Beercation Part 6 (Bonus) – The Blackback Pub

There were no more brewery visits left on our Vermont Beercation, but we made one more stop that delighted us. A modest little bar, called the Blackback Pub in Waterbury VT, made a fitting end to our tour. Appropriately fitting because they serve highlights from breweries in the area, like Hill Farmstead and Lawson’s. Having drinks at the Blackback is like taking a victory lap back around to some of the breweries you just saw, all from the comfort of one barstool.

Oh, and Blackback isn’t just a pub. It’s also a flyshop. Of course! The owner is a fly fishing guide who sells – as I’m told – top quality flies for local streams as well as new Hardy rods and reels and classic bamboo fly rods.”

How quintessential Vermont is that? I know zero about bamboo fly rods, Hardy thingamajiggers, or fishing in general, so I’ll stick to the beer.

But the quirkiness doesn’t end there. While they’ve never had a full menu, and historically only served plates of local cheeses, or pizzas from a local bakery, they have started to serve up some pretty satisfying sushi every Tuesday through Friday. Random? Yes. Tasty? Surprisingly, yes! More on that later. 

The Blackback’s tap list is said to vary in size from maybe ten to twenty-five beers depending on the day. They don’t always carry twenty-five beers on tap because, as they put it, “sometimes there aren’t twenty-five beers available that are good enough.” You have to love the standard they set for themselves.

Many quality beer bars will state that they carry no “fizzy yellow stuff”, “filler”, or “swill”. And you know the mass-produced beers they’re referring to. However, Blackback goes a step further and claims to not only refrain from offering “filler,” but also no “garbage craft beer.” I love them more for that. Because let’s face it, some breweries get a free ride into our craft-loving hearts only because their operation is small. When we step back and look at what they’re making, we realize they’re merely riding the craft beer wave with a mediocre product. That product may still be something we want to support over a mass produced beer from a bullying conglomerate, but with so many options on the shelves today, mediocrity doesn’t deserve too many of our dollars.

During our visit, Blackback’s tap selection offered approximately twelve selections. You can tell each beer is hand selected with reason. I much prefer this approach from a beer bar, rather than throwing 100 taps at me with a mix of good, bad, and pedestrian offerings that sit too long.

Allow me to illustrate how divine Blackback’s tap list is. One of my absolute favorite beers is Double Trouble from Founders Brewing. It’s a seasonal beer only on shelves during a few months out of the year. So I can’t get it whenever I want it. I’ve seen it on tap maybe once in my life. Well, the fine folks at the Blackback had it on tap, and my eyes lit up. But I didn’t order it. Because the other tap offerings were even more attractive.

When I see multiple offerings on tap from Hill Farmstead and Lawson’s, knowing that I can’t find those back home (not even in bottles, let alone on tap), even a beer like Double Trouble has to take a back seat. Other beers you can generally depend on Blackback to have at any point in time include a quality Belgian sour, a couple choice German offerings, something from Mikkeller, perhaps a barleywine, a benchmark west coast ipa, you get the idea.

The Hill Farmstead offerings on tap during our visit included Edward (the best pale ale I’ve ever had), Harlan (their solid flagship IPA), and their Imperial Galaxy double IPA. Having never tried the latter, we got that and savored every drop. Unsurprisingly, it was an amazing brew that showcased the power of Galaxy hops wonderfully. It also proved that the IPAs coming out of Hill Farmstead consistently draw new lines in the sand.

On tap from Lawson’s Finest Liquids was Big Hapi India Black Ale and the Permagrin Rye Pale Ale. We already had Permagrin, so we tried Big Hapi. Earthy citric hops and roasty chocolate malts shined and mingled perfectly to make this a winner.  

So I mentioned sushi. Yes it’s worth mentioning again. Tuesdays through Fridays you can order surprisingly yummy sushi from a guy named Steve. Turns out, the Blackback (already a small place) was once half its current size. The newer half originally belonged to a sushi restaurant. Blackback bought out the sushi place but hired their chef to cook for bar patrons on weekdays. It seems the deal works out swimmingly for both parties.

The sushi, coupled with the excellent beers in hand, oddly made for a very tasty and fun meal. We would not for a second hesitate to have it again when back in the area.

The one unfortunate thing about the Blackback is their habit of serving short pours. I did see other patrons with full pint glasses of some beers, but anyone who ordered Hill Farmstead or Lawson’s did not have a full pour. It’s possible that beers higher in alcohol (i.e. double IPA such as Hill Farmstead Imperial Galaxy) are not served in full pours here, while the other beers are. This lead me to believe Vermont had a law regarding pour sizes for beverages above a certain alcohol level, but a quick web search turns up no mention of this. Perhaps Hill Farmstead and Lawson’s are simply too popular at the Blackback to allow for full pours. It’s a big gripe I had, but we looked past it to not let it undermine our evening. But if you go, be forewarned. Despite the short pour, everything else about the Blackback is loveable.

Side note: Directly across the street from the Blackback is Prohibition Pig; the new restaurant that inhabits the old location of the Alchemist – brewer of the mind-blowingly good "Heady Topper" double IPA. Prohibition Pig was not completely open yet during our visit, but I believe it is now. A premier beer list still lives there, so it’s worth checking out.

We say aur revoir to our Vermont beercation. If you haven’t been to the “Northeast Kingdom” of Vermont, start making plans. The fact that it’s out of the way just provides good reason to make an entire trip out of visiting its breweries. And one thing is for certain – we learned they’re too good to not ever visit again. And again...and...

Blackback Pub

1 Stowe St. (corner Of Stowe And Main)Waterbury, VT 05676
ph: (802) 505-5115
www.blackbackpub.com

Beercation Part 5 – Hill Farmstead Brewery

Our northern Vermont “beercation” nears its climactic end. On a leg of the tour that proved to be both trying and rewarding, we visited a very small brewery that many hardcore beer fans would not only declare tops in New England, but also rank as one of our country’s elite. The brewery’s called Hill Farmstead and DBNE was more than a little anxious to finally see it.

To be honest I was not aware of Hill Farmstead during the first few years that I became passionate about craft beer, because it’s not a name one sees casually in stores or at their neighborhood watering hole. Why? Because outside of a few bottles occasional showing up in a store in Montpelier VT, the only place to buy their beer is at the brewery. And trust me when I tell you this – you do not live near Hill Farmstead. Its locale defines the phrase “out of the way.”

Already deep in northern Vermont, DBNE left its temporary base in Waterbury to trek even deeper into Vermont’s “northeast kingdom”. Ninety minutes deeper in fact, up to Greensboro VT. We saw little else in Greensboro other than trees, and I don’t remember more than two cars passing by. As we motored down the highway in the middle of nowhere, there was a small dirt road off to the side that was hardly marked. I'd heard this was the sign that we were two miles from the brewery and that from here on we had to travel on dirt roads that were, at times, mud pits. They were. And our car still hasn’t forgiven us.

We arrived at the brewery only a few minutes after their scheduled opening time, and meandered confusingly around the almost abandoned-looking property searching for an entrance to their tasting room. After accidentally opening the door to the brewery’s back room, we eventually found our way to the correct door around the side of the building. Head brewer, Shaun Hill, was right inside the door, on Facebook. Who knew Facebook was known this far up in Vermont?

Shaun’s a humble-looking young guy. He’s just thirty-two years old, but has worked a number of years in breweries, both domestically and abroad at Nørrebro Bryghus in Denmark. His beer is praised and he has begun to acquire  minor celebrity status among hardcore beer geek circles. His personality conveys that he’s aware of how highly he’s spoken about. Yet, it seems he’s uncomfortable with it. We easily got the sense that he’s tired of media calling him for redundant profile stories, and would let out a big sigh if he had to explain the history of Hill Farmstead again. Instead, he motions to an article about his story posted on the wall that you can read. 

His initial timidness seems to be a natural reaction he has towards anyone who he meets for the first time. You can tell he wondered if we’re going to be one of the annoyingly chatty visitors who loiter for too long, one of the jerks who resell his beer for astronomical prices on eBay, or a genuine visitor simply interested in tasting his beers.

I guess we won his approval because in the end he became friendlier. To Shaun’s defense, he mentioned when we arrived that he had to handle the tasting room in addition to brewing today; as if the guy who typically handles tastings and bottle purchases called in sick. So in between pouring something for us to taste, he would run back and forth between kettles and tanks to add hops, move hoses, tweak equipment settings, etc. He was definitely busy, but encouraged us to shout out questions as he worked. And at one point, on top of a short ladder across the room, he had a bucket of Columbus hops in his hand and asked us in pure giddiness, “have you ever smelled raw Columbus hops before!?” We said no and he came down from his ladder and eagerly brought the bucket over to us so we sink our faces into it.

Many of Shaun’s beers are named after family members, and when I pointed to an old black and white photo of what looked like relatives, he smiled, stopped what he was doing, and happily explain who the people were in the picture.

Speaking of the beers, we tasted six. And they all live up to the hype.

First was “Edward,” which I had once before, and is easily the best pale ale I’ve ever had. Arguably, it has one leg in IPA land and blurs the lines between the two styles like no other. Its rustic full body and amazing hop profile trick you into thinking you’re drinking something bigger than just a 5.2% ABV pale ale.

Next was “Harlan.” Shaun’s most common IPA. Out of all of Shaun’s beers we’ve had, this is my least favorite, but it’s still very good and I would never turn it down. Looking almost like a Belgian Wit, it offers a pleasant, yet somewhat subdued, tropical aroma and flavor. This is an easy-drinking IPA at 6.0%ABV.

Not named after a relative, the next beer, called “Columbus,” is named for the one hop type it uses (typically beer is brewed with multiple hop varieties.) This was another pleasant IPA, though unlike Harlan, its flavor and aroma offer more earthy, spicy, and resiny notes.

Back to family-named homages, we then tasted “Abner,” a double IPA. One of my favorite styles, this version is a knockout. Big tropical notes dance over a dank hop undertone. And its earthy malt profile comes across a bit chewy. This one is beyond satisfying.

One of my other favorite styles is a Porter, and Shaun’s version, called “Everett,” is a homerun. It’s a robust Porter sitting at 7.5%, which is just shy of imperial level. So it’s most similar to something like Smuttynose’s Robust Porter. Everett could not be any smoother. It’s very full bodied. Thick even. But it drinks like silk. The flavor brings to mind Nutella, oats, nuts, and dark chocolate, but with a touch of acidic hop in the front of it all. Its alcohol is more hidden than Smuttynose’s version.

Lastly we tasted a wonderfully decadent black IPA called “Society and Solitude 2.” It blends pine and a little orange with heavily roasted coffee and charred unsweetened chocolate. Because of its full flavor and the 9.5% ABV, it’s more of a sipper.

We purchased a few bottles to take home. We wanted a bottle of everything, but Hill Farmstead is a cash-only establishment, and we only had $41 on us. We wound up with 750ml bottles of Edward and Abner, a smaller bottle of Everett, and pre-bottled, honey-infused saison called Anna that we didn’t get to try during our visit as it wasn’t on tap.

Just as we started to make our purchases and head out, other people started to pour into the room that, until that point, we had all to ourselves. I could see Shaun beginning to get mildly irritated from a couple of the questions a new visitor was asking, as if he was thinking to himself, “what do you mean what's the difference between the two beers...the answer’s right on the board in front of you!”

Just minutes after looking annoyed in the tasting room, Shaun gave us a cheerful wave as we drove away. And that perfectly sums up our interaction with him. He’s a genuinely nice guy who at times maybe feels victimized by the hype his skillful craft brings him, and annoyed at the same silly questions he always gets. At one moment he conveys a child-like friendliness, then another moment he struggles socially, or looks aggravated. But we don’t fault him for it. When he claims that he enjoyed the craft beer scene more a few years ago, I assume he’s indirectly referring in to the hype his beers have gained since that time, and wishes he didn’t have to always deal with it.

Normally, I wouldn’t talk so much of the brewer and inadvertently raise the pedestal that others put them on. I prefer to let the beers speak for themselves. But Shaun was just too interesting of a character during our visit to not talk about him here. 

Ultimately, while Hill Farmstead is a chore to get to, it’s absolutely worth visiting at least once to taste tremendous beers straight from the source. Heck, you have to visit it if you want to actually buy their beer. If you go, bring cash and a four-wheel drive vehicle. 

Side Note – there is one other business we were aware of in Greensboro before driving through “town”. Do you like cheese? Then familiarize yourself with Cellars at Jasper Hill. These skillful people produce the most delicious and complex cheese I’ve ever tasted. Named “Winnemere,” this cheese is washed in Hill Farmstead beer, wrapped in tree bark, and looks like the pasty glue you smeared all over your hands in 3^rd grade art class. It is divine. 

Jasper Hill also takes a pedestrian cheddar from Cabot, wraps it in muslin, brushes it with lard, lovingly ages it for fourteen months, then hands it back to the folks at Cabot with – as I like to envision it – an unprompted “you’re welcome,” because it’s a million times better than its original state. I swear they use a magic wand somewhere in that process. Although we discovered that the Jasper Hill farm was very close to Hill Farmstead, we didn't see it. Turns out they don’t have a visitor’s center, anyway. I was upset at first but realized it was best to let Jasper Hill exist only as it does in my imagination – a Willy Wonka-like wonderland of cheese wheels and whistling elves who never stop smiling and often break into song.

Hill Farmstead Brewery

403 Hill Rd
Greensboro Bend, Vermont, 05842-8813
Ph: (802) 533-7450

www.hillfarmstead.com/

Beercation Part 4 - Rock Art Brewery

After our visit to the scenic Trapp Family Brewery, DBNE trekked up to Morrisville to visit Rock Art. If you go there, note their new address posted on their website because Google maps doesn't know it yet. If you type “Rock Art Brewery” into your GPS, it will send you to their old address. Luckily their new location is on the way to the old location so if your eyes are peeled enough (ours weren’t) you’ll see it on your left coming from the south.

Rock Art is a comfortable brewery to visit. It’s on a main road (as “main” as they come in this neck of the woods), with its own parking lot and a shiny new visitor’s center that runs as a store. Aside from bottles and growlers of their own beer, the store also sells a few Vermont food items (cheeses, dipping sauces and spreads in tiny-therefore-cute bottles), handmade wooden trinkets, and other Vermont-themed randomness completely unrelated to beer. You can even outfit your entire body with an array of Rock Art apparel like hats, shirts, jackets, and sweat pants. I didn’t look close enough but I wouldn’t be surprised to also find Rock Art boxer shorts there, too. I mean, what better piece of clothing is there to promote their barleywine called “Vermonster”?

We showed up for a 4pm tour that their website promoted. But when we arrived we were told there was no tour. Disappointing. If you plan to visit and are hoping for a tour, call ahead and ensure it’s really happening. Their website still advertises the 4pm tour but who knows if it’s true.

Luckily, tastings are always available. For $4 you get two-ounce tastes of four or five beers and a souvenir glass to take home. Now, we need another souvenir glass like we need another bill to pay. I’d rather just pay $1 for samples and let them keep the glass. But if you have room in your cabinet, this is a fine deal.

The tasting area is a full-size bar that makes the focal point of the room. We saddled up to it and tasted their Whitetail blonde ale, a mild barleywine called RidgeRunner, a stronger barleywine called Vermonster, their Pumpkin Stout, and American Red.

To be honest, Rock Art beers in general don’t often excite. The blonde, Pumpkin Stout, and American Red don’t’ stand out in their own respective crowd, and RidgeRunner – while tasty enough – has confused people. If you look at RidgeRunner as a unique Imperial Red of sorts, you may be happy. But if you’re looking for a typical barleywine, you may be disappointed. Rock Art claims Ridgrunner is a British barleywine, and it may or may not be to style. We’ve can’t recall tasting another “British barleywine” so we have little to compare it to. But ultimately, RidgeRunner is a tasty enough brew to purchase once.

Us Americans are used to bigger barleywines; ones with double-digit ABVs. And that’s the territory where Vermonster sits. At 10%ABV, Vermonster is the second-best beer DBNE has ever tasted from Rock Art. Despite a lack-luster appearance, its bold flavors conjure a mix of pine, candied dark fruits, orange zest, and tobacco. Compared to other barleywines, it doesn’t beat all of the competition, but it’s still one of Rock Art’s best and worth a purchase.

So if Vermonster is second-best, what’s #1? We say that spot belongs to the Double Smoked Porter. It was not offered at our tasting, but was purchased not long ago and it exceeded our expectations. It has a wonderful aroma of smoky grain, burning cedar, plus a little mocha and charcoal. The flavor is woodsy, slightly charred, with additional faint notes of dark chocolate and coffee beans. The more it warms up, the more smoke is noticed. If you see it, give it a shot, as it easily stands next to some of the best Baltic porters we’ve tried.

Rock Art may not be the crown jewel of breweries in northern VT. But they make honest beers with a couple highlights.  They’re a staple in the local beer scene and their generosity to lend materials has been noted by their fellow VT brewers nearby. Any beer tour in VT’s northeast kingdom is not complete without a stop at Rock Art. Just make sure you make room for another souvenir pint glass in your cabinet because you’re getting one whether you like it or not.

Rock Art Brewery

632 Laporte Rd/Rt 100

Morrisville, Vermont

www.rockartbrewery.com

Open 9:00am - 6:00pm Monday - Saturday ($4 tastings until 5:30pm)

Beercation Part 3 - The Trapp Family Brewery

Stop three of our tour brings us to a storybook place no beer fan or movie buff should pass up while in the Stowe area - The Trapp Family Lodge.

This lodge was founded in 1950 by the vocally talented Von Trapp family (also known as the “Trapp Family Singers”).  They originally fled Germany in 1942 after their home was confiscated by the Nazis. Years later, Maria von Trapp, the family’s mother, wrote a book called “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers” that was eventually adapted into a play. That play was later developed into a motion picture you may have heard of, called “The Sound of Music.”

While the movie was filmed in Europe and not Vermont, the Lodge’s grounds in Stowe make you believe that parts of the film could have been filmed there. We can pretend at least. It’s easy to. Because when you get out of your car atop the large hill that the Lodge is perched on and gaze out over treetops to mountains in the distance, you may find yourself saying “The hills are alive! …with the delicious aroma of malted barley and fermenting sugars.”

In the 1970’s, Joannes Von Trapp – the youngest child of the singing family – took over management of the Lodge. He eventually moved to British Columbia and then Montana, but later returned to manage the family business again. Then just about a decade ago, he had a novel idea. He wished to brew his own beer for the resort’s guests. The vision was to brew American versions of the native lagers he enjoyed during trips back to his ancestral home in the Austrian countryside.

I like the way this man thinks.

His dream became a reality in 2010. The Trapp Family Brewery opened in a small building known as the resort’s “DeliBakery,” which is detached from the lodge itself. The actual brewing happens on the bottom level while the café to enjoy beers and food is upstairs.

As you enter the building, you immediately walk into the deli where you can order sandwiches, small plates, baked goods, coffee, tea, and their homemade lager. I didn’t realize this until later, but customers can also walk right through the deli, past the adjoining dining area, and into a bar area with a handful of seats. It seemed you could saddle up and order beers and grub here as well.

The DeliBakery is simple, yet quaint in Austrian character. Its wooden tables, booths, and chairs look handmade with touches of traditional Austrian and Bavarian-styled carpentry. While the dining area is almost all wood, the bar room is contrasted by an all-glass wall that looks into a modern kitchen where cooks bake doughy European-style treats and tasty lunch grub.

Attached to the bar area is outdoor deck with seating that offers fine views. I couldn’t help but think that on a nice summer’s day the deck must be an enjoyable spot on which to kill time with a brew and sandwich. It was a bit too raw on the day DBNE visited to experience this, but it gives us enough reason alone to visit again in warmer months.

Time for adult beverages and chow.

We purchased our beer and food from the deli area and then sat ourselves at a booth in the bar room. Food was brought out to us from the kitchen within five or ten minutes.

There were four house lagers available to us and we tried them all. I’ll say right now that you can do no wrong ordering any of their beers. They’re all excellent and taste like traditional benchmark representations for their styles.

Their Dunkel Lager had the perfect level of caramel malt, breadiness, and earthy grain. It made me realize I hadn’t tasted something so on-point to style in a long time.

The Vienna Lager was properly brassy in appearance and offered the exact flavors one would expect from the Vienna style. Notes of cereal, toffee, and floral hops were in precise proportion. Another two thumbs up.

Their helles-style lager was surprisingly good. I expected this one to bore me as it’s hard to make a helles exciting. But for such a modest and light style of beer, theirs was as packed with flavor as one could hope for while still staying in helles territory. Its notes of honey, cracker, and grassy hops made this crisp and refreshing without tasting the least bit lame.

Lastly, and best of all, their schwarzbier called “Trostenbier” was superb. It ranks right up there with some of the best schwarzbiers and black lagers I’ve ever tasted. It offered big roasted grains with a touch of smoke and an undercurrent of unsweetened bakers cocoa. Faintly spicy hops provide just the right amount of bitterness. It’s clean and super drinkable.

These lagers are impressive. Are there more creative takes on these styles? Sure. Creativity now runs rampant in American craft brewing. But the Trapp Family Brewery showed me that the ability to nail a traditional take on these European styles is just as exciting. Refreshing, in fact. Their ingredients may have something to do with it. The brewery imports all their barley and whole-flower hops from Germany, where many of the beer styles they brew originated. (Side Note: An effort is underway to revive the cultivation of these particular hops and barley varietals in New England, with new strains adapted to the local climate.)

But is there something else at play that’s helping their lagers taste so accurate to their European roots?

Maybe this: The source of the water for Trapp lagers is an artesian well located near the brewery. It’s said that well water has chemical qualities similar to Austrian spring water, making it ideal for brewing European style lagers. I’ll believe it.

A quick note on food: The steak sandwich I had here was another reason our visit was so enjoyable. My sandwich was not your typical sloppy steak and cheese monstrosity from your local pizza joint. This was an easily digestible, artisanal steak sandwich, well-season, and topped with chimichurri sauce. I’d be happy to get it again.

After an absolutely pleasant experience at the Trapp Family Brewery, we’re eager to visit again. But for now, we continue our tour northward and stop in Morrisville VT. Here, we stepped into the Rock Art Brewery, which is our focus in Part IV to come. 

Trapp Family Brewery at the Trapp Family Lodge

700 Trapp Hill Road

Stowe, Vermont 05672

www.trappfamily.com

Beercation Part 2 - The Alchemist

Part II of our northern Vermont journey sees us heading straight for the town of Waterbury. Here, one can visit two amazing places within short walking distance. That’s the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream factory, and The Alchemist Cannery.

After a brief visit to Ben and Jerry’s to ingest creamy, fatty, deliciousness, we waddled into The Alchemist. The Alchemist used to be known as a loved brewpub, and it sat at a different location in town. Unfortunately, Hurricane Irene wasn’t kind to it. The storm blew through Waterbury and flooded many businesses, including The Alchemist, which could not re-open in its original state. (Note – The Alchemist’s original space is now open as another pub called Prohibition Pig, run by different people).

Thankfully, Jen and John Kimmch, owners of The Alchemist, previously began building a cannery at a location spared by Irene’s wrath. Perfect timing. The cannery opened days after Irene checked out of town.

The Alchemist cannery is a modest building located on a quiet side street off of a busy Rt 100. As you drive up to it, you’ll notice a tall, skinny, simple sign at first that simply says “brewery.” This is where John Kimmch does just one thing; brews his double IPA (DIPA) named Heady Topper.

The facility has a small tasting room and retail shop where one can buy Heady Topper in four-packs, though many people buy it by the case. This beer is extremely popular among beer geeks, and after I had my first taste of it just weeks before, I saw why. Heady Topper is not the most bitter or alcoholic DIPA (8% ABV), but it offers serious layers of citric hop goodness with astounding drinkability for the style.

It’s interesting – if you were on a white-sand Caribbean beach, a stronger beer style such as a DIPA is not typically the alcoholic drink you’d fancy, right? Heady Topper disrupts this idea. Its hop flavors remind me of tropical vacations with a touch of northern pine and raw tea leaves. If I could buy Heady Topper on the next tropical beach I lay on, you would have a hard time convincing me that life gets any better.

Heady Topper costs you $12.00 for a four pack of 16 oz. cans. Or, you can buy one can (if you’re lame) and pay $3.75.

That’s right, their beer comes in cans. Why? Cans are an often misunderstood vessel in the beer world. They’re associated with mass-produced, sub-par beer and craft brewers don’t often use them. But canned craft beer is becoming a trend, and many beer enthusiasts argue that it’s a more ideal way to package beer. Cans are said to better protect beer from sunlight (beer’s enemy), and don’t leak oxygen as easy as bottles.

“Our state-of-the-art canning line allows us to preserve and protect our beer against the impact of UV light and oxygen,” states The Alchemist. “Our cans are environmentally friendly. They take less energy to produce, ship, and recycle.”

One last element to Heady Topper’s personality that’s worth mentioning is the claim that’s written near the top of the can. The words “DRINK FROM THE CAN!” are written in bold, capital letters. This goes against what almost every beer geek practices and it causes debates.

Us geeks always pour our beers in glasses to appreciate a beer’s appearance. This allows the formation of head to occur which releases the beer’s aromatics. I’ve come to enjoy this element of beer consumption just as much as tasting it. So where does Heady Topper get off telling us to drink straight from the can without letting it decant and develop in a proper glass? I don’t know, but I love it. I drank it from the glass and I drank it from the can; when something tastes so supremely good, it doesn’t matter how you consume it. And after the debates subside, that’s something many beer fans can agree on.

After visiting The Alchemist cannery, and skiing on slush for two sun-drenched days, DBNE continued its brewery tour at a place that exhibits grandeur and Austrian charm - The Trapp Family Brewery. 

The Alchemist Cannery
35 Crossroad
Waterbury, VT 05676

Phone: (802) 244-7744

www.alchemistbeer.com

Beercation Part 1 - Lawson's Finest Liquids

If you’re a wine lover looking to go on a wine-focused vacation, you probably look at California. You could, of course, go to various spots in Europe. But if you want to stay in the U.S., California is probably top of mind before other states like Washington, Oregon, and New York. And with good reason. It’s fantastic, as DBNE experienced not long ago, and I yearn to soon again frolic in its bucolic rolling hills under the spell of rich zins, bold cabs, and leathery sangiovese.

But what about beer geeks? Where are we supposed to trek in our own country to visit world-class breweries in one geographic area? Where can we taste the most citric American IPAs, luscious porters, and complex barleywines all within driving distance? If you asked ten beer fans, I bet reaching a consensus wouldn’t be as easy as with wine lovers. Beer geeks may suggest California, Colorado, Michigan, or New England. Those all sound great. But DBNE can personally advocate for one of those (surprise, surprise).

Of course I’m talking about New England. But where exactly?

Picture a rainbow. A rainbow with an end. And that end is found – pot of gold and all – in the northern half of Vermont. With more breweries per capita than any other state, all of Vermont is worth mentioning, not just the north. Southern Vermont is home to Madison Brewing, Northshire Brewery, and McNeill’s Brewery (creators of a porter I adore), but the majority of Vermont breweries lie in central or northern territories.  

DBNE made a spring ski trip to the Stowe area. Due to weather, skiing ended abruptly and we suddenly had more time on our hands than anticipated to visit breweries. Not a terrible tradeoff.

Overall, the quality of beer we experienced was hardly short of amazing.

On the way to Stowe, we planned a stop in the town of Warren; a place tucked away in hillsides, practically hiding from the rest of civilization. Warren is home to a store named – you may want to sit down for this – “The Warren Store”. While we love poking in New England country stores, we stopped by The Warren Store for one purpose; score some of the acclaimed “Lawson’s Finest Liquids”. This beer is made by Sean Lawson near his home in Warren, but due to the tiny size of his operation the brewery does not offer tours or tastings. The only place to purchase Lawson’s beer is typically at The Warren Store, where Sean personally drops off bottles every Friday morning. One may also sometimes find Lawson’s beer at the Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier, and the Beverage Warehouse in Winooski VT, but The Warren Store is the shop most associated with the beer.

This is a quintessential New England country store with a potpourri of items for purchase; from cheese to clothes to beer to, well, potpourri itself. The store used to accept bottle reservations for Lawson’s beer, but as of recently no longer do. Your safest bet to ensure you get bottles for yourself is to get there as soon as possible on Friday or Saturday. You’re only allowed to purchase four bottles, and supposedly the store has no idea what beer Sean will drop off that week. 

As it's widely declared that all of Sean’s beers reach varying levels of greatness, I wasn't overly concerned with the exact beers he dropped off that weekend. Whatever it was, as long as there was some left, I'd buy it. 

Turned out the fresh batch delivered the day before was his Permagrin Rye Pale Ale, and about half of it was left. This is one of the two Lawson’s beers DBNE has previously tasted. (Last year at the American Craft Beer Festival in Boston, Lawson offered tastings of Permagrin and their Double Sunshine IPA. The latter was the highlight of the festival for us.) 

We bought three 22oz bottles of Permagrin ($7 each), and one bottle of another of Lawson’s beer that seemed left over from a previous shipment – the Oak Aged Fayston Maple Imperial Stout. This beer comes in a large wax-dipped bottle and robs you of $25. I’m sure that price tag has something to do with its slowness to leave the shelf, though there were only a few left. 

Our Fayston bottle is aging, but we did consume our Permagrins relatively fresh. Below are brief tasting notes:

Appearance: Foggy amber in color. Off-white head, one finger in size. 

Aroma: Earthy, layered grain profile showcases rye. A little caramel is present. The rye isn’t overpowering. The hops take an earthy route and offer grass notes in the background.

Taste: Fairly robust for a pale ale. Dry grains with sweet caramel notes prevail. Earthy hops provide balance and a little bitterness on the finish. If there was more of a citric hop presence this beer would elevate to an elite level.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with a dry, short finish.

Overall: If Permagrin’s bottle didn’t promote the contents to have a nice blend of “generous” hops, I would have no complaints whatsoever with this beer. But while I was very pleased with it – loved the rye notes – I hoped its hop profile would be a bit more acidic. However, that may be unfair because I subconsciously compared it to Founders Red’s Rye PA; another rye pale ale that I consider to be perfection in a glass. Lawson’s comes close to the Founders offering. And while I would still choose the Founders version over Permagrin, the latter is still well made and worth your money.

Leaving The Warren Store, we pointed our GPS to the next brewery on our trip – The Alchemist Cannery in Waterbury. This brewery spends all its time and effort making just one beer as perfect as can be. Heady Topper is that beer and it owns Part 2 of our journey to be continued…

The Warren Store
284 Main Street
Warren, Vermont, 05674
Phone: (802) 496-3864
Open 7 days a week. 8:00am - 6:00pm
www.warrenstore.com

Those Darn Frozen Glasses

Dear Bartender,

I see you have a nice beer selection – great! I'm excited to indulge. But you’re doing it a disservice. When you serve those delicious craft beers in frozen glasses, you may as well be stabbing that hand-crafted love in the heart.  

When something is ice cold, it’s difficult to taste. The American behemoth breweries know this, and encourage their customers to consume their product ice cold. They even go so far as to create visual cues on their containers to help customers ensure the beer inside is as frigid as possible, thereby void of flavor.

They seem well aware that some customers find their beer’s flavor unappealing. These are customers who don’t know any better (to no fault of their own), and are conditioned to believe all beer must be drank ice cold.

Just the other day, a woman at work said, “I don’t generally like the flavor of beer…when I have one every now and then it has to be ice cold.” Unfortunately this co-worker of mine, like many others, fall victim to the conditioning of American beer advertisements.

Providing frozen glasses to patrons of mass produced light lagers makes perfect sense. But for me and other craft lovers who want to embrace the flavor of our beers, a frozen glass is not welcome. If I want ice cold refreshment on a hot day, I’d order an ice water or soda.

You want me to wait until my frozen beer warms up? No. I will not sit here and watch the ice from the glass melt into my beer, watering it down to a thin, dulled version of its former self.

Just as wine is not served in frozen glasses, neither should craft beer. It’s not a matter of being snooty. It’s simply respecting the ingredients in an artisanal product that are meant to shine.

This does not mean I want my beer completely warm. While ideal serving temperatures vary across styles, chilled is generally more than acceptable across all styles.

So please, encourage us to visit your establishment more by showing the respect for the product I, and other craft beer fans, love. Don’t suffocate its flavor. Keep that chilled glassware for mass-produced lawn-mower beer, and hold room-temperature glasses for the rest of us. When we order, all you have to do is ask if we’d like a chilled or non-chilled glass. Easy as that.

To patrons: If the craft beer you order comes in an unwanted frozen glass, send it back. The only way we will change this practice at bars and restaurants is to speak up and educate.