I'm not a big fan of Rock Art I can't recall anything I've had from them being that good. Mcneils (did I spell that right?) makes some nice stouts. +1 on the Roxy. It's a shame that the Alchemist doesn't package their beers I don't think many breweries can match the beer you can get there. Vermont pub and brewery does some fine stuff too. Long trail is ok and don't forget Harpoon is also in Vermont and they still make some pretty good beer. I love our yearly trip up to Stowe.
McNeill's is pretty good. They can be inconsistent in their bottled beer. Overfilled,undercarbed, not so clean... Hopefully the new bottling line and brewery will help that. I hear fresh from the brewery is best.
Alchemist is pretty damn good. Yes, sad they do not distribute. I cannot get over that way often.
Vermont pub and brewery is not always very good. You would think with Noonan being the owner it would always be great but I have had some subpar beer there.
Long Trail was good. It just seems I have had issues with bad batches or something.
Harpoon does make some good solid beer but really they are a Boston brewery who just happens to have a branch in Windsor. I have a hard time calling them a Vermont brewery. Their 100 barrel series has been pretty good and the first of the new Leviathan series (IIPA) was excellent. Still, Boston though.
Right! That's it! I am done with Vermont brews! I am pissed! What the Fuuck happened!
I picked up some brews when I was in Montpelier today, a Rogue Yellow Snow and a McNeill's Champ ale. I cannot usually get McNeill's where I am and again, I USED to think their beer was great.
ARGH!
I had the Yellow Snow first. It was great. Usually I am not too impressed with Rogue. Yes, I know heresy, but that is how I feel. Anyway, I am now TRYING to choke down the Champ ale. What a let down after a nice beer.
I have had this one before and thought it a really nice fresh APA.
Now I am thinking... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!!
F'ing CLOVES and white pepper batman! Smells and tastes like a damn Saison or a tripel with APA dose of American hops. Very unpleasant. But then I do not enjoy those styles. Also, I was expecting a pale ale.
Harpoon does make some good solid beer but really they are a Boston brewery who just happens to have a branch in Windsor. I have a hard time calling them a Vermont brewery. Their 100 barrel series has been pretty good and the first of the new Leviathan series (IIPA) was excellent. Still, Boston though.
We may be a Boston based brewery, but we still have a LOT of influence from our roots in Vermont. In the next couple weeks we will be brewing our next 100 Barrel Series beer. This will be a beer very much influenced and dedicated to the awesome culture we inherited from Catamount.
Oh and as far as our IPA tasting like a Longhammer, I disagree! I think Longhammers taste like dish soap (maybe too much Galena IMHO?) while ours is much more Citrusy from the boatload of Cascade hops ours get...
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We may be a Boston based brewery, but we still have a LOT of influence from our roots in Vermont. In the next couple weeks we will be brewing our next 100 Barrel Series beer. This will be a beer very much influenced and dedicated to the awesome culture we inherited from Catamount.
Well then, here is a PR opportunity for you to show some of that residual "awesome culture we inherited from Catamount"
This guy would like some help brewing a Catamount Porter clone. Care to help weigh in and offer some guidance for recreating this?
I'll do my best! As far as anything Catamount is concerned, we own all of Catamount's recipes and stuff. Catamount actually went under in 1998 and we purchased the shuttered brewery in 2000. 2001-2002 we brewed many of their beers, among them Catamount Pale Ale and Catamount Porter, unfortunately they did not sell well enough to keep them afloat with all of our other lines...
I am working on getting the Catamount Pale Ale recipe right now, so I'll add the porter to the list too!
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Vermont pub and brewery is not always very good. You would think with Noonan being the owner it would always be great but I have had some subpar beer there.
I always find it kind of funny that the guy who wrote the lager bible almost never has any lagers on tap at VPB! Had some pretty disappointing ales there, too, but I'd still go back again! Unless I was going to the Alchemist, that is
okay, I'll give a little love back to VT. Beer by beer. They'll have to earn it!
As I mentioned earlier... did I? If not I will say it now. Rock Arts' Vermonster is wonderful! One of my favorite American barley wines! Kudos to Matt and Renee.
Another I will give some love back for is Otter Creek Stove Pipe porter. Drinking one now. I have not been in a porter mood for a while. Used to be one of my favorite styles but I have not been as fond of it for, oh a couple of years. Today I had a "mood" for porter. Got a SN porter and a Stovepipe.
Stove Pipe is fantastic! Rich, chocolatey roasty with some wonderful coffee notes and the ever so slight hint of smoke. A very distinctive porter. Very enjoyable.
Anyone remember Magic Hat's Humble Patience? It was a beautiful, creamy porter that exuded coffee and caramel. It was one of the beers that really turned me on to craft beer, but then it disappeared. Long Trail Ale was another early revelation for me. I don't really know what happened to Magic Hat. It's fitting they have a beer called Blind Faith because that seems to be the only thing that drives their sales. BTW, can anyone taste the difference between Blind Faith and Fat Angel because I never could.
I've since moved on to lovely Oregon and beervana, but it seems Smuttynose is still going strong. I had their wheat wine when I went home for Christmas and it was top-notch as always. Plus, I noticed 3-4 new breweries in Connecticut that have opened since last time I was home 8 months ago, so New England is still going strong.
Well then, here is a PR opportunity for you to show some of that residual "awesome culture we inherited from Catamount"
This guy would like some help brewing a Catamount Porter clone. Care to help weigh in and offer some guidance for recreating this?
I have been talking with our brewmaster about recreating the Catamount beers, and while we can't give out the exact recipe (copywright laws and legal mumbo jumbo is the short answer explanation), he is going to help and give me suggestions for you all to ballpark them. I have a feeling that fine tuning a recipe after I get the suggestions and a couple tester batches, it will be pretty easy to make a good clone.
I should have the info by next Tuesday Jan 19th!
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