The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [131]
PHILOSOPHY
Brewer as Super Man? Hill has released beers he says were inspired by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, and working within the arch-individualistic underpinnings those associations suggest, he aims to please. “All of my decisions, related to the present and future of Hill Farmstead Brewery, are calculated, rational, and existential,” Hill says. Starting out, he blogged, sporadically: “We love hops. The majority of the beers that we brew are greater than 85 IBUs and dry hopped. We also love oak barrels: the aroma of the oak in the brewery, the added softness and roundness that the beer develops from its extended aging in the barrel.”
KEY BEER
The Ancestor series is an ongoing celebration of Hill’s forebears in the area including Edward (an APA that is his best seller). The Collaboration series was launched with a beer Hill called Fear and Trembling (there’s the Kierkegaard), a smoked Baltic Porter aged in French oak cabernet barrels. Kissmeyer himself traveled from Denmark to assist his former pupil, hand smoking the malt over maple wood chips outside the barn, resulting in a powerfully smoky 9.3% ABV brew with chocolate- and espresso-like flavors and a vinous finish.
Burlington
THE FARMHOUSE TAP & GRILL
160 Bank St. • Burlington, VT 05401 (802) 859-0888 • farmhousetg.com
In a turn of events perhaps indicating some important cultural wind direction, the building that houses this new (2010) gastropub used to be home to a McDonald’s—for thirty years. Today, the space is dedicated to a classic farm-to-table eatery with a beer list every bit as curated as its menu of grass-fed beef, free-range poultry, and heritage pork dishes accented by local cheese, charcuterie, and produce. Regional and local brewers, including Hill Farmstead, Otter Creek, Trapp, Rock Art, and Wolaver’s, are all well represented, as are many of the top American and Belgian small batch and farmhouse-style producers.
Brattleboro
FORTY PUTNEY ROAD
192 Putney Rd. • Brattleboro, VT 05301 (802) 254-6268 • fortyputneyroad.com
Tim and Amy Brady, the thirty-something owners of this charming little six-room inn and pub are self-described beer geeks; they host tastings in their pub every Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. (seven beers paired with cheeses and other snacks for $19). The inn—built in 1929 as the superintendent’s home for the Vermont Asylum for the Insane—was established in 2007; it’s got a luxurious carriage house option and an attached pub where Tim curates a nice little three-tap tower and bottle list including foreign gems like Rochefort and Orval. Starting in 2011, Tim and Amy are offering two-night “Meet the Master” weekends, during which guests mingle with noted brewmasters and participate in tastings of their beers.
Best of the Rest: Vermont
THREE PENNY TAPROOM
108 Main St. • Montpelier, VT 05602 (802) 223-8277 • threepennytaproom.com
A craft beer bar on Montpelier’s Main Street, Three Penny Taproom has twenty-four taps and forty-five bottles available, including craft-brewed Belgian, American, and particularly Northeast beers such as Hill Farmstead, Southern Tier, and Trapp Family, paired with local cheeses.
New Hampshire
Hooksett
WHITE BIRCH BREWING
1368 Hooksett Rd., Unit 6 • Hooksett, NH 03106 (603) 244-8593 • whitebirchbrewing.com • Established: 2009
SCENE & STORY
New Hampshire’s first nanobrewery, founded by dedicated homebrewer-turned-pro Bill Herlicka in a plain industrial space, started with half-barrel (about 15 gallon) batches that became so popular he was almost immediately planning a 7 bbl brew house to meet demand. That expansion now complete, Herlicka is still running a small operation dedicated to making excellent beer in unusual