’s length worth. And for that bargain you could win one of the following three prizes:

• One Night’s Stay at the Pitcher Inn (with breakfast and afternoon tea included.)
• One Nights’ Stay at Lareau Farm Inn ~ Home of American Flatbread with dinner at American Flatbread  (there will be TWO of these packages being raffled off!)

Raffle tickets will benefit the Mad River Path. Thanks to the Pitcher Inn and American Flatbread/Lareau Farm Inn for their generous donations!

Don’t forget to bring your tickets, your IDs and your sunglasses this weekend! thanks and cheers!