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

The Breweries of Vermont Part Two

North on Route 100 a winding, roller-coaster of a road to the sleepy hamlet of Waterbury, where just off main street resides the Alchemist.

Whats in a name? In days of old Alchemists would scam money from unwitting patrons with tales and theories of turning lead into gold among other improbabilities. The scam was perpetrated by the Alchemist asking for increasing amounts of cash "needed" by the Alchemist to purchase the additonal "rare and secret ingedients" to complete the transformation process. For grins type the words Edward Kelley and Alechemist into Google and you will be shown a link to the Occultopedia for information on a Rougue, Alchemist and Lawyer named Edward Kelley

I was beginning to feel like an Alchemist of sorts with my own family. "We are almost there guys...just a few more minutes...be patient...another ten minutes ... I promise we'll be there shortly." Until at last, unlike the Alchemist Edward Kelley of old, I pulled a brewpub out of my hat. Or rather I pulled up to a brew pub. Outside looks fairly non-descript. An old brick storefront with the name artfully painted on the windows. You enter the door and are greeted by a high ceilinged room with a bar on the right and tables to the left. The light fixtures are eclectic chandeliers, the decor is a mix of unpainted brick, hardwoods and stainless steel. Cozy and inviting. We had a short wait during which the bartender left his post at the bar and crossed the room to see if we needed a drink. We did. I ordered an ale called Wild Child, my wife had the Hefty Weizen and the kids Artisanal Sodas Called "Pop Soda."

My beer arrived and it was hazy pale red, it had little head, little carbonation and the aromy was spicy, fruty with some biscuit aroma. The taste was delightfully sour much like a Flemish Red Ale. Very refreshing. My wife's beer was the brewer's cask-conditioned impression of a German Hefe-Weizen. It was fresh and tasty. Better than any of this style I have tried to date. The appearance was hazy yellow with a rocky white head. The aroma was classic Hefe-Weizen, bannanas and other tropical fruits, cloves and other spices, hints of bubble-gum. The taste was also the classic Hefe Weizen taste. Slightly sweet malt, a touch of floral hops, like my brew this beer was also crisp and refreshing. My eldest son's Lemon-Ginger soda was tasty and refreshing as well. So much so that we spent a fair amount of time trying to find a retail source for it.

As this is not a food column I will not dwell on the food except to say it was fresh, delicious and innovative. My burger was blackened, topped with bleu cheese and paired with Belgian style fries that were served with homemade mayonnaise.

Next week...the wacky World of Magic Hat!

Some links:

Occultopedia

The Alchemist Brewery

PopSoda

The Breweries of Vermont, Part One

So we loaded up the Tahoe and we headed north to Vermont. Yes, Vermont, the Green Mountain State; a verdant paradise of Appalachian vistas, clear running streams, captive insurers and excellent micro-breweries. My family is a tolerant bunch. They indulge me in my beer hobby. They have to of course, I am driving and it is a long walk home.

We crossed into Vermont in the Vicinity of Whitehall, New York. Formerly called Skenesborough, Whitehall is the birthplace of the United States Navy. It was in the harbor of this historic town that Benedict Arnold assembled his fleet of vessels before the October 11, 1776, Battle of Valcour Island. Though Arnold was defeated, with a significant loss of life and vessels on the both sides, the resistance encountered by the British and their losses caused them to delay their southward movement and return to Canada until the following spring. This bought the colonists valuable time and set the stage for the 1777 campaign in upstate New York. This campaign culminated in the stunning American victory at Saratoga on October 17, 1777. Alas I again have wandered off the trail…

So on into the Green Mountain State we drove. The Incredibles on the portable DVD player, three children blissfully ignoring the bovine adorned scenery (though they noted the earthy aroma) and my wife and I having a civil navigational discussion (cough, choke, muttered curses under the breath). Ultimately we arrived at our first stop on the beer tour, the Long Trail Brewing Company in Bridgewater Corners, Vermont (www.longtrail.com). We arrived from the South, the building is a modern structure built in the fashion of a dairy barn. With a peaked tin roof and an idyllic location on the banks of a rushing stream, it welcomed us and beckoned us to explore and experience. Alas it was not to be… a t-shirt and some beer to bring home was all we had allotted time for. They serve lunch and have indoor and outdoor seating. Their gift shop is well stocked and reasonably priced. The restrooms were clean.

I chatted briefly with one of the staff and complimented her on their fine ales, which are now available (since this spring) in New Jersey. She said their sales had increased nearly 25% over the same period last year. She recommended that I purchase some of their unfiltered India Pale Ale as it was fresh and available only at the brewery. I bit and I will share my review in a later column.

The Long Trail Beers I did try were all consistently excellent. Their flagship Long Trail Ale is a fruity, spicy and balanced Altbier. Double Bag is a richly textured, slightly maltier “Double Alt.” Hit the Trail Ale is a deliciously malty, lightly hopped, light to medium bodied, English Brown Ale. The “Blackbeary Wheat” is a flavored wheat beer that my wife and I both agreed was crisp and delicious. Sharply sour blackberry notes on a background of soft wheat malts. I normally eschew flavored wheat beers but it was a warm Vermont afternoon and the tart refreshing taste struck the right chord with us.

Sadly they did not yet have any Hibernator, their Scotch Ale, available for tasting.

Then it was back in the car and Northward on Route 100 to Waterbury. Our next stop, The Alchemist, a brewpub. (to be continued)