HereForTheBeer.com » Vermont Breweries

Northshire Brewery in Bennington, VT

Amy Brady — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:08:23 +0000

It’s been a great year for Vermont beer. Since January of 2010 Vermont has welcomed three new breweries including Northshire Brewery in Bennington, VT; The Brewery at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT and Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro, VT.

In this video we meet Earl McGoff from Northshire Brewery. Earl and his friend Chris opened Northshire Brewery as a passion project. The both continue to hold their full time jobs, opening the brewery in a garage building right behind their current employer. Talk about taking your home brewing hobby to a larger scale. These guys scored a used 7 barrel setup from a brewery in Florida and are just putting beers into the market this month.

Their flagship beer is the Equinox Pilsner, which is kept in the fermentation tanks for a full 8 weeks. Earl realizes that this is not the most cost effective way to produce a Pilsner, but in his opinion it is the right way to produce a Pilsner. At 4.2% ABV this is the perfect summer beer. We hope you enjoy meeting Earl as much as we did and if you would like to try this beer, stay with us at Forty Putney Road B&B where we have it on draft. Or you could just try it at one of the other few lucky pubs to have it. But why not make a weekend out of it with us at our inn :)

Speaking of making a weekend out of it – this weekend we will have the opportunity to meet Allan Van Anda the brewer at The Brewery at Trapp Family Lodge and Shawn Hill from Hill Farmstead Brewery at the first annual Brattleboro Brewers Festival and Pub Crawl. Tickets are still available, we hope that you will join us there!

Otter Creek Quercus Vitis Humulus and Wolavers Alta Gracia Coffee Porter

Tim Brady — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:54:15 +0000

This is a quick video with Otter Creek brewmaster Mike Gerhart sharing their 2 new brews. First a new “Imperial Series” beer from Otter Creek, the Quercus Vitis Humulus- which literally translates to Oak, Grape and hop. The brew begins as a bold 27 degree plato barley-wine, warm-fermented with Bohemian lager yeast, then blended with Sauvignon Blanc grape juice and fermented a second time with a pure culture of Champagne yeast. Finally it is aged for a short time on lightly toasted French Oak. The six week process results in a complex ale which comes in at 12% ABV, with 38 IBUs. More about this beer here.

Also released this week from Wolavers is the next release in their Organic Farmer Series, Alta Gracia Coffee Porter. This is brewed up with organic roasted barley and chocolate malts for a rich, dark and robust flavor with an infusion of organic vanilla beans, and coffee from the Dominican Republic farm community Alta Gracia.

Alta Gracia is a non-profit farm that works to empower farmers with tools and techniques to grow quality shade-grown organic coffee. The result is growers who feel pride in their stewardship of the land, are paid fairly for their labor, and have healthy sustainable farms.

Growing coffee is hard work. Harvest must be done by hand so that only the ripe berries are picked. The farmers of the Alta Gracia farm community are paid fair wages for their work. It is the mission of the farm to teach neighboring farmers techniques to grow high quality shade-grown organic coffee that will allow them to get a fair price for their product. More about the beer here.

Harpoon “Chapionships of New England” BBQ Championship in Windsor, VT

Tim Brady — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:22:39 +0000

In this episode we venture north to Harpoon Brewery to check out the Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ competition. We enjoyed some great barbecue, great beer and live music all outside on a beautiful Vermont summer day. This family friendly event offered all of Harpoons standard beers and all of their craft brew soda’s (unfortunately they hid the Leviathan brews for the day). We were hoping to taste some of the BBQ delights from the infamous “I Smell Smoke” team, however it seems they were completely sold out in the first hour of the event. Perhaps next year!

Overall this was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, my only wish was that I could have had a sample of two of the Leviathan Series. I was looking forward to taking home a growler of the newly released Big Bohemian Pilsner, but they were not offering it on draft. I guess we will have to give a call to Scott Shirley, head brewer at Harpoon Windsor, and give him a piece of our mind! Just kidding Scott…

I guess we will just have to order ourselves a case for our Putney Road Pub. So if you are in the Brattleboro area we hope that you will come join us for a pint!

Terrapin Beer Company – Athens, Georgia

Amy Brady — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:00:39 +0000

In this episode, we head to Terrapin Beer Company in Athens, GA. We meet with owners and co-founders John Cochran and Brian “Spike” Buckowski, who is also the head brewer.

We were lucky enough to be there on a Saturday evening, just in time to enjoy their beer tasting and tour. I must admit this was one of the most entertaining brewery tastings I had ever been to. The atmosphere was great, we were outside on a beautiful sunny evening, with games and live music playing. No surprise that there was a really impressive turnout. I felt like I was at a picnic in the park, but with access to much better beer! Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 5:30pm – 7:30pm they open the doors for these beer tastings and tours. The only requirement is that you purchase an $8.00 Terrapin Pint Glass from the gift shop, this pint glass includes tickets that are good for 8 4-oz sample pours of beer. Tours run every half hour during the tasting. A great way to start off your evening.

This Georgia beer is not yet available in New England, but over Christmas we received a box in the mail containing two Terrapin Beers: Big Hoppy Monster (Imperial Red Ale) and India Style Brown Ale. One of our wonderful guests at our Vermont B&B, Forty Putney Road (they were from Georgia) had sent them as a gift. It only took a few sips to recognize the quality of these beers, Terrapin was immediately added to our must visit list. Luckily it wasn’t long before we were in the area for an innkeeping conference and were able to take the field trip. Of course, Other than the quality of these beers I of course really enjoyed the branding…I just love that turtle…he gets to do everything.

In the video John gives us some insite into the branding and that crazy turle while Spike gives us an inside look at some new beers he is working on. We enjoyed meeting both John and Spike and hope that you all enjoy our video. We will see you next time on Here for the Beer … Cheers!

A Beer Geek’s Brewery Tour

Amy Brady — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:00:11 +0000

In this episode, Mike Gerhart, Brewmaster for Otter Creek Brewery and Wolaver’s Organic Ales takes us on a “Beer Geek’s Brewery Tour”. This is not your typical “dumbed-down” brewery tour, so you won’t hear anyone explain what a mash tun is in this video. While not a super technical look, Mike shows us what it really takes to operate a moderate size brewery. We walked away filled with new found knowledge of the process and hope you are able to do the same.

For more about Mike Gerhart, Otter Creek Brewery and Wolaver’s Organic Ales checkout our other video “Otter Creek Brewery – Interview with New Brewmaster Mike Gerhart”. You can also visit them in Middlebury, Vermont. Of course, if you are making the trip up be sure to stay with us at Forty Putney Road B&B, the perfect spot to share a pint and relax from your trip.

Leviathan Quad Harpoon Brewery

Tim Brady — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:45:02 +0000

In this episode we are invited up to Harpoon Brewery’s Windsor, Vermont location to see the bottling the forth beer in their new Leviathan series, a Quad. We jumped at the opportunity to get an inside look at Leviathan. We tasted the first in the series, Leviathan Triticus a wheat wine, in July of 2008 at the Vermont Brewer’s Festival in Burlington, VT. We were instantly impressed. We found ourselves equally impressed by the next two of the Leviathan series, the Baltic Porter and the Leviathan Imperial IPA. The good news is you can still find the Baltic Porter and Imperial IPA in stores, the bad news is Triticus was never bottled was only available in kegs, so it can not longer be found. However, according to Head Brewer at Harpoon Windsor, Scott Shirley, we will all have a second chance as they will be bottling another batch of Leviathan Triticus sometime this year. Scott was kind enough to chat with us and explain a little about the Quad and the Leviathan series, sharing whats next for the series in the interview (you’ll have to watch the video, don’t want to give it all away here!). If you are into heavyweight beers we highly recommend this Harpoon series.

In addition, Scott was gracious enough to show us around the newly renovated facility. Harpoon Brewery in Windsor, VT is no longer just a tasting room in the gift shop it is now a full fledged bar and restaurant. Open for lunch Sunday through Thursday (closed Mondays in Winter and Spring) and open for lunch and dinner Friday and Saturday. The new pub is beautiful with a spacious bar and dining room complete with a wood burning fireplace. Peek through the wall of windows to check out the brewery and bottling line, or take one of the weekend tours. There is more information on the Harpoon Website.

Otter Creek Brewery – Interview with New Brewmaster Mike Gerhart

Amy Brady — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:17:51 +0000

In this episode Tim and I head up to Middlebury, Vermont to Otter Creek Brewery and meet with their new Brewmaster, Mike Gerhart. Mike just recently accepted this position in January of 2009. Previously Mike was brewing for Dogfish Head Brewery with Sam Calagione. His move to Otter Creek Brewery came from a love for Vermont. Charmed by the state and ready to spread his wings as a brewer, he headed to Vermont. His experience and passion make him a great fit for Otter Creek Brewery. Welcome to Vermont Mike!

Tim and I are fans of both Otter Creek Brewery and their organic line of beers, Wolaver’s Organic Ales. We carry many of their beers in our own pub, the Putney Road Pub at Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast and often use them in our beer tastings as they are flavorful, consistent and true to style. On a personal level we found ourselves wondering if we would ever see anything perhaps more adventurous coming out of this brewery so we set out to find some answers. Luckily, we found them (you’ll have to watch the video for the full details!).

In the video Mike Gerhart tells us about the All American series for the Wolaver’s Organic Ales. This series is not only organic, but also includes only US grown ingredients. Impressive goal and of course, quite ecologically conscious. Even better, the Pat Leavy’s All American Ale that we sampled was great. We went out and purchased a case the next day.

Then Mike told us about their new Imperial Series for the Otter Creek line of beers. Now this is what I am talking about, something unique, exciting and chock full of flavor. I am so excited about this series! The first in the series is the Imperial Russian Stout. Soon to follow will be an Imperial IPA. If you have not already tried the Otter Creek Imperial Russian Stout, then seriously, you should go out and pick one up TODAY!

One reason I am so excited about the Imperial Series at Otter Creek is that it represents a big step in Vermont brewing because of a change in state laws. Prior to July of 2008 Vermont Brewers could not produce a beer over 7% 8% (thanks Shaun!) ABV, limiting brewers creativity. With new legislation recently passed we are beginning to see a new side of Vermont Beers. We are looking forward to seeing more of these creative beers from Otter Creek and of course, other Vermont Breweries.

Overall this interview gave us a new energy about Otter Creek and Wolavers for 2009 and we really do look forward to trying out their new creations.

HereForTheBeer.com » Vermont Breweries

Northshire Brewery in Bennington, VT

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