Monday, August 8, 2016
Before Foam, I’ll admit I wasn't into fruit-forward brews. My avoidance was probably sparked from a room-temperature cup of Pêche Mel' Bush sipped sometime during college, when the resident Belgian beer devotee popped a bottle of the strong, syrupy ale sent from a brother living abroad. It was poured in a red plastic cup, and subsequently followed by an equally tepid glug of a framboise lambic that tasted a bit like an opened bottle of Manischewitz. Did I mention it was warm?
Those dual sips left me believing that fruit beers were too cloyingly sweet for my taste. The sentiment held true until Dani Casey gave me a taste of the Purple One while helming the bar at Foam.
Tags: beer , brewery , microbrewery , Foam Brewers , Burlington , drink , saison , black currant , Image , Web Only
Friday, July 1, 2016
Those who brave the hour-long beverage-store queues to get cases and four-packs of the Alchemist's famed ales now have another option. Yesterday at 2 p.m., the Alchemist cut the ribbon on a brand-new brewery and visitors center at 100 Cottage Club Road in Stowe. Here, beer aficionados can enjoy a tasting section, retail shop and educational area with full views of the brewing process.
“John and I look forward to being open to the public again,” said Jen Kimmich, who opened the Alchemist with her husband, John, in 2003. “We missed the daily interaction with our community.”
Tags: beer , the alchemist , heady topper , focal banger , stowe , brewery , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 25, 2016
The new brewery will pair its liquid offerings with a modest seasonal menu of local cheeses, artisanal charcuterie (some of it made in-house), fresh bread and house-fermented vegetables. The last plays into one of cofounder Todd Haire's obsessions. "I'm kind of a geek when it comes to fermented things," he says.
During the warmer months, Foam Brewers will add pit-roasted barbecue and house-smoked meats to the menu.
Haire is a former head brewer at nearby Switchback Brewing, where he met Foam cofounders-to-be Sam Keane and Robert Grim. Haire and Grim spearheaded Switchback's pilot beer program, while Keane worked as a production brewer. Before joining Switchback, Haire spent 13 years at Magic Hat Brewing in South Burlington, where he also rose to head brewer. (He is also working on the micro-batch House of Fermentology with Bill Mares, though the two projects are not formally connected.)
Tags: Beer , Foam Brewing , Burlington , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
If last year was a banner year for Vermont beer, 2015 easily outdid it. In terms of numbers, we didn't see quite as many new breweries open as last year (I'm counting eight 2015 openings — or imminent openings — to 2014's 11), but dozens of existing producers expanded their output in major ways. Which means there was more Vermont beer on the market than ever before — by a long shot.
So we saw more bottles and cans on retail shelves — breweries continued to shift from 22-ounce, "bomber" bottles to smaller bottles and cans — which made going to the gas station a whole lot more fun. And heretofore hard-to-find-in-stores beers, such as ones from Williston's Burlington Beer Company, Brattleboro's Hermit Thrush Brewery (both 2014 debuts), Burlington's Zero Gravity Craft Brewing and Stowe's von Trapp Brewing, became widely available.
Since Vermonters are champion beer drinkers, nothing stayed on shelves long. Emboldened by drinkers' seemingly insatiable thirst for the latest, greatest, most exciting samples, brewers continued to be creative. I'd argue that 2015 brought Vermont's most fascinating array of new beers yet. (More on that below, including my list of "bests.")
Bars and restaurants responded by hosting more beer-focused dinners and events than ever. It seems the public finally began to grasp the idea that beer could be as friendly to food as is wine.
Those meals were particularly rampant during the inaugural Vermont Beer Week in September. And it's noteworthy that Beer Week was organized not by any group of breweries or by the Vermont Brewers Association, but guerrilla-style by a couple of Chittenden County beer freaks. Appalled that the state didn't have a beer week, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
On to the nitty-gritty...
Tags: Year in Vermont beer , beer , brewing , breweries , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 5, 2015
Most homebrewers work by day and brew on nights and weekends, but many dream of supplanting their nine-to-five gig with a job brewing professionally.
Now, 14th Star Brewing, Winooski Beverage Warehouse and Farrell Distributing have teamed up with some of Vermont's finest restaurants and tap rooms to launch a statewide brewing competition, called "Make the Cut," which will allow one winning homebrewer to sell his or her beer statewide.
The idea originated with Winooski Beverage owner Jennifer Swiatek, who says she spends hours with local homebrewers every week as they line up at her shop waiting for Heady Topper and other hard-to-find brews. "You see these people in line for hours, saying, 'One day, maybe I'll get to do this for a living.' I wanted to give them that chance," she says.
Tags: Beer , Homebrewing , Make the Cut , Image , Web Only
Monday, December 29, 2014
With so many hops happening, year’s end seemed like an ideal time to look back through 12 months' worth of bottles, kegs, cans and growlers.
Tags: Beer , 2014 , vermont , breweries , brewing , Image , Web Only
Monday, December 22, 2014
After more than seven months of building, permitting, tweaking and final-touching, Prohibition Pig’s brewery and tasting room will open officially this Friday, December 26, Pro Pig owner Chad Rich told Seven Days via phone on Monday. But if you’re in Waterbury or nearby, there’s a pre-opening wet-run tonight — Monday, December 22 — from 4 to 10 p.m. Call it an early or late Christmas gift, depending on where you sit.
Tags: Prohibition Pig brewery , Chad Rich , Mike Werneke , beer , tacos , waterbury , food news , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
They had a lot to remember, far too much for the 1500-word feature that ran in the paper this week.
Below, more excerpts from our hours-long interview.
Tags: Long Trail Brewing Company , 25th Anniversary , Beer , Image , Video , Web Only
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Vermonters are observing their rites of spring – warm days blossom with floral dresses and rosy, bare chests, and by evening, sunburns for paler, more foolhardy revelers.
For casual tipplers and craftbrew dilettantes alike, spring also means bright, sunny beers best sipped fresh in the open air, whether the venue is your back porch, on the lake or in the garden, or at your favorite watering hole.
Over the last few weeks, Vermont’s brewmasters have been rolling out the season’s new releases. It's a fruity, citrusy batch that predictably forges new trails into IPA territory, with stops along the way for ciders, sours and saisons. Just in time for Memorial Day and the official (unofficial) start of summer.
Read on for a smattering of noteworthy new brews, listed by release date.
Tags: craft beer , cider , spring beers , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
For Seven Days' third annual Brew Bracket, we decided to split the contest into four regions, which energized lesser-known brewers to get out the vote. Their campaigns resulted in a few unexpected upsets — such as Lost Nation Brewing's Gose coming out ahead of both Abner and Everett from Hill Farmstead Brewery.
It was the "final pour," though, that brought the biggest rout: The Honey IPA from St. Albans' 14th Star Brewing Co. kicked the two-time winner, the Alchemist's Heady Topper, to the curb. The final tally? 169-113.
14th Star Brewing is barely 2 years old, but it has captured a lot of hearts. The Army vet who founded it, Steve Gagner, is working with his staff to renovate a former bowling alley in St. Albans for a vast expansion of their brewery and taproom.
Gagner seems dismayed by accusations of vote rigging that have cropped up on various websites. "We have worked very hard to get the word out about our beer and the brewery," he wrote in an email. "Our fans, especially our local fans, have shown us tremendous support in spreading the word. We're very proud of the beers that we are producing; they're solid and clean, and I think our scores on various rating websites reflect that."
Seven Days can confirm that the voting wasn't rigged. The Honey IPA clearly has it goin' on. Congrats, 14th Star!
Tags: 14th Star Brewing , Honey IPA , Alchemist , Heady Topper , brew bracket , Image , Web Only