Hunger Mountain Coop

A nice, Vermont-style grano coop with a great beer selection. Not the largest in the state by any means and especially when Vermont offerings are concerned, but solid and focusing on quality. The occasional BackAcre or Lawson may pop out and that’s always a massive bonus. Totally recommendable if you drive in the area.

Visited around noon on a Thursday. Dedicated parking lot. They are in a more industrial part of town away from the city center. Big grocery store with an emphasis on quality and local sourcing of food and drink. They had a lot of great beer available, as well as plenty of great groceries. I picked up some cheese and spent quite a bit of time perusing the aisles. Some highlights of the beer aisle was lost nation, lawsons sip of sunshine, and a few mikkeller spontans. Worth checking out, and you could easily have a meal here if needed.

Visited in late afternoon on September 27, 2016. Similar to City Market Onion River Co-Op in Burlington, even smell like, but it is not in the downtown core. Although not big, quite a nice selection, mostly Vermont stuff, but no Heady and Lawson’s (delivery is on Thursdays and it was Tuesday). A smaller selection of none Vermont stuff, a couple of Allagash got my attention. As for the rest of what they sell, I was only here for the beer. Still a nice store to visit!

Visited on a cold Friday afternoon in October 2014 after a solo trip to HF. It’s a grocery store, so you have to make your way through young families, bread shelves and canned vegetables to reach the beer section. I’ve never been asked if I needed help. Actually, I was completely alone in the area, even if they had just received a fresh stack of 32 oz SoS. At least, the lady at the cashier was nice and kind. Good selection, lot of Vermont and Maine products, some barrel aged Evil Twin, small but nice imports selection(Rodenbach Caractère Rouge amongst others). Prices are good. Great place if you are nearby but there’s better options in Vermont.

We walked over to Hunger Mountain Coop from the centre of Montpelier for beer & food on a hot Monday afternoon. I imagine the primary reason people head here is for Heady Topper on a Thursday. We visited on a Monday and were rather impressed by the store as a whole. They have a great selection of quality local produce, so we picked up plenty of cheese and maple syrup. The beer selection spans a full aisle and a few fridges. They obviously are locally-focussed, but have a great selection of quality beer spanning the globe. We were lucky that they had very well-priced Lawson’s cans on our visit, so we stocked up! A must-visit venue in this part of the world.

Last place on my "beer trip" today, but actually visited first, just now getting to the review. So, its a grocery store, kinda hippie/liberal sort of thing going on. When the guy asked me if I was looking for anything and I replied, just checking the place out, he responded "groovy dude." Hmmm...must be Montpelier, probably couldn’t hang with my types, lol, yeah, smoke your pot and your pole, hippie, anyways, ambiance - yeah sure - nice. Selection - well, nothing that really stood out from what I’ve seen in the rest of Vermont. Decent value for the Montpelier area. Doesn’t seem like anything special, but nice to check out. I’ll stick my "country boy" stores.

Visited on a Friday afternoon in Apr-2013. Tons of local, state, and European beer selections. We were looking for more specific finds from the state area except they were out, but we happily picked up some packs of Heady Toppers. Took a while to look through everything as it’s spread out. Neat building and great coop concept. Would probably return if in the area but I’d rather load up at Hill Farmstead and just look here for other rarities. (3/8/12/NA/8/14) 74

Excellent selection for a grocery store. Many large format bottles to choose from breweries such as Allagash, Jolly Pumpkin and Crooked Stave. Of course, there’s a nice range of local stuff too. Worth a look.

Visited on a saturday early afternoon.

Ambiance: Nice coop grocery. Clean, well-organized and with a nice beer selection.

Service: Super friendly. There was somebody helping a customer in the beer section that seemed quite knowledgeable about craft beer.

Selection: Quite decent selection despite the fact it has probably been raided by people going to Lawson’s Farmers Market. They carry some Lawson’s, but they also had some tasty stuff like the delicious Crooked Stave Table Beer.

Food: I loved the food options there. The salad bar is amazing.

Value: Prices for both food and beers are super reasonable. Price on some beers were really cheap, other were in line what it is in the area.

Overall: A place I will visit anytime I’m in the are for both beer and food.

Visited on a Saturday afternoon. Organic-green-sustainable-coop grocery store with a nice beer selection. They were out of the whale VT IPA’s when I was there but I know that they’ve had Sip of Sunshine here before and they probably get Heady as well. The prices were really good, I was actually impressed by how cheap a lot of the stuff was. They also have some pretty tasty food, so it can be a good stop when planning a beer trip through VT.