HEADY TOPPER COMING BACK TO BOSTON

If you’ve ever had a Heady Topper–hell even a sip or a whiff of a Heady Topper–before you’ve even got to the bottom of the can, you’re already thinking of how you’re going to get more. Heady Topper, an Imperial IPA brewed by the Alchemist Brewery and Cannery in Waterbury, Vermont, is a luscious hop bomb, with wave after wave of grapefruit, citrus, grassy, and piney hops that’s as drinkable as it is bold.

It’s sold almost entirely in Vermont, in 16-ounce cans, but we’ve got some good news for Boston hopheads looking for their fix: more Heady Topper’s headed our way. Hallelujah!

Jen Kimmich, co-owner of the Alchemist along with her husband and brewmaster John Kimmich, posted a note this morning titled “A Distribution Strategy.”

“Everyone is asking when we will expand our distribution of Heady Topper.  Although we are unable to commit to any other market on a regular basis, we hope to occasionally spread some Heady around New England and beyond,” she wrote.

The good news follows: although they sell an incredible 80 percent of Heady Topper in Burlington, and haven’t been able to make a shipment out of the state in the last few months, they finally have some extra product, and some of it is destined for Boston.

Over the next eight weeks, Kimmich said, they will send palettes of Heady to Boston, Philadelphia, and New York; the palette sent for Boston will hopefully arrive in the next few weeks.

Kimmich also had some kinds words for the Boston beer market.

“This is a great market for us- lots of honest beer drinkers.

If we ever have enough Heady to expand our distribution on a regular basis, it will most definitely be Boston.”

I’m curious if, and when, they actually ever will have enough Heady to send anywhere on a regular basis outside of Vermont, but knowing that Boston is at the top of the list is a damned good thing. The last shipment was sent to around 30 bars in and around Boston, and prices ranged from $7 to $11 per can. There’s no word if any Heady will be sold at retail locations.

Once summer arrives, Kimmich said, they expect to sell all canned Heady Topper in Vermont. But just take that as an excuse to road trip it up to Waterbury, visit their cannery, and scope out the new pub and restaurant, the Prohibition Pig, which resides in the old Alchemist brewpub spot. (The impressive draft list  includes Hill Farmstead, Lawson’s Finest, and of course, Heady Topper.)

So here’s a huge high five to John and Jen Kimmich for making one of the best IPAs in the country, and thinking of all us “honest drinkers” who are thirsting for Heady Topper in Boston. We’ll wait for ya!