When Vermonters stand in line to buy an IPA, that’s saying something. As the state with the most breweries per capita—more than 15 per 100,000 adult residents—Vermont is a craft beer wonderland, and Heady Topper, the unpasteurized, unfiltered double IPA from Alchemist Brewery, its biggest attraction. Bernie Sanders was photographed holding one of its distinctive black and white cans, labeled in vintage concert-poster style, on his grassroots campaign trail for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
Alchemist brewmaster and cofounder John Kimmich (along with his wife, Jen) is widely considered the pioneer of hop-heavy, hazy IPA, now known as New England style, and has never filtered a beer since opening in 2003. That was not a typical practice at a time when most craft breweries were filtering for clarity. Nor was packaging an unfiltered IPA in a can, let alone a 16-ounce can. Heady Topper was the first.
“Other brewers told us we were making a mistake,” says Jen. “But to reduce packaging material, do something unique—one full pint in one can—and set a premium price, we knew this was the format to go with. Judging by the number of 16-ounce 4-packs in coolers these days, I think we got that part right.”
Consistently rated one of the best IPAs in the world, Heady Topper is produced in limited supplies, triggering a demand that sustains the brew’s cult status. Jen recalls a request from the Games of Throne’s production team. “The cast was having a debate about the best beer in the world, and the writers, who are American, are fans. So, we sent them some Heady Topper and lucky for us, we got to visit the production sets in Belfast.”
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