Heady at the Emmys: celebs enjoy local beer

What do actor Neil Patrick Harris and journalist James Fallows have in common?

Both apparently are fans of The Alchemist cannery’s high-profile brew, Heady Topper.

The hard-hitting double IPA brewed in Waterbury made appearances last week at the annual television Emmy Awards and on National Public Radio’s Marketplace, touchstones for two large pockets of popular culture that only partially overlap.

The Alchemist staff knew someone from the Emmy organization had picked up beer at the cannery, but being mentioned on NPR was a surprise, co-owner Jen Kimmich said.

“It’s fun. It is,” she said. “I just wish we had a little bit more beer.”

The golden liquid in the silver can is already ranked number one worldwide by crowd-sourced website Beer Advocate, despite only being sold at stores in Vermont, so it hardly needs the exposure. The cannery on Crossroad sells out of its product practically every week.

Four-packs of Heady greeted Harris, this year’s Emmy’s host, and other favored presenters in backstage break rooms during the live show on Sunday, Sept. 22. The “How I Met Your Mother” star and awards show favorite couldn’t get enough of it, the program’s dressing room coordinator told Burlington’s 7 Days last week.

Meanwhile, veteran journalist James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine, took a tour with Kimmich at the cannery during a visit to the state and filed an enthusiastic article.

“He was just tickled,” she said. “He had a really good time.”

Fallows later did an interview with Marketplace, telling host Kai Rysdall that Heady Topper has “a kind of magical unicorn quality.” Simply being able to purchase the beer was one of the perks — along with snowy slopes and premium ice cream — that drew high-tech talent to the state, he said, only partly tongue-in-cheek.

When The Alchemist posted photos showing off the cans under the glow at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater on its Facebook page last Wednesday, there were congratulations all around, flavored with a touch of snark. Several people posted comments wondering whether Hollywood stars were also held to the new one-case-per-person policy, which the company put in place last month to try to keep supply on hand as long as possible through the weekends for visitors.

In fact, two cases made it to the Emmy Awards, Kimmich said. But if Harris or anyone else bitten with the desire for Heady wants more, they will have to join the crowds already making the trek to Waterbury.