Vermont Update 8/18/17
By Dan Kochakian
beerdkr@comcast.net
Pictured at the Vermont Brewers Festival July 21-22: Scott Salmonsen of Saint J Brewery in St. Johnsbury, VT.
Red Barn Brewing in Danville will be going strong this summer with bands and food trucks to complement their seven draft beers. Release, a double IPA, and Lola, a triple, were very well-received recently, and July will see the debut of Lithium DIPA, single-hopped with Amarillo. Red Barn will be pouring at the Vermont NanoFest at the Tunbridge Fairgrounds on Aug. 18 with other local breweries.
Magic Hat Brewing of Burlington has surprised us with some big beers lately, including Big Hundo, a 9%/100-IBU imperial IPA with Apollo and Simcoe and dry-hopped with Centennial. Also, Art Hop Ale, an imperial Blonde at 7.2% with Simcoe, Amarillo and Cascade, while Belgo Sutra, a Belgian Quad at 8.2% with six malts and Apollo hops, is set for mid-Aug. Scotch Ale and Raspberry Stout are a bit lighter at 8% and 7.2% and are cold-weather brews scheduled for winter release.
Big news in the Vermont area is that Mike Gerhardt, he of the dog and VW bus picture labels for Otter Creek Brewing, has left his post to join Hill Farmstead in Greensboro Bend. We’re hoping for some new twists on Shaun Hill’s classic brews.
Next Trick Brewing on Route 5 in West Burke is open from May to October. The 7-bbl. brewhouse has debuted this year with Langsam Lager. Other styles are set to go for sampling during weekends.
If you hurry, you may be lucky enough to purchase Fragments, the new blended American Wild Ale at Good Measure Brewing in Northfield located next to the excellent beer bar/bistro, Cornerstone, on East Street. The first in a series of wild ales, Fragments is 5.8% and a blend of sour golden ale aged for nine months on bourbon staves, a wheat beer aged for two months in a brandy barrel, and a very tart cherry beer that rested in oak for nine months on three pounds of cherries!
Rock Art Brewing in Morrisville unveiled the first Vermont solar-powered beer, Sun Rocked IPA, that celebrates the brewery going 100% solar to power the entire system. With tropical fruit, berry and citrus flavors, Sun Rocked is 6%/60-IBU.
Sign up for Harpoon’s Point to Point bike ride, a charity event to raise funds for the Vermont Foodbank. Pedal away and then be rewarded with Harpoon beers on the patio.
Chris Costello of Zero Gravity Brewing at the Vermont Brewers Festival.
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Scott Kerner of Good Measure Brewing in Northfield and Mark Babson of River Roost Brewery in White River Junction, VT
