The Breweries of Vermont Part Three

Vermont is called the Green Mountain State for a good reason. The verdant panorama of the Mountains that span the state is the backdrop to everything. We were comfortably settled in my wife's aunt's "camp" on Lake Champlain with it's glorious and panoramic views of the Champlain Isles and the Adirondacks beyond them. Echelons of clouds marched in a steady stream across the powder blue, northern skies. The clear waters of the lake were refreshing and had more than enough yellow perch and small-mouthed bass to keep our kids glued to the lakefront. We must have a good dozen pictures of the "trophies" that my little anglers caught (and released) on a combination of lures and live-bait. In the evenings, the setting sun and the giggles of happy kids paired nicely with the beers of Magic Hat.

Magic Hat is a Burlington Institution. They sponsor events in and around the Burlington area including Mardi Gras. Their web site is quirky, artful and sometimes frustrating . Their brewery, though somewhat non-descript on the outside is anything but typical on the inside. Oh sure they have the typical brewery fixtures: stainless steel tanks, pipes and bottling equipment - its the tasting area and gift shop that must be experienced.

You walk into the visitors entrance and instead of a brighlty lit welcoming dispay area you are enfolded into darkness. Dark painted walls, dark - loud heavy metal music, dimly lit corrugated steel panels and bins full of shirts and other brewery logo items (Spencer Gifts?). At the far end of the darkend room is the tasting and growler filling area. It consists of a dark colored bar with multiple taps, dark colored lounge furniture and is decorated with artsy promotional posters that evoke the era of psychedelia. Not the typical brewery at all.

The style used for labelling and packaging of their beer runs the gamut from the Stalinist Inspired "Mother Lager" to the Heinleinesque "H.I.P.A." Anything goes it seems. One might say that this is just typical Vermont individuality (coming out with guns blazing). But this is all window dressing that starkly contrasts with their bright and flavorful brews. My wife and I sampled several at the source and pronounced them all tasty and worthy of purchase.

The first up was the Mother Lager. This was an "entry level brew" that is a crisp and clean tasting pale lager. Nothing distinctive but enough character to take it out of the realm of your typical macro. Then there was "Number 9" an apricot accented pale ale that was a little heavy on the fruit for our tastes but was drinkable and had some dry and sour notes that meet many of the requirements of a summer quencher. The aroma of apricots wafting from our glasses reminded me of a summer harvest of the featured fruit. Next up was "Batch 370",the brewers rendition of a traditional German Hefe-Weizen. Cloudy sunshine yellow with a rocky white head. Aromas of cloves, bananas and bubble-gum. The taste was dry and sweet with spice and fruit and even a little "Double-Bubble". Not at all out of place with this style. The next brew, Batch 371, was also a Weizen but this time it was a "Dunkel-Weizen." This was, we agreed, was the most flavorful brew that we tried that visit. This rich dark-amber elixir with a short lived white head was slick on the tongue and palate. The nose was fruit, caramel and spice. The taste was rich and complex. Some ripe fruit, some cloves and other unidentifiable spices and a rather short-lived dry hop finish.

Over the following days we sampled a few other of the Magic Hat brews in bottles and found them all to be good solid performers. These beers are available on a regular basis at Buy-Rite in Atlantic Highlands in single variety six and 12 packs as well as the seasonal sampler twelve packs: "The Summer Variety Show" and "The Night of the Living Dead."

The Fourth and Final Installment in this series will cover some of the beers we acquired at places other than the source.

Hope your summer was grand. Schools Open, drive carefully.

Magic Hat Brewing