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The Alchemist: Luscious (2018)

The Alchemist: Luscious

Style: British Imperial Stout

Special Notes: Made with 50% specialty malt for more flavor.

ABV: 9.2%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 4.27/5

We have a nice bit of deep, dark lusciousness on the Windowsill today!

Can you imagine a world without beer from Vermont’s The Alchemist? Well, back in 2011, their brewpub in Waterbury—this was long before the beautiful new facility in Stowe—was completely devastated by a flood. According to the Waterbury Record, the floodwaters “destroyed nearly everything in the Alchemist basement. A walk-in cooler, compressors, computers, the malt, beer, food, recipes—all were damaged beyond repair.”

Facing basically being out of business, owner John Kimmich was able to save two beers. Heady Topper and Luscious. Four days after the flood, Kimmich opened a temporary cannery. The Luscious and the Heady Topper helped save the company when it was released for 11/11/11. You can imagine why this beer holds a special place in Kimmich’s heart.

The Alchemist: Luscious
Like the label says, this one was truly luscious.(Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)

Well, now it holds a special place in my heart, too. I picked up this can all the way back in June, when I visited for @itsmeitsbmd1085’s bachelor party. This was my last can leftover from that trip. As bittersweet as that is, this beer definitely had no bitterness to it at all. Just luscious, sweet deliciousness. It’s a British-style imperial stout with a good kick and some great flavor to boot. One interesting note about this version that separates it from the ones brewed before 2017 is that Alchemist now works on a five-week-brewing cycle. Previous versions of the Luscious was often aged for 8, or even 12, weeks.

The ones you’re getting at their Stowe location these days are much younger. You can have them fresh, or age them a while. Mine spent almost seven months in the fridge, and it was still incredible!

Check this one out on Instagram, now! Be sure to like and follow Beers on Windowsills!

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. The Alchemist: Luscious (2018) . We have a nice bit of deep, dark lusciousness on the Windowsill today! . Can you imagine a world without beer from Vermont’s The Alchemist? Well, back in 2011, their brewpub in Waterbury—this was long before the beautiful new facility in Stowe—was completely devastated by a flood. According to @beerconnoisseurmag, the floodwaters “destroyed nearly everything in the Alchemist basement. A walk-in cooler, compressors, computers, the malt, beer, food, recipes—all were damaged beyond repair.” . Facing basically being out of business, owner John Kimmich was able to save two beers. Heady Topper and Luscious. Four days after the flood, Kimmich opened a temporary cannery. The Luscious and the Heady Topper helped save the company when it was released for 11/11/11. You can imagine why this beer holds a special place in Kimmich’s heart. . Well, now it holds a special place in my heart, too. I picked up this can all the way back in June, when I visited for @itsmeitsbmd1085’s bachelor party. This was my last can leftover from that trip. As bittersweet as that is, this beer definitely had no bitterness to it at all. Just luscious, sweet deliciousness. It’s a British-style imperial stout with a good kick and some great flavor to boot. One interesting note about this version that separates it from the ones brewed before 2017 is that Alchemist now works on a five-week-brewing cycle. Previous versions of the Luscious was often aged for 8, or even 12, weeks. The ones you’re getting at their Stowe location these days are much younger. You can have them fresh, or age them a while. Mine spent almost seven months in the fridge, and it was still incredible! . ABV: 9.2%, IBU: N/A, Rotating availability . @untappd says: 4.27/5

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The Alchemist: Crusher

The Alchemist: Crusher

ABV: 8.0%

IBU: 110

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 4.38/5

Crushing beers, and cans, on the Windowsill today!

Ever wonder why the symbol for The Alchemist is an R? No, it doesn’t stand for “Really awesome beer.” It’s actually not an R at all. It’s a stylistical re-imagining of the ancient alchemist symbol for fermentation. The name of the brewery was inspired by a friend of owner John Kimmich, who owned the Vermont Pub and Brewery. Kimmich has said: “In the Vermont Pub and Brewery’s old logo, there was a tiny symbol. [John’s friend] told me that it was the alchemical symbol for fermentation.” John and his wife loved that so much, they named their entire brewery after it, always trying to “turn matter into gold.”

As for the Crusher, wow. It’s a double IPA that Alchemist has been brewing since its old days as a brewpub. According to the can, hopheads were always asking for more and more hops. John gave them the Crusher. It’s super hop forward, with a really dry finish. Hazy, herbal, hoppy and delicious. I was unable to find out what hops are used, but some seem to think it’s Simcoe because of the oniony, herbal flavor and aroma. Really delicious DIPA.

Check out this brew, and all of my other awesome craft beer on instagram, now!

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The Alchemist: Skadoosh 23

The Alchemist: Skadoosh 23

Hops: Citra and Simcoe cryo hops

ABV: 7.0%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating (with different recipes)

@untappd says: 4.26/5

Is someone performing the Wuxi Finger Hold on the Windowsill today?

This past weekend, I fulfilled one of the dreams I’ve had ever since I got into the craft beer game: I visited The Alchemist. I got to Stowe, Vermont around 5:30 or so, and the lads and I immediately popped over to The Alchemist’s beautiful, state-of-the-art taproom—it opened officially in June of 2016—for a visit before closing. I was bowled over by the beauty of the building, the decorated tanks and artwork inside, and just how pristinely clean everything was. We quickly hustled over to the tasting bar, where they were pouring two-ounce samples of Heady Topper, Focal Banger and Holy Cow… for free! After we drank our samples, we all bought as much beer as we could carry and headed off to dinner. It was a brief visit, but at least I can say I’ve been. Bucket List Brewery visit…achieved!

Among the many cans of beer I purchased at Alchemist, was the Skadoosh. I did not know this before I drank it, but it turns out the Skadoosh is a rotating series of IPAs that Alchemist makes with different recipes every time. There have been 23 varieties up to this point, and I got variety 23—fresh from the canning line! This variety is interesting, in that it’s the first variety of Skadoosh to be 100% chyo-hopped. That means that only the concentrated lupulin of whole-leaf hops is used. You get all the intense hop flavor and aroma, without all the other stuff. The Skadoosh 23 uses Simcoe and Citra cryo hops. I really loved it. It’s super up front with the hops, but still very citrusy and tasty. Get down to Stowe and give it a try!

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