CRAZY FOR CRAFT!

IT’S REMARKABLE the lengths people will go to in order to get their hands on the legendary Heady Topper from the Alchemist Brewery in Vermont. The coveted beer, which received a perfect score from beer advocate, is so in demand that people will wait in line for hours to purchase it. One woman even drove 4OO miles just to get a taste. Brewer John Kimmich and his wife distribute approximately 2OOO cases a week, exclusively to nearby stores and bars, and it’s typically gone in hours. And it’s not just the Topper which has enthusiasts going to extremes for a sip. In California, fans wrap around two blocks to get the popular Pliny the Younger. Mariana Trench Beer is gone in hours when it’s released in Florida, and when the Glass Jug, in North Carolina, sold a series of rare sour ales, they made a week’s worth of revenue in one day. Perhaps the bubble will pop one day but that day seems a long, long ways off. America is officially cuckoo for craft.