Grazing: Last Chance to Sip a Williston Beer at a Williston Pub | Bite Club

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Grazing: Last Chance to Sip a Williston Beer at a Williston Pub

Posted By on Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 4:23 PM


Alert: It's the waning hours for McAllister Irish Red Ale. If you're near Williston and are curious about very local beer, you might want to track down a pint.

Williston resident Marty Bonneau, a member of the Green Mountain Mashers home-brewing club, first brewed McAllister in his basement for one of the group's periodic contests, this one to turn out a red ale style.

Bonneau's malty, balanced brew won. As part of the reward, Fiddlehead Brewing's Matt Cohen offered to brew a batch to be tapped both at his own establishment and a local pub —  fittingly, McGillicuddy's Irish Ale House in Williston.

On November 6, Bonneau, Cohen and the contest's second-place winner, Brian Eckert, brewed 10 barrels of McAllister at Fiddlehead, using "pale and caramel malts as well as a pinch of roasted barley to create a very malt-forward beer with little residual sweetness," according to Fiddlehead's website. The beer was tapped at the brewery on November 21, and was the guest star of a launch party at McGillicuddy's on Sunday night, when at least two kegs of the stuff went swiftly.

I dipped into McGillicuddy's last night to try it, and learned that only part of one keg remains. It's not surprising: The brew is full-bodied, chocolatey, and eminenty drinkable.

Fiddlehead is out of it already. So McGillicuddy's is the only place to grab a last taste — if there's any left — and have some fried pickle slices while you're at it.

One or more images has been removed from this article. For further information, contact [email protected].

Corin Hirsch

Corin Hirsch was a Seven Days food writer 2011 through 2016. She was also a dining critic and drinks columnist at Newsday from 2017 to 2022, and contributes to The Guardian, Wine Enthusiast and other publications. She’s spoken often on colonial era drinking and is the author of Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New...